Same Demons, Different Day

Introduction

Today we are taking a one week break from our current series, Like Jesus, to discuss a topic that is a hot button issue in our world and in our country this year, given that its an election year. Before we get there, let me remind you of something.

Dear Church, we are at war. We are warring against not flesh and blood, but against demonic forces in the heavenlies. This is not a new war. This is not a New Testament war, but this is a war that has been going on for thousands of years.

Today we face the same enemies that the people in the Bible faced. The ultimate enemy is Satan, but contrary to the belief of many, he is not the only one we battle against. Paul calls them principalities and powers. The Old Testament calls them the host of heaven.

In other words, what Paul tells us the church in Ephesus that they are battling against heavenly beings that are real and still existed during his time on the earth. Guess what? They still exist today.

We are given several names of these heavenly beings Chemosh, Malcham, Asheroth, Baal, Molech and many more. Today, I want to focus on the names of the last two and specifically that last one - Molech.

Turn with me in your bibles to 2 Chronicles 33, we will read verses 1-6 together.

2 Chronicles 33:1–6 ESV

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

Now, we are jumping into the book of Chronicles, which chronicles the rise and fall of Israel’s kings. Many of you may have heard the name Hezekiah. He was a godly king of Judah who lives around 200-250 years after King David and his son Solomon and the division of the kingdom to a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom.

Hezekiah was one of the good kings. He did was was good in the sight of the Lord, just like his great great great great x12 grandfather David did. He had a son, named Manasseh, which is who we are talking about today.

Manasseh was an evil man and did what was evil in God’s sight. Do you know today, that God still judges kings or presidents in the same way.

God Still Judges Kings

They either follow Him or they are doing evil in his sight. That’s it! It doesn’t matter to God what party they claim or how many years they served in the Senate or what peace deal they have worked out or how many businesses they own. What matters to God is if they follow Him. That’s it. Do you follow Jesus?

Manasseh did not follow God. And let’s look at what he did. It says that he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down. Hezekiah was a good man, but good men can have children who rebel. This happens in Scripture. So Manasseh rebuilds the high places. Now you might be asking what is it talking about, high places?

The High Places were literally places on big hills or mountaintops where people would go to worship their gods. They would build altars there to their gods and worship him. The good kings of Judah would travel up to these mountaintops and tear down the altars. Manasseh as we see in our text did not tear down those altars, but rebuilt them, and because of that, he led Israel into the continued practice of sin and idolatry.

Baal was one of the main gods that was worshipped in the high places. Baal is the name of the ancient Caananite god worshiped by the people who originally inhabited the land of Israel. The name Baal means “lord”.

Baal went by many names and was adaptable to the cultures he was brought into. He was mainly known as the god of fertility and by that they mainly meant fertile ground. If Baal blessed you, you would have an abundance of crops.

Now some scholars believe that if you trace Baal down through the ages, he changes his name and identity. The greeks called him Zeus and the Romans worshipped him as Jupiter. Over the ages, he was also called Hadad, Adad and Tessub, to name a few.

He was most certainly still a factor in the New Testament, Jesus in Matthew 12 links him to Satan himself, with the name Baal-Zebub. Jesus treated him as a real being. This is an important thing to note. Jesus treated him as real. We should as well.

Does Baal exist today? Most certainly.

The god of prosperity is likely the territory god of the west. We live in a land of prosperity. Baal is likely the demonic entity in which our leaders interact with the most. You can disagree with me if you want, but our greatest idol here in the west is comfort. That is a sure sign of Baal worship. We want to be comfortable. We want an abundance of material possessions.

But pastor, we don’t sacrfice at the altar of Baal. Maybe so. Maybe we don’t have stone piles called altars dedicated to Baal. Maybe we don’t bring heifers onto the mountaintop and slit their throats. But, what is a sacrifice but a sacrifice of prosperity. In other words, their money, their prosperity was in the number of animals they had. So when they killed an animal in the name of Baal, that isn’t that much different than us giving money to comfort. Or sacrificing time with our children to make that extra dough. Sometimes we sacrifice money just for the promise of abundance.

If you don’t believe me, pull open your phone and type in North Carolina gambling news. Our state is setting records for the number of sacrifices (I mean bets) we are making in the name of Baal (I mean gambling or lottery or sports betting). In NC, sports betting, which is a brand new form of sacrifice in our state, reached a record high of 1 billion with a b, dollars just in March with the basketball tournament.

Baal is alive and well in North Carolina. But he’s also alive and well in the church. Many churches today teach this wealth and prosperity gospel that if you will just sow a seed of faith into their ministry, Baal, I mean God, will bless you 100 fold. If you want financial prosperity, just give to Kenneth Hagin or Creflo Dollar or Jesse Duplantis or whomever, God will bless you.

This is called syncretism.

Syncretism Is The Merging Of Two Beliefs

The ancient Israelites did the same thing. They worshipped God and Baal. That’s the issue. In our text, Manasseh put the altar to Baal in the temple of God. They didn’t stop worshipping God, they did both. Just like us. We do the same thing.

Here’s some examples -

We worship Mammon or Money and God.

We worship our comfort and God.

We worship sports and God.

We worship food and God.

We worship pornography and God.

Oh you guys are acting like you don’t do this. This is syncretism. You justify your gluttony or lust by saying, well at least I go to church on Sunday. This is syncretism. And here’s what God says. You can’t worship two different things. You will either hate one and love the other or love the one and hate the other. There is no syncretism according to Jesus.

And this is the common sin for us today, and the common sin for the Israelites in the Old Testament. They didn’t want to get rid of Yahweh, they just wanted to worship other things alongside of Him. But our God is a jealous God and he will have no other gods before Him. Meaning you cannot worship Baal and Jesus.

Molech Worship Is Child Sacrifice

Now one of the names you don’t see mentioned in our text today is Molech. Molech, which his name means king, was worshipped through child sacrifice and we see that in our text today. It says in verse 6 that Manasseh burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom.

This valley is the place where the Israelites would go to offer sacrifices to both Baal and Molech. In order to worship Molech, it was done through child sacrifice. This valley was known for these heinous practices throughout Scripture and it was one of the most evil places on earth.

By the time of Jesus, the valley’s name is translated as Gehenna or what we might call Hell on earth. This is where Isaiah says there is an unquenchable fire. Think about that. They would offer their children as burnt offerings and the fire simply wanted more. In other words, whatever you give to Molech, it was never enough, he will always want more.

Let me describe how this happened. The idol that represented Molech was made of bronze. It was hollow in the inside and fires were started in it’s belly. It had the face of a bull and the hands of a man and they were outstretched and cupped (as if he was always asking for more). They would get that bronze incredibly hot. And the idol would glow from the fire and then they would take and place the baby onto the outstretched hands of Molech and he would be burned alive. During this process, the priests of Molech would play the drums and as the baby was screaming out in pain, they would play louder and louder to drown out the sounds of the screaming to prevent the father from having second thoughts and saving his son.

According to English poet John Milton, in his book Paradise Lost, he believed that Molech was one of Satan’s chief warriors and one of the greatest of the fallen angels. And when you see how he is warned about in the bible, you start to get the picture. Look at what God says in Lev 20:1-2

Leviticus 20:1–2 ESV

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.

Whoa. This is a big deal. God wasn’t playing around. If you sacrifice your children to Molech, you deserve to be stoned. Now, this just shows you the value that God put on human life and specifically the life of children. He values life.

Now, you might be asking, does Molech still exist in our culture. Is this still a demonic power that exerts his strength and control in our culture? I would answer whole-heartedly yes. Yes he is. And he shows up today in much the same way.

Abortion Is Child Sacrifice

Today, one of the biggest issues in our culture is the issue of abortion. Molech may not be a name on anyone’s lips at the local clinic or a thought in anyone’s mind who has had an abortion, but that does not mean that Molech isn’t still being worshipped through the ritual.

Listen to me. Demons do not care what you call them, so long as you worship them and not God. They long to be worshipped. They want to try and steal the glory that is due to Jesus. Baal changes his name many times, but the worship was still the same. Molech does not care what you call him, so long as he continues to be worshipped through child sacrifice.

And listen to me now, it was an abomination to God then and it is an abomination to God now. God hates child sacrifice. God hates abortion. Period. Abortion, despite what others may call it, is murder. Plain and simple.

Today we are kicking off our sponsored week for Love Life, which is a pro-life ministry that we have participated in for several years. The goal of Love Life is to see the end of abortion in our country and specifically for us in the Raleigh area in our lifetimes.

Here’s what we believe about abortion.

Every life is precious in the eyes of God and that life starts at conception.

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

This is what the word says, We FORMED by God. We are KNOWN by God. We are CONSECRATED by God. And we have a DESTINY given to us by God…BEFORE WE EVER LEAVE THE WOMB! Each child is precious to God. Every life.

Show Jessica’s Video

What I love about Jessica’s story is that she says what we believe. Listen, Abortion is NOT the unpardonable sin. If you have had an abortion and you are here today, you can be forgiven. God has grace for you.

It also shows one of the big pushes for Love Life. We do not want to just see a baby saved. We are prolife from the womb to the tomb. So we believe in helping mothers. As a church we are ready to pour into expectant moms and walk beside them through the pregnancy and birth and on.

Let me give you some facts about abortion.

Tragic Truth Slide

* ABORTION IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE US, NOT CANCER OR HEART DISEASE.

• 20,000+ BABIES KILLED WEEKLY

• ABORTIONS ARE ALLOWED UP TO

BIRTH IN SOME STATES

• 1 IN 3 WOMEN (AND MEN) WILL HAVE

AN ABORTION IN THEIR LIFETIME

• 54% OF THOSE WHO HAVE

ABORTIONS IDENTIFY AS CHRISTIAN

What God Has Done Through His Church And Love Life:

• 5,600+ BABIES SAVED

• UP TO 70% DROP IN ABORTIONS ON

WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS

(DAYS OF CONCENTRATED PRAYER)

• 184,000+ PEOPLE PRAYER WALKED

• 1,100+ PARTNERING CHURCHES

• 62+ ABORTION WORKERS FELT

COMPELLED TO LEAVE THIS INDUSTRY

• 4,300+ PEOPLE CONNECTED BEYOND

THE PRAYER WALKS

Show 40 Week Recap Video

Action Steps

So what am I asking you to do today? I’m asking you to do Three things -

Pray - This is our prayer week. Love Life operates at the clinic predominately for 40 weeks out of the year, though they maintain a presence their year-round. This symbolizes the 40 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy. There are 40 weeks throughout the year that churches will come alongside this ministry and adopt a week. The primary purpose we have this week is to pray about this issue throughout the week. This week we will have prayer at the church on Tuesday night at 7 pm and you are invited to come and pray with us.

Fast - We will fast Wednesday this week as a church with the purpose of praying to God to see abortions ended in our area and in our country. My ask is this. If you are physically able to fast on Wednesday this week, please do. If for some reason you can’t do Wednesday, pick a different day. This is one of the most important issues in our world today. Valuing life is the foundation for which every other issue in this country rests upon. We cannot love our neighbor if he was killed in the womb.

Prayer Walk - Finally the third thing I’m asking from you today is that you show up on Saturday to the walk with us. This is as close as some of you will ever get to a missions trip and the good news is you will be home by lunch. This isn’t a big ask, you don’t need to hop on a plane, raise thousands of dollars, you just need to show up! First things, you need to register. You can click on the link on our app or scan the QR Code on the screen. Fill it out and plan to attend. I’d plan to get there a little early. Please use the bathroom before you go, there are no bathrooms on site. Be prepared to pray. Come with a full heart, ready to pour out your prayers before God. We are not there to protest, you don’t need a sign. We are there to pray. This is a reasonably safe event for the whole family. My kids will be there.

Now, to end, let me let you in on a little secret about Manasseh today. Manasseh, turns to God. Even though he was an evil king. He did many evil things in his sight. There is no one that is too far gone for God. There is no one that cannot turn to Jesus. If you have participated in Baal worship or child sacrifice, God will still forgive you!

2 Chronicles 33:11–13 ESV

Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

Prayer makes a difference! Manasseh prayed and God heard him!

Listen to me, Baal and Molech may still be alive and well, but guess what? They are defeated enemies. Remember what their names mean? Baal means lord, Molech means king. Now think about this, what is Jesus called in the Bible? He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He rules over them. They will bow their knee to king Jesus and they have an appointment in that fiery pit. They are defeated. So do not despair, no matter how bad it looks out there right now, Victory is at hand! Jesus has conquered death and the grave. Can I get an amen?

Stand, PRAY TO DISMISS