Abortion and the Antichrist
Sometimes things are not as bad as they seem. Other times they are far worse. Abortion, with it's mega holocaust death toll and hidden impact on society and the church, qualifies as the worst of the worst. More frightening still, as millions of murdered babies turn to billions, such bloodshed must hasten commensurate judgement from a just Judge. Heaven's punishments for turning Earth crimson are just beginning. They will end in the greatest Tribulation mankind has or will ever know. During the "Day of the Lord" the "Avenger Kinsman" over a thousand million babies will allow to be done to mankind what mankind has done to the womb. And worse...
Summoning the Man of Sin
We've all seen the movies and heard the stories. When evil men and women seek to summon Satanic power they offer a sacrifice. The efficacy or power of the spell depends of three things, the first two being the quality and quantity of the sacrifice. Consider abortion in this light. Could more innocent human beings be found? And as for quantity, the sheer numbers defy imagination. In all of human history there has never been over a billion of any people group murdered. Yet in our generation five times the entire Earth's population in Christ's day and ten times the casualty count of World War II have been aborted with few taking notice.
The third component to ritual sacrifice is the sacrificer. Should those conspiring to murder successfully entice someone entrusted to love and care for the victim into offering the innocent life the evil summoned is greatly magnified. When abortion is not compulsory, as in the Free World, turning a mother's hand against the offspring in her own womb completes the diabolical curse. Yet there is far more. To legalize and even fund such betrayal requires corrupting the very institutions designed to protect the health and well being of its citizens from enemies both foreign and domestic.
Since America legalized abortion, the foundations of our greatest institutions have been undermined. Nearly four decades of attack have left many of the pillars of our society cracked and crumbling. In regards to abortion, far from protecting its youngest and most vulnerable future citizenry, these institutions are implicit in the murders of tens of millions. Some of these include:
- Our Supreme Court: Justices, revisionist policies and the appointment process.
- Our Political System: Both politicians and the pro-death lobbying process.
- Our Medical Profession: Those performing abortions and those failing to appropriately oppose the murderous and injurious practice.
- Our Legal Process: Police, judges and a court system condoning abortion and penalizing "rescuers" and other pro-life efforts.
- Our Education System: From "Planned Parenthood" tax funded sexual education for public schools (fox guarding the hen house) to assistance in secret abortions for minors.
- Our Media: Glorification of entitlement, promiscuity and the saturation of soft and hard core porn. Biased treatment of the merits of humanism's pro-death agendas.
Is it likely such corruption and wholesale slaughter's simply coincidental or has it been orchestrated by an Arch Enemy? To what end have thousands of millions of babies been sacrificed on the altar of convenience? What could such a unprecedented and previously unthinkable act of occultic barbarism hope to gain? Might the unmitigated global abortion of tens of millions annually serve as the greatest Satanic offering of all time with the expressed purpose of summoning the Man of Sin called the Antichrist?
Doctrines of Devils
Global conspiracy theories have few adherents, particularly within the church. Yet the Bible clearly teaches it's the church's unique mandate to fight, rather than fall prey to, the strategies of the unseen beings greatly influencing mankind from behind the scenes:
"Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil's tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm. Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God's justice protect you like armor." Ephesians 6:10-14
So what would happen if the church, as the institution ordained as the conscience and protector of societies other critical institutions, were itself deceived? What if it laid down it's armor and authority, turning a blind eye to an evil as malignant as abortion? Worse still, what if millions of it's membership condoned the practice, many seduced by doctrines of devils to the point of willingly taking part? If such were the case, might it be true that through apathy concerning and even participating in abortion the church is guilty of helping to summon the Antichrist?
The very thought is outrageous and such a suggestion should be immediately condemned as heretical! Unless, of course, it's true. The question is, do the facts merit inquiry into the unthinkable? Does the Bible support a case for the people of God being so off page? Unfortunately it does, from Adam and Eve's fall and Cain's murder of Able his brother to strong and repeated warnings regarding the end times:
"Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead." 1 Timothy 4:1-2
"Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 The Message
"Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth." Philippians 3:17-19
"But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed." 2 Peter 2:1-3
"God is especially incensed against these "teachers" who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists... These people are nothing but brute beasts, born in the wild, predators on the prowl. In the very act of bringing down others with their ignorant blasphemies, they themselves will be brought down, losers in the end. Their evil will boomerang on them. They're so despicable and addicted to pleasure that they indulge in wild parties, carousing in broad daylight. They're obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they're experts at it. Dead souls! They've left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil... There's nothing to these people—they're dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they're dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they're addicted to corruption—and they are—they're enslaved. If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit" and "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud." 2 Peter 2:10-22 The Message
"Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." 2 Corinthians 13:5
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12
"...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8
Rapture then Wrath
Many of the most inconvenient truths the Bible teaches have to do with the Great Tribulation Period. First and foremost for modern First Word Christians is the timing of the promised Rapture or Catching Away of the faithful. About a hundred years ago the idea of a Pre-tribulation Rapture was introduced and within two generations grew to be widely accepted, particularly among affluent regions of the world where there was little or no Christian persecution. While a wonderful idea, sadly the Bible seems to clearly teach a Mid-Tribulation Rapture, also called a Pre-Wrath Rapture in Marvin Rosethal's book by the same name. In this timeline the Church remains on Earth through 40 of 60 terrible events that will take the lives of more than half of humanity. While many would call such horrors the "wrath of God" the Book of Revelation does not do so. In fact the first time the phrase, "God's wrath" is used in the Bible's final Book is immediately following Jesus' return to Earth, as if the timing of the Rapture was to specifically spare His Church from God's wrath.
According to Revelation, the coming of Heaven's crowned Christ follows several fantastic events. These culminate in Eternity's Trial in the Supreme Court of Creation breaking out into full scale angelic war! Victorious over Satan, Michael and his angels cast the Dragon and his army from Heaven onto Earth. Enraged, the Devil immediately raises up the Antichrist to make war against the Church:
"And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea. I saw a Beast rising from the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads—on each horn a crown, and each head inscribed with a blasphemous name. The Beast I saw looked like a leopard with bear paws and a lion's mouth. The Dragon turned over its power to it, its throne and great authority. One of the Beast's heads looked as if it had been struck a deathblow, and then healed. The whole earth was agog, gaping at the Beast. They worshiped the Dragon who gave the Beast authority, and they worshiped the Beast, exclaiming, "There's never been anything like the Beast! No one would dare go to war with the Beast!" The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months. It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven. It was permitted to make war on God's holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races. Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast. Are you listening to this? They've made their bed; now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes straight to prison; anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile, God's holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground." Revelation 13:1-10 The Message
This passage reveal the Church still on Earth at this point. Jesus, Paul and John all agree that only after this terrible period of persecution does the Son of Man return in clouds of glory to harvest Earth's faithful. In fact, Revelation's very next chapter reveals Christ's deliverance of His people and God's horrible wrath against their oppressors:
"I looked up, I caught my breath!—a white cloud and one like the Son of Man sitting on it. He wore a gold crown and held a sharp sickle. Another Angel came out of the Temple, shouting to the Cloud-Enthroned, "Swing your sickle and reap. It's harvest time. Earth's harvest is ripe for reaping." The Cloud-Enthroned gave a mighty sweep of his sickle, began harvesting earth in a stroke. Then another Angel came out of the Temple in Heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. Yet another Angel, the one in charge of tending the fire, came from the Altar. He thundered to the Angel who held the sharp sickle, "Swing your sharp sickle. Harvest earth's vineyard. The grapes are bursting with ripeness." The Angel swung his sickle, harvested earth's vintage, and heaved it into the winepress, the giant winepress of God's wrath. The winepress was outside the City. As the vintage was trodden, blood poured from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle, a river of blood for two hundred miles." Revelation 14:14-20 The Message
Deceiving the Anointed
It seems incredulous that God's people could stand idly by as the Antichrist is summoned under their very nose. Worse still to suggest millions are ignorant or even willing participants. Yet scripture is replete with examples of incredible foolishness, even among deliverers sent and greatly anointed by the Lord. One of scripture's most poignant parables concerns the amazing gullibility of the great hero Samson and guile of the seductress Delilah. In all of scripture, only in this unique case alone does the preincarnate Christ appear as the Angel of the Lord to give special instruction to His deliverer's parents:
"And then the People of Israel were back at it again, doing what was evil in God's sight. God put them under the domination of the Philistines for forty years. At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless. The angel of God appeared to her and told her, "I know that you are barren and childless, but you're going to become pregnant and bear a son. But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean. You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head—the boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression." The woman went to her husband and said, "A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God—terror laced with glory! I didn't ask him where he was from and he didn't tell me his name, but he told me, 'You're pregnant. You're going to give birth to a son. Don't drink any wine or beer and eat nothing ritually unclean. The boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of birth to the day of his death.'" Manoah prayed to God: "Master, let the man of God you sent come to us again and teach us how to raise this boy who is to be born." God listened to Manoah. God's angel came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field; her husband Manoah wasn't there with her. She jumped to her feet and ran and told her husband: "He's back! The man who came to me that day!" Manoah got up and, following his wife, came to the man. He said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He said, "I am." Manoah said, "So. When what you say comes true, what do you have to tell us about this boy and his work?" The angel of God said to Manoah, "Keep in mind everything I told the woman. Eat nothing that comes from the vine: Drink no wine or beer; eat no ritually unclean foods. She's to observe everything I commanded her." Manoah said to the angel of God, "Please, stay with us a little longer; we'll prepare a meal for you—a young goat." God's angel said to Manoah, "Even if I stay, I won't eat your food. But if you want to prepare a Whole-Burnt-Offering for God, go ahead—offer it!" Manoah had no idea that he was talking to the angel of God. Then Manoah asked the angel of God, "What's your name? When your words come true, we'd like to honor you." The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand—it's sheer wonder." So Manoah took the kid and the Grain-Offering and sacrificed them on a rock altar to God who works wonders. As the flames leapt up from the altar to heaven, God's angel also ascended in the altar flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. Manoah and his wife never saw the angel of God again. Only then did Manoah realize that this was God's angel. He said to his wife, "We're as good as dead! We've looked on God!" But his wife said, "If God were planning to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our Whole-Burnt-Offering and Grain-Offering, or revealed all these things to us—given us this birth announcement." The woman gave birth to a son. They named him Samson. The boy grew and God blessed him. The Spirit of God began working in him while he was staying at a Danite camp between Zorah and Eshtaol." Judges 13:1-25 The Message
Why does God give such special attention to Samson's parents as to Personally visit them not once but twice before His hero is even conceived? The story is strangely reminiscent of Gabriel's announcements to Zachariah and Mary at time of Christ's birth. Is this merely coincidental or meant to draw the church's attention? Might God being highlighting Samson's life as a warning to His church down through the millennia?
Like Samson, anointed by the Lord a Nazirite from before birth to be a judge and deliverer, the church has a been given a great commission by God. Unfortunately, the similarities don't stop there. Like Samson, we too have been beguiled by worldly charms. Even as Delilah, a type of the lusts of the world, bound Samson in pleasure and deception, so too Western Christianity has been artfully seduced. Concession by concession, compromise by compromise, our Nazirite vows have been broken and our "hair has been cut." Like Samson, drunk on our indulges, we've been bound by strong cords in our sleep. How else could our nation and communities, churches and families have been so plundered?
Jesus warned you cannot enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods without first binding the strong man. His point was that the power He exercised to cast out demons was from God. Unfortunately for us, it would appear the demonic are good students and took the lesson to heart. Is it possible that like Samson, we who could not be conquered have grieved the Holy Spirit and have lost our strength to stand against our enemies? It's not only possible, it's a certainty.
Milk and Meat
In the fifth and sixth chapter of the Bible's Book of Hebrews the author stresses the vital difference between our handling of spiritual "milk" and "meat" in developing maturity and understanding. Interestingly, while greatly emphasizing the importance learning to chew the meat of scripture, the writer never directly identifies what "meat" is. He does however explain what it is not:
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding." Hebrews 6:1-3
Ask almost any a conservative, evangelical and/or charismatic minister what the "meat of the Word of God" is and you'll get a variation of the above description. One myself, I was intrigued and troubled that what my colleagues and I considered meat the Spirit of God considered milk. It seemed needlessly frustrating that given the author's imperative to become meat eaters he fails to identify what "solid food" is. Using the rules of Biblical interpretation, particularly that of context, reveals an interesting conundrum. The Spirit was using a riddle or test to reinforce the point. The "meat" of this passage in Hebrew is sandwiched between the author discussing typology. In fact, just before beginning a tirade against the immaturity of even those called to teachers among God's people, the Author pinpoints the source of His frustration:
"While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. "I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you've picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong." Hebrews 5:7-14 The Message
This passage is revealing in number of ways. Notice the insight we are given into the personal prayer life of Jesus. Then we're told that through his obedience to the point of suffering Christ became our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. At this point the Spirit declares He has much more to say on this point but that God's people are dull of hearing, still novices in handling the deeper meanings of scripture.
In the next chapter the Book of Hebrews explains what meat is not, then threatens the very salvation of those who turn away from following Christ. His warning delivered, both human and Divine author's turn their attention back to the subject of Melchizedek and in doing so uncover that the "meat" of scripture is typology!
The Samson Option
Identifying the key role the correct understanding of typology is meant to play in Christian discipleship and development reinforces the importance of the story of Samson. All the more so given the four following facts already discussed:
- Western Christianity, while called and anointed by God as His instrument in evangelizing and discipling our lost and subjected generation has rather been seduced by the wiles of the world.
- The murder of over a billion children in the womb is the greatest human sacrifice in history. Among it's other devistating effects, abortion's shedding of so much innocent blood may be hastening the Great Tribulation and even summoning the Antichrist.
- Immediately following Satan and his fallen angels defeat and expulsion from Heaven, the Devil raises up the Antichrist who is permitted to "make war against the saints and overcome them."
- Those who's names are "written in the Lamb's Book of Life" refuse to worship the Beast, overcoming him "by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and not loving their lives to the death."
The theory that abortion, and the churches toleration of and even participation in it is summoning the Antichrist would answer a few questions. First, it would explain why the Antichrist is permitted to conquer the saints. Even the greatly anointed Samson, having failed to discern the many outlandish sings of his betrayal by his seductress, was taken captive by the Philistines. It appears that, reaping the reward for our many sins of commission and omission, the church suffers a similar fate.
Secondly, if embedded in the strange story of Samson is a grave warning to the end times church, it becomes clear Christians follow Samson's example in overcoming the Beast through martyrdom:
"When Delilah realized that he had told her his secret, she sent for the Philistine tyrants, telling them, "Come quickly—this time he's told me the truth." They came, bringing the bribe money. When she got him to sleep, his head on her lap, she motioned to a man to cut off the seven braids of his hair. Immediately he began to grow weak. His strength drained from him. Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He woke up, thinking, "I'll go out, like always, and shake free." He didn't realize that God had abandoned him. The Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. They shackled him in irons and put him to the work of grinding in the prison. But his hair, though cut off, began to grow again. The Philistine tyrants got together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They celebrated, saying, Our god has given us Samson our enemy! And when the people saw him, they joined in, cheering their god, "Our god has given our enemy to us, the one who ravaged our country, piling high the corpses among us." Then this: Everyone was feeling high and someone said, "Get Samson! Let him show us his stuff!" They got Samson from the prison and he put on a show for them. They had him standing between the pillars. Samson said to the young man who was acting as his guide, "Put me where I can touch the pillars that hold up the temple so I can rest against them." The building was packed with men and women, including all the Philistine tyrants. And there were at least three thousand in the stands watching Samson's performance.
And Samson cried out to God: "Master, God! Oh, please, look on me again, Oh, please, give strength yet once more. God! With one avenging blow let me be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes!" Then Samson reached out to the two central pillars that held up the building and pushed against them, one with his right arm, the other with his left. Saying, "Let me die with the Philistines," Samson pushed hard with all his might. The building crashed on the tyrants and all the people in it. He killed more people in his death than he had killed in his life." Judges 16:18-30 The Message
Truly this is a cautionary tale. In many ways Samson's foolishness overcame the promise of his birth. Even so, in martyrdom he humiliated destroyed more of the enemies of God's people than in his largely misspent life. Tragically, it was not before his short sightedness caused his eyes to be gouged out that he would see his folly. Will it be the same for the last days church? Will it take being conquered being the Antichrist before diligently seeking God through prayer and study, service and commitment to true discipleship? Will we wait until being forced into martyrdom before standing against temptation and investing in personal revelation from God, counting the cost to face persecution if necessary?
Scripture is clear that the time to prepare for tribulation is before entering temptation. As Jesus warns:
"Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open." Matthew 26:36-43
"But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it's going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don't go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that's coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36 The Message
With so many prophetic markers indicating humanity's Gethsemane's fast approach, we would do well to heed Christ's advice. The New Testament warns that the events of the Old Testament were written for our sakes, upon whom the end of the age has come." Let us learn from Samson's mistake before it's too late. If not, may the Lord grant us his willingness to endure and learn from tribulation and his boldness in facing death. Let us pray for pre-revival repentance and a New Pentecost, that by the Spirit we may come to know Christ, "in the power of His ressurection" so if it's necessary we join Him, "in the fellowship of His suffering" we may save more in our martyrdom than in our lives.
An Acrostic of Change
Today there are many opportunities for individuals, churches and organizations to have an impact on people within their communities. For some great simple pro-life ideas just click the link below:
Change
For an in depth report on serious church and denominational objectives and strategies to enable the church to become authentically pro-life, pro-family and pro-mission click the link below:
Objectives