SPIRITUAL WAR IN THE HEAVENS
Many of us are weak in the faith because we do not see the mighty power of God hidden in his word. His watchful eye is ever on his children to deliver them from the power of the devil. The following are some accounts that show that God is in charge and the devil has no power to stop his prophesies.
There are many accounts in the old testament where he delivered his children out of trouble and tribulation. One example of this can be seen in the account of the deliverance of his people from their bondage in Egypt under the Pharaoh. Hundreds of years before Moses ever lived, God spoke to Abraham and said: (Genesis 15: 13) "Know of a surety that thy seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and they shall serve them and they shall afflict them for 400 years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. God told Abraham this 400 years before it happened. The devil had 400 years to worry about it, and try to stop it, but he was unsuccessful.
Now one thing we must know, satan is not deceived. He can deceive men but he himself is not deceived. He knows that when God says something; it will take place. When the demons spoke to Jesus they called him the Son of the most high God. They may acknowledge satan as their god but they know who the most high God is. They wanted to know if Jesus had come to judge them before the time. They know that their judgment is sure, only deceived people don't believe in the sure judgment of God. About the time that the end of the 400 years was approaching the devil put it into the mind of the king of Egypt to murder all of the male children of Israel. Why the males only? They were the ones doing all the labor. If he wanted to cut down the number of Israelites why not kill the females? The devil probably put into his mind that he could breed the females to his soldiers. This way they would soon loose their identity as Israelites. The devil, of course, had a good reason for this. God had promised Eve that her seed would bruise the head of satan. This seed would be a male. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between the and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. The devil had no idea who this seed would be or when he would come. He only knew it would be a male, and this deliverer that was promised to come after 400 years might be the one who would bruise his head. Also, the male was dominant in the Israelite society. Their genealogy was expressed through the males. God's promises were passed on by word of mouth by the males. The devil is evil but he is no dummy. He knew who these people were. He wanted to stop God's promises to them. The devil is still busy today trying to stop God's prophesies. If you want to know what God's purposes for mankind are, read your bible. All that he has predicted by the prophets will come to pass.
Pharaoh started out on his killing campaign but God saved his man Moses. How? By fearfully placing in one of the Israelite homes hidden away from satan? Indeed not! God placed him in Pharaoh's palace. His own daughter was his protector. Praise his holy name! Do you see how God shows satan that he is the boss? How great and wonderful is his power. God had also told Abraham that when the Israelites left Egypt that they would leave with great riches. After all the plagues that the Egyptians endured they were glad to give them gold silver or anything just to get rid of them. (see Exodus 3:22) This is a type and shadow of the body of Christ that will leave this world and its bondage of death with great riches. What greater riches could a man or woman receive than eternal life and oneness with God? Indeed, God delivered his people with a strong hand and satan was powerless to prevent it. Jesus, like moses has delivered his people by his sacrifice on calvary.
Again, we can see this awesome power of God manifested in the book of Daniel. His people had committed whoredom with the gods of Babylon. When they adopted Babylon's gods they also adopted Babylonian ways. They became immoral, materialistic and evil. They called evil good and good evil. God pronounced judgment on them by the same method that he always has. He allowed the very people whom they had committed whoredom with to destroy them. Many intellectuals in America fell for the evil pholosophy of Nieschie and other German phillosophers. Therefore God sent the German armies of Hitler as judgement upon us. If you want to prove this by the word read the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel. Yet even in his judgment God saved his remnant in order to keep his covenant with Abraham. How did he do this? By fearfully hiding them away somewhere? He did not! He saved them by sending them right into the very seat of satan. He sent them into captivity in Babylon.
God hides nothing in a corner. Years before he spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and told him of two baskets of figs. Read the 24th chapter of Jeremiah. One of the baskets of figs was a good basket the other was a bad basket. In fact, it was so bad it stank. The good basket represented god's remnant that had kept his word and had not comitted whoredom with Babylonian gods. This good basket was going to be taken into Babylon where it would be saved. The other basket was going to be left in Israel to be destroyed.
You will have to go to the book of Daniel to see how god worked to save this remnant. Daniel was a devout young Jew who was part of this remnant. Perhaps God had separated him long before he came to Babylon to be his prophet, because Nebuchadrezzer placed him in his palace along with the astrologers and soothsayers. Daniel represented his God, Jehovah. Read the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Daniel. One night king Nebuchadrezzer had thoughts in his mind concerning the end of times. That very night God caused him to dream a dream about the end time kingdoms of the world. However the Babylonian king could not remember the dream. This troubled him greatly. He called his astrologers and sorcerers and demanded that they reveal to him the dream and the meaning of it. These false prophets told him that no one could do what the king asked. They were "great" at making up what dreams meant but they weren't so good at revealing forgotten dreams. This angered king Nebuchadrezzer, so he ordered all of his prophets and astrologers to be put to death. This unfortunately included Daniel as well. When Daniel heard of it he went on his knees to God. God showed him what the dream was and also revealed to him what the dream meant. Do you see how the power of God works? The devil's seed could not do any thing about it. They were powerless! Daniel, the Jew was not only able to reveal the forgotten, dream but he also interpreted its meaning for the king. King Nebuchadrezzar then acknowledged Daniel's God as the most high god and gave him great authority in the kingdom of Babylon. With this high office he was able to protect the remnant of God.
However the devil fought back when he saw Daniel's new authority. This unseen war goes on in the heavenlies all the time. However, the devil has his own seed to use and manipulate against God. The devil put it into Nebuchadrezzar's mind to build a golden image. Then he proclaimed that everyone must fall down and worship it or be cast into a furnace of fire to be burned alive. Three other Jews were in the prophet quarters with Daniel. Their names were Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego. The devils seed watched them closely. They knew that the Jew would never worship an idol. This way, satan hoped to destroy the Jewish influence and discredit them. The Devil was right, these men refused to worship the idol. When it was reported to the king he became very angry. He caused these three men to be thrown into the furnace. The bible says that the furnace was 7 times hotter than it had ever been before. It was so hot that the men who threw them in were overcome by the heat and died. When the king looked into the fire he saw that the men were walking around in the flames. Not only that, but there was a fourth man in the fire with them who was likened to the son of God. The king then called them fourth out of the furnace. Not one thread of their clothing was burned and not one hair was scorched. Only their bonds were gone. There was not even the smell of smoke on them. God's great power had saved them. This event is a "type and shadow" of a much greater event that will take place in the time of the anti-Christ.
Please notice also that there were THREE men thrown into the furnace. The number 3 is the number that represents the perfection of flesh into the Sons of God. (Please read this authors tract on the number three.) There were three dispensation allotted by God for the perfecting of flesh; the law, the son (grace), and the Holy Ghost. (who ministers to the body of Christ) These three men are symbolic of God's end time people who will go through the anti-Christ furnace of tribulation. The Son of the living God will stand with them to see that no harm comes to them. God is going to save a remnant of his people out of the end time kingdom of Babylon. They will be brought out of this furnace of tribulation which is seven times worse than ever before. They will be protected by God's supernatural power. Please note that Nebuchadrezzar's image was 6 feet wide and 60 feet high. This means that his kingdom was not the very epitome of evil. Two 6's is not the completeness of evil. However the three 6's of the anti-Christ kingdom will be the very epitome of evil, run by a man who is completely possessed by satan.
If you have read the account of Nebuchadrezzer's dream you saw the image that represents the end time kingdom of the anti-Christ. Its brightness was excellent and its form was terrible. It had a head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs were brass, the legs were of iron, but most significant of all, its feet were a mixture of iron and clay. A great stone was cut out without hands (This means that the stone was not an idol made by men to worship) and smote the image on its feet and they broke into pieces. Then the whole image broke into pieces and became as the dust on the threshing floor. The wind carried them away and they were no more found. Psalm 1:4 says: the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. This tells us that this evil anti-Christ Kingdom and its ungodly people will perish at the hands of the body of Christ. You can find a representation of this body in the 1st chapter of Revelations starting with the 13th verse. In the midst of the seven candlesticks(seven true churches) one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace: and his voice as the sound of many waters. This is an image of the manifested Sons of the living God; the Body of Jesus Christ. The voice that sounds like many waters is the combined voices of all those in the Body. The head with the eyes of fire is Jesus. The rest of the body are the overcomers, many whom, gave their lives as a testimony for Jesus Christ. Note; the only part of the body that is in contact with the Earth is the feet. These appear as brass that are burning in a furnace. These are the overcomers that are in the furnace of tribulation in the anti-Christ kingdom. Whenever brass appeared in God's house it most always represented flesh. Most of the brass existed outside of the Holy of Holies.
Please note that we said that the number three is symbolic of the just man made perfect. He is a joint heir with Jesus Christ. The three men that were thrown into the furnace in the book of Daniel were the type and shadow of these in the anti Christ kingdom. The Son of God was with them in the furnace and not one hair on their head was harmed. Jesus will also be with these overcomers in the anti Christ furnace of tribulation. They will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, into the perfected Sons of the living God. Jesus's loving hand will see that they are not harmed. These are the brass feet in the image of the Body of Christ. They will be changed into the glory of God right here on this Earth. Praise his great name!
There is another important aspect about this dream of Nebuchadrezzar.. Remember that he was a pagan king in the pagan Babylonian Kingdoms. He also had a pagan religion, one that has existed all down through the centuries, and still exists today. It has opposed God and made fun of his Christ. This is evidenced by many mother goose nursery rhymes that are a take off on God himself. And stories such as "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs", who were a take off on Jesus and his apostles. Could this dream have been passed down through the ages in the form of a legend, telling about a world kingdom that would bring together all nations under a powerful king who would bring peace on earth. They have transposed the Great stone, Jesus, with their own evil man the anti-Christ. Have you noticed that there is an account of a coming "master" or "maitrea" in the new age movement? This belief came from the mystic Eastern religions that these people have turned to. Could this legend have started with king Nebucharezzar's dream? Is this why the wise men came to Bethlem from far away Babylon? The Jews were expecting him because of the writings in Daniel. Was God setting the stage by the dream given to the Babylonian King for a great one world government that will end in the battle of Armageddon?
God's end time people will have to endure great tribulation. Some will be killed to make them white and clean. The cross of Jesus Christ makes perfect. His people will come out of the furnace of tribulation perfect and holy just like Jesus. Jesus will be in the furnace with his saint to protect them. Keep in mind the account of how God's power protects his remnant. He said "I will never leave you nor forsake you". He was with Stephen when he looked into the heavens and said "I see Jesus sitting on the right hand of power." Did he feel the stones? Many of the saints were burned alive at the stake while they sang hymns. Was he with them? Have faith and stand on the testimony of Jesus, he is with his people.
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