Moses
The Bible speaks of idolatrous statues quite often. There is one particular statue to come which will outstrip the evilness of all the rest. For now, in Detroit, the 200-plus member Church of Satan unveiled a statue of a false and evil god known as Baphomet and I'll speak of that down below. But first, a look at idolatrous statues in the Bible.The first commandment states,
You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
The Second Commandment states,
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
Yet satan lusts after worship. He desires all should bow down and worship him. It has been his life-long quest. (Luke 4:5-8, Isaiah 14:13-14)
You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ (Isaiah 14:13-14)
Satan has been working hard ever since in order to get people to worship him. Sometimes this is expressed in the statues he causes people to build and bow down to.
In Genesis 11:4 we read of a rebellious people building a tower to themselves in order to steal God's glory, in effect, to get God to bow down to them. The Flood had barely receded.
In Exodus we read that while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving these commandments, the Israelites built a golden calf and bowed down to it,
And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4)
We read of Nebuchadnezzar's statue, whereupon this king commanded all to bow down to this image in worship. This is the one where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow down to it and were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Baal, Asherah, Answers in Genesis
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:1)The people worshiped at the Asherah pole, sacrificed at statues of Molech, burned incense at altars of Baal, (2 Chronicles 34:4) and even the brazen serpent Moses had made became an idol King Hezekiah had to remove (2 Kings 18:3-4).
Today we have Baphomet in Detroit. It is shocking to us because America has been spared the worst of the visible expressions of false idolatry since our founding. Our nation from sea to shining sea has not been littered with Golden Calf statues statues or idols or Asherah poles or Dagon images. But no more. It has been spared photographs of people lining up to worship satan. But no more.
This past weekend, several hundred members of that 'church' lined up to see and worship an evil statue which was unveiled in Detroit. Apparently the "Church of Satan" has a thriving membership. Of course, satan is the god of this world and all whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life actually serve satan, knowingly or unknowingly. This statue is about those who serve satan knowingly. These people choose to worship actively and knowingly, naming their god and pledging allegiance to him.
Satanic Statue Unveiled
Dozens of protesters gathered in Detroit to protest the unveiling ceremony of a controversial bronze Baphomet statue by the Satanic Temple. When the one-ton goat-headed statue was finally exposed, supporters welcomed it, and cheered "Hail Satan!"
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:14-15)
Gill's Exposition explains,
that the image of the beast should both speak: so that it was not like Nebuchadnezzar's golden image that he set up, which required another to speak for it and demand adoration to it; and should seem to be preferable to the dumb idols of the Gentiles, which have mouths, but speak not; and may be understood either of the images of the virgin Mary, and other saints, which it is pretended, and the people are made to believe, that they do at times actually speak, and really weep and laugh, as it may serve their different purposes;
Fresco of the Deeds of the Antichrist (c. 1501) in Orvieto Cathedral.
This is one statue that is prophesied which will temporarily fulfill satan's eagerness and evil lust for self-worship. The Statue the antichrist will set up in the Temple of God, causing all to become desolate. While God has been long in mercy and has allowed these interloper statues and false gods to exist and persist, there will come a day when there will be a final straw. The life of sin upon the earth will be crushed in the full fury of the winepress of wrath. Jesus describes the events leading up to that moment in Matthew 24.Sitting atop the Mount of Olives, Matthew 24 records Jesus' reply to three questions the disciples posed. He had just revealed to them that the Temple was to be thrown done. His response was one of the lengthiest discourses He gave in the New Testament, and is known as The Olivet Discourse. The questions were about the end of time,
“Tell us, when will these things be,
and what will be the sign of your coming,
and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 243b)
Jesus describes the signs of the end of the age, and for the first part of Matthew 24 we read of the troubling and devastating things that are to come. By the way, nothing in Matthew 24 regards the church or is about the rapture. It is a discourse totally centered on Jesus's plan for the Jews and Israel in the Tribulation. The church is raptured prior to the things Jesus discusses.
Then Jesus reveals the event which will trigger the Great Tribulation, the latter half of the prophesied 7 years of wrath on earth. He said,
So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:15-16)
He is referring to Daniel's prophecy in this verse:
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27)
Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. (Daniel 11:31)
And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. (Daniel 12:11)
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
Here is the conclusion to a Compelling Truth article explaining through scripture what the Abomination of Desolation is and who perpetrates it. Please read the entire article.
So by letting Scripture interpret Scripture, we find that a reasonable answer to the question of "What is the abomination of desolation?" is that it will be the Antichrist, three and a half years into his reign, taking a place in God's rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and saying to the world that he is God and must be worshipped as God. When that occurs, the real Creator will respond to the challenge and will ultimately and eternally destroy the Antichrist (Revelation 19:20).This is what all the world's history is hurtling to, and more rapidly each day. The landscape in America has been satisfyingly filled with crosses atop hills, statues of Ten Commandments in parks, and sweet Nativity scenes at Christmas. We even see the name of Jesus on a billboard sign. Soon, these public displays of affection for our Savior will be no more. Our eyes and hearts will be increasingly assaulted by the evilness that has been seen in other nations at all various times since the ziggurat on the plains of Shinar in the form of idolotrous statuary. Baphomet has landed.
I’m just telling you that we’d better get ready, because we may be living this very soon. And by the way, it’s not going to take long for this to unfold. Once the Supreme Court made the decision, they were ready. They were standing in the wings with everything ready, and it’s going to come like a blitzkrieg. (John MacArthur)If the end of the end includes satan's finally taking his place in the temple next to his statue and claiming to be god, then we can expect much, MUCH more of this Detroit Baphomet foolishness, and quickly too. Even Time Magazine when reporting on the statue, did so in a kind of hushed wonder at their boldness. (See link below)
I know it is an assault on the heart to cast our eyes on things like this statue, not only because we are not used to it in America, but because the statue includes children. This hurts. And while I know we are not surprised that satan is alive and active in the world, it does take time for the heart to catch up to the head. We must allow that even in our "unsurprise" our hearts are heavy and we mourn.
However do not let the mourning turn to permanent sorrow. We have hope! We have a glorious future awaiting. We have the scriptures and the Spirit and ministering angels and prayer and an Intercessor and the providential care of a perfect and holy God.
Mourn for the many who worship satan, actively by name or unwittingly in their depravity. We plead for souls. We beg our Lord to forgive them, for they know not what they do, and at the same time we beg for His righteousness to punish those who blaspheme His spotless name by worshiping his eternal enemy. This is a difficult time in which we live, but take heart. The Lord placed us here exactly for such a time as this. We trust Him to give us the strength needed to glorify Him in an ever darkening world. And then, the Light will come, forever and evermore.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
ALL HAIL THE LAMB!
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Further Reading
Roadside Attractions Mag: The Giant Cross at Groom Texas
Time Mag: Hundreds Gather for Unveiling of Satanic Statue in Detroit