Satan’s playground of deception
Any Greek or Hebrew translations are quoted from
New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D.
Thomas Nelson Publishers 1990 edition
Galatians 1:6-8: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Colossians 2:18: Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind.
Galatians 1:6-8, refers to “an angel from heaven” preaching another gospel – it must be recognized that Satan and his evil spirits fall under this category because they originally came from heaven but are now fallen angels, that do preach another gospel. Luke 10:18: And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Ephesians 2:2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. In the Bible these fallen angels are what is referred to as the “principalities…powers…and rulers of the darkness of this world…they are the spiritual wickedness in high places”, and Satan is their prince. He is the “prince of the power of the air”, which now resides or operates between earth and the third heaven. However, Satan has been thrown out of the third heaven. The third heaven is where both God and Jesus reside! II Corinthians 12:2, 4: I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Ephesians 4:10: He (Jesus Christ) that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
Evil spirits (fallen angels) are masquerading as God’s messengers and are deceiving people – including God’s people. These evil spirits are keeping people, yes even the Christians, in bondage through temptation! This is why it is so imperative to remove all spiritual doors (décor and practices) that are giving evil spirits access into your home and life, because it is the spiritual looking things that deceive people. By having them people are having a spiritual feeling, but no life change – and though they try to pray, their prayers seem to no avail. Jesus Christ (the real Jesus Christ) is the only way we, as Christians, can have freedom and access to the true God whose throne is in the third heaven in paradise. Hebrews 4:16: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. II Corinthians 12:2, 4: I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Many people do not realize it, but the spiritual experiences they are having are not connecting them to the third heaven, or paradise, where the real Jesus and God both reside; but their spiritual experiences are keeping them lingering spiritually between earth and the third heaven. The area where Satan and his evil angels (evil spirits) reside (Satan’s playground). Without realizing it many people, and some of them Christians, have been spiritually playing in Satan’s domain. They are participating in false religious methods such as: meditation, fantasy, false visions, mind travel, hypnosis, divination, out of body or astral projection, etc; and/or are even using drugs and alcohol. See my document on ‘drinking and intoxication’. Also certain types of music can take people on a false spiritual high and right into Satan’s playground (i.e. heavy metal, rap, new-age, meditation music, drumming, and/or sounds of nature tapes/cd’s, etc.). Ezekiel 28:13 talks about Satan’s (Lucifer’s) “tabrets and pipes”; which means music was created in him. The Hebrew word for ‘tabrets’ in Ezekiel 28:13 is “toph, tofe; a tambourine, tabret, timbrel”. Music has been a definite tool of Satan and his music has led many people astray, including Christians. God created music as a form of worship, but remember Satan has an evil counterfeit for every good thing God creates. God’s music leads people to God, so where does Satan’s music lead? Extra note: There are some Christian denominations who believe and teach that having any musical instruments in the church is bad. This is wrong! They claim that we are only a New Testament church and that the New Testament does not mention musical instruments. But, that is not correct! Colossians 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. The Greek word for ‘psalms’ in Colossians 3:16 is “psalmos, psal-mos’; a set piece of music, i.e. a sacred ode (accompanied with the voice, harp, or other instrument; a psalm)”.
In the Bible the apostle Paul talks about his experience of being caught up to the third heaven; but not by means of drugs and alcohol, or by any false religious or false spiritual method. II Corinthians 12:1-4: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Only by praying to God through Jesus Christ (the real One) do we have straight access to God’s throne in the third heaven – God cannot be found through false religious methods or practices. Hebrews 4:14-16: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 8:1: NOW of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. I Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. John 20:31: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
God resides in the third heaven but is not limited to the third heaven – His power and majesty cover the entire universe and everything in it, including places unknown to man. His throne covers the expanses of the universe. Acts 7:49-50: Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? Saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? God is the ultimate authority over all the heavens, the earth, and everyone and everything in them – including Satan and his evil spirits! However, until Satan is cast into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3) he still has a domain. Satan’s domain of deception has become his playground – and many Christians have been going there to play by using false spiritual methods and techniques!
As Christians, God gives us power and authority over Satan and his evil devices. But, we have to have a true relationship with God’s Son Jesus Christ. Just calling ourselves Christians does not automatically give us God’s authority over Satan’s devices, and deceptions – especially when we have been participating in them. God warns His people to stay out of Satan’s domain. When people (who are supposed to be Christians) begin to by-pass Jesus Christ, and (knowingly or unknowingly) participate in false spiritual methods, practices, and/or décor, they step right out of God’s protection and right into Satan’s deception – and into his spiritual playground or domain. Christians are inviting evil spiritual bondage and disaster into their life – that without help from God, and most important His Son Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for them to escape!
Some people, many of whom are not Christian, use all sorts of false spiritual methods and practices in an attempt to reach God – not knowing that Jesus Christ is the only connection to God’s throne (in the third heaven). By practicing these false spiritual methods they are left spiritually lingering in the first and the second heaven, which is Satan’s realm. In Satan’s realm their mind becomes distorted and they are easy to deceive. Note: Satan and his evil spirits are also what people are really seeing when they think they are seeing aliens! Not all who practice false spiritual methods and techniques are unsaved – some are church people. Although they are not using these false methods and techniques in an attempt to find God, they are still using them, and this puts them in the same spiritual danger as the unsaved. Their spiritual experiences, while using these false methods, are taking them right into Satan’s playground and many of them do not even know it. An extra note: Alcohol or drugs can also lead people, yes even Christians, to this same false spiritual realm – Satan’s domain! See my document on ‘drinking and intoxication’.
As stated, it is not only the world that is being deceived through false spiritual methods and practices, but the church. Satan has infiltrated many churches with his false practices and deceptions. Many Churches today are not Spiritually discerning, and Satan’s deceptions have taken God’s place in these churches. Many refuse to let God’s Holy Spirit move in the midst of their congregation, yet they allow Satan’s spiritual deceptions in. In some churches they even teach and practice false spiritual methods by incorporating them into church activities. They are teaching things like yoga, visualization, iridology (reading of the eyes) and other new-age methods; to name a few! These and other false teaching methods are not limited to any particular denomination but are affecting the church body as a whole. It is not only the churches who are quenching the Holy Spirit that are being deceived, but the churches who allow the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to move in their midst are also being deceived. Many of these churches believe that anything or anyone who may appear spiritual is from God. Due to false spiritual practices and/or false religious décor they have lost their discernment. They do not even know what is in fact the Holy Spirit and what is not! Though we must never try and stop (or quench) the Holy Spirit from moving in our churches, and our homes, we must quit confusing the Holy Spirit with Satan’s counterfeits. It is true that some denominations have stopped the Holy Spirit from moving at all in their churches for fear of Satan’s spiritual counterfeits, but this is wrong. We must never try to control God’s Spirit. Because so many of our churches are quenching the Holy Spirit it has resulted in dead churches that operate in the religious bondage of ritualism. I Thessalonians 5:19: Quench not the Spirit. Through their religious formats they have hindered or quenched the Holy Spirit. They will not let the Lord have His way in the church service. They are afraid to invite the Holy Spirit into their midst because a person(s) in the congregation might beginacting out in evil manifestation. What they do not realize is that many times when God’s Holy Spirit is moving in the church people do act out when they are bound by evil spirits, and are being set free through God’s power. It does not mean that the supernatural power is evil just because a person acts out (or manifests). Quite the opposite, they are manifesting because the Holy Spirit is setting them free. Many churches believe that all supernatural manifestation is evil, and this is wrong. I know that we must beware, and not just believe that all spiritual manifestation is from God, but quenching God’s Holy Spirit is not the answer. Just because something is supernatural, and the church leaders may not understand it, this does not mean that all supernatural manifestation is evil. I know that there are times in a church service when a person is led by evil spirits to start acting weird or super spiritual, but this is no reason to try and control the service through ritualism and religious format. God’s Holy Spirit can take care of His church if we will just open the doors and invite Him in. The role of the church leadership is to maintain a Spiritual balance and not just let any spirit take charge of the service; however, it is not their role to stop God’s Holy Spirit from moving in His church. It is God’s desire for all people to be saved, delivered, and healed. He wants people to flock into His churches without fear of ridicule, and receive His freedom. Sometimes people will come into the church and start acting out just to gain attention, but we must give them some time in order to see if they will stop acting out and allow God to work in their life. However, if in time they do not stop, we cannot continue allowing them to disturb others who are trying to worship God. God wants all people to be set free! He wants people of all backgrounds to come into His church and learn of Him. God wants to help all people. He wants all people to come to Him; not just the people that the church decides are worth helping. If you will notice in the following scripture a man who had an evil unclean spirit was set free while in the church. Mark 1:23-26: And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Jesus did not throw the man out of the church, He threw the evil spirit out of the man. In these last days we must allow God’s Holy Spirit the freedom to move in His churches, through His people, and stop casting people out.
There are people who do come to church, sent by Satan, to try and disrupt the moving of the Holy Spirit – but, though that may be their intention – it is God’s intention to set them free. We, the church, must be ready and willing to accept and help anyone that God sends through His church doors. In the case of any person who may come in with the intention of disrupting the church service; if church leadership would only follow the Holy Spirit’s leading the person would either be delivered from evil bondage or they would eventually leave on their own accord. The church should be operating in the gift of discernment, and when Satan’s forces begin their deceptions we shouldbe able to tell the difference and cast them (the evil spirits)out through the power of God’s Word! Instead the church has been casting out God’s Holy Spirit, and even some of God’s people (the ones who have discernment)! If all of God’s people would spiritually clean their homes, lives, and their churches of ‘false religious attachments’ we would be able to discern what is in fact the Holy Spirit and what is Satan’s deception. Jesus said He would send us a Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, to teach us all things and guide us into all truth. But how can He teach us if we continue casting Him and the truth of His Word out of our churches, and out of our lives! John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 16:13: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. The Holy Spirit cannot teach us and guide us in all truth when we have placed other gods before Him in our homes and His churches.
How will the church know the truth if we do not invite the Holy Spirit to teach us? We must ask God’s Holy Spirit to Spiritually open our eyes to the truth that is found in our Bible, which is God’s Word. Why can’t God’s people tell the difference between a false god and the real God? It may be because God’s people do not practice (or even know) the most important truths about God’s commandments. As Christians, we have forsaken God’s first Commandment. When we disobey the first commandment how will we ever be able to truly follow the rest? Exodus 20:2-3 and Deuteronomy 5:6-7: AND God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Deuteronomy 6:5: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Joshua 22:5: But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 6:12: Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Deuteronomy 8:14: Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. I Kings 2:3: And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself. Matthew 22:37-38: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. Mark 12:30: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. If we love the Lord our God with all of our heart we will not want to have or do anything that is offensive to Him. However; the sad truth is that Christians have turned their homes and churches into a spiritual “house of bondage”. They have placed the gods of Egypt in them, and wrapped them up to look holy, giving them holy names – and because of this Christians have lost their gift of discernment. Joshua 24:14-15: Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The church cannot be led by the real Holy Spirit without following the real Jesus, but because of all the paganism in our homes and our churches a counterfeit spirit (or evil familiar spirit) has been allowed to move in, causing spiritual confusion. Christians are losing the Spiritual ability to know what is real and what is not!
The Bible says to come out from among them and be ye separate. II Corinthians 6:17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Obviously, as Christians, we cannot physically leave this world until God calls us home. But, we can separate ourselves from the spiritually evil things of the world. As Christians, God tells us to separate ourselves from everything having to do with false religion, including their decorations (paganistic idols). See my document on ‘idols’. God has made available to us His people a gift of discernment, but we cannot truly operate in this gift if we are being disobedient by living (and worshipping) among Satan’s counterfeits. By our allowing these items and un-Godly circumstances into our lives we “quench (extinguish) the Holy Spirit” and any gifts of the Holy Spirit that God may desire to give us. I Thessalonians 5:19: Quench not the Spirit (capital S in the word “Spirit” means the Holy Spirit). Joshua 24:14, 15, 16, 23: Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt: and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. After the death of Joshua the Israelites did not keep this command from God, they continually – throughout the Bible (Old and New Testament) – adopted the practices and the gods of other peoples (nations and tribes) and suffered the spiritual consequences. Judges 2:10-13: And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel (they did not share the commandments of God with the generations after them). And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. Psalm 96:5: For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Exodus 23:32-33: Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Important: God does not want us to get rid of people, only the false gods.)
Just as the Israelites, we the church body, have not kept the commandments of God or shared them with our generation. God’s people have not kept His commandments, or read and believed His Word, and can no longer tell the difference between what is true and what is false. Without the knowledge, wisdom, and discernment that comes from knowing God’s Word (and because we have followed man’s traditions and have not followed God’s commandments) we have quenched His Holy Spirit and our discernment. We cannot even recognize the false gods that are literally surrounding us and our children in these last days. By studying our Bible, and doing a little research (such as searching history books, and even the internet for information on the false gods of Egypt, etc)we easily find that the origin of our unclean images go back to the very days, people, and practices, from whom God commanded us to separate ourselves. Our so-called Christian images/idols are objects (replicas) of pagan worship that have, in the past, been bowed to which makes the objects themselves an abomination to God. Joshua 24:14-15: Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. No matter how holy we dress them now or what we name them, or even how many wings we have given them they are still an abomination! Job 14:4: Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
We cannot continue mixing paganism with Christianity or we will eventually lose the fear and reverence we have for the Lord. II Kings 17:33-34: They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinance, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. As you can see in verse 33 it says they feared God and had their own gods, but by verse 34 they had lost their fear (reverence) for God. The word ‘fear(ed)’ in II Kings 17:33-34 is “yare, yaw-ray’; …mor. reverent”. In these last days Christians cannot continue to keep, or reverence, our own traditional man-made gods (images) and also try to serve and reverence the One and Only true God. It will not work! Just look at the following scriptural examples. Zephaniah 1:5: And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham. Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:25: And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Joshua 22:19: Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God. As did our fathers, we have allowed unclean and polluted altars to be built in our homes and our churches; beside the altar of the Lord our God! II Kings 17:41: So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
In II Kings Chapter 17 we see a perfect example of the disobedience of desiring pagan images – and the evil this desire can lead to. II Kings 17:7-12, 15-19: For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared others gods. And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of is sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. Judah’s disobedience to God nearly led to their own destruction (had it not been for Hezekiah, king of Judah’s, obedience).
II Kings Chapter 18:1-7: Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. We also see in II Kings Chapter 18 that the king of Assyria sent word to Hezekiah (king of Judah) saying in verse 33: Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? II Kings 19:11-12: Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed… II Chronicles 32:13: Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those land any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand? Until that time (the time of Hezekiah’s reign) none of the people or nations who served false gods had been able to overthrow the kings of Assyria. So why would the present king of Assyria think that this time it would be any different? II Chronicles 32:19: And they (the Assyrians) spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man. As we read previously in II Kings 17:33-34 the people of Israel reverenced both God and their pagan gods. The king of Assyria saw no difference between them (both Israel and Judah) or the heathens around them, because they all had idols and images. Hezekiah, the king of Judah, was obedient to the Lord and repented by destroying all the false images of the people so God defended the remnant of His people Judah and delivered them out of the hand of the king of Assyria!
Do people around us today see any difference between us, God’s people, and those who worship or have false gods? My prayer is that God’s people will wake up, ask God’s Holy Spirit to take off their spiritual blinders, and choose to serve Him with their whole heart! Joshua 24:23: Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.
Extra note: Drinking and drugs can also take a person (spiritually) into Satan's playground. See my document about the danger of 'drinking and intoxication'.
