PART 8 – THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY – EVIL AND WICKEDNESS ARE WORKING OVERTIME

Or dost thou despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, ignoring that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance? Romans 2.4

Idol = an image, as a statue or other material object worshiped as a deity. Any person or thing devotedly or excessively admired. His political idol was Kennedy. A mere image or semblance of something. A figment of the mind, fantasy. A false conception or notion, fallacy.

Idolatry = worship of idols, excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion. Webster’s Dictionary.

Strong’s Concordance: “…and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and of fourfooted beasts and of serpents. Therefore God also gave them over to the lusts of their own hearts for uncleanness, to contaminate their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for all ages. Amen.  …Romans 1.23-25

Image = Greek 1504 = eikon = image, likeness, portrait.  Man = Greek 444 = anthropos = human being, person, people

Uncleaness = Gr. 167 = impurity, a state of moral filthiness, especially in relation to sexual sin.

Dishonor Gr. 818 = to dishonor, disgrace, treat shamefully, insult.  Lie Gr. 5579 = pseudos = lie, falsehood, deception.

Unseemly = indecent – Recompense = an exchange, penalty – Error = deception, delusion – Reprobate = failing the test, rejected.

Wickedness = 4189 = in the NT always a negative moral quality opposed to God and His goodness. Inventors = 2182 = contriver

Witchcraft = practice of a witch, practice of magic, sorcery, magical influence. Exorcise evil spirits by use of magic. Bewitch, charm.

Sorcery = the art or practice of spells of a person who is supposed to exercise supernatural powers through the aide of evil spirits, black magic, witchery.

For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and to break the word of the Lord is iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected thee from being king. 1 Samuel 15.23

These verses allow us great insight into evil and wickedness. First there is rebellion. Rebellion is related to witchcraft which in turn is related to sorcery. In the book of Revelation sorcery is translated from the Greek Pharmacia—the word we use for “drugs”. All of these are wrapped up in one simple act of rebelliousness towards Jehovah—IDOLATRY!

Idolatry is giving adoration, reverence, and adoration to another god. The world at large does not give respect to the one true Lord of Hosts but to many gods including themselves. The nations are raging against Jehovah and His anointed. It is really quite simple.

God’s true followers are the remnant. They form a very small portion of the total population of the world. Disciples of Yeshua are called to be the salt of the earth. Salt preserves. God’s people are supposed to live righteous lives dedicated to His Royal Law—the Torah and the rest of the written word.

A remnant is a left-over, if you will. It is a small portion. The remnant has come out of Babylon. Not an easy task in this world to accomplish—but it is required.

The mystery of iniquity begins with the sin of idolatry and rebellion. This is the way of man. Does anyone like to be told what they should do? Not really. Following the Laws of Jehovah can be difficult. The Bible says all His judgments are righteous (Ps 19.9-10; Rev 19.2).

Following the one true God is a form of denying one’s self. It is laying down your life. It is self-denial. Every day we face simple situations that test us on these issues. It is a lifelong lesson is putting others before ourselves.

This is how we develop the fruits of the spirit in our lives. This is being a disciple of Yeshua and learning to do the will of the Father. Nobody said it was going to be easy—don’t despair—get up, dust yourself off, and continue growing.

This truly is a wicked world. We just have trouble identifying wickedness and evil because those who practice them are very slick and smooth. If you have an ear to hear just look at what is going on in our Nation’s capital.

There is an ongoing attempt to overthrow our government that has been going on since 2008. I am not going to say anything more. Watch carefully for the next few months. Many things are going to be revealed about the rebelliousness in the US Government. How will the people of the nation react?

Don’t believe all the news you hear or see. There is an evil “hidden hand” behind many of the issues and the manner in which they are presented to the public at large.

There is well thought out “organization” behind the border, abortion, and LGBT issues. Note these are the issues that politics revolve around. These are the issues constantly talked about. These issues decide who becomes elected President of the nation. Most everything else is ignored.

If you don’t know what I’m saying or you do and don’t like it—take the time to seek the truth. Problem is: If you don’t want to know the truth, or can’t handle it, you will never understand.

The mystery of iniquity looks very appealing. It draws you in by finding your weaknesses and preying on them. There are many very elite people in many areas of society who have “sold their souls to the devil.” Learn to think for yourself and shut out all the static out there. Learn to truly identify the wicked. Don’t be afraid of that word.

Seek God and His righteousness first and He will lead you into the truth. Otherwise a day is coming soon when many are going to be shocked beyond belief at the things which are soon to be.

This will conclude our eight part series.