With so many religions, deities, and beliefs out in the world, it can be tough to discern who, or what, to believe and whom really is accurate.
“The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4
Deuteronomy 10:17 states, “For the Lord your God is God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.”
While last week I shared my personal story of reconnecting with God, today, I would love to further expand the proof I believe in for standing firm as a believer in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
To start this post off with a bang I wish for you to take note of the impact of those two verses above, and in those two verses I wish to proclaim a fact:
-Other Gods/Deities do exist -Spirits Exist -Angels Exist -Demons Exist
It's important to recognize these other beings often wish to deceive us and direct us away from God.
There are countless references to these other entities, and to the supernatural warfare that is occurring, even now in this modern day.
Let’s take a look at some more references:
Deuteronomy 32:17 – “They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.”
Joshua 23:16 - “If you transgress the covenant of the Lord … and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you”
Leviticus 18:21 – “You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord”
James 2:19 - “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder.”
For those who love their planets and aliens let’s look at
Amos 5:8 “He (God) who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning … the Lord is His name” and downwards to verse 26-27, “You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god – your images that you made for yourselves, and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is God of hosts”.
Finally, I wish to direct you towards Daniel 10, a powerful story where Daniel had received a message from God, and prayed for intervention. He fasted while waiting for a response from God, 3 weeks passed, at which time an angel from God came to visit Him. In verse 12 the angel proclaims that God heard Daniel’s prayer on the very first day but that the prince of Persia (a demonic entity) held this angelic messenger up, and that even archangel Michael had to come to fight this supernatural war so that the message could be delivered.
Can we stop right there for a second? God’s message back to Daniel was delayed because of an actual supernatural battle occurring. (Doesn't this make you ponder about exterior influences in your own life?)
Even just by skimming these verses it is clear that there is a lot more to this world, to history, and to the supernatural than even Christianity may like to generally admit.
God admits it, and made sure it was recorded, so that we can know and believe that He is the Lord of Lords.
So whom is God then?
What happened in history that has resulted in all of these other Gods, and to result in such lies, deceit, and corruption?
Again let’s look to our bibles to unravel this, in
Psalm 82:1 it states – “God stands in the divine assembly, he renders judgement against the gods”.
You can see another reference to one of these divine council meetings in First Kings 22, notably verses 19-22, in particular I will quote, “I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand.”
Essentially, God has a divine council of other God’s, but is ultimately the God of God’s.
So why have these other Gods corrupted the world? How could they?
First, let's look at Job 4:18, “Look, He (God) does not trust in his servants and he charges his angels with error”.
Again in Job 15:14-15, “What is a human being, that he can be clean, or that one born of a woman can be righteous? Look, he does not trust his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes.
I ask you to re-read those statements and recognize, these other Gods are not perfect! They are capable of making decisions and as such, ultimately, are capable of free will!
So here let’s summarize,
Other Gods and Spiritual beings exist.
These entities initially were, and some are, on a divine council with God who ultimately had the final say in any judgements.
These other entities could exercise free-will.
This is where the As Above, So Below comes in so fittingly. Just as we were created to be a part of God’s family as stewards and rulers of this Earth, so too were there heavenly entities to be a part of His family.
With free will, however, a wide range of emotions can then be experienced, and ultimately personal choices to be made resulting from those.
God did not desire robots; As a Divine, Complete, Creator He did not need us, however He desired us, and He wants us, and these other gods, to choose Him out love and respect, not out of force or coercion.
This is where God's "punishment" and discipline comes in. If you were ever a parent, or spent any time around kids, you would understand the difference between the difficult choices that must be made to raise a loving child, versus letting them run amok due to not understanding the consequences of their actions!
Sometimes you have to grab your child away from a hot stove, or from a moving vehicle, but if they don't understand the threat they would simply inquire why did you shove me? This love and desire for us is also why, despite God's continued attempts for reconciliation after the initial fall in the Garden of Eden, such as with Noah, and with Israel, rather than wiping us off the face of the earth again and saying "good riddance". He chose to send Jesus to finally defeat sin and offer us a way to connect with Him and restore His original plan for mankind.
Ultimately, after Christ returns, even these other deities will be forced to choose Him, or will perish as well.
There is so much history, Bible verses, and even language translations that could be dissected in this regard and if you wish to really explore all of this further I highly recommend “The Unseen Realm” by Michael S. Heiser. However, to finish, I wish to remind you once more of one of the original verses I quoted at the beginning,
2 Corinthians 4:4, “The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Yes, there are other Gods, but understanding God’s original plan and purpose, made in love and respecting our free will, will you then choose to:
honour and worship these other entities out of their own rebellion and ego?
Ultimately, the choice truly is yours.
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