Have you ever considered the cultures described in the Old Testament and wondered why today we don’t see similar practices? How could there be such depravity in those times and not in our current era? What happened to the gods, the idols, the sexual perversions, the abominations with children, even the cannibalism? Did all this wickedness disappear?
Or, could there be such degeneracy happening today, and we’re simply not aware of it?
The way most Christians read the Bible misses the mark as to truly understanding the nature of the world and the evil that pervades it. Everyone knows about Satan. He’s the poster boy for every evil deed. But does he act alone? We say Satan does this or that, and we give him credit for all concurrent reprobate behavior worldwide as though he’s omnipresent in the same manner as God. Is he? Of course not. We know better. He’s a creation of God and, although a spiritual being, doesn’t have God’s characteristics of omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. How then does Satan get around and do all these terrible things that we attribute to him?
Sadly, he’s got a rather efficient team.
The question then becomes: How does this team work that Satan’s influence can be so comprehensive? Going back to the first questions in this essay, have Satan and his team abandoned all the iniquity that they encouraged in mankind in the Old Testament period?
I maintain the answer is no; that all of these same perversions continue to this very moment. They’re simply hidden beneath our civilized veneer. In fact, we’re prevented from seeing most of them.
Let’s set the stage for the present by understanding the past. In prior articles I’ve written about the Deuteronomy 32 Worldview. Briefly, God created a spiritual family. He puts them to useful work just as he does with us, His human family. His spiritual sons carry out God’s decrees from heaven and make them manifest on earth. Unfortunately, because the heavenly host has free will like mankind does, its members can choose to rebel against God and act disobediently in their own interests.
We see this in Genesis 6:1-7. The sons of God, the bene elohim, left their heavenly estate (see Jude 6) and had sexual relations with human women. They produced hybrid beings called Nephilim and spread such corruption and abominations throughout the earth that God determined to wipe out everyone and everything that He had made.
After the flood, contrary to God’s command, men gathered at Babel and built its tower with the intent of bringing God down under their control. God directed his then-loyal spiritual sons (“Come, let us go down…”) to scatter mankind throughout the earth and to confuse their language (Genesis 11:7-9). In Deuteronomy 32:8, we see that God placed these heavenly beings over the nations. At this point they were still faithful to Him:
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.”
Be sure you’re reading this in a translation like the ESV that provides the proper Hebrew language wording. The incorrect translation says “the sons of Israel” which is non-sensical. God never placed Israel in a position of authority over other nations. In fact, Israel wasn’t even a nation at this point in time. It was only in Genesis 12, after the Babel incident, that God even began raising up Israel as His own chosen people.
But something happened to every single one of these spiritual entities that God put in place. Their job was to direct the rest of mankind to Yahweh while He raised up Israel (i.e. Jacob) as His special and chosen nation (Deuteronomy 32:9). Instead, the power God imbued in them went to their heads. Just as Satan believed that he was above God, so did every single one of these spiritual sons. All rebelled, perhaps at Satan’s instigation. Regardless of how it happened, all became gods of the nations over which God had placed them.
In Psalm 82 we see how angry God was at their disobedience; so much so that He condemned them all to die like mere men.
But that hasn’t happened yet. Unlike the fallen sons in Genesis 6 that have already been relegated to the depths of Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4), the sons, i.e. the gods, over the nations of the world remain in place to this day. In the Old Testament we see their undue influence on man, whether pagan or Israelite. The worship of these deities caused men to commit abominations in the sight of God, including child sacrifice, divination, extreme sexual deviancy, and even cannibalism. All these practices were committed by the entire spectrum of man in every strata of society, from kings to priests to peasants. We get a sense of this from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. They were still engaging temple cult prostitutes despite their profession of Christianity (e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:1-20).
Obviously, some aspect of the Old Testament practices bled through into New Testament times. Actually, all of it. Why should today be any different if these same gods remain in place over the nations? Jesus has already won the war, but the world continues in rebellion until He returns at the end of the Tribulation and cleans up this mess.
If the gods required blood sacrifices then; if their out-sized influence caused mankind to engage in odious practices then, wouldn’t they continue to do so today with their subjects? Who are their subjects? ANYONE who doesn’t follow Jesus Christ; anyone who has sinned and opened the door to the demonic. Then where are these abominations occurring? Why don’t we see them? I believe because they’re hidden in plain sight.
Their visibility has shifted. Yet if we had eyes to see, we would.
Let’s do a thought experiment. How does someone rise to the greatest heights of prominence in his or her sphere, whether government, entertainment, sports, high tech, and even in the church? There are three primary ways:
- A person works hard and through his own efforts claws his way to the top.
- Someone is a follower of Jesus Christ and God blesses him.
- The hunger and lust for success drive a person to make an unholy alliance that guarantees prominence in this life in exchange for his soul in the next.
True faith in Christ is rare in the world. Jesus told us the road of destruction is very broad, while the path through the straight gate of God’s kingdom is extremely narrow (Matthew 7:13). That being the case, #2 above is probably a rare occurrence. What about #1? How often do you think people overcome all the obstacles in life on their own that prevent extraordinary success? I bet the odds are greatly against this as well.
Trying to calculate percentages is a stab in the dark. One of the major questions is: How many people don’t know God through His Son and also sin?
Under the assumption that very few highly placed individuals in their chosen fields are true Christians, and few of these have likely risen to the top through their own human efforts, I believe that many—MANY—of these leaders in all of these cultural and societal spheres have demonic help. More than that, because the great “unwashed” populace of the world are not Christians, I also believe that a great many of them likewise have submitted to the influence of demons. But let’s just discuss the elites.
If you have your ear to the ground, you’ve probably heard about the extraordinary amount of human trafficking in the world. If you’re paying more attention, you may have also noted that many elite pedophile rings have been discovered in recent years with some taken down. If you’ve followed the scent, you’ve likely heard that these pedophiles are highly placed in government, industry, and even the church. They’re disgusting, yet few participants actually get caught and punished. Why? Because at the nosebleed levels that these elites operate, they take care of their own. Consider why Jeffrey Epstein “committed suicide.”
Perhaps you’ve heard of Pizzagate or Spirit Cooking. If not, do the research. You’ll see that VERY well-known names in our government, from Hollywood, throughout Silicon Valley, and among other areas of wealth and influence in this nation, have deep ties to these abominable practices. In America and throughout the world, wealthy families, royal families, are either deeply involved themselves or give money to those who practice these things. Saudi Arabia was a major contributor until the royal family was significantly changed. Because of their public persona, they will also do ANYTHING necessary to prevent disclosure.
Could this be the reason so many people in the sphere of Bill and Hillary Clinton have mysteriously been killed or committed suicide? Have you ever heard of anyone else with ties to so many deaths of people they know? Could potential exposure of elite pedophile rings be one of the big reasons why Donald Trump has been targeted like he has?
Back to one of the original questions. Does Satan operate alone? Is there any way he possibly could? Logically, no.
Think about what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
This tells us how God’s spiritual enemies work. They’re hierarchical. But more than that, they are territorial. Once more, recall Deuteronomy 32:8. Demonic beings, i.e. fallen sons of God, rule geographically over nations. In addition, they have cultural and societal spheres of influence; you name something or someplace where power and control are present, and you’ll encounter these rebellious spiritual beings pulling strings over their human counterparts. Anyone who rejects Jesus as Savior and Lord is subject to these entities. If these humans have sold their souls—which I maintain that a great many of them have—then what kind of practices do you think they’ll do?
We need only refer to the Old Testament for a flavor. They do today exactly what they did then. And they’re all under the power, control, or influence of—yes, Satan—but more importantly for our understanding: the fallen sons of God and their minions.
Is it any wonder that we have such lawlessness all around us? Worse, we cannot even begin to imagine the complete descent into iniquity once we are Raptured and the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit departs with His church, thus removing all restraint from chaos and the works of Satan and his henchmen.
Jesus came to this world to destroy all this anti-God activity and more.
Thank you, Lord, for Your mercy upon those who love and abide in You.
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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and serves as Missions Director at his church. He is also a prolific author. His Whirlwind Series is comprised of three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time. These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus. Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for two novels: The Tattooed Cat and Alien Revelation. He has recently released a new novel on eco-terrorism called Green Dreams, and Looking Up – Volume 3, a non-fiction work that contains essays and devotions on end-times and prophetic events. Gary’s intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read. You can reach him at his website: www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390. You can also see his video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol.