THE NATURE OF EVIL & ITS ASCENT
“For we do not wrestle against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"
Some background to this Newsletter for new readers - I have called the newsletter “Sons of Issachar News” because the Sons of Issachar (see 1 Chronicles 12:32) “understood the times and knew what Israel should do”. The Sons of Issachar were a Jewish tribe who were important to King David’s success at a time when there were many difficulties for the kingdom, a time more than 3,000 years ago. Today – we don’t lack information but we do lack truth, wisdom and perspective. I hope that I can provide a perspective that has been honed over the years through the viewpoint of the Bible and perusing information sources that I believe are reliable.
I recently watched the wonderful 2-part BBC series “Thatcher and Reagan: A Very Special Relationship”, produced by Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher’s biographer. It is worthwhile viewing because the circumstances surrounding the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union largely have been forgotten. Also the moral clarity of both Thatcher and Reagan are missing in our current political climate. It was intriguing to realize the role that Thatcher’ femininity played in the relationship with Reagan and it was clear that a male UK Prime Minister would not have been as influential and Reagan would not have tolerated such a level of criticism, as that given by Thatcher. Both leaders were happy to define the world in terms of good vs evil. Thatcher said of the Soviet Union:
“Is there conscience in the Kremlin? Do they ever ask themselves what is the purpose of life? What is it all for?...No. Their creed is barren of conscience, immune to the promptings of good and evil.”
I was looking through various speeches of President Reagan and found his address to the National Association of Evangelicals on 8th March 1983. This speech became famous and was knows as Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech
Reagan said
“the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.”
Reagan’s assessment is just as true today but there is a big shift in the US as 40 years ago Reagan quoted from a survey showing that 95% of people believed in God and a big majority in the Ten Commandments. This figure today for belief in God has dropped to 58% and church attendance below 50% - and a minority believe in the Ten Commandments. Reagan also quoted from the great work Democracy in America published in 1835 by Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist and diplomat. De Tocqueville had traveled to the US to study the prison system but he was impacted by what he saw there as unique to a general way of life. Reagan said “Alexis de Tocqueville, put it eloquently, after he had gone on a search for the secret of America’s greatness and genius”–and he wrote:
“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America. America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
It is clear to even the most jaundiced observer that America has turned from being good as it embraces many policies and laws that are against the laws of God and the foundations that enabled it to become great. As Americans have turned away from their spiritual roots in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, evil has been embraced and in a clever deception, it is cloaked in the mantle of “social justice”.
When examining the challenge of any problem, it is good to understand the root cause. Evil has had a long history of ascent since Eve was deceived by Satan in the Garden of Eden with the promise that “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). This desire “to be like God” – masters of our own world and in charge of our own destiny – seems to be an inherited trait of the human race and is a result of free will – we can choose our path – to follow God or follow our own desires. Each of us is influenced, often unknowingly by Satan, the deceiver and the father of lies. Evil is something then that lurks in every human heart and can rise up when obstacles to our needs are put in our way. This can be seen early in humanity’s story in the first family where Cain’s jealousy towards his brother Abel (Genesis 4:3-8), resulted in Cain killing Abel then acting in denial. It seems that the spirit of jealousy is another spiritual inheritance and can be seen today where often the first born child in a family may have an intrinsic jealousy towards the younger siblings, frequently with destructive outcomes. God spoke to Cain prior to his murderous act and said “sin is crouching at your door – its desire is for you but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). For all of us “sin is crouching” at the doors of our lives and while sin desires to capture us, we can “rule over it” but only if we are aware of the threat on a daily basis and are prepared to put up resistance.
So it does seem to me that we all face a serious issue: in our very DNA is the desire “to be like God” and as we walk out into our daily lives “sin is crouching at the door” although we are seldom aware of this as we walk blindly out into our day. We are like a person who stumbles into a dark New York alley in a dangerous part of the city at midnight yet don’t expect to be mugged! St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians warned about this when he wrote
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
There is a spiritual battle being waged and it is the battle of good versus evil.
I was thinking about the nature of evil and the spiritual battle during the week when I heard the very interesting interview of Dr Naomi Wolf with James Delingpole -
Dr Wolf is the prominent feminist and progressive left-winger who has been ambushed by the reality of what is happening in the weaponization of vaccines and healthcare by governments against their populations. Like many of us, Naomi Wolf thought that all was well with the world and that with a bit of extra political effort, more diversity and equity policies, we could achieve a type of “societal nirvana”. In fact there is an evil agenda afoot with nothing less than a Satanic plot to turn us into slaves, control us and demand worship. This will sound like hyperbole to many readers but I believe that when the scales fall from our eyes and we can face reality, we will find it is an accurate depiction. Like many, I have realized that the plot of “The Matrix” films - is a paradigm that is helpful to understand the forces at work in society today – forces of evil working behind the scenes to control and enslave us. Listening to Dr Wolf, I understood that this is the view to which she has come and she is alerting the world via the alternative media. Once the darling of the mainstream media, she is now persona no grata. Also it is evident that Dr Wolf has turned to the Hebrew Bible for answers (she is Jewish) as she has realized that what we are facing is nothing less than a spiritual battle.
Naomi Wolf has just published a new book The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarianism, COVID-19, and the War Against the Human . The book represents an awakening to the tyranny of authoritarianism that increasingly threatens to enslave us. I found the book excellent and it is interesting that through her website – Daily Clout - https://dailyclout.io/our-story/ and assistance from Steve Bannon’s War Room - she has engaged several thousand people to examine the Pfizer documents (which the FDA tried to suppress for 75 years) related to the damaging effects of the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. One sentence in the introduction to the book captures that situation well – Dr Wolf writes that
“In 2020–22, we entered a time in which the post–World War II organizing principle of human affairs, the democratic nation-state, was being intentionally diluted in power and undermined in the interest of constructing a replacement meta-structure of unaccountable loosely aligned global nonprofits, Big Tech corporations, the WEF, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
She describes the purpose as
“Their goal is to subvert Western cultural norms and ultimately to alienate Western children from their families’ influence and from Western history and freedoms generally. The war against “the virus” has really been a war waged via technologies and their masters to dissolve human culture and disempower human beings. It is a war on free thought and free speech — a war against our most fundamental beliefs.”
This is a succinct and I believe, accurate view of the rise of the powers of darkness and the reality that our battle, as St Paul said, is against “powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
The coronavirus has been used as a tipping point by the forces of darkness to take control of the world by the globalists (a small group) and their “useful idiots” (a much larger group of world leaders). As the Luciferian Saul Alinsky wrote “control healthcare and you control the people”. The success of the biosecurity state and its effectiveness will encourage the globalists to search for new ways of using health issues to control us. This agenda is outlined well in a recent 1 hour interview examining the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization and the Bildeberg Meeting - https://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/. In the interview, Epoch Times journalist Joshua Philipp speaks with Alex Newman of The New American
So – I hear you ask – what does this mean, and what do we do?
In terms of what does it mean – I think that we are watching the ascent of evil that has been clawing its way up the greasy pole of world affairs to a place where it has a firmer grip and is obtaining real traction. The main tool seems to be technology – surveillance cameras, social media, QR codes, digital tracking and that precursor to the mark of the beast – the digital passport. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his World Economic Forum sponsored deputy, Chrystia Freeland showed their hands with the recent truckers blockade in Ottawa. The government responded ruthlessly with arrests, freezing of bank accounts and seizing trucks. This was done through invoking the Emergencies Act of 1988 . Even a mainstream publication like Newsweek described the action as “a staggering blow..to anyone with a commitment to civil liberties, the rule of law and even the truth”. Trudeau’s approach is one that we will see used increasingly by governments – anyone with views that oppose government will be smeared as right wing white supremacists and hateful, homophobic, misogynistic bigots! Declarations of the crisis of pandemics, climate crisis and even racism will be used to invoke a biosecurity state where there is no longer individual freedom. It is a prelude to global state and the World Health Organization is positioning itself to be the mechanism of global legislation and enforcement. There seems to be a momentary lull in activity by the “new world order” but all the signs point towards the Biblical prophecy of an antichrist figure arising who will seek global control and ultimately worship. It is horrific but it is one of the signs of the times and we can make ourselves ready and be hopeful because it is one of the key signs of the return of Jesus.
What do we do? Standing up openly against the juggernaut of evil is brave but foolhardy. The evil globalists, some undoubtedly convinced from their perspectives that they are promoting the good of mankind, have been putting the framework for global control in place for centuries. The digital society now has handed them the tools to achieve their aims of global control. Therefore, as much as possible, we need to take practical steps to work outside the system and I have written about this in previous newsletters, particularly avoiding offering up our information to the digital overlords. However as St Paul wrote – our battle is not against individuals but rather “against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). It is difficult for us to conceive of a spiritual reality in the heavenly places that is much more sinister and destructive in its goals than the “flesh and blood” before us. So – it is important to have the right tools to fight this spiritual battle. Paul’s admonition to Christian believers is to “put on the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13). Derek Prince, the famous English Bible teacher has a 4 minute teaching about the armour of God that I found helpful
There are 7 items written about in St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6:13 -18 – 5 of these items are defensive and 2 are offensive. The defensive items are: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness (the righteousness of faith), sandals for the feet which is the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation (protection of the mind with hope). The offensive weapons are: the sword of the spirit (which is the spoken Word of God- the Bible) and praying always in the spirit. The battle before us is going to get more challenging but it is important to understand the tools we can use and particularly the importance of prayer. Amazingly enough, there is a God in heaven who loves us and hears our prayers which are powerful in the spiritual realm. The spiritual battle needs to be fought with spiritual weapons.
Like the Sons of Issachar, we need to take heed of the signs of the times, and as a former Australian Prime Minister said: “be alert but not alarmed”. Despite the daily difficulties and oppression we have the hope set before us of a new heaven and a new earth, when God will dwell with us and there will be no more pain and death (Revelation 21:1-4) – what a hope there is for those who believe in Jesus and so it is betting on self-interest to investigate who He is and His claims!
WORLD ROUNDUP
An Overview of Some Significant World Events Over the Last Week
I have had a sense for the past few years that a financial meltdown was coming and my original thoughts were that the COVID-19 lockdowns, forced business closures and general loss of confidence would lead to financial stagnation in 2020. However, I hadn’t factored in the printing of money by governments together with financial handouts that propped up most Western economies. This resulted in trillion dollar deficits and now there is a dramatic increase in inflation combined with a precipitous decline in the stock market. I heard this week that there is US$15 trillion dollars of consumer debt in the US. It does look as the financial chickens are coming home to roost from government financial profligacy as well as an assault on oil, as the green agenda is forced at great cost on millions of reluctant consumers. Governments are trapped by their own policies and in looking for someone to blame apart from themselves, they have settled on President Putin. It seems unlikely that voters will be fooled by the attempts to blame Putin for government policies that have led to financial disaster.
Interest rates have been increased by all central banks and the flow on impact will be financially challenging for everyone with loans and will negatively affect the housing market. So – everyone is in for hard time in the period ahead with continuing rises in prices and potential recession. The only tool that the central banks have is to keep on raising interest rates and while these increases have been modest to date – rises of 0.5 to 0.75% - most likely rates will continue to rise and could reach double digits over the next 12 months.
USA
The Biden administration has been denying the impact of inflationary pressures in the US economy which they said were temporary. Larry Kudlow, the former Director of the National Economic Council in the Trump administration, has written an interesting assessment of the US economy for Fox Business. He noted that the prices for goods were up 17%, food 13% and energy 45%. His assessment is that the average family has had a $5,000 increase in their cost of living in the last 12 months. Kudlow writes that the Biden administration “has decimated the oil and gas business”. From first principles, those that cause problems usually can’t fix them and this is certainly true of Biden and his team. Their only solutions they have are to tax more and spend more taxpayers money which they don’t have. In an attempt at distraction – Biden is now promoting transgender “protection”. Biden said that he was going to outlaw “conversion therapy” but in a bizarre twisting of the phrase, he meant that he was going to ban those who were concerned about their children changing their gender to be stopped from helping children remain in their birth gender.
A recession in the US seems certain and the financial pain experienced by voters will turn independent voters towards Republicans in the mid-term elections in November, if fair elections can be implemented.
The most significant political event in the US is the agreement of a number of Republican Senators to vote in favour of so-called “red flag laws” to enable firearm restrictions. John Zmirak has written an excellent article for The Stream about this titled “Why Can’t I Have an Obliterate Button on My Dashboard? That’s Why we can’t have Red Flag Laws”. Zmirak points out in a companion article - that gun rights are fundamental to freedom and not a privilege granted by government. For those of us outside the US, where we are inclined to agree with government restrictions on guns, Zmirak’s articles are important to understand the tenets of freedom. He points out that existing laws already provide protections and that so-called red flag laws will be a threat to anyone who has an opposing view to the government. He writes:
“Gun rights are fundamental rights, akin to the right of free speech, free exercise of religion, voting, jury trial, due process of law, and protection from warrantless search, self-incrimination, or cruel and unusual punishment. Our Constitution enshrines gun rights for precisely this reason, and also as a back-stop protection against the rise of tyrannical government — such as those which murdered 170 million civilians between 1900 and 1990, all of whom had been disarmed by their governments.”
I found Zmirak’s arguments compelling and both his articles are worthwhile reading to understand why the Second Amendment to the US Constitution is the foundation of freedom and has been targeted by the progressive political left who want to enforce government tyranny in the name of social justice.
United Kingdom & Europe
Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to be like Houdini and when cornered pulls out another escape trick. I listened the Prime Minister’s Question Time on the Times Red Box Podast this week
Prime Minister’s Question time is held each parliamentary sitting week in the UK Parliament and this week and Boris was remarkable. Under pressure from the Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer, Boris ducked and weaved, used Latin phrases and somehow made the argument that all was well. This is despite his own backbenchers putting in the boot last week and in effect, saying he was a rogue, scoundrel and not to be trusted. Who knows what the next move will be as current rules in the Conservative Party prevent a vote against the PM within 6 months. Boris is a great survivor and may yet pull another rabbit out of the hat – another war perhaps?
The significant story that goes well beyond the UK is the intervention of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) to stop the UK Governments plan to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda. UK Courts already have affirmed the right of the UK Government to take action to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda but the UK Government is caught in a trap as the UK is a signatory to the European Court for Human Rights. It is significant because the whole point of Brexit was for the UK to have control over its borders and its own legal processes. It will be interesting to see what happens next but the wheels of legal processes in Strasbourg grind slowly and some estimates are that a final decision from the ECHR could take several years.
The involvement of the ECHR is a symptom of a wider challenge to national sovereignty. Governments blindly sign up to various bureaucratic UN conventions and suddenly find themselves without any power to act in their national interests because a global body is able to exert control. We are going to see this much more as the climate bandwagon gathers momentum.
Russia and Ukraine
It has been interesting to see the way that Ukraine has moved off the front page of most newspapers. Russia gradually is consolidating their positions in the Ukraine and in particular, the Donbas region. President Xi of China has continued to support what he describes as Russia’s “sovereignty and security”.
Because of mines around the port of Odessa, grain cannot be exported from the Ukraine which now relies financially almost totally upon Western economic and military support to keep afloat. Meanwhile Russia continues to export gas and oil with prices of both increasing as a result of the conflict. There are ongoing reports about President Putin’s health challenges but it is difficult to find reliable information. It seems certain that Russia will continue to expand its control of Ukraine and that eventually the West will tire of providing financial and military assistance.
China vs The West
China’s Defence Minister, speaking at a Defence Security Conference in Singapore, has been quoted as saying “If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs and fight to the very end”. China continues to send planes into Taiwan’s airspace and it seems like a softening up process for a real invasion. Undoubtedly there is a plan and it is just a question of timing that is most advantageous to China.
A speech given by President Xi in February was reported by the South China Morning Post this week. Xi said that some Western nations “forcibly promote the concept and system of Western democracy and human rights … taking advantage of human rights issues to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries”. President Xi said that the promotion of democracy caused wars, chaos and human displacement. It is interesting that there used to be a battle between freedom in the West and dictatorial communism but since COVID-19 lockdowns and government overreach in the West, there are only degrees of difference in the extent of autocracy.
It does look as though China will keep on imposing internal lockdowns, apparently to deal with COVID-19. The US Ambassador to China told the Brookings Institution this week that “My own assumption is that we'll see the continuation of zero-Covid probably into the beginning of 2023”. Many US firms are scaling back their levels of investment and so the flow-on effects on the Chinese and international economies will be significant.
Israel
The Bennett coalition government continues to be under pressure with the loss of its slim majority and an inability to pass legislation in the Knesset. There have been rumours of an alternative government being set up with apparent secret talks between Bennett’s Yamina Party and Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, which has the most seats in the current parliament. It is remarkable that the current coalition government has survived one year given that the government is described as an “ideologically diverse array of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties, plus the Islamist Ra’am faction”. The only common ground seemed to be hatred for Netanyahu.
It does seem though that no matter which party is in control, all are aware of the threat from Iran. The Jerusalem Post reported this week that
“Since April, the Mossad has allegedly kidnapped or taken out several Iranian officials associated with its IRGC Quds Force overseas terror Unit 840, as well as aerospace scientists involved in its satellite, nuclear and drone programs”.
Undoubtedly there will be further operations by Israel in Iran, given the potential nuclear threat. It also was interesting that the Israeli Counterintelligence Bureau this week warned Israelis to leave Istanbul as soon as possible and advised to avoid traveling to Turkey.
Middle East instability is a way of life for those living there but it does seem as though something significant is coming as signs of the clouds of conflict gather on the horizon.