As society falls apostate, pagan gods are regaining a hold on this world. As this darkness strengthens, what will happen to the light?
READ TIME: 7 minutes
The Light that Held Back the Dark
There was a time when magic was real. From pharaoh’s sorcerers turning staffs into snakes to the medium at Endor calling up Samuel’s spirit to the divining slave girl following Paul and Silas, the world was full of spiritualists empowered by demons. These magicians, sorcerers, soothsayers, and mediums worshipped pagan gods. And many people practiced pagan rituals, including perverse sexual activities, to win the favor of these gods.
But in the darkness of these times, Jesus brought light.
When He left, He passed His light on, and His disciples carried it forth. They went out into the world, casting out demon spirits and breaking the power of the pagan gods.
As a result of their light, darkness waned. The false gods were abandoned along with their temples, left to crumble and be covered by dirt. The church age began, and Christianity expanded over the earth.
But what would happen if Christianity’s light waned?
Paul prophesied about such a time, stating that in later times, some would “occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings.”
We are seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy in today’s apostasy.
While contemplating this topic, the event of Jesus ascending into heaven came to mind.
As His disciples looked into the sky, two men in white clothes appeared and testified to His disciples, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
As I pictured Jesus ascending and then returning in the same way He left, I thought of a scene playing out and then rewinding.
This thought made me wonder if the darkness, demons, and pagan gods that Jesus’ followers conquered after He left would also return before He returns.
When Light Overcame Dark
Influenced by other cultures, ancient Jews frequently abandoned God and built temples and monuments to pagan gods. The Bible even describes how King Manasseh set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits. The pagan world had similar sites.
One such example is called the Oracle at Delphi.
The Greeks considered Delphi the center of the world as ordained by Zeus. (In contrast, the prophet Ezekiel referred to Jerusalem as the center of the world.)
Priestesses called the Pythia, who served at the site as prophetesses, gave the oracles. The classical world believed that the Pythia channeled prophecies from Apollo at the site. Thousands flocked to hear the oracles.
Even kings and other leaders throughout Greece consulted the oracle on major policy issues, such as waging wars and founding colonies. The Pythia would give their prophecies under a trance and even in a frenzy. (This sounds a lot like demonic possession.)
But something amazing happened when Christianity spread… The oracle lost its power.
Christianity thrived through Roman persecution and eventually became accepted under Constantine in 313 AD. But roughly 50 years later, the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate rejected Christianity and tried to restore the Oracle at Delphi.
But he found that he was too late.
By then, the light had overcome. The oracle wailed that her powers had vanished, replying,
“Tell to the king that the carven hall is fallen in decay;
Apollo has no chapel left, no prophesying bay,
No talking spring. The stream is dry that had so much to say.”
In 392, Emperor Theodosius I banned pagan practices and closed pagan temples, including the oracle at Delphi. The 2,000-year Age of Grace had been firmly established.
The pagan gods were down, but they sought to come back.
Pagan God’s Stir as Time Grew Near
Nearly 1,500 years later, these pagan gods at Delphi showed signs of awakening.
Greece became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 and sought to reclaim its ancient culture, including excavating Delphi. But this was no easy task. The site had become home to a village called Kastri since the 7th century. Its obstinant inhabitants needed to relocate if Greece was to excavate the site. Despite offering the villagers money to relocate them, they refused to move.
Then something extraordinary happened.
Though the village had existed for over 1,200 years, a powerful earthquake ended its reign in 1870. The earthquake caused large rocks to fall from the mountain, destroying the village and killing 30 of its inhabitants. This seemingly supernatural intervention convinced the villagers to relocate.
By 1891 they started digging, and by 1893 they uncovered the main altar of Apollo and the Sybil rock, where the Pythia made their prophecies.
Was this a sign that the pagan gods had awakened, knowing that the time of lawlessness grew near?
All they would need to rise again was for Christian influence to wane. They needed a time when the world would abandon God and be open to their power once again.
America Rejects God
Up through the 1950s, America embraced God as a core part of what it meant to be an American. But the social revolution of the 1960s uprooted these beliefs and opened the door for pagan gods.
Before the early ’60s, the’ 60se was part of the American educational system. Each child was raised with an understanding of God as the creator of the universe and Jesus as Lord.
But after the Supreme Court rejected Bible teaching in public schools, generations of Americans grew up lacking Judeo-Christian values.
This vacuum of knowledge allowed deceptive spirits to spread an alternative theology to the masses. By the 1980s, this New Age movement grew from counterculture movements of the 60s that rejected Christian ideals and traditional culture. But as this movement gained acceptance, it morphed into a general “spirituality” that has become widely normalized in our culture.
Those who seek spirituality with an open mind are deemed enlightened, while the Bible is viewed as outdated and irrelevant. These beliefs have crept into our daily lives and are hidden in practices such as yoga and meditation. Modern wisdom based on trusting your feelings, and finding your own truth are sourced in this deception.
So what does this have to do with the pagan gods?
The Gods of Old Return
When we rejected God, we opened the doors for the old pagan gods to return.
This is a topic of a new book I plan to read by Jonathan Cahn, entitled The Return of the Gods.
In this book, Jonathan asserts that the pagan gods Baal, Ashtoreth, and Molech have returned following our abandonment of God.
These gods have many names, and I listed some of them below based on work done by Derrick Gilbert in books like Giants, Gods, and Dragons.
I believe the work of these gods is visible in our society today. But unlike the ancient pagans, the vast majority of people today think of these gods as myths. However, they know these gods through common themes prevalent in society today.
Baal, also known as Marduk, Zeus, Jupiter, or Thor, is a storm god and a god of spiritual insight and innovation. He is now known for beliefs such as pantheism (many paths to God), humanism, and spiritualism. Baal distracts us from God, grabbing our attention to social media technology and the climate change obsession.
Ashtoreth, also called Astarte, Inanna, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus, Freya, or Kali, is a god/goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is also known to have both genders in some cultures. Ashtoreth is known today through sexual freedom, gender identity, LBGTQ, prostitution, human trafficking, and pornography.
Molech, possibly known as Milcom, Kronos, Saturn, Odin, Kumarbi, Assur, Dagan, or Enlil, in some cultures, ate his children. It is to this god that the Israelites sacrificed their children. Today Molech is known through abortion.
No longer content to just be represented by themes, these gods are manifesting in their former forms.
Symbols of Pagan God’s Appear
Our modern society has come under the influence of these old-world gods, and most people are entirely unaware.
So, if the darkness is regaining old strength, what will happen to the light?
The Return Of Darkness and Light
So let’s get back to my original question; as Jesus will return in the same way He left, may the darkness, demons, and pagan gods that Jesus’ followers conquered also return before He returns?
These pagan gods were at full strength at the time of the apostles. They thought they had won – Jesus had been crucified, but with His resurrection, they were panicked.
But to combat this darkness, Jesus gave these apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit. With heaven’s power, they walked in amazing miracles and supernatural events. They saw visions and angels. They healed the sick, raised the dead, and were even supernaturally transported from one location to another.
As the apostles walked in His light and power, the darkness faded. But I assert that now that the darkness is growing, the same power that embued the apostles will grow in strength in us.
As those who practice dark arts become more powerful through demonic empowerment, we will operate more powerfully through the Holy Spirit.
Many are already walking in miracles, and I have witnessed many myself. But this is just the beginning. Where there is disease, we will heal. When we encounter premature death, we will raise the dead. And when there is a shortfall in food and supplies, we will multiply them.
And then, when it is time, the Holy Spirit will cease restraining lawlessness and leave, and the faithful will be gathered from the earth.
Then, just as Jesus left, ascending into the sky, he will return on the clouds, and the old gods and those who follow them will face judgment.
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