From time to time we have called attention to decided trends in the world which are leading on to those awful days of the tribulation period that are to "come upon all the world" after the Lord has called His heavenly people home to be with Himself. Trends are everywhere in evidence of their preparing the way for "the man"—the violent head of the revived Roman Empire, with his active cohort, the false king in Jerusalem -and "the woman"—that vast false and corrupt religious system to be known as "Babylon the great" with headquarters in Rome. Forces are at* work, moving things in these two opposite directions, which will in the end bring them into conflict with each other. Then all that is represented by "the woman" will be utterly destroyed by "the man."
Another trend is more secretly at work, but will become more and more apparent as the end draws near. This movement is preparing mankind for actual commerce with the devil and his hosts of evil spirits. It will not be a new thing in the earth, for it is of old; but it will reach new heights during the great tribulation when Satan and his angels will be cast to the earth (Rev. 12:99And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)). At that time all the masks will be removed, and men will readily and openly render obeisance to the powers of darkness.
Perhaps the most open demonstration of the present trend is what took place last New Year's Eve on the beaches of Brazil, when an estimated 600,000 devotees of spiritist cults gathered to pay homage to various demons (TIME, January 12, 1959). Rich and poor mingled in what seemed to be a mad medley, but which gave every evidence of Satanic organization. Altars and offerings were almost everywhere on the beaches around Rio de Janeiro, while valuable offerings were tossed into the ocean to Yemanja, goddess of the sea. The wild orgies of heathen lands were repeated as the pace of the drums quickened, and those possessed by wicked spirits writhed and groaned on the sand. What a sad spectacle in Christendom!
It is now estimated that 10 million Brazilians, out of a total population of 61 million, are indulging in these spiritist meetings, and that in a nation with a claimed 95%, Catholic population. When the Roman Archbishop attempted to compete with the spiritist rally by holding a mass on the beach, he got only one person to attend for each 1000 who indulged in the spiritist demonstration.
With many Brazilians, their heathen demons have merged identities with personalities of Roman devotions; thus, their deity Oxala is Lord of Creation, and is also Christ; Yemanja, their sea goddess, is the same as "Our Lady in Glory," or Mary; while Xango Agodo, their deity of medicine, is the same as John the Baptist; and the war god is identical with St. George. This is really nothing new either, for did not Constantine, the Roman Emperor, make heathen feast days festivals of Christian worship? And Constantine, who made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, became head of the church and also remained high priest of the heathen. He was not baptized till on his deathbed. Satan has ever attempted to join himself to Christianity and thus corrupt it. The Apostle Paul withstood this when he refused the advertising of himself and the gospel by casting out the spirit of python which possessed a damsel at Philippi (see Acts 16). But few have followed Paul's steps in utterly rejecting such affiliation when proffered.
When God first placed Adam and Eve in the garden of delights, Satan at once set to work to bring about man's downfall, which he accomplished by deceiving Eve through his subtlety (2 Cor. 11:33But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)); so man gave up God for a piece of fruit after Eve believed the devil's lie that God was not good but was knowingly holding back something that would be good for man. He libeled God in His own creation, and man lost God by believing the lie. Now man's restoration depends on his believing that God is good, that God is love. John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) gives the lie to Satan's story, and believing that truth is the only way for man to be brought back to God. Even today, the devil's lie against God is being told over and over again. It has a new dress but it is the same falsehood; namely, that God would not be good if He put the rebellious sinner in hell. But a holy God could do nothing less to the rejecter of His goodness, for God will be no partner in anything that dishonors His own Son who at such an infinitely great cost provided the only way of salvation. See Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).
After man was expelled from the Garden of Eden, he soon felt the fruit of his estrangement from God, and of Satan's devices, for murder—violence (Cain killed his brother Abel) -came into the world. God left man to himself without governments, without law and order; and man became utterly lawless (the sad consequences of bondage to Satan) so that the earth soon became filled with violence and corruption. Man became a prey to his lusts, and he utterly corrupted himself. Conditions became so bad that God in faithfulness cleansed the earth by the flood, thereby removing the evidences of man's corruption and violence. He brought Noah and his family through the flood to re-people the cleansed earth.
Subsequent history proves that man's heart was not improved, and that Satan became more openly active; for after that time, man was deceived into worshiping demons. The devil did not show himself openly at first, but got man to worship images "made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Rom. 1:2323And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (Romans 1:23). What a fall! man degenerating into worshiping images like poor, fallen, mortal man, instead of "the only true God." Thus man sank lower by lowering the object of his worship, and lower and lower he went until at length he was worshiping the serpent—that form used by Satan when he seduced Eve to give up God. Thus the fall was perceptible and great, from the worship of God to worshiping man, then all the way back to the serpent—back to the devil.
Because of man's giving up of God, God gave him up to all manner of uncleanness (see Rom. 120For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)). If man will give up God, he must reap the consequences. Things progress by degrees, but when man will turn from even the formal acknowledgment of God to idolatry, he becomes the tool of the demons, and quickly degrades himself further and further. Idolaters did not realize that back of the idol, an invention of fallen man, was a demon. Behind the idol is a wicked spirit—a part of Satan's kingdom of wicked spirits. "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils [demons], and not to God." 1 Cor. 10:2020But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1 Corinthians 10:20). A writer of a previous generation wrote: "An idol, the creation of man's fancy, is nothing; but it is not possible that men could be moved to worship nothing; there is a real power behind it. The heathen think that they are sacrificing to deity; but their offerings ascend to demons, and by their sacrificial feasts they establish a fellowship with unclean spirits."
The Jews of old were warned by God time and time again not to have unholy intercourse with the idols of the heathen, or with any who had such commerce. God's Word strictly forbade any allowance of contact with the supposed spirits of the dead, or with those who used witchcraft or enchantments. There are some today who would tell us that all such spirit manifestations are faked, and that there is no reality in spiritism; but such persons are surely ignorant of the facts. Satan is a great power, and he has hosts of wicked spirits in attendance.
No doubt there is some trickery in spiritism, and some things are plainly faked; but beware lest in inquiring into what is supposed to be false, we fall into the trap of the real thing. Perhaps that which is false is planned by the enemy of souls to trap the unwary by his decoys. They may be but the entrance into open and avowed fiendish intercourse.
Speaking of Israel's being forbidden to indulge in such diabolic practices, we all know how sadly they failed. They went into idolatry and practices that were even worse than the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before them. For their idolatry, the two tribes finally were taken into Babylonish captivity—the ten had already been taken to Assyria. After the restoration from Babylon, the Jews departed from idolatry, so that when the Lord came to them He found them as an empty, swept, and garnished house. The evil spirit of idolatry had departed; but, alas, it is to return. The departure is only temporary. Hear the Lord's own words:
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." Matt. 12:43-4543When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43‑45). There can be no doubt about the meaning of these verses, nor to whom they apply. The Jews were there before Him, and they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent. They demanded of Him signs by which they would believe. They rejected Him who came as a greater than Jonah (the prophet) or Solomon (the king) or the temple (where the priest officiated). vv. 6, 41, 42. So with all their religious zeal and abandoning of idolatry, they rejected their Messiah when He came as their true shepherd. The spirit of idolatry is to return—"so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." And there will also be a sevenfold increase in this wickedness, for the wicked spirit is to return with seven other spirits more wicked than himself. Here is an instance of the number seven being used for completeness in evil.
A portion similar to that of Matt. 12 is found in Luke 11: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." Luke 11:24-2624When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Luke 11:24‑26). We have often noticed that Luke takes a larger view than does Matthew; for instance, only in Luke do we have the seventy disciples sent out. Both Matthew and Mark speak of the fig tree as the symbol of Israel as a nation being revived; Luke alone speaks of the fig tree and all the trees (chap. 21:29). So here in Luke 1124When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Luke 11:24‑26), the Lord does not restrict His remarks to Israel concerning the returning spirit of idolatry, for He omits the words, "So shall it be also unto this wicked generation." Luke 1124When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Luke 11:24‑26) gives a broader sense than Matt. 1224But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? (Matthew 12:24‑26), and it becomes apparent that the wicked spirit of idolatry, in a sevenfold worse form, is to return to Christendom as well as to the Jews. That it is on its way in the former is evidenced by the news from Brazil. It is said that this return to demon worship there is the product chiefly of the last decade. Nor should we think that spiritism is confined to Brazil; it is making progress in other countries—only perhaps more covertly.
The culmination of the wickedness of demon worship (for we have seen that demons are behind idols) is to be found in the last state of that obnoxious Christendom called "Babylon the great": "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils [demons], and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Rev. 18:22And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (Revelation 18:2). These wicked spirits will actually be housed, or confined, within Christendom at the end.
Nor is it to be only in Christendom, for when the head of the revived Roman Empire—the beast—and his confederate kings turn against Babylon, they will destroy it, root and branch, only to go still further into the worship of evil spirits; for men will then worship men whom they have deified, and openly worship the devil—Satan—in defiance of God (Rev. 13:44And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:4)). It will be the climax of man's wickedness when he in full-blown apostasy gives up even the nominal acknowledgment of God for Satanic worship. O Christendom! thither art thou bound. The last downhill descent will be swift and accelerated until the whole thing is thrown into "the great winepress of the wrath of God."
Dare Christians look upon this world with favor, and speak of its progress as though God could approve of that which is so soon to feel the weight of His wrath? Fellow Christians, may He give us a clearer perception of where this world is headed at breathtaking speed. How we need to set our minds on things above (Col. 3:22Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)), and enjoy our treasure which is there; for where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also (Luke 12:3434For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:34)).