God Versus the Other Gods
Speaker: Pastor Darin Browne
I have been doing a series on the greatness of our God. We have looked at God’s greatness in the heavens, His mind blowing greatness as seen in the stars galaxies, supernova and black holes. Then we looked at His greatness in the intricacies of our body, our DNA, and His victory for us in Christ over death.
We saw last week that God has a destiny for us, from before we were born. So, what if God has been preparing us for this very moment in time? What if our destiny is to stand strong in a climate of sinfulness and fear?
WARNING: This message is not suitable for the sensitive ears of children and it is guaranteed to offend someone. Hope it’s not you.
Today I want to speak into our current moral climate and talk about a great cosmic showdown that is unfolding as we speak. How great is our God versus the devil, versus the other gods, versus ancient demonic spirits. Basing this message on a book called Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jewish pastor.
GOOD (GOD) VERSES EVIL (OTHER GODS)
There is a struggle in this planet between good and evil, but this is nothing new.
Luke 10:18 (ESV)
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Revelation 12:9 (ESV)
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Ever since Satan’s fall, when he took one third of the angels to become his demons, Satan has opposed God, and everything about God. This conflict is not new. The devil wants to hurt God by destroying His creation, mankind.
What I am about to share will be shocking, offensive to some, but it’s not dualism. It’s not good versus evil and either could win. Our God has already defeated Satan, but Satan keeps fighting for all he’s worth, but can’t win.
MANKIND’S FALLEN FOR IT
Mankind played right into the enemy’s hands.
Romans 1:21-22 (ESV)
For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:24-26 (ESV)
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions.
When our society rejected God, which we clearly have over the last 50 years, then that opened the door for ancient gods to rise again.
SHOWDOWN AT THE NOT-SO-OK CORAL
Things are not so okay; our society is a mess. We’ve got school kids dressing like cats because they identify as felines. We have people changing gods, changing sex, changing morality like they change socks. We have a seemingly all-powerful media that calls for tolerance in everything, except Christianity. Why attack Christianity? Because this is a spiritual battle: God versus other gods.
The Bible is full of altercations between God’s guys and the ancient gods. Elijah, Gideon, Joshua, and and many others fought ancient spiritual deities, but this is not simply ancient history, it’s happening again right now.
For example, a few years ago I saw our Prime Minister at our ACC Pastors convention. Last week our Prime Minister was leading the Gay Pride march. Our whole society is sliding into a depraved, confused mess, from the top down. But this is not new!
1 John 5:19 (ESV)
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Our whole nation today lies in the power of the evil one. Somehow the same gods the Israelites fought in the Bible are back again, taking the form of the woke, the PC, the LGBTQ+ lobbies. They’re back, and they’re evil, and they’re fighting hard!
ANCIENT GODS BANISHED
In former days these ancient gods reigned over tribes and nations, kingdoms, and empires, saturating them with their images, doctrines and teachings.
When Jesus was crucified and rose again, the power of these evil spirits declined, and over the next few hundred years they were expelled from the high places, cast out of their temples, and removed from memory.
Colossians 2:15 (ESV)
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
ANCIENT GODS RETURN
Over a couple of centuries, the old gods were driven underground, and Christianity became the dominant religion in the western world. We built our morality, our laws, our society on the Bible. It wasn’t perfect, but God’s laws were at the heart of every civilised society.
But over the last century or so, man decided he had no more need for God, and he glorify himself above God, much like Satan had in the past. In doing this, mankind has opened a portal for the same ancient demonic spirits to return. And the are obliging!
Deuteronomy 32:17 (ESV)
They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.
SAME ANCIENT GODS, NEW DIFFERENT GUISES
But this time the ancient gods are coming back in disguise. They altered their appearances, took on new identities and gave themselves new names. They came as spirits of enlightenment, freedom, tolerance, and inclusiveness; they came as secular gods, gods that denied that they were gods, gods that declared that there were no gods – they came as new gods of the modern world. Jesus said this about the devil…
John 8:44 (ESV)
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
These gods of ancient Canaan and Phoenicia to which the Israelites sacrificed were not simply the figments of pagan imagination but actual spiritual entities. Likewise, the gods of the Greeks and the Roman Empire, were not simply the imagined or invented characters of pagan mythology – but were connected to spiritual entities, called daimonia in Greek, demonic spirits.
Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
What I’m about to share may seem overwhelming, but don’t feel worried, just rest in the knowledge that I’ve read the book and I know who ultimately wins!
CLASH OF THE GODS
People can be demon possessed or oppressed, but so can entire cultures. The grip that these ancient gods had on so many cultures and peoples was shattered by one man dying in a cross. The polytheism and pantheism of the Greco-Roman world gave way to the belief in one God, a God who loves and cares for each one of us, unlike the ancient, demonic spirits. Jesus said,
Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV)
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
“Generation” means not just individuals, but generations and cultures can be possessed. They can be fooled by these satanic gods. But the ancient gods can only return if the door is opened for them. This can only happen if there is a falling away of a nation from the Christian faith and a biblical worldview.
Our modern post-Christian world has rejected the things of God, and so, according to Jesus’ words, our modern state will be worse than the ancient pagan pre-Christian world. It is no accident that the modern world and not the ancient has been responsible for unleashing the greatest evils upon the world, including communism, Nazism, Fascism, the Holocaust, abortion, and the atomic bomb.
THE DARK TRINITY – ANCIENT GODS
You would be aware of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Revelation we see an unholy trinity: the dragon, beast, and the false prophet.
Revelation 16:13-14 (ESV)
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad
The reemergence of these three spiritual powers with such ferocity in Revelation sparks the final battle between God and Satan at Armageddon. Many believe that we face such an unholy trinity right now, and if this is true, then we are privileged to live in, and be part of, the greatest battle for humanity in history.
Let’s look in detail at three remerging ancient gods I believe are active right now.
1. BAAL – THE POSSESSOR
Baal means lord or owner. He was chief of the gods, lord of rain, clouds, and fertility. Baal is mentioned a lot in the Old Testament Bible, for example…
Judges 2:11-12 (ESV)
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.
The god Baal, a demonic principality, promised increased prosperity, material gain, and fertility. Known to the Greeks as Zeus, or Jupiter Belus (Baal), or Rome’s Apollo. The mission of Baal is to cause nations that have previously known and followed God to stop knowing Him and then to forget Him, and then to forget that they ever knew Him.
Judges 3:7 (ESV)
They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
As this ancient god resurfaces, he tries to turn whole nations away from the things of the true God. The Word of God is mocked instead of revered and obeyed, and the laws of God are forsaken for a new morality.
WHAT BAAL LOOKS LIKE TODAY
Baal’s agenda is to control nations and turn them away from God. God’s laws are abandoned as Baal controls the media, universities, government, schools and children’s programmes, and God is openly mocked on TV and movies.
2 Kings 17:16 (ESV)
And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
Baal comes in initially via a spirit of openness and a call to tolerate and then embrace new ideas and ways. Ancient Baal was a god of prosperity, promising followers material and monetary gains. And the ancient symbol of this god was a bull. Guess what the symbol for prosperity is on Wall Street? Nothing new under the sun.
Psalms 106:19-21 (ESV)
They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Saviour,
Baal worship is idol worship, previously statues and temples. Today it is footballers and movie stars. Baal worship is prosperity, previously rains and harvests but today stocks and properties. Baal worship is also the occult, previously in temples and high places, but today we see this on TV, movies and in markets, psychic fairs, in mung beans and cheese cloths. Even over on Queen Street!
TECHNO BAAL
Baal knows that, if he can target children, he can win whole generations. Let me reference Paul preaching on Mars Hill in Athens…
Acts 17:29 (ESV)
Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
The Greek word for art, as in an image formed by the art of men, is TECHNE, from which we get technology. So, the form of our new idolatry is technology.
You see this in so many young people today, as gamers get absorbed into the matrix of the virtual world. The virtual world of online becomes real for them, and Baal has them where he wants them. In 2019 a 13-year-old Victorian boy took his own life after a year long addiction to the game Fortnite.
This is not ancient history, it’s not just words in the Bible, this is happening right now! The ancient god Baal turned our people away from God, harnessing media, technology and popular culture, creating a godless vacuum and he opened the door. But he was not alone, he had a mistress. She stepped in.
2. ISHTAR – THE ENCHANTRESS
Surely one of the most remarkable traits of the last 20 years is the prolific rise of sexual deviancy. Ishtar is the goddess of sexuality, often called the Queen of Heaven. Ishtar was her Babylonian and Assyrian name. Romans called her Venus, Phoenicians as Astarte, and Greek called her Aphrodite. In the Bible she was seen as Ashtoreth, with Ashterah poles and temple prostitution.
This goddess was all about sexuality, the patron goddess of prostitutes. Her worshippers reflected her promiscuity, with temple prostitutes, male and female and, surprisingly, in ancient times, transgender prostitutes.
Judges 2:13 (ESV)
They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.
WHAT ISHTAR LOOKS LIKE TODAY
Our society, following America, began to move away from conservative Christian morality and God’s Word in the 1960s, the so-called sexual revolution. The goddess Ishtar was behind this. What was branded “new morality” was in fact the ages old morality, repackaged. And just like before, what promised sexual freedom produced bondage and misery.
For centuries in our society marriage was considered desirable, divorce rate, and homosexuality underground. Television and movies reflected this morality.
But in the 1970s and 80s, sex was deified, marriage mocked and sleeping around became a badge of honour. In the noughties, society got even naughtier and homosexuality, so long in the shadows, became a legitimate lifestyle, as did having affairs and the party lifestyle. You see, Ishtar has always been about sex, and instant gratification. Get what you want and get it now! Add technology to the mix, and you have a situation where close to one in three of all internet downloads are porn.
Ishtar is sexual, but subtle. She takes what was once forbidden, unspoken, and taboo and, step-by-step, introduces it into the mainstream culture, via the media and now social media. The shock of sexual changes is followed by a sliding scale…shock, familiarity, numbness, then tolerance, then acceptance, and then celebration. Then persecution of those who disagree.
ISHTAR THE TRANS-FORMER
Transformers are cool, but Ishtar is a not cool former of transes. Ishtar expresses her duality. Beautiful, feminine, and sexual, but also strong, aggressive, and masculine. And in ancient days, her followers exhibited the same traits. Her temple worshippers were often homosexual, transgender, or asexual. Transgenderism is not a modern phenomenon, it’s as ancient as the goddess herself. Her mission is to emasculate and feminise men, just like in ancient times, and she targets the easiest ones to confuse and turn…children.
In schools, TV shows and movies, transgenderism and bisexuality is being openly pedalled. Amazingly, Disney is among the worst. This is promoted as inclusive, as tolerant, as anti-discriminatory, but I believe behind it all it is Ishtar sinisterly taking control of young minds. She is attacking God’s creation.
Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Back in ancient Mesopotamia, worshippers of the goddess Ishtar combined illicit and hallucinogenic substances with music as they worshipped. Today it’s the same potent mix…sex, drugs and rock and roll. And the explosion of sex and drugs was also accompanied by an explosion of the occult.
3. MOLECH
The third spiritual deity making his entrance is the ancient god Molech, and he is clearly identifiable in our modern Australian society.
Leviticus 18:21 (ESV)
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God.
Molech was a god who was infamous for the sacrifice of children. People placed their kids onto the arms of the idol, then they rolled into the fire beneath the idol to perish.
There is a clear connection between Molech and the rise of abortion, both here and around the world. Recently our government legalised abortion up until birth. In Australia up to 100,000 abortions are performed every year. Guttmacher Institute reports that worldwide there are 73 million abortions per year.
Jeremiah 7:31 (ESV)
And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.
We saw last week that God’s law directly opposes this demonic spirit, teaching us that life begins at conception, and every life is precious. David wrote this…
Psalms 139:15-16 (ESV)
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
Our society, infiltrated by the hideous demonic spirit, sacrifices our children for its own personal convenience and gain. And the state sanctions it. Once we were outraged, then tolerant, then accepting, and now abortion is celebrated and those who disagree are persecuted. Same sliding scale.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE AND MORE AND MORE
I don’t have time to explain in detail the many other ways these ancient gods are transforming our culture, but I’m sure you can see a pattern here. Baal turns our nation away from God and godly principles towards greed, creating a void in our society. Ishtar steps into it, sexualising everything and doing all she can to ruin God’s image, male and female, and Molech legitimises the slaughter of millions in the womb.
I don’t have time to examine the start of the LGBTALPHABET SOUP movement at Stonewall in New York, and how it is tied directly into these ancient gods, right down to the actual day in the year. The 26th of June was one of Ishtar’s ancient holy days. On 26 June 1969 the warrant was obtained to raid the gay bar Stonewall in New York, the start of LGBTQ CC movement. On 26 June 2003 homosexuality was decriminalised, 26 June 2013 defence of marriage was overturned, 26 June 2015 gay marriage was passed in the US. There’s a pattern.
Here’s another thing. The ancient followers of Ishtar had huge parades, exactly like the Gay Pride Mardi Gras parade that our Prime Minister saw fit to lead. Yes, the ancient world had gay and cross gendered pageants too!
The parallels are uncanny. Gay symbols, the double-edged axe, the colour purple, all associated with Ishtar worship. One ancient text talks of MANZAT ISHTAR, which translates as rainbow Ishtar. That’s right, the perversion of the rainbow, their flag has six colours instead of seven, man’s number instead of God’s, is also a throw back to the ancient gods. It’s about time we took God’s rainbow back!
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA…WHERE?
Without doubt our nation and our culture is under attack. Ancient gods bearing a 2,000-year-old vendetta are rising, and people are blindly following.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
In Australia the marriage plebiscite was just the start, and there’s more to come. The early tolerance has been replaced by a new, enlightened intolerance, manifested as woke, political correctness and cancel culture. Note the sliding scale, shock, then tolerance, then acceptance, then celebration and the persecution of objectors.
We are told to be tolerant, to be accepting, not realising that…
2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)
even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
And Australia’s woke tolerance is anything but tolerant if you happen to disagree. We cannot say a thing against gays because it is considered hate speech. But they can dress as nuns and mock Christianity, that’s okay apparently.
Romans 11:2-5 (ESV)
Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
THIS IS OUR MOMENT
There is always a remnant, chosen by Grace: we are it. Our nation is in crisis.
Proverbs 14:34 (ESV)
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
I’m ashamed of my nation and what has happened here in the last few years. I’m ashamed of those churches that have embraced this demonic agenda in the name of tolerance. As a Christian, I am called to love everybody, to tolerate people, even those whose actions defy everything I believe in. But I am not called to tolerate and love their ideas when they plainly conflict with Scripture, and when they are tearing our society apart, as they are today. I can love someone without agreeing with them and giving them everything they want. We can love without permitting.
Romans 1:32 (ESV)
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Many churches may not be doing these things themselves, but they are approving clearly unbiblical morality, fearing media and public opinion, instead of fearing the one true God. It’s time for us to suit up and stand strong.
Ephesians 6:11 (ESV)
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
SUCH A TIME AS THIS
What Mordechai said to Esther applies to us right now,
Esther 4:14 (ESV)
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
It doesn’t start with politicians, the media, or social media opinion, they are all under the enemy’s control. It must start with us, God’s people,
2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
So what must we do?
- WE MUST PRAY – Pray for our nation, leaders, and people.
- WE MUST STAY – Stay our hearts on God Word, stay together in unity.
- WE MUST SAY – Speak out for righteousness and against woke, regardless of the consequences
“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!” – Edmund Burke
WE MUST PORTRAY
Live a life that speaks Jesus and His righteousness to this sinful, depraved, confused, intolerant world. We must live and care for everyone, including gays and transgender, without condoning what they do.
Are you willing to stand against the ancient gods and stand for Jesus in our nation? I still believe what John said
1 John 4:4 (ESV)
you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
