"When you look at passages all through the Bible that describe things about the 'desolation in the earth' and so forth, you're really reading passages describing Genesis 1:2, and that's why Jeremiah 4 has the exact same terminology:
[22] For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
[23] I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
"We're reading about the culmination, the final installment, of this battle and that's why there's so much in your Bible about that short little period of time in history," says Richard Jordan. "You ever thought about why is there so much about that little 7-year, and actually three-and-a-half year, period right before the Second Coming of Christ in wrath and judgment?
"All of that plan of the Adversary is personified ultimately; He's literally going to let Satan have his way, 'Do your best,' and He'll take and destroy him.
"If you just get in your mind when you study these things where you are in that structure, these passages are not just another description of another judgment. This is the ultimate conclusion of the conflict between God and Satan, between Jehovah and His Adversary.
Zephaniah 1: [2] I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
[3] I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.[4] I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
[5] And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
"Notice that the ultimate problem, and the thing that has to be destroyed, is that remnant of Baal. You got to get rid of the problem; of the source of evil.
"From the end of verse 1 we see Zephaniah is prophesying in the days of Josiah. He's the great-great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. Two great kings in Israel, both of which rid the southern kingdom of Judah of the idolatrous priest and practices of Baal worship.
II Kings 23:5: [5] And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
"They literally had images of Baal in the temple, worshipping right alongside of Jehovah. Israel had been completely infected by the Baal worship. They've got the idolatrous priesthood, they're burning incense to the sun, the moon, to the planets, to all the host of heaven. They're worshipping the stars.
"When they worshipped the planets, they weren't just worshipping the physical planet; they're worshipping the gods associated with those planets, and that's what he's talking about in Zephaniah 1:4.
"Now, Josiah had gotten rid of all of that. By the time Zephaniah teaches, they've come back. It didn't take long to completely re-corrupt the nation. They had this great revival where they rediscovered the Bible and went out and had a Passover and all this wonderful stuff, but it was only three feet wide and a half-inch deep.
"What happened was immediately the land was re-corrupted and the compromise came right back in. What God tells Israel about Baal worship, what they're to do with Baal and Babylon . . .
Revelation 17:5: [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
"I've been making the point to you that she's the mother of harlots. When it says they worship the sun and the moon and the stars, that's all the kids that come from momma. That's talking about the different denominations, the different iterations, of Baal worship.
"You got worshippers of the sun arguing with worshippers of the moon about which one's right and what's the real problem? Momma. Kids will fight, arguing among themselves about who's better, but you know what happens? You let somebody else from outside come in and jump on one of them and they'll all jump on them: 'Because we're family.'
"The mother is where the stuff comes from. All those kids out there, they just argue and squabble, but they're not the real issue and you never want to get diverted into all the stuff.
"Mystery Babylon the Great is the real conspiracy; that's the thing where verse 18 says, [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
"Revelation 17 talks about the religious part, chapter 18 talks about the economic and political part. But the economic and political part is motivated and run by the spiritual part.
"If you go back in Isaiah 52, or in Joshua, where He talks about that 'unclean thing,' He's talking about things in the religious system that had corrupted Israel; He's talking about Baal worship.
"Paul says in Ephesians 4:25: [25] Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
"That verse is not telling you, 'Well, don't tell a fib.' He's talking about the Lie and the truth program and that's what Isaiah 52's talking about.
"What Israel's done is they've completely been seduced by the strong delusion to believe a lie because that's where their heart was. The problem is this remnant of Baal, and it's a remnant because Josiah had gotten rid of it, but they're still there.
"Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel, just prior to the captivity. Ezekiel 8:5:[5] Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
[6] He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations."There's that image of Baal right there at the entrance to the temple, so this stuff has come back and you've got the idol back in the temple! He said 'thou shalt see greater abominations.' That's why the glory's leaving; He's not going to sit there with the idols.
Verse 7: [7] And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
[8] Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.[9] And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
[10] So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
"Now you've got all the trappings, the pictures, all the menagerie of all this Baal worship stuff and they've now got it painted on the walls.
Ezekiel 8: [12] Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
[13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.[14] Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
[15] Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
"Tammuz is the queen of heaven. So now you've got the idols, all the images and the pictures and the icons and all the stuff, but they're all dedicated to Baal and you've got the queen of heaven there. People worshipping the queen of heaven again, right in the temple.
Verse 16: [16] And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
"This is where Israel almost immediately backslid right into all of this stuff. They had the opportunity, but, 'Pfft,' they went right back! Zephaniah is addressing that bunch; that's where he's at.
"Those names in Zephaniah 1:4, Chemarim and Malchan, you'll find with the idolatrous priests back over in Kings and so forth. Those are just branches of denominations of Baal worship. That name Chemarim; he's an idolatrous priest and they wore long black robes called vestments. Have you heard of them?
Zephaniah 1:8: [8] And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
"Look at James 2: [2] For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
[3] And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:"That's not gay clothing in the 21st Century definition of the word 'gay.' Gay there is like he's showing off, colorful, that kind of thing. One of the things Zephaniah is describing among the princes is that stuff over in James.
"The 'strange' there is not like 'cuckoo' or odd; it's like a stranger. You're a stranger and a foreigner. They're wearing apparel that's associated with the Gentiles, and particularly with Baal worship. God gave Israel a very specific way to dress; a kind of clothing that they were to wear in order to make them different from the nations. These folks have completely abandoned all of that. One of the ways they've done it is with the religion.
"What all that stuff is is just the reinstitution of Baal worship back in the midst of the people. The idolatrous stuff just completely consumed the nation. The problem is in verse 6: [6] And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.
"They've turned back from the Lord. You know, a real interesting word is 'untoward.' Jesus talks about this 'untoward generation.' Instead of turning toward the Lord, they've turned their back on the Lord.
"Untoward means, 'I'm not turned toward; I'm untoward.' They've turned away from Him, and so when Jesus talks about this 'untoward generation,' He's talking about these birds right here. Those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired for Him.
"It's a heart problem they have and their heart is turned toward this false religion and that's why II Thessalonians 2 says he's going to send them a strong delusion that they might believe a lie because they did not want to receive the truth. God is going to purge out the rebel by giving them what their heart wants."
No comments:
Post a Comment