Why Is the Satanism Category Ranked So Low?
One of the most common questions regarding the Rapture Index is why the rating for the Satanism category is so low. Right now, it is at a two rating, which seems to conflict with recent headlines:
District officials in Pennsylvania had green-lighted an “After School Satan Club.” It was poised to be a headline-grabbing countermeasure to a Christian club by an atheist group claiming to be Satanists.
The name of the sponsoring group is the Satanic Temple, and they don’t claim to worship the same Devil that is in the Bible. June Everett, the After School Satan Club national campaign director, said the club is anything but a joke.
“We are run by the Satanic Temple, and we are; the club is brought to you by your local, friendly, self-identified, non-theistic Satanists.” Everett said the Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in the same Satan that Christians do.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., joined a chorus of Republicans and conservatives voicing outrage over a controversial performance during this year’s Grammys on February 5, which featured a singer dressed as the Devil.
“Nonbinary” singer Sam Smith’s duet with transgender artist Kim Petras for their song “Unholy” featured Smith wearing Devil horns while Petras gyrated in a cage against the backdrop of flames. Dancers dressed as demons bowed and crawled around Smith.
“This…is…evil,” Cruz wrote in response to a tweet of the performance shared by conservative commentator Liz Wheeler.
Another congressman is upset over an animated horror comedy featuring Danny DeVito as the voice of Satan, which is “clearly evil.” US Rep Mike Johnson from Louisiana, through his Facebook post, denounced “Little Demon” as being from the pit of hell. His official website says the series is about a woman and her 13-year-old daughter who are trying to live normal lives even though Satan is the girl’s father and wants custody of her soul.
“I couldn’t get to the remote fast enough to shield my 11-year-old from the preview, and I wonder how many other children were exposed to it — and how many millions more will tune in to the new series, owned and marketed by DISNEY,” the congressman and vice chairman of the House Republican Conference wrote in a recent post.
In the past few years, there have been all types of satanic representations on TV:
In 2016, Fox presented a TV series that portrayed the Devil as a smooth operator. The series revolved around the story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), the DC Universe’s version of the Devil, who abandons Hell for Los Angeles, where he runs his own nightclub named Lux and becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Katy Perry topped Sam Smith with her 2014 Grammy Awards performance that had her doing a full-fledged witchcraft incarnation live on national TV.
In 2021, Gay rapper Lil Nas X grossed out some of his closest fans by sliding down a pole to hell to give the Devil a lap dance.
It is clear that Satan is the god of this world. He is a being of extreme popularity, but few people believe he really exists. You can look at the most satanic rock bands of all time, and the majority of them don’t think the Devil was ever a real being. The band AC/DC had hits like “Highway to Hell,” “Care of the Devil,” and “Hells Bells.”
Not a single member of AC/DC thinks that Satan is a real being. They have been around since 1973, and they are the second most successful band in the history of rock and roll. They have sold over 200 million records worldwide.
When I created the Satanism category in 1987, I knew that the actual worship of Satan was low, and it still is. The Devil prefers that people think that he doesn’t exist. I find that to be very odd for someone who is extremely arrogant. Since Satan is a being of super intelligence, it ultimately makes sense that he would deceive people into thinking he never existed.
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
–Todd
Iranian Nuclear Nightmare
The last time we looked in this column at the prophecy about an apparent Persian/Iranian nuclear-type disaster was a number of years ago. At the time, it looked very much like the Iranian regime was on the verge of attaining the technology and obtaining the fissionable materials in sufficient amounts to produce a nuclear weapon.
Israel looked to be at that time about to take out Iran’s nuclear production centers within the Bushehr Mountains by military strikes. However, the program seems to have been disrupted by something called a Stuxnet worm—a cyber virus introduced by Israel’s IDF into Iran’s nuclear development computer system.
Still, the rumors persisted that the Iranians were on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb. The claim always seemed to indicate it would happen within several months at most.
The bomb, of course, was never demonstrated to have become fact, and yet the same claims are made today. Iran is on the cusp of creating a nuclear weapon, and they promise to use it to eliminate Israel when the capability comes into being.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in power during most of those earlier Bushehr Mountain threats. We know how the Israeli government has gone in and out of various stages of political-ideological phases since. And now, in 2023, Netanyahu is once again in power, and everything coming out of his government’s inner circle indicates the Iranian threat to complete its nuclear weapons program is about to come to fruition. Netanyahu continues to vow—as when he was in power in those earlier days—that Israel’s blood-vowed enemy will never be allowed to achieve nuclear weapons capability.
This would seem like a ho-hum moment in that we’ve seen it before, and nothing came of it. That they will once again come up with a Stuxnet-type technological worm to infiltrate and destroy Iran’s project before it can be completed is at the heart of the sense of not to worry.
There is an entirely different feel to these matters this time, however. This is particularly true among those of us who look at all other developments in Bible prophecy progression and see all the things mentioned by Jesus and the prophets as coming together into profound convergence. This factor and the obvious ratcheting-up of Israel’s military planning and Netanyahu’s strong words might indicate the Elam prophecy given by Jeremiah the prophet could be close to fulfillment.
Analyzing from a biblically prophetic perspective of the dangerous situation presented by Iran’s threats has been the mission of my friend Bill Salus of Prophecy Depot Ministries. He wrote in a 2014 article about a report outlining that danger.
The war-weary world is watching with worrisome eyes as Iran assembles a uranium enrichment arsenal that now numbers about 19,000 centrifuges. This many centrifuges spinning 24/7 can produce a nuclear weapon within about six weeks. Perhaps even more startling is the June 9, 2014 headline below from The Washington Free Beacon:
“Israeli Official: Iran to Have 50–100 Nuclear Warheads by 2024.” (“Elam: Iran’s Forgotten Prophecy: Middle East,” Bill Salus, Koinonia House, June 2014)
Well, the year 2024 is almost upon us. And, like all other prophetic signals on the immediate horizon, our headlines at the moment blaze with news from Israel.
As stated many times in these commentaries: No matter in which directions the cameras and microphones might be turned at the moment, they always swing right back to focus on Jerusalem and Israel as the center of controversy.
That truth continues to be in play. The following portrays the seriousness of the moment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, at the Hartog National Security Conference at the Setai Hotel in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, was interviewed by Prof. Walter Russell Mead, Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College, and the ‘Global View’ Columnist at the Wall Street Journal…
In response to the question: What would the policy be on Iran, on the assumption that the US administration claims that the 2015 nuclear agreement is completely finished, and in light of reports that Iran has enriched its uranium to 84% just below nuclear level, Prime Minister Netanyahu replied:
“Ask a question. How do you stop a rogue nation from acquiring nuclear weapons? Let’s see. I mean, there have been some examples, so we can maybe deduce a rule. “…
“The only thing that has credibly stopped rogue nations from developing nuclear weapons is a credible military threat or a credible military action. You can couple that with crippling economic sanctions, but that’s not a sufficient condition. A necessary condition, and an often sufficient condition, is credible military action. The longer you wait, the harder that becomes. We’ve waited very long.”
“I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That is not merely an Israeli interest; it’s an American interest; it’s in the interest of the entire world.” (“PM says stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in interests of the entire world, not just Israel,” Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, February 21, 2023)
While Mr. Netanyahu lays out the nightmare for the entire world if Iran is allowed to develop its nuclear weapons program, it is a nightmare for the Persian people, sadly, that is in view from God’s prophetic perspective.
God, through Jeremiah, foretells that the Persians’ bow (its military capability) will be broken. There will be such a disaster as a result that the people of the region will have to scatter to the four winds to survive the carnage. I believe that carnage is nuclear radiation because of the facilities’ destruction.
Here is what Jeremiah said:
“Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go” (Jeremiah 46:39).
As I say, this is sad—tragic—if looked at as happening before the Rapture. There is a tremendous number of Christians in Iran, and reports have it that the number is growing spectacularly despite the evil regime’s efforts to stamp out believers in Christ. This might well be one more reason to add to the Rapture taking place before this prophecy is fulfilled—meaning that, with the seeming assault by Israel coming very soon, the great Rapture event might be sooner than even the most ardent Titus 2:13 watchman can imagine!
—Terry