Thus shall it be…Part 1

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.   They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.  -Luke 17:26-30

© Sbukley | Dreamstime.com – George Clooney Photo

A terrible time is coming upon the world and yet now is.  Even as I write this posts the four horses of the Apocalypse are being fitted for their ride and the noxious smell of death is all around us.  Just this week in America we have seen two horrific things take place.  In Oklahoma, a man who had been a convert to Islam for perhaps a year demonically stormed into his former place of work and beheaded the first person he saw, all the while, according to witnesses, shouting Islamic phrases.  This incident is being called workplace violence, but we all know that domestic terrorism is the white elephant in the room that our politically correct culture can not speak of, and the story of workplace violence rings about as true as Ft. Hood’s ISIS wanna be’s tale rings.  Then there is pestilence.  Ebola has now found its way to America – not, through the transfer of the sick from other lands here for treatment, but by an unsuspecting unquarantined individual who has been in contact with who knows how many people in how many places.  The world is a scary place right now.  And yet, it appears that the number one story this week, if I am to judge by its appearance on nearly every American internet news source for several days in a row is not something that could change the world forever such as terroristic incidents or deadly plagues, but a wedding.  Actor George Clooney married his girlfriend, Muslim attorney Amal Alamuddin in a star studded wedding in Venice and the world is rejoicing at the marvel that someone seems to have finally tamed the eternal bachelor.  They ate.  They drank.  They married wives.  They were given in marriage – until that day…

People are asleep.  Full of junk foods and drink and sports and greed and mind-emptying entertainment and sex and lies, they turn off anything which might disturb their virtual existence and self indulgence and don’t realize the Hell which is about to be unleashed upon the earth.  Sadly, many born again Christians are in this same boat choosing to build their houses on sand – completely unprepared for the storm which lies ahead.

And then there’s Satan.  Still scheming and still influencing as he has since the garden of Eden.  That Satan’s scheme with the Nephilim (see As in the Days of Noah parts 1-10) ultimately failed did not dissuade the fallen cherub, for he has tried again and again and again to thwart God’s plan and ultimately to place himself in the place of God. We see him at the Red Sea and at the killing of the babies before.  We see him with Goliath and with the various empires which subjugated the Israelites throughtout their history.  We see him in Herod’s murder of the children of Bethlehem 2 years and younger and at the mount of Temptation.   And though his head was ultimately crushed at Calvary, you have to give him an A for trying because he is busy still – though he knows his doom is sure.

How is he trying to thwart God’s plan today?  He’s doing it by using the same playbook he has used from the beginning of time with only slight tweaks to reflect the times.  He spurs an inordinate fascination with the occult even to the point that a recent New York Magazine article informed its readers about “Everything you need to Know about Ghost Sex!”  Indeed, the media itself is such a great tool for Satan that given just a little time, he can use it to shape just about any opinion he wants.  Things that were once thought of as good (such as traditional marriage and Christian morality) are now seen as bad and things that were once bad are now celebrated as liberating and good.  The tyranny of the tube allows for little variation from the accepted norm and increasingly we are seeing disagreement with these views may result in marginalization, rebuke, and punishment.  With Government institutions stepping into the fray, it’s not a safe time to be an outspoken Christian – if you count safeness in terms which exclude the supernatural.  And, I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.

One can see Satan is not very original in his tactics – but then again, it isn’t for lack of intelligence.  It’s for lack of need.  Why invent new tactics when the old ones are so effective?  In the beginning he promised Eve that if she followed him she and Adam would be as gods.  He promised great knowledge and understanding.  And he caused her to question what God had explicitly said.

When Satan tempted Christ, he sought to thwart God’s plan by appealing to the Humanity of Jesus and offering him all the world in exchange for his allegiance. It didn’t work, but it just shows that if the perfect spotless Son of God is not above temptation, neither are we.

And so, we see him using the same tactics today.  The same lies in new packages with glittering promises of health, comfort, and immortality.    You can be as gods is the lie believed by many a cult and false religion; yet, it is a lie that is embraced as heartily as it was in the days of Eve and in the days of Noah.  However, it is not just the religionists that embrace this lie.  Modern science is now doing it as well.  While disavowing the existence of the Almighty God and rejecting His role as Creator; many are trying to set themselves in His place and create their own future where they reverse the curse and live as immortals.  In the words of the head of engineering at Google and preeminent thinker and prognosticator, Ray Kurzweil, when the question was posed “Does God Exist?”  his answer was “well, not yet.”

For these visionaries, the ultimate quest of mankind is the preservation of life.  Life, as they define it, is really made up of the internal software of the human mind, knowledge, and personality.  Kurzweil and others like him are feverishly working towards a time where they can download that software and place it into new hardware shells (i.e., robotics, humanoids, avatars).  Their movement may seem fringe, but it is growing exponentially as the race is on for immortality.

For the next several posts, we’ll take a look at this movement, its promise, its pitfalls, and its possible role in Bible prophecy.  Stay tuned!