It is widely believed that one of the purposes of Christ's coming was to bring "peace on earth." This belief contributes to the expectation of a millennial reign. It is the result of a misreading of Luke 2:14 where angels announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds. Every translation other than the King James clearly indicates that the peace was only for some, men with whom God was pleased.

There will never be peace for the world as a whole because, except for God's own, there is no true peace in the heart. Isaiah 57:20-21 says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."

The peace the angels were talking about is the peace Paul spoke of when he said, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1.

Men may sing with great emotion, "Let there be peace on earth," but this is a pleasant-sounding fantasy. In fact God warns of a time, "...when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." I Thessalonians 5:3.

The only true peace available in this sin-cursed earth comes when men from their hearts bow to the Prince of Peace and truly by faith become one with Him and His kingdom. Such men alone have access to the very peace of God in their hearts though they may at times be in the midst of outward strife and turmoil.

Most men are at war with God in their hearts. This includes most professing Christians, who have embraced religion without actually coming to know Christ.

We need to consider once again the words of Christ himself on the subject of peace: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:34-37. Sober words.

Today, the cry of many is for "revival," either for one they believe is going on or for one they hope to see. Grandiose pictures are painted of God sweeping down, revitalizing churches and transforming the world. "Revival" has become almost a magical word -- the answer to virtually everything that ails us.

I wonder why Jesus didn't preach revival? Had you ever thought about that? Why didn't he go around quoting II Chronicles 7:14, stirring up people to pray for revival? Perhaps he could have gone before the Sanhedrin and encouraged them to set up round-the-clock prayer chains.

Jesus preached repentance and the kingdom of God and warned of judgment to come. He had nothing but condemnation for the religious system that prevailed. He offered no hope for it.

Had many of today's preachers been around in Jesus' day they would have accused him of being negative, critical and divisive. They would have instructed Jesus to seek for common ground with the Pharisees, to invite them to sit in prominent places when he preached, to reach out to them by being positive and optimistic.

That wasn't God's message. Coming judgment was an inescapable fact. Revival was not the answer. In order to revive something it must have been "vived" to start with. Most revivalism is nothing more than an attempt to infuse God's life into Babylon. Worse, much that is called God's life is not His at all but is a counterfeit from the realm of darkness. Much that we are seeing in our day is little more than the devil "reviving" his own work.

The scribes and Pharisees may have sat in Moses' seat but they did not have the same spirit Moses had. There are only two realms from which spiritual authority can derive: God's kingdom and the devil's. When the Jews ceased to let God rule over them and set up their own religious system, they fell under the dominion of demons.

Their delusion was such that they could kill God's prophets and believe that they were faithfully serving God. That is the curse of religion. It blinds and deludes its victims.

"Babylon" is a symbolic name for the world system. It is a system of government by men and devils. It is a substitute for the rightful rule of God and of His Son. Psalm 2.

The name comes from what happened when men tried to build the tower of Babel. Genesis 11:4 reveals the motive and spirit behind their effort: "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven: and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

It is easy to see the spirit of pride, self-seeking and self-preservation that was manifest in their words and actions. God was not a part of their plans. He didn't tell them to build a city and a tower. Their plans reflected a spirit of rebellious independence and self-exaltation.

God intervened by confusing their language so they couldn't understand one another. As a result they were, in fact, scattered and divided. For this reason, the word "Babylon" also conveys the idea of confusion -- an apt picture of religion, especially in our day.

It is easy, in reading Genesis 11, to see only God and the people involved. Did the people conceive the tower of Babel on their own? Was this just a human project? No. The real inspiration for the city and the tower came from the unseen realm of darkness, Lucifer and the wicked spirits who followed him in his rebellion.

In Isaiah 14 we see prophetic words directed to "the king of Babylon" (verse 4). While the prophecy certainly involved the literal city and empire known as Babylon, God inspired the prophet to address the real power behind it, Lucifer. Verses 12-14 say, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."

See the same kind of spirit as that exhibited at Babel. This is what people fail to realize. Whenever man tries to govern his own affairs the real power and inspiration behind his efforts is the devil and his legions. There is no middle ground: if God is not ruling, the devil is!

The devil is only too glad to allow men to think they are running things. It feeds man's pride and allows the devil freedom to pull his strings and manipulate him like a puppet. Do not be deceived. There are only two kingdoms. If men are not truly serving Christ, they are serving the devil and his world system whether they realize it or not. They may be sincere, but sincerity is no defense.

Remember what Paul said in Colossians 1:13 about true believers: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Salvation is not a matter of persuading people to leave "neutral" territory and join Christ. It involves the rescue of people born under Satan's dominion. He is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4). When Adam and Eve rebelled against the commandment of God, they ceded their God-given dominion to Satan. The ruling systems of this world flow from the evil mind of Lucifer and are designed to shut God out and to keep man in a state of rebellion and blindness.

Thus "Babylon" is a symbol for the present world order. Its spirit and principles can be seen expressed in every form of human government from nations to small local organizations. Certainly this is true of religion.

Earlier we pointed out the insidious way in which demons invade and take control of religious movements. While they are careful to preserve the outward appearance, a power structure evolves that effectively shuts out Christ and his influence.

A true work of God can be revived but once a religious system of any kind is established and religious spirits have seized control, neither revival nor reformation is the answer. The very power structure itself stands opposed to the rule of Christ. You have the situation described by Paul in II Timothy 3:5 where he refers to those "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof ...." Note that Paul didn't tell Timothy to try and turn the situation around by preaching revival. He added, "... from such turn away."

Once religious men acquire power and influence they do not willingly give it up. Some people naively suppose that the ills of their religious system can be cured from within. They see sincere men in power and believe that they can be reasoned with and the system reformed and revived.

What they don't understand is that the real power behind any religious system is devils and you can't reason with a devil. Church systems today are full of men who possess power and influence that is not the result of the gifts and callings of God. They plan and build impressive religious works -- impressive to the eyes of men, but not to God who looks past the outward appearance.

Impressive religious "houses" have been built by unqualified builders on the wrong foundation, with the wrong blueprint and the wrong materials. Trying to revive and reform such a "house" is like saying, "Let's remodel!" Remodelling is not the answer. "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it ...." Psalms 127:1.

In Jesus' lament over Jerusalem, he said, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate." Matthew 23:38. Notice that Jesus called it, "your house." It wasn't his house; it was theirs and they weren't about to let him mess it up.

Jesus saw clearly the true condition of those who occupied Moses' seat and fancied themselves guardians of divine truth. Read for yourself what Jesus said about them in Matthew 23. He did not offer any hope for them or their religion. He foresaw only judgment.

In fact, Jesus set forth a principle of judgment in Matthew 23 that needs to be understood. I call it cumulative judgment. In verses 29-35 we read, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."

Remember how earlier we pointed out the principle of sin gradually building until it reached a point where God poured out judgment? The religious fathers of those in that generation had been guilty of great offenses against God, including killing those that God had sent to them. What earlier generations had done was bad enough but what the present generation did was much worse.

It was as though each generation had received a "cup" that contained the evil deeds of all of the preceding generations. By embracing the spirit and religious traditions that had gone before they became custodians of the "cup." Through continuing in those traditions they added their own evil deeds to the contents of the cup and handed it down to the succeeding generation. Thus did every generation become guilty of every sin that had gone before.

In Jesus' day the cup was just about full and judgment lay close at hand. That generation was charged with the guilt of the murder of every righteous person going all the way back to Abel. Though they had cloaked themselves with robes of self-righteous religion their true spirit was that of their father, the devil (John 8:44), a liar and murderer from the beginning.

In fact, God specifically intervened to bring their condition to a conclusion. Conceivably, in an absence of light, they could have continued on in their blindness for some time, relatively unchallenged. But God had His own timetable and was determined to expose and judge their condition. To accomplish this He continued right down to their final end to send them "prophets and apostles" to bear witness to their wickedness and to stir them up to exercise it that they might be judged. Luke 11:49-51.

Is it any wonder that John the Baptist said to them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Matthew 3:7. And Jesus said in Luke 21:23, "... there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people."

On the day of Pentecost, Peter warned the people, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Acts 2:40. Other translators used words like "crooked," "perverse," and "wicked" generation. It was clearly a generation that was headed in the wrong direction, away from God, toward judgment. With the fresh anointing of Pentecost upon him, Peter preached separation, not revival.

People need to be saved from their sins, to be sure, yet Peter, in his first epistle, said, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." I Peter 1:18-19.

Saving people from their sins is easy compared with saving them from their religion. Why do you suppose Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, "... the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you"? Matthew 21:31.

Let's take another look at Matthew 23:38. "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." Another key word is "left." It indicates an abandonment by God.

Up until this time, the nation as a whole had, for the sake of the small preserved remnant, enjoyed a measure of divine favour and protection. When they sinned, they were judged, but when they called on God, deliverance was available. An example was the Babylonian captivity which was God's judgment on centuries of wickedness. Yet there was a restoration and a rebuilding of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

But the judgment Jesus predicted was not like what had happened previously. The divine protection was being removed and the devil was going to have a free rein. The whole nation was being turned over to the power of Satan. That is why Jesus wept.

There is a time to preach and pray and there is a time to leave.

I remind you again of the city of Bethsaida. In Mark 8:22-26 we find the account of a blind man being brought to Jesus for healing. Jesus first led him out of the town, had to pray for him twice, and then told him not to go back into the town or even to tell anyone who was going there! Each fact points to the spiritual state of that city. Despite its outward piety, in God's eyes Bethsaida was more wicked than the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, cities God had judged. The city of Capernaum was ranked below Sodom! Matthew 11:20-24. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. I Samuel 16:7.

The severest judgment will fall upon those who have had the greatest light. The greatest darkness lies in the hearts of those who have had light and turned away from it, choosing rather their own way. Remember, Jesus said, "Walk while he have the light, lest darkness come upon you ...." John 12:35. A great factor in this present darkness is the rejection of light.

Hebrews 10:26-27 describes the consequences of deliberately rejecting the grace of God: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."

When the Jewish nation as a whole rejected God's overture to them through His Son and through the church after Pentecost, they embarked on a rapid descent into total darkness. After instigating the murder of God's own Son, they persecuted the church without mercy, killing Stephen and James and scattering the church. The saints left in Jerusalem were a beleaguered few living in poverty amidst enemies. Romans 15:25-26.

Some of the things that happened in Jerusalem are recorded in the Bible and others in the 4th century book by Eusebius entitled, "The History of the Church." Eusebius gathered up the early church writings together with the writings of the Jewish historian, Josephus, to paint a chilling portrait of a city and nation abandoned by God.

James, the brother of Jesus and author of the Book of James, became the leader of the Jerusalem church and was considered, even by most of the Jews, to be the most righteous man in Jerusalem. Yet, to still his witness, they threw him off a parapet of the temple and clubbed him to death in the temple courtyard. As James was being murdered, he was observed even by some of the Jews to be praying for his murderers.

In Luke 19:41-44 we find the account of Jesus' words, precisely predicting the fate of Jerusalem: "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

About forty years later the Romans, tiring of the rebellious Jews, sent Titus and his legions to put an end to their rebellion. As the war progressed and Jews began to be slaughtered throughout the land some three million fled to the city of Jerusalem for safety. Jerusalem was a walled fortress that in fact became a walled prison as the Roman armies surrounded them. With great irony it was during the Passover feast that they fled to Jerusalem for refuge. Some 40 years previously it was during the Passover feast that Christ had been crucified.

There was no refuge in Jerusalem but only unspeakable horrors as the Roman siege continued for months and then years. Whereas God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah had been fiery and quick, the judgment on Jerusalem was agonizingly slow. If you want to read the gory details, read from the writings of Josephus and Eusebius.

Perhaps the most famous incident concerned a young mother of noble birth who, as the terrible famine wore on, killed her infant son and roasted his flesh for food. There were armed gangs roving the city who would kill without mercy for the slightest morsel of food. When they, smelling the roasting meat, burst in on her, even they were taken aback at the horror of what she had done.

In the end, the city was destroyed and not one stone of the temple was left upon another as Jesus had foretold. Of those who survived the siege many were sent into exile and slavery and many others were sent to fight and perish in the Roman arenas.

Listen to the words of Paul in I Thessalonians 2:14-16: "For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost."

Do you wonder why I don't get excited by events in the Middle East? God's purpose for the rebellious Jewish nation was fulfilled in the coming of Christ and the launching of His Kingdom. The righteous seed was preserved and the inspired words of the prophets laid the foundation for the Kingdom, a Kingdom that was established almost two thousand years ago. Ephesians 2:19-22.

We should pause and point out that none of these truths can in any way be used as a basis for any form of hatred or prejudice against Jews. We need to ever remember the Spirit of Jesus who wept over Jerusalem, and that of Paul who expressed a willingness to go to hell in their place if that were possible. Romans 9:3. Jews should not see anything in true Christians but the love and compassion of Christ. Judgment is God's business. And there still is a remnant among the Jews who by the election of God are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

There is one key fact in our account of the destruction of Jerusalem that we have not yet pointed out. Immediately prior to the war there was a church at Jerusalem. When judgment fell, they were not there! Why not? Eusebius tells us that they were specifically warned of God as the time drew near and every single Christian moved to the city of Pella and escaped. Wouldn't it be a good thing to be in a place where you could hear God's voice at such a time? Noah was. So was the Jerusalem church.

Suppose they had been like the churches of our day, divided into many denominations and sects, each walking in their own traditions, listening to ministers trained by man to uphold those traditions instead of their being called and taught by God? Would they have known what was going on? Tradition is tradition whether it is labeled Jewish or Christian.

So God saw to it that His sheep were separated from a people about to be judged. However, the real separation had taken place long before: it was a spiritual separation of heart and mind. It caused believers to be joined in fellowship with other believers under the leadership of Christ, they having left behind the vain traditions of their fathers.

Their faith was such that they were willing to endure whatever it cost to be a part of Christ's kingdom. For many it meant leaving behind family and natural friends; some no doubt gave up position and prestige; they were willing to endure poverty and all manner of persecution and even to risk death for Christ.

Today we see literally thousands of religious systems that use Christ's name to give them credibility, yet are just as deadly as the Jewish system that killed the Christ they profess. They give people the illusion of serving Christ while trapping them in Babylon. These are not good places for God's sheep to be.

God uses times of great darkness to prove what is in people's hearts. There is something in the heart of a sheep that can never truly agree on the inside with that darkness. I often think of a scripture found in the Book of Malachi. Malachi prophesied, as did so many others, in a time of great apostasy. Read for yourself his description of how God saw the people in general.

However, in Malachi 3:16-18, we see a different kind of people: "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

As religious unbelievers gave vent to their unbelief (3:14) and believers sought out fellow believers and communicated with them, God was listening. The very darkness itself helped to make the difference manifest. God had a book of remembrance in which He made note of those "that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." That would be a good book to be in! Let the people of the world seek to be in "Who's Who" and be considered "somebody" by the world. It's what God thinks that matters.

God saw the judgment that was coming and during the gathering darkness that came before He made note of those who would be spared. Malachi 4:1-3.

Jesus warned of a time when "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matthew 24:12. Does your faith depend on external conditions or does it come from within and motivate you to serve God regardless of conditions?

The Israelites who escaped Egypt were quite ready to dance and praise God after He brought them through the Red Sea. However, most of those same Israelites perished in unbelief as a result of the trials of the wilderness.

God is using this present darkness to help bring about a spiritual separation between His sheep and those headed for destruction. The need is not for the excitement of "revival" but for genuine faith in the heart that will cause men to stand fast when there is no excitement. True faith will anchor us when all others are swept away by the tide of the moment. True faith will cause us to stand in this present darkness even when it appears that the devil is winning. Faith rests its hope solely in the faithfulness of a Sovereign God.

Notice something else about the people of whom Malachi spoke. It doesn't say that they prayed to God about the deteriorating spiritual conditions, although I'm sure they did. It says that they spoke often one to another. Relationships were established among believers who felt the need of fellowship and strength. Their communication was not random or occasional but was said to be "often."

God never meant for His children to be spiritual islands in this world, disconnected from one another. His plan for us includes regular spiritual fellowship and mutual care with those of like mind and spirit.

The religious systems that bear Christ's name today are headed down one road and God's remnant are headed down another. The professing church is ripe for judgment and one by one the true sheep are waking up and realizing the dry and desolate place they are in.

In Matthew 24:15, Jesus referred to something called the "abomination of desolation," also spoken of by Daniel. Most of the preaching and teaching I've ever encountered on the subject has treated the abomination of desolation as some singular event that could be clearly identified, the sort of event that would make for a news headline. Some teach that this refers to an individual known as the antichrist who, having made a treaty with the Jews, will suddenly break it and proclaim himself to be deity, ushering in a period of 3 -1/2 years known as the great tribulation. Others see it as referring to the encirclement of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in the first century.

Another example often referred to as a type of what would happen later occurred in the period between Malachi and Matthew. An evil heathen king named Antiochus Epiphanes hated the Jews and their God and was determined to crush them. As a part of his effort he deliberately desecrated the temple, sacrificing a hog on the altar and turning the temple for a time into a place of heathen sacrifice.

I distinctly remember a time, many years ago now, when I was reading Matthew 24 and meditating on how to sort out the things Jesus said in relation to the questions he was asked. The disciples had asked him about the destruction of the temple, his coming, and the end of the world. Some things seem to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and some to the end of the age -- all mixed up together. Scholars have debated about these things ever since. One thing I am convinced of is that Jesus never intended for these things to be unraveled by scholars!

As I sat reading and pondering this, a very distinct feeling came to me that many of the things Jesus said were meant to apply to both, each in their own way. As the Jewish nation ended with only a remnant escaping its apostasy and judgment, so it was to be for the "Christian" world at the end of the age.

In particular my attention was drawn to the expression, "the abomination of desolation." Jesus was speaking to his followers when he said, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation ...." Only believers are able to see things that have spiritual and prophetic significance. This "seeing" is not with natural eyes, but with spiritual eyes opened by the revelation of God's Word.

Religious teachers think they have these things all figured out with their complicated charts. The Jewish scribes believed in the coming Messiah and were diligent students of the scriptures, yet when Christ came their eyes were totally blind. I am convinced that history is repeating itself and that today's religious generation is similarly blind regarding the second coming of Christ and events surrounding it.

The "abomination of desolation" involves principles that can be seen at work in virtually every judgment of God meted out against human rebellion. Those principles are no doubt expressed in particular events connected with judgment but something on the inside tells me to be more concerned with the conditions involved.

An example of this is the way people have focused over the years on who the antichrist might be. They speculate about this individual or that dictator, etc., yet all the while, the spirit of antichrist is taking over the world and overrunning even "Christian" religion. The way things are going, if some individual were to arise who merited the title "The Antichrist" they wouldn't recognize him as such anyway! The irony is that while many theologians are looking for some evil dictator to commit a particular wicked deed, they themselves may actually be caught up in the abomination of desolation and be totally unaware of it!

What do we mean by the "abomination of desolation?" Let's look at the words involved, one at a time, particularly as they are used in the scriptures.

The first word is "abomination." An abomination is something that is totally disgusting, utterly sickening and contemptible. Of course the scriptures are concerned about things that God finds abominable, that He hates and loathes. We must always remember that God's values, and thus His evaluation of things, are totally different from those of sin-darkened man. That is why Jesus, in Luke 16:15, said, "... that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

If you do a study of the word "abomination" in the Old Testament you will discover that the primary use of the word concerns idolatry. The connection is often so close that "abomination" is actually used as a synonym for "idol." For example, if you said that someone had an abomination in his house, everyone knew (at least among the Jews) that you meant he had an idol.

The ancient world was totally dominated by idolatry. Every tribe and nation had its gods, represented by statues or images of some kind. In every aspect of life from planting crops to fighting wars, men looked to their gods for help and bowed to their demands even when it meant human sacrifice.

In the process of God separating a people for Himself, idolatry was a major issue. Listen to the beginning of the ten commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

Idolatry, in its essence, provided men with a religious substitute for the one true God. The same applies to the word "abomination." An abomination is anything that people give themselves to that displaces God. Certainly that includes gross sins of every kind, but the thing God finds most abominable is that which is religious. Religion is sinful man pretending he is righteous. It is open rebellion against God, yet it often appears under the guise of goodness and truth.

One point that cannot be emphasized too much is that idolatry is not just ignorant but harmless superstition. It has devil power behind it. Listen to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:16-17 concerning idolatry: "They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not." See also Leviticus 17:7.

Psalm 106:34-40 says, "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions."

Paul, in I Corinthians 10:19-20 said, "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils."

Fellowship with devils! That is the real issue in religion. That is what God desires to deliver His children from in this present darkness.

Religion is Satan's greatest tool for ruling over lost mankind. In the case of idolatry, the real power behind their religion was the demon spirits who hid behind the facade of the actual images. Make no mistake: there is real supernatural power behind false religion. And I'm not just talking about what we consider to be "heathen" religion: I'm including most of what is called Christianity yet is actually infested with devils.

When Moses first went before Pharaoh and turned his staff into a serpent to demonstrate God's power, the heathen magicians were able to duplicate his feat. However, Moses' "serpent" swallowed those of the magicians, demonstrating that God's power is greater than that of devils! We must never forget that!

Satan always tries his best to corrupt and hinder anything God does in the earth. By the time Moses came along with a commission from God to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, approximately 400 years had passed since the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The greatest bondage into which they had fallen was not slavery but the idolatrous beliefs and practices that they had absorbed from their heathen surroundings. It did not take long for their idolatry to surface during the wilderness journey.

Their exodus from Egypt was attended by great signs and wonders including the crossing of the Red Sea on dry land. They experienced the miracle of manna for food (Exodus 16). They saw and heard the awesome display of God's power at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19). Yet when Moses delayed coming down from the mount (Exodus 32) their unbelief of heart took over.

The mentality of people was such in those days that they needed gods they could see and touch in order to have something to believe in and be motivated by. Therefore the instinct of those who felt they had to do something since it appeared that Moses had abandoned them was to pressure Aaron into making a golden calf and to proclaim, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Exodus 32:4.

That spirit of impatient unbelief and unwillingness to wait on God and do things His way persists in our day as well and is the hallmark of apostate Christianity.

The results of their rebellion were disastrous. After offering the people the opportunity to choose sides, Moses ordered those who remained true to the Lord to execute judgment against the rebels with the sword. Three thousand Israelites died. Additionally, Exodus 32:35 tells us, "And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made."

Idolatry was a very persistent problem among the Israelites for many centuries to come and the Lord treated it with deadly seriousness, judging them repeatedly, yet with no lasting effect.

The nation reached its zenith in the time of David and Solomon, however Solomon's reign ended badly. Solomon had a problem with women and married 700 of them besides keeping 300 concubines. Many of these were heathen women and Solomon accommodated their religions in his old age.

In I Kings 11:7-8 we read, "Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods."

Part of the resulting judgment was the revolt of ten tribes which never again served God. The remaining kingdom, known as Judah, consisted of Judah and Benjamin together with the Levites who were thrown out of their priestly duties by the revolting tribes. II Chronicles 11:13-14. Besides the Levites, all who still wanted to serve God left the new kingdom and went to Judah.

Even in Judah, where God preserved the remnant, the spiritual trend was downhill with revivals few and far between. One positive example was Josiah of whom it was said, "And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers."

However the overall trend continued until God used Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and to carry the people away captive. The cause of this judgment is summarized in II Chronicles 36:14-16: "Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy."

Do you see the abomination of desolation involved here? The abominations of the nation reached a point of no return, where judgment was the only answer. God had prophets who saw what was happening and warned against it, but the people plunged ahead in their blindness. Still there was a remnant that God preserved even in Babylon, Daniel being the most famous among them.

The word "desolation" is well illustrated by what happened to Jerusalem both under Babylon and later under Rome. While it refers to great defeat and destruction we must never forget the spiritual dimension: although forces ruled over by the devil carried out the desolations, in each case they represented the deliberate judgment of God.

Even in "desolation" we can see a process at work. Long before the actual destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus said, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." Matthew 23:38.

Here the idea conveyed is more one of abandonment. We are reminded of Genesis 6:3 where God said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man ...." One of the marks of coming judgment is the withdrawal of God's restraint against man's headlong rush towards destruction -- exactly what we are seeing in our day.

However, there is another side to "abomination" that must be understood. If abominations were only connected with overt idolatry, they would be easy to spot.

Following the Babylonian captivity, there was a restoration of sorts under men like Ezra and Nehemiah. The city and temple were rebuilt and the worship of God restored. Overt idolatry didn't seem to be the primary problem from that point on. For those who returned to Jerusalem, the primary problem became empty orthodoxy (see Malachi), an outward service toward God that hid a wicked and unchanged heart. This was what Jesus lashed out against.

Even in Isaiah's day, before the Babylonian captivity we are afforded a picture of how God saw their religion. Isaiah 66:3-4 says, "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not."

Killing an ox, sacrificing a lamb, offering an oblation, and burning incense were all part of the law. Yet their spiritual condition was such that they might as well have been practicing idolatry! The real spirit that was operating in them was exactly the same. The only differences were outward.

Take note of the word "abominations" being applied to things that were outwardly right! I wonder how many things in our day that religious men glory in are actually abominations in God's eyes! Is the abomination of desolation an event or a general condition? When the Christians left Jerusalem there was no particular event that occurred: they left when God warned them to leave. Conditions had reached that point. The rest of the population remained blind.

What about our day? What is the true spirit behind religion? To what degree are we witnessing lost religious people who have "chosen their own ways" and whose soul "delighteth in their abominations"?

Did you know that devils can "praise God," talk about the blood of Christ, give life-changing experiences, perform miracles, "cast out devils," preach, pray, prophesy and speak in tongues, and love every minute of it? The outward form of those things doesn't bother them in the least. It is only where God is present by the anointing and through truth that they are disturbed.

The devil is a great promoter of the idea that devils could not or would not do such things. It affords his evil operatives the perfect cover to deceive millions with false religion. People will say, "Why would the devil praise God?" or "How could demons say that Jesus is Lord and talk about the blood of Christ?" No demon could say those things from the heart when Christ is present, but giving lip-service to religious concepts people have come to believe in is no problem for them. The words have no magical power in themselves.

Really praising God is far more than mere words. Do you really believe that God is pleased with the "praise" of those whose hearts are far from Him, let alone the deceitful "praise" by devils? Matthew 15:7-9.

There is a passage of scripture the Lord has emphasized in our midst many times over the years. It is found in Rev. 18:1-4. "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

Verse 2 portrays what happens when religious man operates apart from the headship of Christ: devils find a spiritual home and take over. The expression "is fallen and is become" shows us that this is a process. That is why it is so deadly. The true condition develops undetected by most. It is like a country slowly undermined by foreign agents and collaborators until the citizens wake up one day and realize they are under enemy control. Unfortunately, with the exception of the sheep, the citizens of "religion" will find out the same way the Sodomites or those in Noah's day did -- when judgment is falling and it is eternally too late.

Whenever passages such as this are applied to contemporary Christianity, people are naturally inclined to resent it. They may agree that it applies to certain other groups but certainly not to theirs! Their minds go to people they believe to be good and sincere and you are accused of being negative and critical.

I agree that some of God's people are in Babylon. That's why the Lord says, "Come out of her, my people ...."! When Jesus condemned the religious system that operated among the Jews, He was not condemning or criticizing the sheep! He simply spoke the truth, motivated by God's Spirit, to the end that the sheep might be delivered.

Most of God's people are asleep. They do not know the danger they are in. As the darkness swallows up outwardly Christian religious systems, God warns of plagues that are the lot of religious Babylon.

It is the time of judgment, of harvest, of separation. I see only judgment ahead for the houses of religion that use Christ's name but operate apart from His authority. If everyone that claims God told them to do what they are doing has actually heard from God, then He is mighty confused! And "... God is not the author of confusion ...." I Cor. 14:33.

Based both on the witness of God's Spirit concerning contemporary Christianity and on the witness of God's Word in Matthew 7, I believe that the vast majority of those supposedly acting in Christ's name have no authority from Christ to do what they are doing. Will their work stand before the darkness? What of their followers? Do not the sheep need the great Shepherd? Has He not provided for such an hour as this? Is there no ark of safety from the judgment that looms over our world?

God will never forget His own, but it is not an hour for slumber or for staying where Christ does not rule. He is our only safety, our only light, our only knowledge, our only protection from the powers of darkness that have been turned loose on a doomed, sin-blinded world.

One by one, the sheep are waking up to the reality of what is taking place. Are you like those in Malachi? Do you fear the Lord? Does the darkness cause you to seek the light? to speak often with others of like spirit? Are you in a place of spiritual safety or a place of spiritual danger?

God has the answers we need. It is a time to pray and seek Him as never before, both for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters still in this world. We are a tiny minority here. Most of our family is on the other side. It will not be long! Praise God!

To Be Continued

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