Signs & Portents

As the gospel spreads, the world is exorcised.  For example, in Ephesus, Artemis, &, with & representatively in her, the Greco-Roman gods are defeated in a manner broadly analogous to the defeat of the Egyptian gods in Exodus.

Here is a representative list: 

1. Zeus - Romans “Abba, Father”
2. Apollo - Revelation 
3. Aphrodite - Corinth
4. Artemis - Ephesus, Acts, Ephesians 
5. Isis - Romans 1 
6. Dionysus - 1 Cor. 11
7. Poseidon - Acts 27/28
8. Dike - Malta narrative, justice for all in Acts
9. Hades - 1 Cor. 15 
10. Agnosticos Theos - Acts 17 

It seems to me that modern sensibilities have forgotten about this sort of thing.  We in the West don’t perceive of ourselves as people surrounded by polytheism.   It’s not that polytheism no longer exists.  Rather, monotheism rules the day in places like the United States & Western Europe.  We think of polytheism as quaint, outmoded, & a curiosity, but the truth of the matter is that the Bible teaches that demons are real, & there is also some sort of heavenly court that is analogous to the Greco-Roman Titanomachy.  

We ought to take it seriously.  As much as I dislike finding agreement with a buffoon like Marjorie Taylor-Greene, I agree with her that the recent eclipse that encompassed 13 states in the US, signifies God’s judgment.   It occurred just six years after the previous one, & there was an earthquake in New York City & another in Taiwan not long beforehand.   The path of totality if the 2 eclipses even puts the middle of the United States in the crosshairs.   The next one is in 2045. 

Some readers added context stating that the eclipse was predicted hundreds of years ago & will not have been caused by contemporary actions.   Aren’t they the clever ones?  The predictability of the events is proof that the event was caused by contemporary actions, not vice versa. 

How so?  Think of the eclipse as an item on a college syllabus.  It’s like a deadline for a major project.  Knowing the date & understanding that God, via meticulous ordinary providence, ordered the celestial event to occur at a particular time & over a particular location individually &, very likely, representatively, people ought to be prepared to hand in any projects required of them - and ignorance is not an excuse - since the LORD has written the tables of the Law & Gospel upon our hearts. 

2045 is 19 years away.  What will we do then? It’s my hope that enough people will have been removed, retained, & returned to make a major difference.   The US is a major center of business & commerce.   We are guilty of heavy duty gluttony, & the treatment of different people groups by us includes a religious bigotry component.  We have a reputation for warmongering at times as well.  These are all sins for which Sodom & Gomorrah & other cities in the Bible were targeted by the LORD.  We can do better.   My hope is that the LORD will corporeally remove, retain, & return more & more people, thus ensuring a smooth transition to all things made new.  That, in my opinion, is the best hope for presenting offerings of righteousness (Malachi 3) to the LORD that we have right now. 

As always, thank you for reading, & may God bless us all, each & every one, & “Go & sin no more.”