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DOUBLE DOUBLE
Déjà vu In Bible Prophecy
Part VII
The last edition of Double Double noted the
incident wherein Israel destroyed the Midianites – including the women
who were participants in the sexual debacle at Baal Peor.
“Your eyes have seen what the Lord
did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor,
the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you” (Deuteronomy 4:3)
The sexual sin that erupted at that notorious locale is
still misunderstood, and the severity with which Moses and the Israelites dealt
with the event was actually a very important aspect of Old Testament history,
which has direct bearing on our time.
The LORD has clearly told us the events which occurred in Physical
Israel are recorded as an example for the Spiritual Israelites in
our time, and this episode cost a great many lives, so we would do well to take
the warning to heart.
“Now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come” (I Corinthians 10:11).
Thus, we are going to examine the disaster at Baal-Peor
further in the present installment of Double Double: Déjà vu In Bible
Prophecy.
A bit of background is in order.
As Israel travelled to the promised land in the wilderness,
some of the Israelite men encountered the daughters of Moab, who were sexually
provocative. Intimate relations with these women ensued, but the laws of Moses
had required marriage within the Israelite clan, so in order to continue their
contact with the women of Moab, the men adopted the religious custom of
honoring Baal.
“And [the Moabite women]
called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat,
and bowed down to their gods” (Numbers 25:2).
The sequence of events is irrefutable, and embracing a
foreign god is easily recognized as embracing Death.
“Take heed to yourselves, that your
heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship
them; and then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you…lest ye perish
quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you” (Deuteronomy
11:16, 17).
We recognize how the Israelite men did not just abruptly
decide to worship Baal, as they were taken captive by
their lust for the Moabite women – and captivity (as well
as lust) is a characteristic of Sin, which is just another euphemism for
the Spirit of Hell.
In other words, the classic Spiritual system we’ve
continuously described as the Perdition Engine, where the Spirit
of Hell (and all its sinful euphemisms such as lust, envy,
hatred, greed, etc) feeds its captives to the Spirit of Death,
was at work even then.
“To whom ye yield yourselves servants
to obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness” (Romans 6:16).
In this regard, sometimes its useful to view the temptation
that pursues us, as the Death that it seeks to deliver. Most
people are not tempted by Death, but the lure is the Spirit of Sin
and Hell that leads to the Spiritual stronghold of Death.
The Word of God tell us that when the enemy launches a full
scale assault on us, the LORD responds and progressively matches the attack.
“When the enemy shall come in like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah
59:19).
The Scripture tells us the LORD escalated His response on
behalf of His chosen. First, we learn that a plague struck all those who
strayed to Baal-Peor.
“The children of Israel…[committed]
trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there
was a plague among the congregation of the Lord” (Numbers 31:16).
The plague which struck was almost certainly a sexually
transmitted disease (STD), but lest we think of this as only an inconvenient
malady, we note that 24,000 people died from it.
“And those that died in the plague
were twenty and four thousand” (Numbers 25:9).
The fact that the sin persisted in spite of the fact the
plague took such a toll testifies of the intensity of the conflict over this
issue. The text tells us that God Himself escalated the issue, as He solemnly
instructed Moses to execute every single man that had fallen to the temptation
at Baal-Peor.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Take
all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun,
that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel” (Numbers
25:4).
At some point after this, the problem was still not
eradicated, as an honored figure from a “chief house” among the
tribe of Simon, took a royal woman from the Midianites, who was also linked to Baal-Peor.
As a result, the matter increased in intensity, and the LORD
instructed Moses to smite the entire Midianite nation. This tells us the
religious practices associated with Baal went beyond the women of
Moab with their sexual practices, but had also impacted the Midianites.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Vex the Midianites, and smite them…wherewith they
have beguiled you in the matter of Peor” (Numbers 26:16-18).
Thus, the rigidity of the law resulted in all of the
Israelite men who became involved with the women of Moab in
Baal-Peor, being executed. The same circumstance also involved the Midianites,
and when the LORD instructed Moses to make war with Midian, everyone that had
anything to do with Baal-Peor died.
The compound name Peor is actually derived from a vulgar
expression for the male sex organ, so the place-name would actually be
transliterated the Phallus of Baal – which is obviously not a
motif suitable for the holy people of the LORD.
In the end result, Moses and the Judges (which were then
beginning to emerge in Israel) dealt harshly with the threat, and only the
virgins in the area survived, as they were assimilated into Israel.
Since all the things that occurred to Old Covenant Flesh and
Blood Israel are specifically stated to be an example for the benefit of New
Covenant Spiritual Israel, the LORD’s zero tolerance towards
sexual misadventures comes through loud and clear.
To put it another way, God is seriously warning Christians
that this particular threat – if not intensely resisted – will
destroy you.
In our time, modern man is dangerously plagued by
pornography, and every variation in sexual practice is widely available.
Without a doubt, this is doubled in the fact the text specifies
that some would have been lured by the Moabite women, while others would
have preferred the Midianite option.
In short, we note there were two flavors of Death
available to carnally minded men among the covenant people.
The “natural man” – the one without
Spiritual discernment (I Corinthians 2:14) -- will scoff at such a
notion, but we have previously noted that a recent survey by the Gallop polling
organization says that two out of every three Christian men have
candidly acknowledged they have an attraction to visit the “land”
of Baal-Porn.
This is yet another example of doubling, as
the Word of the LORD says that “two parts” will indeed be “cut
off and die” (Zechariah 13:8).
Since the Israelite severity towards the Baal-Peor
women is somewhat unsettling, the LORD is instructing us this is not something
we can tolerate in any way, as the progressive nature of sin is well
established. The fact that modern preachers are frequently overcome with carnal
behavior evidences that fact, but this is only part of the lesson.
We are under assault on a daily basis, and now it’s
not only the men, as statistics show us that women are not exactly immune to such
wiles of Hell – but the point is, the bondage of Sin
still delivers its prey to the domicile of Death.
Satan uses the rationalization process – which is one
of the attributes of the Spirit of Hell – to falsely reason
that Porn is a relatively innocuous sin, and that it is far less damaging than
an all out perversion, such as adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, or even
pedophilia.
Men reason that they can keep the impulse tightly
controlled, but this is another deception, as Sin is just like cancer, because
it is progressive. In fact, the cumulative threat that is Sin
exists adjacent to the Holy Ghost, in the allegorical “Valley of
Decision,” where the Holy Spirit seeks to lead the
multitude to Christ, who joins us the Father.
“Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of
decision” (Joel 3:14).
Jesus told us a house divided against itself cannot stand,
and certainly Satan’s domain has an end as the fallen one
exists in a house divided against itself.
“Every kingdom divided against
itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself
shall not stand. If Satan…be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an
end” (Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:26).
We have previously shown the Spirit of Antichrist and the
Spirit of the False Prophet are not in collusion with one
another as is erroneously thought, because each faction is in collision
with each other, as each stronghold seeks to serve its own will.
Christ told us our power and authority is when we, just as
He did, do the will of the Father.
“I can of mine own self do
nothing….because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).
Christian Media has previously shown that
understanding the attributes of Death and Hell also
helps us to identify the Spirit which is at work. We’ve learned the twin
iniquities are allegorized in Revelation as Serpents and Scorpions.
The “Scorpions” desire to inflict Spiritual
Death, but do not have the authority.
“And to them it was given that they
should not kill them, but that they should be tormented….and their
torment was as the torment of a scorpion. And in those days shall men seek death,
and shall not find it” (Revelation 9:5,6).
The “Scorpions” are indwelled by the Spirit of Hell,
which deceives and captivates. The “Serpents,” on the other hand,
are indwelled by the Spirit of Death, but the indefinite period
in which they are instructed to kill indicates their reticence.
“And the four angels were loosed,
which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for
to slay the third part of men”(Revelation 9:15).
The “third part,” on which they inflict Death
kill is the Spiritual third of each man and woman, as opposed to the “two
parts” of Flesh and Blood seen in Zechariah.
“Two parts therein shall be cut off
and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them” (Zechariah 13:8,9).
The Serpent Spirit only kills when the LORD decrees it.
“And I heard a voice from the four
horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying…loose the [Death]
angels” (Revelation 9:13,14).
Jesus told us the LORD, who decrees the Death
of the soul, is the one we should fear.
“Fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
Thus, the struggle of every Christian is only transitory, as
we will either be taken captive by Hell and delivered to Death,
or we will fully turn to the LORD and He will be victorious within these
earthen vessels (II Corinthians 4:7).
“Either make the tree good, and his
fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree
is known by his fruit” (Matthew 12:33).
To put it another way, the fight that is raging within all
of us, is to the Death – or the Life of
Christ.
-- James Lloyd
To Be Continued
