Piercing the Illusion
The Lord promised me years ago that He would be my inheritance. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, and I’m still figuring it out. However, I do know that He put me in a position of dependency upon Him and has shown me consistently that He is faithful to provide for my every need. Despite this, I am continuously drawn to the illusions of peace and security. I have walked the dual path of expecting His imminent return while following the command to “build houses… plant gardens… get married…” (Jeremiah 29:5-7) and otherwise live in this world, believing that at some point in my lifetime, the harvest will reach fruition and this age will come to an end.
Walking a dual path without being double-minded is a struggle. I am little bit like John the Baptist, who started to doubt if Jesus was the Messiah. In his last days, John sent word to Jesus asking for reassurance. Because of the peril in John’s present circumstances and the gap between his expectations and reality, John needed to know that his life was spent wisely. (Luke 7:19-23) At times, I wonder if I am like the seed that was sown among thorn bushes: will the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of riches, and the desires for other things take over? Will these distractions choke God’s word in me so that it can’t produce anything? (Mark 4:19)
But then I see how my dependency upon God is all part of His plan for me so that I am not ensnared with the thorn bushes when the time comes to make a choice. It’s hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:23) because the more you own, the more it owns you. If I’m truly honest, what little I have will be hard to part with. If the Lord told me today in a clear and certain way to leave it all, would I obey with a sad heart or with a joyful expectation that He has something greater in mind?
The illusion of peace and security, houses and retirement accounts, is one that will keep many from entering the Kingdom when forced to choose. Our global society has erected modern idols of wealth, technology and government to be our providers and protectors, and in the COVID-19 crisis, people are looking to their gods for an answer. They beseech their god of medical technology to provide a cure to this contagion, and they look to their governmental idol for provision. They trusted in their financial plans as a wall of protection, so what will happen when the wall crumbles? I have no doubt that the masses will embrace promises of a universal basic income when their wealth crumbles. Someday, we will discover how much of the world’s current crisis is manmade, but our current trajectory will subjugate us to the global, totalitarian system described in the Bible. In the end, we will get the leaders we deserve, forfeiting the hard-fought freedoms secured by previous generations for the promise of peace and security. When people ignore the truth, they get ensnared in the lies they’ve embraced.
God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them… While claiming to be wise, they became fools… For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other. These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen!
We like to think that people are basically good, and while we need to see and cultivate the good in everyone, the fact remains that man is a fallen and selfish creature. It is only the loving grace of God that lifts us up, and it is only in knowing His Truth that we are set free from pet sins that keep us from becoming who we were made to be. The truth shines light on our filth so it can be cleaned. But what happens when we refuse to embrace the truth? The first chapter of John tells us that the light came into the world, but men preferred darkness over light. Our real danger is a spiritual contagion that threatens eternal life, yet people live in denial, avoiding the light of truth that can set them free.
“These people are rebellious and deceitful children,children who refuse to listen to the Lord’s teachings.They say to the seers, ‘Don’t see the future.’They say to those who have visions,‘Don’t have visions that tell us what is right.Tell us what we want to hear. See illusions.Get out of our way! Stop blocking our path!Get the Holy One of Israel out of our sight.’”
Magic elixirs promising a cure for all ailments have been sold throughout the ages to gullible and desperate people. How anxious have people become in this global COVID crisis? In desperation and fear, will people grasp onto anything that offers them peace and security? When a man with a confident demeanor emerges with a plan to recover from the global crises, will he be embraced? Will people stop to consider the cost?
The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies. He will use everything that God disapproves of to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. That’s why God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie.
Healthy people acknowledge the issues; they don’t hide from the truth. I don’t know how close we are to seeing the end of this age, but the world has been staged for the antichrist to appear. Many will embrace a universal ID if it is a requirement for getting a COVID vaccination or universal basic income paycheck. The Book of Revelation predicted this, calling it the “mark of the beast”. Without this “mark” no one will be able to buy or sell in the global economy. The Greek word for this “mark” is “charagma”, which is translated as “an etching or a piercing”. It will become part of a person’s body, like a tattoo or perhaps like a subcutaneous chip that is inserted in animals for tracking them.
The infrastructure exists to implement a global tracking system for everyone on the planet. The technology exists now for a universal ID to be implanted in everyone and for that ID to be used for security access and exchange of electronic currency. In this COVID crisis, people across the world are now shunning the germ-infested cash and using electronic money. Apple Pay and Google Pay on mobile phones even allow wireless transactions with a cashier. It is a small step to link transaction authorizations to a universal ID, but the Bible warns against accepting this mark of the beast.
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
You may hear religious authorities disagree with me. You may hear religious authorities say we shouldn’t be concerned with end-time prophecies and just focus on living the Christian life. But they either knowingly or unknowingly disregard the introduction for the Book of Revelation: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3) Remember that it was the religious authority of Jesus’ day that arranged for his crucifixion, and Jesus warned His disciples about the Pharisees and Sadducees. So yes, live the Christian life: read the Bible, walk in the Spirit, embrace and extend the grace of God in this world. And do not ignore any truth of Scripture or be ignorant of how it applies to the time in which you live. Do not be desensitized from the truth because people mock it, whether they are within or outside of the Church.
If anything in this blog has left you concerned or confused, ask God to show you in Scripture what He has said and ask Him to open your eyes more fully to His truth and love. And feel free to reach out to me directly through email: mitch at malloyclan.com.
copyright ©2020 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)
