Have you seen any good movies lately? I can't say that I have, but I did watch a recent DC comics movie and it was downright disturbing. We've talked previously about how the world is designed to be against YHWH and this movie is a perfect example.
It's not necessary to recount the whole movie, but it is important to review some highlights, and the theme we need to take away is "always guard your inputs," meaning what you hear and see. We'll go into details on that in a little bit, but before we get into it, if you're not aware of secret societies and their history I recommend spending a little time doing some cursory research. At this point, the existence of these societies isn't really a secret, although identifying their members is sometimes difficult. Believe it or not, they do exist, and despite what they want you to believe the societies' motivations are not good. And they're all deep into the occult, whether the members know it at their level or not.
Anyway, back to the movie I watched. In it, there were multiple symbols that are associated with secret societies, including the hands in the shape of a triangle, complete with an eye inside (just look at the dollar bill in your wallet to see that one). As many of these symbols are, the triangle is used in the occult, and there were also other such references, including the inverted pentagram (an upside-down star), characters that were wizards, and a symbol that resembles lightning.
If all those things you could have considered "coincidental," it gets worse because the plotline of this movie is blatantly satanic. The "villain" is killed and demons reincarnate him as a creature resembling baphomet (an idol representing Satan), complete with an inverted pentagram etched in his chest. The "hero" is a man given super powers by wizards whose "superhero" outfit has a lightning bolt on the chest. The "good guys" are members of the Justice Society, and they are unable to defeat the "villain" until the "hero" shows up.
We know that Satan fell like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18), so a symbol of lightning is a clear reference to him. We also know he transforms himself into a messenger of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), which lines up with a character that's supposedly there to save the world. When looking into the symbol of the triangle you'll find that in the occult it's used to summon a demon. In this movie, when they put their hands in the shape of a triangle, they put their arms out and are looking at the "hero" through the triangle made by their hands. You can see what this triangle looks like in the picture for this week.
Some symbols and signs are blatant like the baphomet and wizard characters. Others are more subtle like the lightning and triangle. They might even be shrugged off as just a "coincidence," to the casual observer. But do not be fooled and do not be blind, because evil is more out in the open now than ever before. I mean, the plot line of someone that has to die in order to be reborn as a "god" along with a catch phrase, "death is the only path to life," should be enough to give Christians pause and question what we're allowing into our eyes and ears. We have to be vigilant, and warn others like we are a watchman on a wall (2 Kings 9:17, Isaiah 21:6-10, Ezekiel 33:2-9).
Why is this important? Why is it necessary not only to recognize this evil but also discuss it? Because so many are out there blind to it. We, being Christ's body, have the ability to have discernment that others simply cannot. We need to help those that can be helped, to open their eyes. Otherwise, they are going to be unwittingly enslaved as a mindless member of Satan's army. The real zombies are not undead, they are those blind to the presence and influence of evil in the everyday goings-on of the world and as a result are unknowingly involved in promoting and acting in the evil being propagated.
We looked at the "Star of Solomon" a couple weeks ago as something evil that has infiltrated YHWH's people, but YHWH has given us signs and symbols, that actually pre-date anything that evil has come up with. He set them in the heavens (Genesis 1:14), both the second heaven and the first heaven (Genesis 9:13). At some point, Satan started appropriating them and they became worshipped by man, symbols were developed as representations, and Satan and his messengers built upon them, incorporating themselves as the objects to be worshipped. To remind man of how this is a sin, YHWH instructed us to not make any graven images of anything in creation and also to have no other gods besides Him (Exodus 20).
It's easy to read scripture and leave it in the past, so to speak. With the last book being written almost 2,000 years ago, and with some translations and terminologies being hard to understand in the context of the current American society, not to mention any others, being able to apply scripture to our lives is challenging. Not to mention there's confusion added by those declaring that certain parts are more important than others or even that whole parts, concepts, or requirements should be completely ignored since they're "already fulfilled" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Make no mistake, you cannot get to the New Testament without the Old Testament and there is nothing in the New Testament that is new or different than what was required or prophesied in the Old Testament.
If you haven't stopped to think about it before, think about how the New Testament was written over the course of decades while the Old Testament was written over the course of over 1,000 years. YHWH inspired every word (2 Timothy 3:16) and preserved every word for us to read and study, for a purpose. It wasn't for us to have bedtime stories, or to pick up once a week and read a verse or two. It was for us to understand His plan, to store it in our heart as we recognize His love for us, and to give us the tools and the means, with His help, to protect ourselves from and fight against Satan and his evil. And if we don't use it for that, and to help others do that, it's questionable if we're truly fulfilling our role as a light to the world (Matthew 5:14). If we aren't a light, we can't make things visible (Ephesians 5:13) and expose darkness (John 3:19-20) so that others aren't led through the wide gate (Matthew 7:13).
I can tell you from experience that once you learn the symbols and signs of the occult you will see them everywhere as a signature of evil. You won't be able to unsee them. And once you start testing everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and I mean everything from news articles to television shows to movies to music to interviews to halftime shows, you will see just how much evil is subtly, and not so subtly, trying to influence and infiltrate our lives (1 Peter 5:8). But take heart! We can resist (1 Peter 5:9), and succeed in that resistance, because that which is in us is greater than that which is in the world! (1 John 4:4)
We need to guard our eyes and ears from evil, but if that is not possible in certain situations because you don't have the ability to control it, even just actively identifying it in your mind helps. For instance, if you are walking down the street and there's a billboard with occult symbols or even just an evil message, calling it out in your mind as evil keeps your guard up and reminds you of the prevalence of evil in order to help keep you from being blind to it.
This active identification helps you not to get sucked into propagating evil unknowingly as well. The next "hip" dance that comes along, or catchy tune that everyone's into, you won't be willing to join in because you'll see it for what it is: a spreading of evil. You may even feel courageous enough to point out that dance or song for what it is to someone you see doing or singing it and hopefully open someone else's eyes as well.
Yeshua told us those who do evil avoid the light for fear they will be exposed (John 3:20), and I have found that to be true. I have also found that if evil is confronted with truth, it generally doesn't have a response to it. It either avoids it, denies it, or tries to deflect by changing the subject, usually to something that's intended to evoke an emotional response so that the person speaking the truth is distracted from the fact that the truth was presented with no argument against it.
The point is, you can point out evil by telling people the truth behind it, like occult symbolism or practices, and the strongest argument you might get is that they don't use those symbols for that or follow those practices. They generally don't argue that what you said isn't true. Maybe they even accept what you said and ask for more information, but regardless of if they ignore you, shrug it off, or argue, you will have planted a seed that will grow at the right time. YHWH will be able to use what you said in just the right moment to either rapidly or gradually open that person's eyes.
So, keep your eyes and ears open, and identify evil with you see it, even if it's just to yourself. Stay in His word, to continue to develop your ability to discern good from evil. There is a warning against those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), so we don't want to be one of those. Having that discernment will help us not to be.
Shabbat shalom and God bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
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