Update!

A Society Unaware

By James Jacob Prasch

First of all somebody asked me, somebody wanted to know the difference between history and historicity. A narrative that has historicity is a true story. The gospel is a true story that is historicity; the story is true, it is not a fairy tale, it is not a myth, it is a true story. History is a historical account of what happened. They are two different things, for instance: if you wanted to read about the reign of King Hezekiah and Isaiah, you would go to the books of Kings and Chronicles. That is the history; it tells you what happened in the history of Israel and of Judah at that time in the reign of King Hezekiah in the days of Isaiah--that is the history. But when you go to Isaiah, chapter 36 and 37, when Rabshakeh comes against Jerusalem that is the narrative, that is historicity. It is a true story. One is a true story against the background of what would happen in history, the other is just a history. The whole Bible is like that; the Gospels are like that. We're told in John's Gospel that if everything that Jesus did was written down all the books couldn't contain it. We don't have a comprehensive history of the life and ministry of Jesus; John says we do not. But what we do have is historicity, true stories; we know that that stuff really happened. Well the creation is the same way. I obviously do not believe in Darwinism, I don't even believe in theistic evolution but I certainly hate Darwinism. But what we have is a true story; Genesis 1 to 11, the whole thing is a true story; its historicity, it’s historically true. Liberals and Darwinists, they say "Well it doesn't have historicity, it is not historically true, it's only a matter of fable" or something like that. In actual fact Genesis 1 to 11 was written to correct myths and fables. Pagan civilizations had the myths and fables. When Moses wrote it he was correcting the distorted interpretations of people who mythologized it. It is a true story, it literally happened. But the book of Job tells us we do not have the history; John tells us we do not have the history of Jesus. Job tells us we don't have the history of the creation, what we have is the historicity. We have a true story. God uses different kinds of literature to explain different kinds of truths. Apocalyptic, you have a lot of symbolism. Hebrew poetry like psalms, you read it like poetry. Wisdom literature like proverbs you read like wisdom literature. Narrative you read as a story; albeit a true one. History you read as history. There are different kinds of literature in the Bible. Everything I said last night only had to do with literary genre, not with whether something is true or false. There are two ways of looking at it. When I was a little boy in New York I had two books on the American Civil War that I used to read and reread; one was Bruce Catton's “History of the Civil War”. A lot of little boys read that. Well that was the history. But then there was a book written by this guy from New Jersey called “The Red Badge of Courage”. It was a story that was true; it was against a historical background. Now they were both true but one was written in a literary genre of history. The other was written as a true story; that is the only difference between history and historicity. That is all I was saying; it is all true. It was these pagan myths that didn't believe in historicity. When Moses wrote that stuff, in part, what he was doing was he was giving the historically accurate and theologically correct interpretation to the stories that were well known. The Babylonians knew about the flood; the Egyptians knew about Adam and Eve. They all had these stories but they mythologized it under the influences of pagan religion. The Hebrews gave the historically true account of it in the form of the story against the idolatry of the pagans. There's a difference between history and historicity but it is a literary difference--it is not a factual difference.

The subject I have been given for today is this: A society unaware. Well we kind of know that. Look very briefly please to the gospel of Saint Matthew, the Olivet discourse, Matthew chapter 24 verses 38 and 39.

In those days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and given marriage, until that day that Noah entered the ark. They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So shall be the coming of the Son of Man.

They were unaware but that was a general truth, the people being unaware. We read in verse 43: "But be sure of this that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming he would've been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into." Now he is warning believers. The fact that secular society is unaware, that is a given. In fact part of the reason they are unaware is the consequence of their own sin and rejection of God, but the other part of the reason is God gives them over to that unbelief in judgment so when it happens it will be too late. These people do not understand what they're doing now. The atheists and Darwinists, especially the radical ones like Dawkins and militant homosexual activists and these people, and the pro-abortion activists, they do not know what they're doing. They are quite arrogant and quite assertive in what they say and in what they do. They do not realize they are being set up for a judgment. God lets them continue to believe that stuff and do that stuff because he is setting them up. But you always see the contrast with Jesus, with the apostles, with the Hebrew prophets; between nonbelievers not being aware, a society unaware, but what happens when God's people become unaware?

Paul deals with this in Colossians. We see it in the New Testament in Colossians chapter three verse five:

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Notice “amounts to idolatry”. For years I and others have warned about the mammon worship masquerading as faith among the Word Faith televangelists. These people do not teach faith in Jesus, they teach faith in faith. Their real God is money, it is idolatry, and they are idolatrous. What does it say next? Verse six:

For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come.

That term “the wrath of God” is an eschatological phrase, it is an eschatological nuance. It has to do with this period, the Day of the Lord. Ultimately God will say “that is enough”. Now you do not see it in the English translations but in verse eight "But you also put them aside, anger." That word for anger is wrath. Leave the wrath to God. His wrath is coming. And it goes on telling us how we should live. It first warns about money but then it tells us how we should relate to each other, forgiving each other, bearing with each other. Then it talks about family relations and morality, and then it talks about justice, economic, financial, and social justice and our dealing with other believers. But then it goes beyond that and it tells us, in Colossians 4:2:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving."

Jesus says “be alert”. Paul says “be alert, the wrath of God is coming”. The Purpose Driven people say “don't be alert, avoid end-time prophecy”. You have a dichotomy. Jesus said one thing; the Purpose Driven people say another. That is just a fact, I'm not here to cast wrath at anybody, I am simply stating a fact. Jesus taught one thing, Rick Warren teaches the diametric opposite. You can either believe Rick Warren or you can believe Jesus Christ, but you cannot believe both. They teach two mutually exclusive, fundamentally contradictory things. You cannot believe both. You cannot believe the Purpose Driven and the Word of God. You have to decide which religion you want. You cannot believe both.

We understand the world. Because of these things, the wrath of God will come. We should be alert, but look what it says about being alert; it talks about the way we should live, it talks about the fruit of this spirit, it talks about virtue, it talks about morality, it talks a lot about morality, and a lot about family, and about fellowship, how we relate to each other. The fact that you see so many churches today shying away from the issue of the return of Jesus, keeping away from prophecy--that is a reflection of the fact that so many Christians are not living the way they should to begin with. Then you've got these money preachers, their mammon worship is idolatry. Then you've got evangelical churches that tolerate divorce and remarriage where there are no Biblical grounds. They will let people defile the Lord's Table, eat and drink judgment to themselves. They left their wives, they left their husbands, they married somebody else with no Biblical grounds. It is not like the unbelieving partner left or you got saved after you were already married to a nonbeliever and he left you for somebody else, nothing like that. "We are incompatible and I know the Lord is going to forgive us." The Lord will forgive you if you repent and put it right but there are churches that just tolerate this.

Now, look what is happening. You see this with McLaren and these guys, and Tony Campolo, now it is homosexuality, now it is inclusive churches. Ted Haggard. He is back in ministry after he was fooling around with male prostitutes and the illegal drugs, now he is back in ministry with a new church. Hundreds of people are coming to it and he welcomes homosexuals yet he says he is born again. The reason you see a decline in the interest of eschatology, a decline in the interest of our blessed hope, the return of Jesus, is because so many Christians in so many churches are not living right in the ordinary circumstances of life. Once people stop living right in the ordinary circumstances of life, in terms of morality in the way we should be, it is inevitable they're not going to look for the return of Jesus because it is bad news for them. There will be a day of reckoning. Yes, the society is unaware, that is a given. But what happens when we reach a state where Christian society is unaware. Again these things are not new.

We are told by Paul in at least two places, in Romans and 1st Corinthians, that the history of Old Testament Israel was written so we would learn from their mistakes as well as from their wise decisions. Two-thirds of the Bible was written that we would learn from the mistakes of Israel. Now there's more to it than that obviously but that is a primary reason according to Paul.

Now let's understand something we've talked about a lot--how the last days of Israel and the last days of Judah before the Babylonian captivity are a picture of the last days for both the Church and Israel before Babylon the great. The future is always in the past. When we study what happened before the Babylonian captivity we get a very well defined shadow of what is going to happen before the arrival of Babylon the Great in the book of Revelation. With this in view let's look at the three sons of Isaiah, a society unaware.

When we read Isaiah it's like when we read most of the Old Testament prophets of Israel, most of the Hebrew prophets. We are always trying to sort out certain things. First thing is what is specifically for Israel and the Jews and only for Israel and the Jews, but what is for Israel and the Jews does that also apply to the Church? If something is for the Church it does not mean it's not for Israel, and if something is for Israel it does not mean that it is also for the Church. There are some things that are specifically for Israel but there are some things that are for Israel that also apply to the Church. Aavoid the errors of Replacement Theology. Second, what is literal, what is figurative, and what are both? What is literal, what is figurative, and what are both? Thirdly, what is for the prophet's own time, what is for the first coming of Christ, what is for the second coming of Christ, and what is for some combination of those things? Sounds complicated doesn't it. What is for his own time, what is for the first coming of Jesus, what is for the second coming of Jesus, and what is for some combination of those things? Well Isaiah is a classic example of trying to sort these things out. Let's begin with the first son:

Isaiah 7:10-16: Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Because of the rejection of the truth Israel would be forsaken. That partially happened in Isaiah's own time but it also happened in the first century. Israel was already doomed because of its rejection of the Messiah; it was going to happen. Notice that this Son would have to reject evil and choose good. Jesus was tempted in Matthew chapter four, but unlike the first Adam, the last Adam did not choose evil. The rabbis like to tell people "This is not about the Messiah because the word there, a virgin shall conceive in Hebrew is the word almah, not bethulah, almah not bethulah." Their problem is in the Septuagint, in the Greek Old Testament, the ancient sages, the ancient rabbis seven times translated the word alma as parthenos, as in parthenogenesis seven times. The ancient rabbis said it meant virgin. The Messiah would have to be born of a virgin, but His coming would herald not just salvation, His coming would herald judgment. Yet people were oblivious to it. Then it goes on. In chapter eight we see the second son:

Isaiah 8:1-4: Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. [Maher-shalal-hash-baz] And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

This predicts the events of 721 BC, the Assyrian captivity. But then there is the third son. Remember we have no chapter divisions in the original Hebrew text. Something is happening - - Judah in the south begins going the same way as Israel in the north. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, the Levites and the refugees from up north begin making the same mistakes that were made by the northern tribes, only instead of Assyria conquering them it's rather going to be Babylon. Now look what happens: Verse 6:

“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah."

Shiloah is almost the same as the Hebrew word sheliach, apostles, like the pool of Siloam, it is the same word. If you go with John to Jerusalem make sure you see the pool of Siloam, the original one has been excavated now. In other words what is it saying? You reject the truth. Well applied to the church they are rejecting the original teachings of the apostles, the shlehim in favor of what? Here it was Rezin the son of Remaliah. This is frightening. The nation to who's pagan gods you begin to venerate is that nation that would judge you. That nation whose gods you venerate is that nation that will come against you and God will allow and even cause to come against you as an instrument of judgment in the hope that you will repent. This is very frightening. Judah began to do the same thing as Israel but the people were oblivious to it. They were a society unaware, and Isaiah who is trying to say "Can't you see what you're doing; look what happened up north to Israel. Now Judah is doing it, don't you see what happened to them? You think it's not going to happen do us?" It's the same thing.

I've live in England. The average married couple in Britain has 1.2 children. The average Muslim family in Britain has 8.4 children. France is the same, Holland is the same. Western Europe is "Islamizing." It's not just Islamic immigration, it is abortion. In this country if it were not for immigrants from Latin America demographically the same thing would happen. We have a 2.1 birth rate per couple, we're just barely enough in America to preserve ourselves is a western society and that’s only because of immigrants, mainly from Latin America. Otherwise, the same trends happening in Europe will be happening here. What they don't tell you is the following: When you have the mayor of New York City, a Jew no less, I am only stating facts, wanting to build a mosque on ground zero called Cordoba which represents Islamic conquest of the West. That is what it represents. When you have the (former) President of the United States, Mr. Bush, taking the Koran, a book that says "God has no son" and putting it in the White House to honor Islam after September 11th. Mr. Barak Hussein Obama, whose real name was Barry--I wonder why he has got the Muslim name, good question, don't know... but I know what he says about Islam--he wants that mosque. The nation whose God you bow the knee to, whose God you venerate, is that nation that's going to come in judge you. That is the nation that will come to destroy you. That is the nation that is the religious people group who will be the instrument of God's wrath against you. We are doing it. We are accepting something that is completely satanic, it's going to happen. It is inevitable. September 11 was inevitable. They will always tell you the lies; politicians owned by oil companies, and I'm not getting political, will always be more than willing to lie because that is their job. They are professional liars. They will tell you "Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance." They lie and they know they are lying. Every time you hear one of them you know they are lying. They cannot show you one Islamic country that will give Christians and Jews the rights they get here or in Israel. They know they are lying but those are politicians. What happens when the Church lies? What happens when Christians lie? I am only stating a fact. At Crystal Cathedral, in Orange County, Robert Schuller had the Grand Mufti of Damascus preaching in his pulpit. The Grand Mufti of Damascus preached in the Crystal Cathedral and Mr. Schuller said he would not mind if his grandchildren became Muslims--so he said on television. Immediately after September 11th in Chicago, Willow Creek, Bill Hybels invited Islamic clergyman, a Mullah, to come and explain Islam to born-again Christians. Please find me one mosque that will allow an evangelist to come in and explain the Gospel. Now Hybels says he is a Christian. He says he is a saved Christian! I am only stating facts. What does God say? "These people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoice in Rezin, the son of Remaliah." They rejoice in the teachings of Muhammad and the Nabataean Moon god Allah and again it goes on and on and on. Saved Christians involved in this interfaith stuff. Can't you see what happened to Israel? Can't you see what happened to other civilizations that did this? No, society is unaware, but what happens when believers or at least professing believers are unaware. They have no idea what they are doing.

But then something happens. The strategic realities begin to overtake them. Verse 7--The king of Assyria comes up against them, as we know what happens with Rabshakeh and all that stuff in Isaiah;

"It will sweep into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, it will reach even to the neck and the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel."

Who is Immanuel? Jesus. Notice it is His land. To whom does Israel belong? Jesus. It will go up to your neck. When we read the book of Isaiah we see the Assyrian invasion went up to their neck. They came via Lachish, they conquered most of Judah, as they conquered all of Israel, but they did not get Jerusalem. Isaiah persuaded Hezekiah to trust God and to hold out. The water only went up to their neck then receded. But then he says "Look out for Babylon." The Assyrians didn't do it but if you do not repent the Babylonians will. But the society was unaware. When they were really in trouble they turned to God and they listened to Isaiah. After September 11th people began to listen but they quickly forgot. Not just because of corrupt politicians in bed with the Saudi Arabians, who behead Christians, not just because of the political whores in Washington, but because of the political whoredom in the Church. It is amazing. When the Muslims persecute Christians they don't say a word. When Israel stands up to them we are supposed to be up in arms.

Then something else happens. Things begin to become impending so there are some people who realize something’s happening and they begin looking at all kinds of other stuff--specifically, two things. Let us look:

Isaiah 8:11-16: For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’

In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,

And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. “It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.“Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken;

They will even be snared and caught.” Bind up the testimony, seal the law [Torah] among my disciples. [Seal the law]. You see what happens next:

Isaiah 8:19-22: When they say to you “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law [that is the Torah] and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. [No light, no resurrection hope]. They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

The story then continues about what is going to happen until you get to chapter 9:

"He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."

It prophesize about the third son now:

Isaiah 9:6-7: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called [Pele Yoetz]

Pele is a divine adjective in Biblical Hebrew. It is only ever used for God. Remember when Manoah asked the angel "What is your name" and he said "Why do you ask my name for it is Pele." That was the Angel of the Lord, the Metatron, it was a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus. Pele is only ever used for God.

Pele Yoetz, Mighty God, [El Gabor, God Almighty. Jesus was God] Eternal Father, [Aviad], and Prince of Peace [Sar Shalom].There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom.

Three sons: The first coming of Jesus, events intermittent and then the return of Jesus. The government will indeed be upon His shoulder but first he is born as a child. The government being on his shoulder will take place at his second coming. Let's understand this. What happened before his first coming is what happens before his second coming. Society was unaware of what was happening but they knew troubles were mounting. People went into two things in 721BC. People went into two things in 585 and 586BC before the Babylonian captivity. And people went into two things before his first coming when there were many false messiahs, and magicians. We read about this in Acts Chapter 5, Judah of Galilee, we read about it in Acts Chapter 8, Simon Magnus. What were those two things? Conspiracy theories and the occult. Instead of binding the law, instead of binding the Word of God they went into conspiracy theories and the occult. Let's take the second first.

The mediums, the spiritists, go ahead, consult them. I have warned many times that those people who are teaching heresy and prophesying falsely in the name of the Lord, I am only being honest; I can prove every word. I do not hate them but I hate what they are and I hate what they are doing--they are being used by Satan. These Kansas City false prophets, people like Rick Joyner, Cindy Jacobs, the New Apostolic Reformation, this is not prophecy, it is clairvoyance. They predict things that do not happen in the Lord's name. They preach doctrines that are not scriptural and delude people into trusting and believing things that are not so. They get into a false eschatology … Kingdom Now, Dominion Theology. Others gravitate into the extremes of Calvinism and Preterism. There will be no antichrist, no falling away. Those things have completely happened in the early centuries of the church, it gets worse and worse and worse.

Then it warns of consulting the dead, necromancy. The Eastern Orthodox Church is built on necromancy. Go into any Roman Catholic Church here in Phoenix or Tempe, you will see statues of dead saints and people lighting candles and kneeling down before statues of the dead. And we are told by them that this is Christianity! We are told to have ecumenical unity! It is necromancy! They are consulting the dead! That is what Isaiah warned about.

"Should these people consult their God or should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

Well, they will tell you "Oh, we don't really pray to these saints as such, we just ask them to go to God on our behalf." That is what a Catholic will tell you. That is what my mother believes. It is a cult. Scapulas, fetishism, it is a cult! Relics, it is a cult the way they have got it. But it is not just Catholics. We have people today who are being called prophets who are basically spirit mediums. They do and teach the same thing as New Age ascended masters only they use Christian jargon. You look at these guys like Todd Bentley. He had an angel visiting named Emma, now he has a new angel visiting him called "International Banker." He abandoned his wife and kids, took off with some babe, married her after he divorced his rightful wife, and now she is prophesying. And Joyner and these guys are promoting it. They are promoting open immorality, open whoredom, open adultery and false prophecy. That is what they are doing. Jesus is going to come. The government will be upon His shoulders. That is true, but before He comes there will be an increase in occult activity. Not just in the world, we know that, we know the world has gone into I Ching and astrology and fortune telling and all that nonsense, Nancy Regan had séances in the White House, we know the world does that stuff. I am talking about Christians who are doing the same thing. Just because you put it in a Christian box does not change the content. Just because you use Christian jargon does not make it Christian. Jehovah's Witness and Mormons know how to use Christian jargon. New Agers know how to use Christian jargon. The Roman Catholic Church knows evangelical speak. But then there is something else. Even before that he tells them in verse 12: You are not to say it is a conspiracy in regard to what all this people call a conspiracy, don't fear what they fear, bind the word.

Not a day, not a day goes by when I do not get an email about the Illuminati. Not a conference do I ever attend or speak at where somebody doesn't want to talk to me urgently and give me a brown envelope with all this other stuff about conspiracy theories … about the Jesuits taking over and infiltrating this and that. The Freemasons, demonic symbols, it is a conspiracy.... "You are not to say it is a conspiracy to what all these people call a conspiracy." Now, don't get me wrong. Saved Christians should not be in these secretive lodges taking blood oaths. It is obvious a saved Christian should not be a Freemason. Unfortunately in Britain and the American South a lot of them are but they should not be. They should get out of it and burn those aprons and burn those books … that is obvious. At least it is to me and I think anyone with a modicum of discernment and Biblical sense. They should know that Christians should not be involved in these things. Yes, the Jesuits are an evil organization founded by Ignatius Loyola based on occult practices like visualization. They were designed to stop the spread of the Gospel in the Counter Reformation. Of course they are evil but that has been known for centuries. Of course these people have political tentacles, we know that. But I get all of this kind of stuff; this preacher is a Mason and that one is a this, and look out, the Illuminati or the Jesuits have infiltrated the Baptists and all this.... That is what they are always thinking about! If you were to go on the Internet, on Yahoo, or Google, or Bing, or the new one, Snapchat or whatever it is and you were to Google JFK assassination conspiracy you would get thousands and thousands and thousands of pages about conspiracy theories; everything from the mafia to the communists to the CIA, thousands and thousands of pages. The problem with conspiracy theories is this: There is always a certain amount of truth in it. There is some grain of truth in it but then they embellish it all out of context. They get into conjecture, extrapolate all these fanciful scenarios and then there are people, clinically diagnosed, who develop obsessive-compulsive disorders based on it. In some cases they go into a delusional psychosis that is nothing short of paranoid to the point where if you disagree with it, they think that makes you part of the conspiracy.

Now what happens when people take conspiracy theories and reframe it as discernment? What happens when Christians go into conspiracy theories and rechristen it as end-time prophecy? There are people in the secular world doing the same thing but now you’ve got Christians doing the same thing only they put a cross on it. That is supposed to make it "Kosher”. And some of these guys are nuts. The Mogen David, that's an occult symbol. Well it is not a pentagram but it was a pre-Jewish pagan symbol in certain places that is for sure. I have seen it myself at Erdu, Egypt. However, it is not a Star of David, it is a Mogen David, its a Shield of David. There are varying interpretations in Judaism having to do with God's protection, like the tribes of Israel in a configuration around the Ark. But the interpretation I subscribe to is it is the star that will come from the East, the prophecy in the book of Numbers about the Messiah. In other words, you can go to the archeological digs in, Knossos, Crete. I've been there and you can see the fish god Dagon, represented by the miter, represented by the fish. Dagon was the fish god of the Philistines, the god of Goliath, symbolized by a fish. To the early Christians it was Icthys, Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Savior. The Christians had it as a symbol of Christ; the pagans had it as a symbol of Dagon before it was a symbol of Christianity. You can go to Wales or to Ireland and see Celtic crosses, pre-Christian. It was a pre-Christian pagan symbol among the druids before it was a Christian symbol; the cross! It is what a symbol means in a given cultural context that determines what it represents. There is no innate power in the symbol itself. In my youth it was the space program to beat the Russians to the moon. The project names were Mercury, then Gemini, then Apollo. To us these were simply project names for space launches at NASA. In the ancient world it was Greek mythology but it was their religion, a demonic religion. "We should not have gone to the moon, it is a demonic conspiracy." There are people who will say that. It is what a symbol means in its cultural, historical setting that determines whether it is good or evil. "He wears a Star of David, he must be part of the Illuminati. He is a Cabbalist." There are Christian websites that say this kind of crazy stuff. If you want to see real nuts, they are called Ruckmanites. I respect the King James Bible. I respect the underlying work of William Tyndale. I respect the legacy and heritage of Coverdale. Many used the King James Bible, only who authorized the King James Bible? Well according to every historian including Winston Churchill, whoever wrote about King James, it was authorized by a homosexual king who persecuted born-again Christians. Why do you think the Pilgrims came on the Mayflower to Massachusetts? Because King James was killing them. His mother was Mary, Queen of Scotts. Do you know how many Christians he killed? Now if you say that they think you are a blasphemer. But they cannot deny it. The Pilgrims refused to read the King James Bible. The 1611 edition had Roman Catholics holidays like the "feast of Mary" and stuff listed in it and it included the apocrypha as scripture. They thought it was too Catholic; therefore they read the Geneva Bible. The Pilgrims, the Puritans they would not touch it. Now I don't have the problem with it--they did but you've got these people, they don't determine your orthodoxy as a Christian by what you believe or the way you live. They determine your orthodoxy by what translation you read. Now don't get me wrong, we have terrible translations. We have corrupted paraphrases like "The Message". If you have a copy of "The Message" put a match to it, please! There is a problem in an issue with corrupted translations. I'm not saying that. But Ruckman says the additions in the 1611 King James Bible not found in the original Greek and Hebrew are later revelation. He adds to the Word of God. These people are crazy. There is only one verse in the entirety of scripture that deals with translation, Nehemiah 8:8 and it makes it clear it that the priority is on the original meaning of the original languages, not a 17th century translation of a translation. These are conspiracy theorists. They are obsessed with this stuff. Now why do they get obsessed with this stuff? Are they just kooks? Well they are. On the other hand there is more to it than that. Isaiah was saying "Don't listen to that conspiracy stuff. Don't call a conspiracy all they call a conspiracy. Bind the Torah; hold onto the Word of God.” When you’ve got people caught up in this Ruckmanism and this King James only extremism, which is again not to denigrate the validity of the King James Bible in any way; when you've got people caught up in conspiracy theories and they’re always on about the Jesuits, and the Masons, and the Illuminati and all this stuff and about the Star of David ... they are looking at that stuff instead of at the Word of God. It is a trap, it it's a setup.

I watched the news this morning before I came to church about Egypt and what is happening. Boy you can see how the stage is being set. Instead of looking at what we should be looking at you are looking at other stuff. Now you understand these Christians who are caught up in it--they may be sincere, in fact most of them are. They may really believe it but they don't realize their ignorance nor do they realize how they are being manipulated. They are taking their eyes off Jesus and putting it on scaremongering nonsense. Isaiah says "It is the Lord of Hosts whom you should regard as Holy. He shall be your fear. He shall be your dread. The fear of the Lord; however, is the beginning of wisdom." “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear then grace my fear relieved”. The next verse says--once you fear the Lord he will become your sanctuary. He will become your protector. You get to fearing this other stuff and you are not going to fear what you should be. You're putting your eyes on this conspiracy stuff, you're not putting your eyes on the Word of God and you will not understand when these prophecies are happening. What we have is a society unaware.

Yes, secular society is unaware, that is obvious. We all know it. But there are more and more Christians confusing discernment, apologetics, eschatology and end-time prophecy with conspiracy theories. That is what they are looking at. It is an old trick. It happened in the days of Isaiah. The scripture says it will happen again. And it is happening again. Don't call a conspiracy all these people say is a conspiracy. And realize the occult invasion is not simply talking about secular western society. It doesn't bother me nearly as much as that western society has been invaded by the occult as it bothers me that the body of Christ has been invaded by the occult. A society unaware. A society unaware. How can we, as the Body of Christ, as his messengers, as people with the divine mandate, to proclaim his return, fulfill that mandate when we are unaware ourselves. How can you? How can we make them aware when we are unaware? These people don't know that these televangelists are worshiping mammon. They don't know that these false prophets are a pack of clairvoyants. They don't know that these ecumenists are necromancers. They don't know and they don't know that these conspiracy theorists are just nuts. Unaware. Unaware. But we should not be unaware.

The Word of God makes it clear what is happening. The Word of God makes it clear what is going to happen. Yes these politicians in Washington, I watch these guys; forgive me, I pray for them but they seem like a pack of clowns trying to manage what is happening in Egypt. They do not have a clue what it really means because they don't know the Word of God and they don't believe it. They do not have a clue what they are even dealing with but that is them. Change the channel, watch any one of the televangelists being broadcast this Sunday morning and they don't have a clue either. That is what we're left with, a society unaware. The reason that we have a society that is unaware is because we have a Church that, in the most part, is co-equally unaware. Jesus does not want us to be unaware. He does not want me to be unaware; he does not want you to be unaware. The faithful believers will not be taken unaware. I will say it once again; the faithful believers will not be taken unaware. In His grace and mercy, may the Lord Jesus keep us faithful. God Bless!