Deuteronomy 18:10-12 Let us discuss these verses first. What is meant by passing your son or daughter through the fire? This is human sacrifice! This was the practice of the Canaanites sacrificing their children to their gods! Modern day sacrifice would be abortion! Divination is divining a sentence on someone! A charmer casts magical spells on people. A witch is basically the same thing casting spells on people. Another word for this is a whisperer. A wizard conjures up familiar spirits. Remember King Saul asking the witch of Ender about his future? She did not tell him he was going to be beheaded? King Manesseh also inquired to witches and fortune tellers! A necromancer is one who raises spirits from the dead! They do this to make predictions about the future or in their ghostly help to make something happen. Kind of like the rabbits foot? How lucky was the rabbit? This occult practice was also called Black Magic and comes from the ancient Greek word for corpse necro or prophecy mancy. Comment: It is interesting I lived in India for 3 years and I saw these practices done in the Hindu Temples! I have a blog post on my experience inside a Hindu Temple. The Hindu Priests collect money from people to cast spells on other people. Say a husband wants to get rid of his old wife for he has found a young girl. Then he hires the Priest to cast spells on his old wife that she might die! This is a big money business in India! Funny thing is the opposing party will come to the same Priest and pay him money to cast a spell on his adversary! The Priest will ask more money from the second party! The Hindu Priest’s told me these spells do not work on Christian believers! They do work on everyone else! You might say it is Halloween everyday in India! Do I want to spoil some kids fun collecting candy? No! Did I trick or treat when I was a kid? Yes! What I want you to understand is the origin of Halloween! In Leviticus 18:3 God warned the Jews not to participate in the ordinances or statutes, decree’s, feasts and customes of the gentiles! Today here in America the orthodox Jews do not participate in Halloween but the secular Jews do! Now to the origin of Halloween. The druids were the members of the ancient Celtic culture! The words druid and Celtic mean magic! Remember the Boston Celtics? In the ancient Celtic culture they had Priests, magicians, soothsayers and fortune tellers! They were a high ranking professional class of people from Ireland, Briton, Scotland and Wales. When Rome invaded these area’s around 60 B.C., Caesar said the Celtic groups were performing human sacrifices! Not that Caesar was the Gold Standard for morality but this is what the Roman soldiers observed. Have you ever heard of the wicker man? The Celtics built large wooden idol’s in the form of a man. On top of the wooden beams they nailed wooden slats to form the image. So the center was hollow! Halloween! Then they put the human sacrifices inside and set it on fire! The hollow of your pumpkin has a fire or candle inside of it! The druid religious culture had no written communications only oral. It was a secret society! What are the rules? Criteria for sacrifice? The Romans pretty much wiped out the druids but their occult spirit lives on in culture! The immigration of the Irish to America during late 1800’s and early 1900’s brought Halloween and some of these cultural traditions even though most were Christians. In the Medieval age the remnants of druids opposed Christianity! Trick or Treat! I will hurt you unless you treat me? God says I love you even though you hate me! Let us close with Ephesians 6:12 “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the Rulers of darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” When children come to our door I put a Gospel Tract into their bags along with the candy! This is one way to wrestle against powers and spirits of darkness! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: idols
Sheep without a Shepherd!
Zechariah 10:2 “For your idols domestic and household gods have spoken falsehood and wickedness, and the diviners and false prophets of foreign nations have selected a divide, and have told false empty disappointing dreams; they repent and grieve in vain: Therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.” Comment: Does this describe America today? No shepherd? Lost sheep? If a sheep has no shepherd they fall prey to the wolves! The prey on our young people! Told lies by our educators! Told lies by our politicians! Told lies by our social media! Millions of babies have been sacrificed by abortion on the altar of child sacrifice! Seventy three thousand of our youth have died with drug overdose in 2017! Since 1999 over six hundred thousand youth have died from drug overdose! This is greater numbers than any war we have fought in American history! To make matters worse now states legalizing drugs which will increase these numbers! Drugs and criminals invading our nation through open borders! Policies made in Washington to destroy our youth! Law enforcement under attack everyday! Prayer evicted from our schools! Atheistic ideologies such as evolution taught our children in public education! The Ten Commandments removed from our institutions! Crosses taken down across our land! Is it any wonder our children have no hope? Their most precious hope Christ has been removed out of their lives! Mocked and scourged in front of them everyday! No nation has survived in history without the Good Shepherd! There is no civilization without Christ! The political correct; “Happy Holidays”, is meaningless without Christ! Any purpose outside of Christ will fail you one day! Your job, career and family are wonderful but they cannot save you! They will one day fail you! Our purpose in Christ will continue forever! Everything else will fail you! If you built your own Kingdom it will fail! If you build His Kingdom you will prevail! I was talking to a rich man yesterday. He told me he was just tired of Christmas! He wished it would get over? Without Christ nothing will replace his love and mercy because there is only one Christ! One Savior! One God! One Nation! One King! One Sacrifice! One Blood! One Atonement! One Lord! One Baby! One Bethlehem! One Manger! One Shepherd! That will ever satisfy your longing for life! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
John 3:16 Word Study “God”
God (Theos) Strongs #2316. This word was taken from Greek culture. Remember the Greek culture were nature worshippers! Idol worshippers! They worshipped creation! The gods of the sun, moon and stars! Their divine worship also included other deities! Much like the Aztecs and Hindu’s do! At Mecca the Muslim’s had 360 Idol’s! One for each day! They took what they thought was their best idol and named him Allah! The Greek word used here for “God”, is singular and masculine! That is correct God has a gender! The word Theos means the true God as opposed to false gods! False gods are man made gods! The famous Greek poet and musician Orpheus called the ancient Greek gods demons! How do you become a demon? It is a choice! Like Lucifer (The Fallen Angel), if you make yourself god and reject the true God you have as a created being worship yourself a created being and you become a demon! Atheism is self worship! You make yourself God by declaring there is no God! Charles Darwin was an atheist and based Evolution on the belief there is no God! The angels (Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel), are created beings so we must not worship them! Lucifer who became Satan in his rebellion was cast out of heaven! Elohim is a Hebrew word for God. It is also singular and masculine! It translates the God of gods! The God of Israel! God is set apart from creation though actively involved in creation! He is the cause for everything and the Trinity pre-existed creation and always was, is and forever will be! So in the Trinity do we have three gods? No! One God with three distinct purposes and functions! Hopefully this word study will help us as we examine each translated word in the context of John 3:16 James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Give Glory to Another? Isaiah 42:8
“I am the Lord; that is my name: and my Glory will I not give to another; neither my praise to graven images.” Comment: His name is Jehovah and he has distinguished himself from idol’s! He will not allow his name to be ascribed to another! No one will take the honor that belongs to me! God’s glory, honor, abundance and all that he is be given to another? No praise to graven images that belong to God? God has distinguished himself from his creation! In the earth throughout history we have one God but many gods created and worshipped by men! Idol worshippers have made gods unto themselves! Earth worshippers, environmentalists, sun worshippers, worship of money, sex, fame, fortune are the gods of men! Satan has always tried to get mortal man to worship him! To steal worship from God! Any ideology that replaces God is self-worship! Atheism and evolution are two good examples! Self-worship is exalting men above God! So how do we reconcile this with the Gifts of the Spirit? The indwelling Holy Spirit? How can God share his nature with mortal men? We were created in the image of God! How can God live in mortal men who are sinners? God became man through his Son Jesus Christ! God is a Trinity! Father, Son and Holy Spirit! One God but yet three distinctions! Each with a specific purpose! The Holy Spirit was the first active agent involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth! Even today the Holy Spirit delivers Israel from her enemies! God’s Son Jesus Christ sacrificed his sinless body as a substitute for our sinful body! So after Salvation we ascribe glory to God through his Son! Now the benefits from God are available to us because Jesus is God! When we give Jesus glory we are giving God glory! God gives his glory to us through his Son! So now we have communion both ways! God to men and men to God! God see’s his Son living in us and it pleases him! He see’s his atoning blood over our lives! The Father gives his glory to the Son and the Son gives his glory to believers! The Holy Spirit see’s God through his Son living in you and he is attracted to dwell in you! The Gift’s of the Spirit such as love, peace and joy are ours! His power is available to us to give victory to believer’s and defeat Satan! Without Christ man can only give God graven images and human sacrifices! God sacrificing himself for you is the only acceptable sacrifice! He was sinless! The praise of men that they give idol’s belong to God! If God saved your life and stepped out in front of a vehicle and took your death who would you be thankful to? The reckless drunk driver? No but yet this is what idol worshippers do! They thank Satan who wants to destroy them and reject God who has saved them! This is the unpardonable sin against God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Letter to Jerusalem! Isaiah 51:9
Hebrew Translation: “Awake Awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient times when you delivered us from the east. You delivered us from Babel and Babylonian captivity. You brought us out of darkness into light. You established an important point in time for our salvation. You delivered us from the sorceries and superstitions of Babylon. You took us out of the desert of Egypt. Your existence was before eternity establishing and delivering us. The beginning and end of our life cycle over generations has witnessed your good works. Our past and future is everlasting. No end! You wounded the serpent which desecrated your established laws. You have cut up and carved Rehab the god of Egypt for us. Comment: The God of Israel through Moses received the Ten Commandments from God carved in stone by God Himself! No carved stone or wooden idol object made by men can stand against those laws given to us by our God carved in stone by the finger of God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
God of Mammon! Luke 16:13
The Greek word translates as a comprehensive word used for all kinds of possessions, earnings and gains and is designated for a material value. Jesus said we cannot serve God and Mammon! We cannot have two masters for we will hate the one and love the other! Idol’s are easy to make but hard to abandon! Once entrenched in our soul extraction is very difficult! We are born into a material world! We are material ourselves! Wealth is not evil of itself but Jesus said the love of money is the root of all evil. We can have a misplaced trust in something that will perish! Jesus was trying to get us to focus on eternal values such as your spirit and soul that will never perish but spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell depending on what you with Jesus Christ! You will either worship Jesus or Mammon! Chose Jesus! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Joshua 24:15
“If it seem evil to reject my authority then make the best choice remembering those who sin hurt other people! Serve either the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites where you dwell now but as for your leader Joshua I declare as for me and those living inside my house we will serve the Lord!” Comment: It is interesting that the Hebrew word for evil is associated with the rejection of God’s authority! It is a choice that leads to the destruction of the sinner and the people around them! The plural word gods used by Joshua refers to idolatry. For those that reject God’s authority they make their own gods! It is exalting self above God! The false gods or idols are substitutes for God that can be controlled by the worshippers! They are puppets on a string! If you have not lived in a culture where idol worship is predominate I can assure you it is a living Hell. An idol can be anything you make it to be! It can be money, sex, fame, evolution, junk science, pleasure, graven images, religion and it is worshipped in place of God! It is self-worship! If you remove God from His throne you will replace Him with something else! The word “House”, used in this passage means those living under your roof! When your children become adult’s and leave home they have to decide if they are going to worship God under their roof! We pray for them! Never give up! My brother-in-law passed on this month! His mother prayed for him to come to Christ all her life and she passed on in 1995. He came to Christ about two years ago! We know from history that not all the Jews chose to serve God and obey Joshua for the next Book in our Bible after the Book of Joshua is the Book of Judges! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Worship!
What you worship owns you! So what do we worship? What do you spend your time thinking about? Do we have any idol’s? Some could be sex, money, fame, fortune, sports, offspring, houses, land, religion, gambling, work, school, health, success, cars, boats, airplanes or do we worship ourselves? These things have power to enslave you but not save you! All of these will one day leave you and forsake you! Pride will cause people to surround themselves with these idol’s! There is only one who ransomed His life to save you from yourself! Is it time for new management? Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you and has proven that to you by sacrificing His life for you on a Cross! Good Friday Message, Grace Community Church, Fulton, Maryland.
Idols! 1 Chronicles 16:26
Hebrew translation: “For all the gods of the people are as shepherds over worthless things! They are as physicians attending corpses! Good for nothing! Vanity! No purpose! But the Lord built the heavens with purpose!” Comment: So what are you a shepherd over in your life? Is in something of eternal value? Will it continue on after you leave the earth? If you cannot take it with you it is an idol. Will the family you leave on earth shepherd over things of value? Anything of eternal value will outlast you! God built the heavens with you as the purpose in mind! Are you supporting His purpose? Your purpose is to mirror His Image! We were not created in our own image but the image of God! God’s purpose from before the beginning was to deliver us from evil. That is why Christ pre-existed creation! Sin will always lead us to worship idols! Why? We would rather trust in ourselves than the work of God! When i came to Christ back in 1973 everything changed! It was no longer about me but about Christ and others! He did for me what i could not do for myself! Deliver me from evil! That is Grace! Men try to build empires, organizations and name them after themselves! Until we find the name and Savior that is above every name we will serve idols! Jesus has promised to raise you from the dead one day! After you are gone from the earth you cannot raise your idols! You have only two options! Believe Jesus or trust in yourself! Serve God or an idol. The worst idol you could ever invent is yourself! Serve God and others! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
What are Sodomites? 1 Kings 15:12
King Asa was one of the few good Kings of Israel. Out of 40 Kings Israel had 7 good Kings! Does that sound like American President’s? King Asa politically removed the sodomites out of land and removed all the idol’s his father had made. So what is a Sodomite? What is an idol? Let us go back to the Hebrew root word. A sodomite is a male Temple prostitute! These were homosexual prostitutes. Like we have in America today! Now this is where it gets interesting! The Hebrew root word for sodomites comes from another Hebrew word. This word means to set apart for Holy service such as the first born male child was set apart and consecrated to the Lord! But the Sodomite males were consecrated to sin and Satan! This is why i believe homosexual behavior is blasphemy against God! What is an idol? When you go back to the Hebrew root word it means a rolling stone! Sounds like a rock band? I witnessed the rolling stones while living in India for 3 years! They put the idol’s on wooden carts with wheels tied to an ox and paraded through the streets! Idol’s are abstract images of who someone would believe God would look like! Man making God! I thought God made man? So King Asa removed the gays and idol worshipers out of the land of Israel. American Pastor’s with very few exceptions do not preach what the Bible says about gays and lesbians? If you added up all the scriptures that the Bible says about gays and lesbians you would think God was homophobic? I had heard some Pastor’s say all sin is the same? Really! What about the unpardonable sin? Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit! If all sin is equal the why not give all felons the same prison sentence? Some Pastor’s say the Old Testament no longer applies? Really! Jesus said that if you love me keep my commandments! Where are these commandments found? The Old Testament! Jesus was constantly quoting Old testament scriptures! Jesus said He came to fulfill the law! Many say the Old Testament points to the New Testament but the New Testament also points back to the Old testament! Why do we have an Old Testament? Shall we rip it out of our Bibles? Why do we not hear any preaching on the unpardonable sin? Should be a hot topic! There is only one book i will ever promote! That is the Holy Bible! Books come and go but this Book will open your eyes to look through the lens of God’s eye and see truth! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com