Table of Contents

Beyond Today: The Devil Goes to Church

The Devil Goes to Church

How False Religion Is Leading to a Dangerous New World

Christmas: The Untold Story

Was the Biblical Sabbath Changed to Sunday?

Religious Pretenders: Lessons From an Ancient King

Are You Saved by Faith Alone Without Works?

How to Raise Godly Children in a Morally Sketchy Society

Israel’s 9/11: What’s Behind Hamas’ Brutal Bloodbath?

Current Events and Trends: November/December 2023

Follow Me: “Antipas My Faithful Martyr”—Holding Fast to His Name

Letters From Our Readers: November/December 2023

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Beyond Today: The Devil Goes to Church

Live by Every Word of God

How could people ignore and dismiss what was clearly stated in God’s Word and instead choose worship practices and customs that are not approved in the Bible, but are actually repeatedly condemned in it?

by Scott Ashley

It wasn’t until my teen years that I began to seriously study the Bible. Up until then I had no issue with God’s existence; that was self-evident from the amazing world I saw around me. It was Christianity itself that puzzled me.

My three best friends attended three different churches with very different beliefs and practices. Which was right? Was there a way to know for sure? These were key questions as I seriously looked into the Bible for the first time.

One verse that jumped out at me rather quickly was Luke 4:4, where Jesus Christ said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’” (emphasis added throughout). That seemed simple enough—we are to live by every word of God.

I also read other statements from Him and His apostles such as “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17) and “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3).

These also seemed simple enough: If we want to enter eternal life, we must keep God’s commandments. And if we love God, we should obey His commandments.

As the saying goes, It’s so simple that a child can understand it. And I was certainly a novice when it came to the Bible.

But the more I delved into God’s Word, the more I was puzzled by the churches around me. I could read passages like the Fourth of the Ten Commandments, which tells us to keep the seventh day holy and not work on it (Exodus 20:8-11). Calendars showed that Saturday was the seventh day of the week, so why did people go to church on Sunday, which was the first day of the week? I asked my churchgoing friends about it, and they had no answer.

I also read in the Bible about specific days of worship that God said were His feasts, days He declared to be holy on which His people were not to work, but were to gather to worship Him (see Leviticus 23 and many other places). I read that Jesus Christ and His followers celebrated these days. I asked my churchgoing friends about it, and again they had no answer.

Then I read in the Bible about God’s disgust with people following pagan practices in their worship, and I looked into the history of popular holidays like Christmas, Easter and New Year’s Day. I was shocked! Why were people following the same pagan practices and customs used to worship pagan gods and goddesses thousands of years ago? None of this made any sense. I asked my church-going friends about it. Once more they had no answer.

It gradually dawned on me that what we have today is a “pick and choose” Christianity—meaning that various churches and denominations pick and choose what they want to believe and practice.

And all too often they’ve picked and chosen their worship practices not from the Bible, but from worship of ancient gods and goddesses God repeatedly condemned!

I struggled to make sense of what inherently made no sense. How could people ignore and dismiss what was clearly stated in God’s Word and instead choose worship practices and customs that are not approved in the Bible, but are actually repeatedly condemned in it?

It would be some time before I came to grasp the reality of the dark side of the spirit world—that just as there exists a God of infinite truth and light and love, there also exists an opposite “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) who is a being of infinite darkness, lies and evil who hates the true God and His ways.

This being is also called “the father of [lies]” (John 8:44), and is so seductively powerful and persuasive that he “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).

In this issue we bluntly look at this deception—and the way to counter it. May we all have the wisdom to do so!

PS—With this issue, I am retiring after a 50-year career in the publishing industry and 28 years as managing editor of Beyond Today and its predecessor, The Good News. It has been a privilege and pleasure serving all of you as readers and working alongside a dedicated media team. My fervent hope and prayer is that you always strive to live by every word of God!

The Devil Goes to Church

The devil is much wilier and may be much closer than you think. The Bible reveals that he deceives the whole world—meaning he has even duped churches and religious figures. How is this possible? Could you be deceived too?

by Steve Myers

Believe it or not, Satan plays an enormous role in religion. He is very interested in what happens in churches. We often think of the devil as out there somewhere, maybe on the attack. But do you realize that he may be much closer than you think?

Have you ever considered that Satan goes to church? Is it possible that the devil has weaseled his way into your church?

God’s Word says in Revelation 12:9 that “the great dragon was cast out [of heaven], that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (emphasis added throughout).

How much of the world has the devil misled and conned? Here God says it’s the entire world. And that includes his deception in religion. So if you believe the Bible, you should recognize that Satan has deceived even churches! What are the signs to look for to find out if Satan has infiltrated your church?

Blending truth with error

The Bible reveals some of Satan’s methods in its opening pages. Remember the story of the Garden of Eden where Satan said to Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan then contradicted God, saying, “You will not surely die” (verse 4).

That was a lie. It could be cast as partially true in the sense that Adam and Eve weren’t going to immediately drop dead if they disobeyed God. Yet from the moment of succumbing to sin, their eventual death as its cost would be assured.

So the deception was on. They took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It represented deciding good and evil for themselves under Satan’s influence, leading to a mixed-up morality of truth and lies. And through many half-truths, Satan throughout history has led people to misunderstand God’s words. He wants us to make decisions that lead us away from what’s right.

But you may think, I wouldn’t be misled; my church couldn’t be off track! Yet as we see here with Satan’s first interaction with humanity, he does not come across as all evil all the time. Satan has a scheme, a strategy, and in 1 Peter 5:8 we see another part of that strategy: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

You’ve probably seen nature shows presenting lions on the hunt. They hide, they’re camouflaged well, they’re opportunistic, and then they strike. In the same way, Satan is evil but not obviously so. He’s deceptive, subtle and cunning.

This is how he actually tried to undermine Jesus Christ as His earthly ministry began. You may be familiar with the story in Matthew 4. Christ was fasting for 40 days and nights, and Satan came to Jesus and tempted Him. He took Jesus from the wilderness to Jerusalem’s towering temple complex and then did something shocking.

He quoted Scripture. He told Christ to go ahead and jump off, and quoted Psalm 91:11-12: “‘He [God] shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

That’s indeed what Scripture says. But did God the Father want Jesus to jump off a building just to prove a point? He did promise angelic protection, but it wasn’t for show.

So here we see Satan presenting the holy Word of God in a totally wrong and evil way, using that to try to trip up Jesus Christ. That’s Satan’s strategy. The devil purposely misrepresents the Word of God. He knows how to use Scripture, but he’ll distort it. He’ll take it out of context; he’ll change the meaning.

So it’s important to ask yourself: How well do I know Scripture? Do I know it well enough to prove a point? Can I justify what I believe and speak the truth?

Many times when the Bible comes up in discussion, the conversation goes something like this: “Hmm, doesn’t the Bible say something about that somewhere? Isn’t it something like this?” Or, “Yeah, I think that might be in the Bible.” And too often it’s out of context, paraphrased, misquoted or even contradictory of what the Bible clearly does say.

Make no mistake: The devil knows the Bible. But he uses it deceitfully.

He did that with Jesus, and he does it with churches. And you’d better know it and be able to apply it correctly or you will be tricked and misled. Pretty scary thought, isn’t it?

Satan teaches a different gospel

It’s interesting that Satan also went to church at the time of the apostles. The apostle Paul wrote to the church congregations in Galatia: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another [as it wasn’t really good news]; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).

Here the apostle Paul knew that Satan was in church to present an entirely different gospel that was a fraudulent message. So does your church teach the true message of Jesus Christ?

Exactly what was that message of Christ? It’s God’s message to mankind. It’s the good news of God’s purpose and plan. It involves mankind’s need for salvation and God’s requirement that we repent from sin, accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, obey His commands, and believe and seek the reality that Christ is going to return to establish His Kingdom on earth so we can be born into the family of God.

Meanwhile, Satan goes to church to spread his influence and mix things up. And sadly, most of what’s called Christianity is built around a false message.

Have you heard this passage at church? It’s a powerful one: “Listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Good News Translation).

At your church, do you hear much about obedience to God’s laws? Jesus Christ certainly thought it was important. He said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46; compare Matthew 5:19; 7:21; 19:17). The fact is, true religion requires obedience to God’s commandments, which are given for our good.

Satan uses emotion and misdirected feelings

Yes, Satan goes to church, but you have to be on your toes to see that influence. You might be thinking, My church is fun to attend. And when you leave, you feel good about yourself, happy that you’re not wrapped up in dull formalities like some congregations.

I get it. It’s been a tough week. You want to feel positive, you want to be emotionally uplifted. And that’s a good thing. But what is worshiping God all about? Is it about big-screen projections, rock bands and coffee shops?

True worship is so much more than just emotion and entertainment. Satan loves to stir up misdirected feelings. Is everything that feels good actually good for you? Remember, Satan convinced Adam and Eve to take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—to make what was wrong seem the right choice (and see Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Today he goes to church to deceive, to twist Jesus’ message, to mislead, even perverting how to worship God.

Consider our most popular religious holidays, Christmas and Easter. Do you find those as appropriate worship in the Bible? No. But what days to observe do you find in the Bible? God’s own Holy Days. Yes, God is concerned about when you worship Him. Do you worship any day you choose, or do you worship on God’s Sabbath day (which He defines as lasting from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset)? That’s the day referred to when Jesus said He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).

Remember what happened to Adam and Eve. They were banished and separated from God. Remember that Satan’s most effective tool is deception.

God’s warnings about great deception

The apostle Paul warned the young minister Timothy: “In latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons . . .” (1 Timothy 4:1).

Have you ever heard a minister tell you something that doesn’t quite match with what the Bible says? What was your reaction to it? Did you just kind of accept it? Ignore it? What did you do?

Notice that Paul gave another powerful warning in his next letter to Timothy: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

What a powerful reminder! The devil tells a compelling story. It sounds believable. And it even contains some true elements. Because Satan loves to mix it up. He loves to fuse things together, to blend evil with the good. It can be convincing, and his deceptive power makes it more so, but it’s actually fiction—deadly fiction.

Satan’s spiritual frequency

Ephesians 2:2 in the New Living Translation says: “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.” Satan is an influential and controlling spirit, working on humanity to produce an atmosphere of evil and rebellion against God.

He’s created a spiritual “wireless network” of sorts, and just like the air that surrounds us, it permeates our world. Just as the air around us is saturated with cell signals and TV and radio waves, the devil wants to control our minds through having us tuned in to his mobile network, his dark web, his evil frequency. Satan saturates the world with his wicked spiritual broadcast of selfishness, sinful attitudes and wrong moods. And our minds are all too receptive to it.

The result? Satan influences humanity—including churches—to misunderstand and end up rejecting God and His law. The apostle Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” He loves the masquerade. He loves to play the game, to disguise himself and be the pretender. Yes, it seems religious, it seems good, it seems to be right. But it isn’t. The world’s religions, including most of Christianity, are built on the wrong foundation—the foundation of Satan’s deception.

Maybe you’re not convinced Satan goes to church. But here’s something to think about. How much do you hear from Christian churches today about sin? Or about its consequences? Maybe you think it’s not that big a deal. But your Bible tells you sin is breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). It’s crossing over the line God has forbidden us to cross.

Yet so many teach that Jesus was just about love and grace. But that doesn’t give the whole picture. When Christ miraculously healed a man, He told him, “Take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). Is that all He said though? No. Jesus further told him, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (verse 14).

You see, the true message tells the whole story. God’s people must be like God, living God’s way. And whenever we find ourselves out of that perspective, not living God’s way, that’s rebellion. It’s sin, it’s unacceptable to God. Yet that’s human nature through Satan’s corrupting influence.

God’s nature or human nature?

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:19-21: “Now, the effects of the corrupt nature are obvious: illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity . . . hatred, rivalry . . . factions, envy drunkenness, wild partying . . . People who do these kinds of things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (God’s Word Translation).

So what does God say on the matter? Sin is a big deal. And if you’re religious, you should consider whether you are striving to overcome that nature in your life.

There is a solution—repent. But you have to understand what that means. Repentance is heartfelt sorrow for breaking God’s laws and turning away from committing sins. It entails completely surrendering your will to God and really changing the way you think so that it changes your actions. You see more and more what’s so bad about sin and what’s so good about God, His laws and His way of life. And you’re grateful for the awesome sacrifice Jesus Christ paid for your sins.

Does your church teach about true repentance? It’s absolutely required. Acts 26:20 tells us, “All must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do” (NLT). The Bible says obedience is the proof of repentance. So we demonstrate that our repentance is sincere by obeying God.

Of course, that’s the last thing Satan wants you to do. He doesn’t want you to change. But you can overcome his influence and stop bowing to his control.

Following God or human tradition?

Acts 2:38 emphasizes that point and tells us how we can change: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (English Standard Version).

What does this mean? Some think you receive God’s Spirit by simply asking Jesus into your heart. Or maybe you trust an emotional feeling as indicating you have God’s Spirit. Or maybe a minister told you that you have God’s Spirit, or you simply by faith believe it.

Or maybe you answered an altar call and were so overcome by emotion that you wanted to give your life to the Lord. Or maybe you read a little Bible tract and prayed the sinner’s prayer and considered yourself saved from that point on.

Are all these ideas and experiences overtly evil? They seem good and righteous to a great many people. But the devil has his foot in the door even when it comes to the concepts of receiving God’s Spirit. How so? Let’s compare these ideas to what the Bible says.

Acts 8:17 tells us clearly how a person receives God’s Spirit: “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Here it describes people who believed and were baptized, but to receive God’s Spirit they needed to have hands laid on them.

Having a minister of Jesus Christ pray over you and lay hands on you after baptism signifies that a newly baptized member has been set apart by God. That represents the actual manner and moment of receiving the Holy Spirit.

So is that what happened to you? Does your church follow that practice—or some other tradition? Christ was emphatic when it came to human traditions, saying, “For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition” (Mark 7:8, NLT).

Read history and find out what really happened over time. You’ll see that fusing ungodly symbols and dates and manmade holidays and rituals into Christianity brought about an unbiblical religion that is still alive today.

Think about it: False traditions in Christianity. Holidays with Christian-sounding names yet ignoring God’s instruction and His Holy Days. These are more examples of Satan’s mixing of truth and error, making what’s wrong seem right.

Have you looked into these things? You’ll find a powerful statement in Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Human tradition or seeking to obey God?

It’s true. Satan indeed goes to church. I hope you can begin to see how religion has been deceived by the devil and how true worship should be based on what God actually instructs.

Could your thinking have been affected? Don’t let Satan influence you to compromise true biblical belief. Be aware of the warning signs. Ask these questions: Do you, or does your church, truly rely on the entire Bible? Jesus Christ said we are to live “by every word” of God (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4).

Does your church stress obedience to God, following His will and His way? The apostle John wrote: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4).

Does your church teach about sin and the need to repent as a requirement to change? Does your church follow the biblical practice of baptism and laying on of hands to receive God’s Spirit? Reread the scriptures above that speak directly to this. They have not changed.

Now’s the time to realize who is determined to bend your thinking away from God. Satan loves to imitate, to present his ideas as truth, but it’s all for his own evil purposes in defying God.

Stand instead among God’s people, defined in Revelation 12:17 as those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

We pray that you will seek, as Jesus said in John 4:23, to “worship the Father in spirit and truth”!

How False Religion Is Leading to a Dangerous New World

The Bible reveals a coming evil ruler and false religious leader who, under Satan’s sway, will deceive nearly all the world. Where will you stand?

by Steve Myers

Have you ever thought about the devil in Bible prophecy? When we look at the book of Revelation, we see some of Satan’s main objectives and motivations. And we learn not only of his hatred of mankind leading to future deception and coming wrath, but that these are not just in the future—off in the distance. They impact you even today.

Let’s start with the opening of Revelation 12: “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth” (verses 1-2). A dragon soon appears, intent on devouring the child at its birth (verses 3-4). The dragon is revealed to be Satan the devil (verse 9).

As with the rest of the book, the fantastical and symbolic imagery tells an important story. In examining some of the symbolism, we can recognize Satan’s influence not only in the future, but today as well.

The devil’s war against God and His followers

The child here was to rule all nations and was caught up to heaven (verse 5), a reference to Jesus Christ, who ascended to heaven following His resurrection. So the woman on one level was His mother Mary giving birth to Him.

But there’s more to the story. It’s also a picture of Israel. In a prophetic dream in Genesis 37, Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob or Israel, saw the sun, moon and 11 stars bowing before him, representing his parents and 11 brothers being under his authority. This actually happened after the pharaoh in Egypt placed him in charge of running the country. But note the symbol of 11 stars for 11 brothers and another for Joseph. The 12 stars came to signify the tribes descended from these brothers—the 12 tribes of Israel.

But the woman in Revelation 12 symbolizes more than just Joseph’s family. The son chosen to be the light of the world represents not only Christ but God’s other children as well, given the later mention of other offspring (see verse 17). The symbolism of the woman here includes not only Mary as a representative mother among the nation of Israel, but also the collective body of the spiritual Israel of God—the one true Church made up of all Christ’s followers (see Galatians 6:16; compare Romans 2:29).

The mention of the dragon ready to devour the child at its birth recalls what happened when Jesus was born, with Satan launching a war against Him. As we see in the next chapter, Satan was the power behind the Roman Empire. And he used the Roman-appointed king over the Jewish nation, Herod, who wanted to eliminate any potential threat to his throne, to try to undermine God’s plan.

Matthew 2 says that when Herod learned of the Messiah’s recent birth in Bethlehem, he had all the children there and in surrounding areas under 2 years old put to death. Yet God wasn’t about to allow the Messiah to be killed at this time. He helped Jesus, Mary and Joseph escape to Egypt until Herod died.

And just as Satan was prevented from destroying Christ at that time, he’s going to be prevented from destroying this woman in Revelation 12. Her story continues in the account here after Christ’s ascension to heaven. We see her fleeing into the wilderness (verse 6). The picture going forward in Revelation 12 is of the Church as a whole taking refuge where it has a place prepared of God.

Satan will persecute God’s people

God protects His people from Satan, but that’s not the end of the story. Satan is not going to give up. He’s relentless in bringing persecution against the Church. He wants to demolish God’s plan. He wants to do away with any chance God would succeed. And so he’s going to try to kill God’s people at the end.

He’s going to wage all-out war against God, against His angels and against humanity as well. Revelation 12:7 says, “War broke out in heaven.” This is a future event, yet described in past tense in the prophetic perspective of Revelation, with God calling “those things which do not [yet] exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17; compare Isaiah 46:10).

What’s the outcome? “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). That’s describing a time soon ahead of us—shortly before Christ returns to earth!

Verse 12 says: “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (emphasis added throughout). When Satan loses that battle with God’s angels, He will turn and direct his rage at the people of God, symbolized by the woman and her offspring (verse 13).

Again, this refers primarily to the Church of God and its members, though Satan will also bring severe tribulation among the people of national Israel as well. That the Church is intended is plain from verse 17, as it specifies that the woman’s offspring targeted by the dragon are those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. And note that these are not just those labeled Christians, but those who believe in and obey God’s commandments.

Jesus had earlier warned His followers: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). Some of God’s people will survive this persecution, while others will be martyred. Yet how could today’s world become a place where true Christians are hunted down and killed?

Satan’s empire leads the world into false worship

Revelation 13 adds more to the story. Here we see a beast rising up out of the sea with seven heads and 10 crowned horns and bearing a blasphemous name. It’s described as a mixture of wild animals, but it wields power and control (compare the succession of kingdoms in Daniel 7). So it’s not talking about animals; it’s talking about government. It’s talking about the geopolitical powerhouse of the Roman Empire and a series of revivals culminating in a final resurrection of a new geopolitical leader and power that will control the world in the end time. (To learn more, download or request our free study guide The Final Superpower.)

We’re further told that “the dragon [Satan] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2), explaining why the heads and horns emerge from the devil in the previous chapter (12:3). The world is shown bowing to the empire’s dominion: “All the world marveled and followed the beast . . . saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ . . . And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (13:3-4, 7).

The Beast here is a term for both the imperial power and the human being set in charge of it—a dictatorial leader operating under Satan’s authority. And the devil is going to use this as a principal weapon against Jesus Christ and to conduct war against the people of God.

What’s Satan’s purpose in this? We see the world here being seduced into worshiping the Beast as well as the one who ultimately empowers it, the devil (verses 4, 8). That’s a key to his motivation—redirecting people’s worship. He’ll give this coming dictator the power to transform things to look like they’re good, like they’re wonderful, to gain trust and devotion so as to promote false ideology. Working in tandem with political and military power will be a religious crusade to bring the world under united worship.

A powerful end-time false religious leader

A little farther on in chapter 13 we see a second beast described: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon,” this one causing people “to worship the first beast” (verses 11-12). So who or what is this second beast? We see here a tool of Satan, outwardly Christian in appearance, using position and authority to influence mankind to worship the political leader and his government.

Through what appear to be supernatural displays he will persuade the masses into accepting false religious teachings: “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth . . . and [will] cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (verses 13-15).

Might this powerful religious leader’s apparent miracles be due in part to the use of such computer advances as artificial intelligence and other technological trickery? We don’t know, but supernatural forces are definitely involved, since the apostle Paul tells us his arrival is “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

Paul also calls him “the lawless one” (verse 8). He is referred to later in the book of Revelation as the False Prophet (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10), who heads up a great false religious system (see Revelation 17).

Why will people fall for these deceptions?  Paul gives us the answer: “Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

Do you love the truth? Do you know the truth? We have to ask ourselves, Do I really follow the truth Jesus Christ Himself taught? What it comes down to is a war on your mind, on your thinking, on your loyalties. Will you give in, or will you believe God’s Word and follow Christ?

Take it seriously, and take action now

Could this global-scale worship of rulers and martyrdom of Christians really happen today? Emperor worship is something we last saw long ago in the Roman Empire, right? Actually it wasn’t that long ago—just go back to World War II. The Japanese people were required to worship their emperor as a god. And obeisance to Hitler was practically worship. Through the decades we’ve seen false religious leaders deceiving their own disciples into impoverishing and even killing themselves. So history shows it’s possible, and we need to recognize that society is run behind the scenes by Satan and his demons.

Besides the fervor of true belief, there will also be powerful coercion. Those who don’t fall in line with the system will face penalties in commercial business restriction. Verse 17 says no one may buy or sell except the one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Temptation to comply will be great. But we must heed the warning in the next chapter: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand [symbolic of mind and actions], he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God” (Revelation 14:9-10).

And yet to the very end, Satan is going to pursue those who won’t go along with his system—those who serve and obey God. Who are those people? As we’ve already seen, the book of Revelation makes it plain. These are commandment-keeping Christians. These are people who follow Jesus Christ and His actual teachings in Scripture instead of following the false system of the Beast and False Prophet.

Go to the end of the book where it says, “Blessed are those who do His commandments” (Revelation 22:14). So many churches today teach that God’s commandments are done away. Yet here at the very end of Scripture we find praise and blessing for true, commandment-keeping Christians. These are those who love God, who love Jesus Christ, who follow His teachings, who obey God, who like Christ keep the seventh-day Sabbath.

These are the ones Satan attacks. Yet these are also the ones who have every reason to be confident in the outcome.

While Satan’s kingdom is founded on an outward form of godliness, it is filled with lies. Sadly, most people don’t realize that religion has consistently embraced ungodly false traditions beginning in ancient times to do away with the commandments of God.

So these chapters of Revelation are not just prophetic of the future. They concern what’s been ongoing. The lawless corruption described has influenced the Christian religion. Wayward teachers substituted the day of the sun, Sunday, originally dedicated by the pagans to worshiping the sun god, in place of the biblical Sabbath day.

And so it is with various traditions of Christianity today, like celebrating Christmas, derived from ancient traditions celebrating the winter solstice.

Jesus warned against adopting man-made practices in place of what God commands: “‘And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’ . . . ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition’” (Mark 7:7, 9).

And this does not even begin to get into how a number of supposed Christian denominations today have undertaken major changes to fundamental biblical teachings like its condemnation of same-sex relationships, its portrayal of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the divine pattern of marriage and family, and the authority of the Bible as God’s inspired Word.

Will you take heed?

The events foretold in Revelation will affect you and your family, and they’re in the works right now. So what will you do?

Never underestimate Satan’s ability to deceive and corrupt. Don’t fall for his delusions. Get rid of unbiblical practices as you find them in your life. We know Satan goes to church, that he’s subverted Christianity, and he wants to further control the message and you as well. In the future, he’ll empower the Beast against God’s people.

But there is hope! We’re told in James 4:7-8: “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” We pray you choose to dedicate yourself to discovering the true worship of the true God!

Christmas: The Untold Story

Christmas is one of the world’s most popular holidays, yet it has a strange and convoluted past—one hinted at in such puzzling symbols as decorated trees, holly wreaths and mistletoe.

by Scott Ashley

People the world over celebrate Christmas. But did you know Christmas and many of its popular customs are nowhere set forth in the Bible?

Historians tell us the Christmas celebration came from questionable origins. William Walsh summarizes the holiday’s origins and practices in his book The Story of Santa Klaus: “We remember that the Christmas festival . . . is a gradual evolution from times that long antedated the Christian period . . . It was overlaid upon heathen festivals, and many of its observances are only adaptations of pagan to Christian ceremonial” (1970, p. 58).

How could pagan practices become part of a major church celebration? What were these “heathen festivals” that lent themselves to Christmas customs over the centuries?

Christmas customs’ ancient origins

During the second century B.C., the Greeks practiced rites to honor their god Dionysus (also called Bacchus). The Latin name for this celebration was Bacchanalia. Because of the drunken sex parties associated with this festival, the Roman Senate suppressed its observance in 186 B.C. Suppressing a holiday was unusual for the Romans since they later became a melting pot of many types of gods and worship. Just as the Romans assimilated culture, art and customs from the peoples absorbed into their empire, they likewise adopted those peoples’ religious practices.

In addition to the Bacchanalia, the Romans celebrated another holiday, the Saturnalia, held “in honor of Saturn, the god of time, [which] began on December 17th and continued for seven days. These also often ended in riot and disorder. Hence the words Bacchanalia and Saturnalia acquired an evil reputation in later times” (p. 65).

The reason for the Saturnalia’s disrepute is revealing. In pagan mythology Saturn was an “ancient agricultural god-king who ate his own children presumably to avoid regicide [being murdered while king]. And Saturn was parallel with a Carthaginian Baal, whose brazen horned effigy contained a furnace into which children were sacrificially fed” (William Sansom, A Book of Christmas, 1968, p. 44).

Winter-solstice celebrations

Both of these ancient holidays were observed around the winter solstice—the day of the year with the shortest period of daylight. “From the Romans also came another Christmas fundamental: the date, December 25. When the Julian calendar was proclaimed in 46 C.E. [A.D.], it set into law a practice that was already common: dating the winter solstice as December 25” (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, p. 42).

On the heels of the Saturnalia, the Romans marked December 25 with a celebration of the Bruma, referring to the solstice. The term is thought to have been contracted from the Latin brevissima, meaning briefest or shortest, denoting the shortest day of the year. (The start of the month of festivities leading up to this was eventually designated the Brumalia.)

Why was this period significant? “The time of the winter solstice has always been an important season in the mythology of all peoples. The sun, the giver of life, is at its lowest ebb. It is [the] shortest daylight of the year . . . At the low point of the solstice, the people must help the gods through . . . religious ceremonies. The sun begins to return in triumph. The days lengthen and, though winter remains, spring is once again conceivable. For all people, it is a time of great festivity” (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 15).

The early Christians had no knowledge of Christmas as we know it. Over the following centuries, new, nonbiblical observances such as Christmas and Easter were gradually introduced into traditional Christianity. History shows that these new days came to be forcibly promoted while the biblical feast days (listed in Leviticus 23) were systematically rejected.

The message of Jesus Christ and the apostles—“the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14-15)—was soon lost. The celebration of Christmas shifted Christianity’s focus away from Christ’s promised return to His birth. Is this really what the Bible directs Christians to do?

How the Christmas date was set

Gerard and Patricia Del Re explain the further evolution of December 25 as an official Roman celebration: “Saturnalia and the kalends [first of the month, in this case of January] were the celebrations most familiar to early Christians, December 17-24 and January 1-3, but the tradition of celebrating December 25 as Christ’s birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian god of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and in the third century [274] the unchristian emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible Sun, on December 25.

“Mithra was an embodiment of the sun, so this period of its rebirth was a major day in Mithraism, which had become Rome’s latest official religion with the patronage of Aurelian. It is believed that the emperor Constantine adhered to Mithraism up to the time of his conversion to Christianity. He was probably instrumental in seeing that the major feast of his old religion was carried over to his new faith” (The Christmas Almanac,1979, p. 17).

Although it’s difficult to determine the first time anyone celebrated December 25 as Christmas, historians are in general agreement that it was sometime during the fourth century.

This is an amazingly late date. Christmas was not observed in Rome, the capital of the empire, until about 300 years after Christ’s death. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. The introduction of Christmas represented a significant departure from “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

European influences on Christmas customs

Although Christmas had been officially established in Rome by the fourth century, later another pagan celebration greatly influenced the many Christmas customs practiced today. That festival was the Teutonic feast of Yule (from the Norse word for “wheel,” signifying the cycle of the year).

“As Christianity spread to northern Europe, it met with the observance of another pagan festival held in December in honour of the sun. This time it was the Yule-feast of the Norsemen, which lasted for twelve days. During this time log-fires were burnt to assist the revival of the sun. Shrines and other sacred places were decorated with such greenery as holly, ivy, and bay, and it was an occasion for feasting and drinking.

“Equally old was the practice of the Druids, the caste of priests among the Celts of ancient France, Britain and Ireland, to decorate their temples with mistletoe . . . St Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded [the Germanic tribes] to [adopt] the Christmas tree, a young fir-tree adorned in honour of the Christ child . . . It was the German immigrants who took the custom to America” (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974, p. 22).

Instead of worshiping the sun god, converts were told to worship the Son of God. The focus of the holiday subtly changed, but the traditional pagan customs and practices remained fundamentally unchanged. Old religious customs involving holly, ivy, mistletoe and evergreen trees were given invented “Christian” meanings. We should keep in mind that Jesus Christ warns us to beware of things that masquerade as something they are not (Matthew 7:15; compare Isaiah 5:20; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

The roots of modern customs

Many of the other customs and traditions of Christmas are merely carryovers from ancient celebrations.

Knowing what we have already learned about the ancient pre-Christian origins of Christmas, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Santa Claus is nothing but a figure recycled from ancient beliefs tied in with pagan winter festivals.

The trappings associated with Santa Claus—his fur-trimmed clothing, sleigh and reindeer—reveal his origin from the cold climates of the far North. Some sources trace him to the ancient Northern European gods Woden and Thor (Earl and Alice Count, 4000 Years of Christmas,1997, pp. 56-64). Others trace him even farther back in time to the Roman god Saturn (honored at the winter Saturnalia festival) and the Greek god Silenus (Walsh, pp. 70-71).

What about other common customs and symbols associated with Christmas? Where did they originate? “On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites . . . Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival” (The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 2, p. 903, “Christmas”).

“In midwinter, the idea of rebirth and fertility was tremendously important. In the snows of winter, the evergreen was a symbol of the life that would return in the spring, so evergreens were used for decoration . . . Light was important in dispelling the growing darkness of the solstice, so a Yule log was lighted . . . As many customs lost their religious reasons for being, they passed into the realm of superstition, becoming good luck traditions and eventually merely customs without rationale. Thus the mistletoe was no longer worshiped but became eventually an excuse for rather nonreligious activities” (Del Re, p. 18).

“Christmas gifts themselves remind us of the presents that were exchanged in Rome during the Saturnalia. In Rome, it might be added, the presents usually took the form of wax tapers and dolls—the latter being in their turn a survival of the human sacrifices once offered to Saturn . . . In our Christmas presents we are preserving under another form one of the most savage customs of our barbarian ancestors!” (Walsh, p. 67).

When we see these customs perpetuated today in Christmas observance, we can have no doubt of this holiday’s origin. Christmas is a diverse collection of pagan forms of worship overlaid with a veneer of Christianity.

Accommodating a pagan populace

How did these pagan customs become a widely accepted part of Christianity? They were assimilated into a new church religious holiday supposedly celebrating Christ’s birth. William Walsh describes this process and the rationalization behind it: “This was no mere accident. It was a necessary measure at a time when the new religion [Christianity] was forcing itself upon a deeply superstitious people. In order to reconcile fresh converts to the new faith, and to make the breaking of old ties as painless as possible, these relics of paganism were retained under modified forms . . .

“Thus we find that when Pope Gregory [540-604] sent Saint Augustine as a missionary to convert Anglo-Saxon England he directed that so far as possible the saint should accommodate the new and strange Christian rites to the heathen ones with which the natives had been familiar from their birth.

“For example, he advised Saint Augustine to allow his converts on certain festivals to eat and kill a great number of oxen to the glory of God the Father, as formerly they had done this in honor of [their gods] . . . On the very Christmas after his arrival in England Saint Augustine baptized many thousands of converts and permitted their usual December celebration under the new name and with the new meaning” (p. 61).

Gregory permitted such importation of pagan religious practices on the grounds that when dealing with “obdurate minds it is impossible to cut off everything at once” (Sansom, p. 30).

Tragically, Christianity never accomplished the task of cutting off everything pagan. According to Owen Chadwick, former professor of history at Cambridge University, the Romans “kept the winter solstice with a feast of drunken-ness and riot. The Christians thought that they could bring a better meaning into that feast. They tried to persuade their flocks not to drink or eat too much, and to keep the feast more austerely—but without success” (A History of Christianity, 1995, p. 24).

In the beginning, Christians were opposed to Christmas. Some of the earliest controversy erupted over whether Jesus’ birthday should be celebrated at all.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica states: “The [church] Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Epiphanius, contended that Christmas was a copy of a pagan celebration” (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 499, “Christianity”).

The decision to celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25 was far from universally accepted. “Christians of Armenia and Syria accused the Christians of Rome of sun worship for celebrating Christmas on December 25 . . . Pope Leo the Great in the fifth century tried to remove certain practices at Christmas which he considered in no way different from sun worship” (Robert Myers, Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, 1972, p. 310).

Christmas evaluated

We cannot escape the fact that Christmas is rooted in ancient customs and religious practices that had nothing to do with Christianity and the Bible. Tom Flynn summarizes the issue: “An enormous number of traditions we now associate with Christmas have their roots in pre-Christian pagan religious traditions. Some of these have social, sexual, or cosmological connotations that might lead educated, culturally sensitive moderns to discard the traditions once they have understood their roots more clearly” (p. 19).

Even with its failings, Christmas remains an entrenched tradition. Although some recognize the intrinsic paganism of the holiday, they believe people are free to establish their own days of worship. Others cling to the naive and biblically insupportable belief that paganism’s most popular celebrations have been won over by Christianity and therefore are acceptable to God.

Human reasoning aside, we need to consider God’s opinion about such celebrations. We need to look into God’s Word to see how He views mixing pagan practices and customs with worshiping Him!

Was the Biblical Sabbath Changed to Sunday?

History and the Bible show that the biblical Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day of the week. But most of today’s churches gather to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. How was this changed and why? Does God accept this change?

by Scott Ashley

God’s command regarding His Sabbath day is quite clear: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work . . . For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).

God repeated the basics of this command in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. He did so again in Leviticus 23:3, prefacing it by declaring the weekly Sabbath day to be one of “the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts” (emphasis added throughout). Here God explains that the Sabbath is one of His feasts, not just for the Jewish people or ancient Israel, as many assume. He further states that it is a “holy convocation”—or, as some translations word it, a “commanded assembly.”

We see plain statements that the Sabbath is holy—set apart—as declared by God Himself multiple times. It is a day to rest from our normal labors and to gather to worship Him.

Yet in spite of such clear instructions—and the fact that Jesus Christ declared Himself to be “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28)—most of what is now called Christianity views Sunday as the Sabbath or think this command no longer matters. But just to be clear, Sunday is the first day of the week, as calendars have shown for ages (though some have recently switched to the business calendar, moving Sunday to the end). The biblical Sabbath lasts from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, as the Bible counts days as beginning at sundown (see Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Leviticus 23:32).

How and when did this switch take place? Who authorized this unbiblical substitution, and why?

A story with a murky past

To understand the story, we must travel back to the first century and understand the powerful forces impacting the Church.

Norbert Brox, professor of early church history at the University of Regensburg, Germany, describes the viewpoint of the early Church before this change: “The first [Christian] communities were groups that formed within Judaism . . . Christians believed as before in the God of Israel: their Bible was the Bible of the Jews . . . They continued to observe (as Jesus did) the Jewish practice of temple worship and law (Acts 2.46; 10.14), and gave outsiders the impression of being a Jewish sect (Acts 24.5, 14; 28.22), not a new religion. They themselves probably also simply thought of themselves as Jews” (A Concise History of the Early Church, 1996, p. 4).

This is clear from a reading of the book of Acts. The early Church members continued the practices they had long known, including following Jesus Christ’s example of worshiping on and keeping holy God’s Sabbath day (Matthew 12:8; 24:20; Mark 1:21; 2:27-28; 6:2; 16:1; Luke 4:16; 13:10; 23:56; Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:1-3; 18:4).

However, within a few short decades, things began to change. During the time of the apostles some, claiming to be faithful ministers of Christ, began to introduce heretical teachings. The apostle Paul described such men and their methods: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

The damage caused by these false teachings spread far and wide. The apostle John, near the end of the first century, wrote of one false minister who had risen to such power that he was boldly rejecting John’s own messengers and excommunicating faithful Church members! (3 John 9-10).

When John finished his writings late in the first century, the books and letters that would form what we call the New Testament were complete. With his passing, however, trustworthy eyewitness accounts of events and changes in the Church largely ceased. We are left with little reliable information for the next several centuries.

Persecution leads to changes

Part of the lack of information about this time stems from persecution of the Church. Under Emperor Nero (A.D. 54-68), Christians in Rome were blamed for burning the city and many were martyred. Later the Roman emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96) demanded that all citizens of the empire worship him as a god. Christians and Jews who, in obedience to God’s commandments, refused to comply with the edict were viciously persecuted. Over following decades and centuries, waves of bloody persecution engulfed Christianity and Judaism.

In the first and second centuries, the Jews of the Holy Land revolted against Roman rule. The second rebellion in particular brought persecution of Jews and Judaism. The Roman Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), after capturing Jerusalem, razed it and built a new city that Jews were forbidden even to enter. He also banned circumcision and observance of the Sabbath.

Professor Brox describes the effect this had on the Church: “The Jewish Christians in Palestine had been driven out in the First Jewish War (66-70) but then had returned to Jerusalem; however, after the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Second Jewish War against the Romans (132-135), they had to leave the land because, as Jews, they had been circumcised, and all Jews were now banned on pain of death. So for the moment that meant the end of this [Jerusalem] church” (Brox, p. 19).

From the scanty historical records it appears that, during this time of intense persecution of Jews, a significant number of Christians began to avoid any identification with Judaism. The more visible portion of Christianity began a significant transition from the teachings of the apostles to an anti-Jewish religious philosophy.

Former practices held in common with Judaism—such as resting and worshiping on the weekly Sabbath day, and keeping the God-ordained festivals found in the Bible—rapidly began to wane as new customs crept into the Church. Few summoned up the courage to face continual persecution for remaining faithful to the biblical practices followed and handed down by the apostles of Christ.

A very different version of Christianity emerged during this murky time, a version headquartered in Rome with distinctly different worship practices. By the end of the second century, bishop Victor I of Rome (A.D. 189-199) issued an ultimatum that all were “to follow the Sunday [worship] practice of the Roman church” (Brox, p. 124).

Constantine endorses a different “Christianity”

Constantine’s reign as emperor (A.D. 309-337) further dramatically changed the direction Christianity would take. Although he was a lifelong sun worshiper, under his rule Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and he was baptized—albeit not until he was on his deathbed.

Under his dominating oversight, at the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) the biblical observance of Passover was rejected in favor of the manmade Easter, with its increasing borrowing of pagan customs. Constantine declared that those who refused to follow the Roman church’s lead were heretics and to be excommunicated. His resulting letter showed the depth of his disgust at practices he considered “Jewish”—but were in reality biblical commands.

“It appeared an unworthy thing,” he decreed, “that in the celebration of this most holy feast [Easter] we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul . . . Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd . . .

“Strive and pray continually that the purity of your soul may not seem in anything to be sullied by fellowship with the custom of these most wicked men . . . All should unite in . . . avoiding all participation in the perjured conduct of the Jews” (quoted by Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3, 18-19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1979, second series, Vol. 1, pp. 524-525).

British historian Paul Johnson summarizes how Constantine’s approach of merging religious practices produced a corrupted Christianity that meshed paganism with biblical elements: “Many Christians did not make a clear distinction between this sun-cult [Mithraism] and their own. They . . . held their services on Sunday, knelt towards the East and had their nativity-feast on 25 December, the birthday of the sun at the winter solstice . . . Did the empire surrender to Christianity, or did Christianity prostitute itself to the empire?” (A History of Christianity, 1976, pp. 67-69).

From Sabbath to Sunday

Constantine’s long immersion in sun worship led him to formalize a change in the weekly day of rest for Christianity to Sunday, the day of worship of the sun. “In 321 Constantine introduced Sunday as a weekly day of rest . . . and on it no work was done . . . The rest from work on the Christian Sunday was derived from the Jewish sabbath commandment, with which Sunday intrinsically had no connection” (Brox, p. 105).

For a time, some in what was now a largely transformed Christianity continued to keep the seventh-day Sabbath and other festivals as had Jesus and the apostles. This was not to last. Robin Fox, lecturer in ancient history at Oxford University, states: “In the 430s, the Christian Council of Laodicea ruled in detail against Christian observance of the Jewish Sabbath . . . and their keeping of Jewish festivals” (Pagans and Christians, 1987, p. 482).

The Council’s edict regarding the Sabbath stated: “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring [Sunday]; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema [cut off] from Christ.”

What followed were centuries of persecution from a now-combined church-state power. Observance of the seventh-day Sabbath was largely eradicated—except for a small and scattered minority who continued to faithfully follow God’s commands.

So when and how did Christianity’s day of rest and worship change?

Admitting the truth about changing God’s commandment

Cardinal James Gibbons, the Archbishop of Baltimore in the early 20th century, admits the truth about the substitution of Sunday for the biblical seventh-day Sabbath: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify” (The Faith of our Fathers, 1917, p. 89).

And The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine gives this concise question-and-answer explanation of the history we’ve covered above:

“Q: Which is the Sabbath day?

“A: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

“Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“A: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday” (Peter Geiermann, 1957, p. 50).

Many Protestant denominations likewise admit that Saturday is the biblical Sabbath day, but the change was made by the Roman Catholic Church and there is no biblical basis for Sunday observance (see the list of such admissions in our free study guide mentioned below).

Yet there remain Christians who faithfully follow God and enjoy the blessings of obeying His commands. They have discovered the “narrow” way of life that few find (Matthew 7:14). With God’s help, may you seek His will and follow it too!

How Can You Find God’s True Church?

The above question is one we see regularly at Beyond Today.Readers find themselves on a journey of discovery as they see that their church’s teachings and practices don’t square with the Bible. They naturally look for people teaching and practicing more of what the Bible reveals as truth.

The reality is that it’s not that hard to find the scriptural identifiers that point to God’s Church. We need only read about its practices and beliefs as shown in the Bible. Read about its commission by Jesus Christ to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things He has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Read that the name or title given to it is, as commonly translated in most English Bibles, “the church of God” (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5).

Read about the biblical descriptions of God’s Church, such as it comprising “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). The Ten Commandments alone narrow the search. Look for church-es that believe and teach them—all of them. When it comes to obeying the Fourth Commandment, to remember the biblical Sabbath day and keep it holy, that alone eliminates well over 90 percent of churches.

Then you could look at God’s command to not incorporate pagan practices into worshiping Him (Deuteronomy 12:31-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Going by those who follow this command, you can eliminate the huge number of churches that celebrate Christmas and Easter, and you’ve narrowed the search by another 3 or 4 percent.

Then you could look at whether or not a church keeps the biblical festival days God plainly says are His, calling them “My feasts” (Leviticus 23:2). The Gospels and book of Acts clearly show Jesus, the apostles and the early Church affirming and keeping the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; 24:20; Mark 1:21; 2:27-28; 6:2; 16:1; Luke 4:16; 13:10; 23:56; Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:1-3; 18:4).

These books and other writings of the apostles also show them observing the other Holy Days and feasts of God (Matthew 26:2, 17-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 2:41-42; 22:1, 7-20; John 2:13, 23; John 7:2-14, 37; 13:1-30; Acts 2:1-4; 20:6, 16; 27:9; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; 11:23-29; 16:8). This eliminates all but a fraction of all churches, and we’re left with a very small fraction of all churches who are doing these things God commanded in the pages of your Bible.

Keep in mind that Jesus didn’t describe His Church as large and conspicuous, but rather as a “little flock” (Luke 12:32), so it may not be easy to find among the thousands upon thousands of churches claiming to follow Him.

After going through these scriptural identifiers, there’s a very small pool of churches, denominations or groups from which to choose. Look them up, check them out and examine their beliefs to see whether what they teach and practice aligns with the Bible. (To learn more, read our free study guide The Church Jesus Built.)

Religious Pretenders: Lessons From an Ancient King

Scammers steal money, information and identity with lies and false promises. And religion is not immune.

by Steve Myers

Could you fall for a fake? Scammers are everywhere, trying to steal your money, seeking your personal information, making all kinds of false promises. And religion is not immune. Could you be taken in? The ultimate deceiver is Satan the devil, the greatest con artist of all who “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). This most accomplished pretender and counterfeiter zeroes in on attacking religion, but maybe not in the way you’d think.

He uses corrupt religion to mock God and destroy lives. Over the ages, he’s convinced billions of people to worship the sun, or astrology, or animals or even deceased ancestors. Sometimes it’s to embrace atheism, which is in itself another form of false worship. And not only that, but Satan is even behind the many varieties of traditional Christianity. Adherents are divided, arguing over who and what God is, God’s purpose, and how He wants us to worship and to live our lives.

Jesus warned, “There shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). The mention of false Christs and prophets points to the fact that the devil has assembled a multitude of human assistants—false teachers serving the devil’s purposes, usually unwittingly but sometimes as outright pretenders.

The apostle Paul wrote: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). So we must watch out and be on guard. There are many false teachers proclaiming popular and traditional ideas that are false.

The fact is, misguided teachers are among Satan’s most influential tools of deception. So have your religious leaders fallen for the devil’s scam? Has true belief been corrupted by Satan? After all, how can you spot a religious pretender?

Religious innovation to maintain control

Turning to biblical history, let’s consider what happened shortly after the reign of King David’s son Solomon when the Promised Land was divided in two—with the kingdom of Judah in the south under Solomon’s son Rehoboam and the northern tribes forming the kingdom of Israel in the north under a man named Jeroboam. The devil used this opportunity to set up a big counterfeit.

God Himself appointed Jeroboam as king in the north, telling him: “If you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house [or dynasty], as I built for David, and will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38). Those instructions are how not to be a pretender.

But Jeroboam became concerned the people’s loyalty would shift in continuing to attend God’s festivals in the south, thinking, “If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back . . . and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings 12:27).

Instead of trusting God, Jeroboam worried he was going to lose control. And under the sway of the devil, giving in to fear and doubt, this shrewd politician came up with a counterfeit he thought would help him consolidate his power and position.

As we’re told, he “made two calves of gold, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan” (verses 28-29). And so, we see false places of worship instead of Jerusalem, and idols, golden calves, instead of worshiping the one true God.

Most people realize God forbids the making of statues for idol worship. But the reality is we see many religions today that worship idols. It’s pretty clear in Buddhism and Hinduism, yet how many Christian denominations ignore God’s command?

One could try to justify it by saying these are just symbols. But don’t be a religious pretender. In the second of the Ten Commandments, God says not to make graven images representative of what we worship (Exodus 20:4). Of course, idols aren’t limited to graven objects. They can be anything that takes our focus and reliance off God and His Word.

False shrines, priests and festivals

Jeroboam’s scheme became a persistent sin for the nation (1 Kings 12:30). It included him making “shrines on the high places” and “priests from every class of people who were not of the sons of Levi” (verse 31)—so not just false worship places but false priests. It sounds similar to what we read of deceitful workers presenting themselves as God’s ministers.

Yet God is very specific in the Bible about how He wants to be honored—not the way we think is best but what He instructs. He tells religious pretenders, “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:31-32, emphasis added throughout).

A major component of Jeroboam’s scheme involved changing the days designated for worship. He counterfeited the great fall Feast of God, moving it to the eighth month instead of the seventh as God had commanded (1 Kings 12:32). Now, even most people who would consider themselves religious are not familiar with the true “feasts of the Lord” listed in Leviticus 23. God refers to these as “My feasts” and “holy convocations” (verse 2), yet most in the Christian world today ignore that and worship their own way.

The first festival listed in Leviticus 23 is the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (verse 3). The Bible and history clearly reveal it to be Friday sunset through Saturday sunset. You can search through God’s Word and you will not find any place where the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to any other day.

But the world’s Christian churches have substituted in their own holidays that are not biblical. We find that Satan has influenced the Christian religion to ignore God’s Holy Days—those days Jesus and the early first-century Church celebrated—and to instead, like Jeroboam, create its own.

Christmas, Easter and weekly Sunday observance are the biggest pretender holidays, all being borrowed from pagan rituals used to worship false gods.

Seeing through Satan’s lies

Satan, the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), continues to upend the truth and influence Christianity to pretend that’s good. The devil loves to make religion into doing what you want or what’s easier, such as saying you don’t have to keep God’s commands. That’s done away. That’s too much for you. Well, isn’t that what Jeroboam said in 1 Kings 12:28? “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.” Do you know how much farther south Jerusalem was than Bethel? Only about 10 miles.

Today, Christianity isn’t all that different from the time of Jeroboam. Do you know what modern idol has a potent influence on Christianity? In a Lifeway Research survey, the majority of pastors said it was comfort. Was Christ into comfort or sacrifice? He told us to strive on the difficult way (Matthew 7:13; Luke 13:24). King Jeroboam claimed to be making things easier for those in the northern kingdom, with worship more suited to personal wishes, and the people took the bait.

Paul warned that in the last days, people would be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” and “having a form of godliness, but denying its power,” warning us to turn away from such people, who “resist the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 8). You don’t want to be among these. Hopefully, you can begin to see how Christianity has been under the sway of Satan. Don’t fall for just a form of godliness. You need the real thing!

The sad truth is that so much false worship masquerades as Christianity. Don’t fall for the scam—or the ease of going along. Go to your Bible. Look for authentic biblical teaching. Ask God to open your eyes to His truth. Live as He commands, and don’t be a religious pretender!

Are You Saved by Faith Alone Without Works?

The Bible says we are saved through God’s gift of grace through faith. Does that mean faith in Christ is all we need?

by John LaBissoniere

Many sincere Christians think belief is all that’s required for salvation. That’s based on verses like Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Or Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” It’s further reasoned that seeing any need for righteous works or deeds is wrongly trying to earn salvation.

Yet the next verse in Ephesians reads, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (verse 10, emphasis added throughout). In fact, various scriptures use this terminology of works or deeds in the context of serving people’s needs and living God’s way of life by keeping His commandments (Matthew 6:3-4; 10:42; 19:16-21).

What may be surprising is that Jesus told His disciples that works of obedience to God are required (Luke 17:10; John 14:21, 23, 25; 15:10). Now if this is contrary to what you’ve believed, you might be inclined to stop reading right here. But think about these words from the apostle James:

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:14-18).

I hope you can at least begin to see that there is a pivotal role for “works”—good deeds as evidence of faith—in a Christian’s life!

Demonstrating intention to live “by every word of God”

Again, works do not save us. Salvation is God’s priceless gift that comes only by grace through faith, as we’ve seen. However, accomplishing works of serving God and others, in line with obeying His commandments, is the means of demonstrating our intention to live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), showing how highly we value His incomparable gift of salvation and eternal life.

Consider some vital details. When God the Father calls people to become disciples of His Son Jesus Christ (John 6:44) and they accept His invitation, what does He want them to do? The answer involves much more than “accepting Jesus as Savior” or “giving one’s heart to the Lord.”

It also includes repenting of sin, which the Bible describes as breaking God’s laws (2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 3:4). Repentance can be defined as continually turning from a life of sinful disobedience to an obedient way of thinking and living as part of forming a personal relationship with God and a godly, loving connection with people. Following repentance, a person must be properly baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by one of God’s true ministers (Acts 2:38, 8:16-17; Hebrews 6:2).

But these are only the beginning steps for a new disciple. Jesus said, “He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26). He also stated, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). The dictionary defines “overcome” as “getting the better of in a struggle; to prevail over; to surmount in a trial or temptation.” This definition evokes action.

For this is the love of God . . .

But what are we to overcome? Christ wants us to be committed to halting any further sin in our life. He desires that we would see the ugliness of sin in the way He does and then flee from it (1 Corinthians 6:18). He wants us to be dedicated to following His directive to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). He desires that we strive to obey His Father’s commandments, just as He did and as He taught His disciples (John 15:10; Matthew 5:17-19; 19:16-17). Again, it’s not sufficient for people to say they “love the Lord” without also doing the works that fully demonstrate those sentiments!

The apostle John wrote, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). He went on to explain: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). He wants us to keep His laws because they benefit us and all those around us enormously. They are so important to God that our disobedience to them required Jesus Christ to die in our place (Romans 5:8).

Jesus wants us to strive to triumph over “the sin that so easily ensnares” us as we endeavor to emulate His example (Hebrews 12:1-4; 1 Peter 2:21-22). A true Christian must actively resist the devil’s wiles (Ephesians 6:11) and society’s adverse influences while struggling against the pulls and enticements of his or her own human nature (Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8).

Jesus understood the magnitude of this mission as He personally battled temptation throughout His human life (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; 5:7-9). Plus, He knows that we are spiritually helpless without Him (John 15:5) and how much we need His help in contending with and defeating sin (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This is where God’s gift of His Holy Spirit comes into force! It’s another aspect of grace. God’s Spirit gives you the spiritual capability and strength to overcome sinful conduct (Romans 15:13). It’s critical that you employ its great power continually while maintaining a vibrant personal relationship with Christ (2 Timothy 1:6; John 14:6).

Our striving with God’s help

The apostle Paul wrote about the efforts he expended and the determination he deployed to secure his reward in the Kingdom of God: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

He did not take salvation for granted. Rather, he fought vigorously and continually by employing the strength and energy of God’s Spirit to serve people, overcome sin and obey the commandments (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Christians today have this identical responsibility (Romans 15:13).

Yet this is not self-generated. The desire and power to repent and obey come from God (Philippians 2:13). We are not earning salvation by works. We need forgiveness for past disobedience and ongoing spiritual help to obey. This is all part of God’s gift of grace through faith. This is a living, trusting faith that leads to righteous works. Our duty is to strive to cooperate with God and not turn away, as we could (Hebrews 2:1-3). Continuing in the process, enduring to the end, we will receive ultimate salvation (Matthew 10:22; 24:13).

Jesus wants us to follow His example of overcoming temptation and sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. While this is a challenging assignment, our reward in God’s Kingdom will be more than worth it!

How to Raise Godly Children in a Morally Sketchy Society

With Christianity on the decline in the West, especially among young people, what are parents and caregivers to do if they want their own children to have a life of faith and virtue?

by Mitchell Moss

On the whole, Christianity in the developed world is shrinking. One of the major reasons is that young people are neither staying in church nor joining a church at high enough rates to replace older churchgoers who are dying. Meanwhile, many mainline Protestant churches are undertaking major changes to core biblical teachings like the prohibition against same-sex relationships, the divine identity of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible.

For people with conservative and traditional Christian values, it feels like they are constantly in a defensive position, both from without and from within.

What’s a conscientious Christian to do? As a parent who’s trying to raise my two sons to be God-fearing followers of Christ, I’m extremely aware of the disconcerting trends in society. My wife and I are doing our best to counteract those downward trends.

How can you and your family be part of an offensive movement that seeks to reverse the trend of a declining Christianity in our world?

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His followers: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16).

As members of God’s assembly of believers—the Body of Christ—we have a high calling of showing a better way of life to everybody around us. And Jesus says that in His Kingdom, when He returns, His followers will be given the responsibility to govern justly (Matthew 16:19; Revelation 20:4).

This life is our training ground, and it starts at home with your own family. So here are three key areas to focus on with your children or grandchildren, to help guide them to be the lights in this world Jesus calls His followers to be.

1. Teach your children how to properly engage with the Bible.

As many who grew up in a Christian church can remember from their own childhood, it was often the preacher’s kid (P.K. for short) who was the worst-behaved (when the parents were not around). Negative influences on our children come from both inside and outside the church. In the same way, besides societal corruptions, preachers can spread nonbiblical teachings from the pulpit and lead a congregation astray.

People who know how to properly engage with the Bible, using sound methods of interpreting what it says, will be better prepared to spot falsehood when they hear it. We need more than a simple declaration like “If the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” While there’s an appealing simplicity in a statement like that, it’s a potential opening for the misuse of Scripture.

After all, Satan the devil used scriptures when tempting Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4). By using only individual passages in isolation, he twisted the intent of each scripture, which Jesus correctly saw through and combatted by using other passages that created a fuller picture of what the Bible says.

Our kids deserve a robust biblical education built on a full picture of the entire Bible—so they won’t crumple at the first sign of a challenge to their beliefs or be led astray by smooth-sounding words.

2. Teach your kids to love God in all circumstances.

When your kids are little, you have to set boundaries on their behavior for their own personal safety. Sometimes those boundaries make them mad. Without fully understanding our reasons, it might at times seem to them like we’re being unfair.

Yet, they still love us and trust us, given that we care and provide for them and shower them with love in in a variety of ways (many of which are even taken for granted).

Similarly, we see God’s care and love for us. We are thankful every day for the blessings of good health, of enough food, of a happy home, all of which come directly or indirectly from God. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). And we try not to take any of these things for granted.

Yet we also know that in life there may be times when we become disappointed or angry with God. We may not understand His reasons for allowing certain terrible things to happen. That’s a lesson for us when we teach our kids to love God. It isn’t a two-dimensional, feel-good, fair-weather relationship. Teaching your kids to love God means that even when He feels far away from them, they know they can always reach out to Him and cast their cares upon Him.

3. Find a Bible-based church.

As our family navigates the hard social pressures around us, I’ve found great comfort and stability through involvement in church. While it’s a growth process, as none of us is yet perfect, having other families as our “brothers- and sisters-in-arms,” the parents raising their children with the same core values as us, is hugely important to us.

Every church will claim to follow Jesus, but whether they also follow His actual teachings and the full teachings of Scripture is another question. So you have to evaluate their beliefs against the Bible. Knowing how to properly engage with the Bible (tip 1) is critical to being able to assess any church and its teachings.

There should also be a community of warmth. Jesus told His disciples, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:15). The word translated “church” in the New Testament is a Greek word for a summoned gathering or assembly. By its very nature, it is a group of people. The apostle Peter described it as a brotherhood (1 Peter 2:17; 5:9). It is a group of people who grow to love one another as a spiritual family, the members edifying one another and encouraging each other toward good works (Hebrews 10:24-25).

But as with any group of human beings, even those striving to live by every word of God, there will be difficulties at times. Being part of a group of people means you will be let down, and you will witness hypocrisy —and so will your children. So make sure to model to them the kind of grace that Jesus practiced.

Follow His guidance for conflict resolution in Matthew 18:15-20, the wisdom throughout Proverbs, and the exhortation of scriptures like Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

As we navigate the challenges of a world sliding away from God toward the eager embrace of the devil, whose influence is both subtle at times and overt at others, our families can be a bastion of righteousness. We are called to be lights in the darkness. Let us take heart from those promises and model to our children that they, too, can take up the charge against the darkness and be lights to the world (Matthew 5:14). And all the while praying fervently, in the words of Revelation 22:21, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Israel’s 9/11: What’s Behind Hamas’ Brutal Bloodbath?

The entire world was shocked by the viciousness of a brutal assault on Israeli civilians on one of Israel’s holiest days of the year. What’s behind this latest bloody round of violence? You need to know!

by Scott Ashley

As in any large city, it’s normal to hear sirens at any time of day in Jerusalem. But this was different. Instead of going away in a minute or two, these sirens continued to wail, disrupting the early Sabbath-morning peace.

Opening the window of my hotel room to try to understand what the noise was about, I heard about a dozen muffled explosions in less than a minute. I’d seen enough news reports to immediately recognize what was going on—the sirens were warning Jerusalem residents of a wave of incoming missiles from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and the explosions were Israel’s Iron Dome defensive system intercepting and blowing up those missiles before they could hit the city.

A surreal experience

My wife and I were in Jerusalem as part of a 178-member group celebrating the biblical Feast of Tabernacles and the Holy Day immediately following. During the previous seven days we had visited many biblical sites and celebrated the coming Millennial reign of Jesus Christ that this Feast represents. Now our group was directed to the basement-level meeting room/bomb shelter where we would hold our final church service.

One of the hymns we sang, “O God of Every Nation,” was particularly poignant. Some of its lyrics plead for deliverance from “bombs that shower destruction through the night” and ask “that all may find release from fear of rattling saber and dread of war’s increase.”

For the most part we were in a news blackout due to what has often rightly been described as “the fog of war.” Yet we knew conditions were serious, and most of our group hurriedly made plans to cross the border into neighboring Jordan and return home via flights through Amman rather than risk cancellations of our existing flights leaving from Israel’s only major airport. That turned out to be a wise decision, as only a handful were able to fly out that evening. Others ended up stranded in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for several days with nowhere to go.

Little did we know that over the course of the day, more than 1,300 Israeli men, women and children were being butchered, raped and dismembered by fanatical Islamic Hamas terrorists from Gaza who had overrun large areas of southern Israel in a shockingly brutal attack. The victims included dozens and young children and infants, and at least one elderly wheelchair-bound woman. More than 260 young adults were slaughtered at an open-air concert. More than 3,000 others were injured, many critically.

A long history of violence

This wasn’t my first brush with Middle East bloodshed. On a previous trip, Beyond Today writer and TV presenter Darris McNeely and I had spent time in Israel before crossing the border to fly out of Amman to return home. But on our last night in Amman, we were shaken out of our sleep by a hotel employee pounding on our room door and yelling: “Wake up! Get out! We must evacuate!”

We were quickly rushed downstairs and out into the cold night air to a nearby vacant lot. There, as the hotel was being searched, we eventually learned that suicide bombers had detonated their explosive vests at three nearby hotels, killing and maiming hundreds of innocent people. Many of the victims had been gathered for a wedding celebration that quickly turned into a national tragedy.

To many, such senseless cruelty is incomprehensible. But Israel and its neighbors have suffered from decades of this barbarity. What’s behind such savagery?

While war and murder are as old as the human race, this region has a long record of brutality, with city-states and empires clashing for control. The Bible itself records the rise and fall of the Egyptian, Israelite, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires, all of which at times dominated the area.

But it took the rise of Islam in the 600s to launch this region into a largely permanent state of war spanning centuries and continuing to our day—and playing the key role in this recent slaughter.

Muhammed’s bloody new religion

Few Westerners have read Islam’s claimed holy book, the Quran, dictated by Muhammad to his followers. If they did, they would likely be shocked at its repeated instructions to wage jihad—holy war—against non-Muslims. Its incitements include many exhortations such as these (Dawood translation):

“Let not the unbelievers [non-Muslims] think that they will ever get away. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of [Allah] . . .” (sura 8:59-60).

“Make war on them. [Allah] will chastise them at your hands and humble them” (sura 9:14).

“Fight against them until idolatry [worship of any god other than Allah] is no more and [Allah’s] religion [Islam] reigns supreme” (sura 2:193).

“Believers, take neither Jews nor the Christians for your friends . . . Whoever of you seeks their friendship becomes one of their number. [Allah] does not guide the wrongdoers” (sura 5:51).

“If you do not go to war, He will punish you [Muslims] sternly, and will replace you by other men . . . March on and fight for the cause of [Allah] . . .” (sura 9:38-41).

“Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that [Allah] is with the righteous” (sura 9:123)

“When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly . . .” (sura 47:4).

In carrying out their surprise slaughter of more than 1,300 Israelis, Islamic Hamas terrorists did exactly what their holy book tells them to—they beheaded captured Israelis, even infants, and took more than 130 captives into Gaza. (In recent decades Muslim jihadists have recited these same verses in videos while recording the decapitations of their victims—they were simply quoting what their holy book tells them to do.)

The short, deadly history of Hamas

Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, established in Gaza in 1946 before the modern state of Israel existed. Hamas officially formed in 1987 and carried out its first suicide bombings a few years later. Due to its attacks against civilians, most Western nations have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Over its bloody history, Hamas has launched hundreds of attacks against Israelis, killing and injuring thousands.

Israel took control of Egyptian-ruled Gaza, along Israel’s southwest border, after defeating Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War, but withdrew in 2005 and turned the area over to self-rule by the Palestinian National Authority. The following year Hamas won the first elections and in 2007 took complete control over Gaza, even engaging in a brief civil war to oust the competing Fatah faction. This set the stage for a cycle of repeated Hamas rocket and mortar attacks on nearby Israeli settlements, leading to Israeli military retaliation.

Now Hamas has launched its bloodiest attacks ever on Israeli civilians. To put the numbers in perspective, the disastrous 9/11 terrorist attacks killed almost 3,000 Americans. Had the proportions been the same as the percentage of Israel’s population killed recently by Hamas, the total would be 40,000 dead Americans and well over 100,000 injured. These numbers are staggering. Nearly every Israeli family personally knows someone killed or wounded in these attacks.

What is the goal of Hamas?

While Hamas has tried to publicly present a face of moderation, it remains at heart a terrorist organization dedicated to the forceful eradication of the state of Israel as plainly stated in its charter. These excerpts clearly state their intentions (emphasis added throughout):

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

“The Islamic Resistance Movement . . . strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” (which to Hamas means the whole land of Israel).

“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

“In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.”

The slogan of Hamas is: “Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Qur’an its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”

The Palestinian National Authority, which governs the West Bank, is little better. The Palestinian Covenant, which lays out its ideology, states in Article 9: “Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine . . . The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country . . .”

The real issue, as shown by these statements, is the very existence of Israel. Both the Hamas Charter and the Palestinian National Covenant call for violent jihad until the region is ethnically cleansed of Jews and the state of Israel no longer exists.

When they tell us who they are, we should believe them

Because few Westerners have ever read the Quran or Hamas charter, most find such thinking incomprehensible. So they cannot grasp what could possibly motivate such horrendous attacks. But when Hamas and its supporters plainly tell us what they think and what motivates them, we should believe their own clear statements.

The name Hamas is an Arabic acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement.” This acronym also has a meaning of its own. The Arabic word hamas is typically defined as “zeal” or “warlike strength and bravery,” but derives from older connotations of forcefulness or severity.

The Arabic language is related to and largely derived from ancient Hebrew (since many of the Arab tribes are descended from Ishmael, son of the biblical patriarch Abraham). So it should come as no surprise to learn that hamas is also a Hebrew word that appears in the Bible. It means “violence, destruction, malice, ruthlessness, fierceness” (Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words). What an appropriate name for a terrorist organization!

In an interview on Oct. 8, the very day of the Hamas attacks, senior Hamas official Ali Baraka succinctly summed up the vastly contrasting mindsets between Hamas supporters and Israelis: “The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah,defending his land.”

A particularly vile and oft-quoted hadith—a saying attributed to Muhammed—states: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, . . . there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

In the minds of the Hamas terrorists who murdered so many Israelis on that horrible day, they were simply carrying out their stated goals and hastening the time they believe their prophet foretold when Islam will rule the entire world.

The Middle East—ground zero of Bible prophecy

Jerusalem and Israel are the “ground zero” of Bible prophecy—focus of end-time prophetic events leading up to Jesus Christ’s return. As this issue of Beyond Today goes to press, a great deal is unknown. This war could dramatically expand overnight should Syria, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, or Iran intervene to fight in solidarity with Hamas. This could draw in Western powers such as the United States, especially with Hamas holding citizens of more than 20 countries hostage.

However this war turns out, one things is certain—there will be more war, violence and devastation to come. This has long been foretold in the pages of your Bible.

While visiting Jerusalem before this war broke out, I did what I have done on my previous trips to Israel. I made my way through the crowds to the Western Wall and followed the instruction in Psalm 122:6 to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Little did I know what would follow a few days later.

We should all pray for the peace of this long-suffering land and people, a peace that will come with the return of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives overlooking the city. This long-suffering city will continue to suffer violence and bloodshed until that time.

In the meantime we should take comfort in Christ’s words recorded in Luke 21:28: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Join us in praying for that day to come soon!

Current Events & Trends: November/December 2023

An overview of events and conditions around the world featured in the November/December 2023 issue of Beyond Today.

by Beyond Today Editor

Governments spying to silence potential critics

A recent commentary by John and Nisha Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute pointed out that, “on any given day, the average person is now monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways by both government and corporate eyes and ears” (“We the Targeted: How the Government Weaponizes Surveillance to Silence Its Critics,” Aug. 29, 2023).

While the piece goes into more depth on some of these elements, here are some highlights: “Consider just a small sampling of the ways in which the government is weaponizing its 360 degree surveillance technologies to flag you as a threat to national security, whether or not you’ve done anything wrong.

“Flagging you as a danger based on your feelings . . . [by] an artificial intelligence surveillance program that can detect ‘sentiment and emotion’ in social media posts . . . Flagging you as a danger based on your phone and movements . . . Flagging you as a danger based on your DNA . . . It’s only a matter of time before the police state’s pursuit of criminals expands into genetic profiling and a preemptive hunt for criminals of the future . . .

“Flagging you as a danger based on your face. Facial recognition software aims to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business . . . Scientists are also developing lasers that can identify and surveil individuals based on their heartbeats, scent and microbiome. Flagging you as a danger based on your behavior . . . including gait recognition (the way one walks) . . .

“Flagging you as a danger based on your spending and consumer activities . . . Flagging you as a danger based on your public activities . . . looking for any hints of ‘large public events, social unrest, gang communications, and criminally predicated individuals’ . . . [and] such ‘suspicious’ behavior as people buying pallets of bottled water . . .

“Flagging you as a danger based on your social media activities. Every move you make, especially on social media, is monitored, mined for data, crunched, and tabulated in order to form a picture of who you are, what makes you tick, and how best to control you when and if it becomes necessary to bring you in line. As The Intercept reported, the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies are increasingly investing in and relying on corporate surveillance technologies that can mine constitutionally protected speech on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to identify potential extremists and predict who might engage in future acts of anti-government behavior . . .

“Flagging you as a danger based on your social network . . . the people you might connect with by phone, text message, email or through social message . . . What this creates is a ‘guilt by association’ society in which we are all as guilty as the most culpable person in our address book.”

The Whiteheads comment: “Now the government wants us to believe that we have nothing to fear from these mass spying programs as long as we’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t believe it . . . The government’s definition of a ‘bad’ guy is extraordinarily broad, and it results in the warrantless surveillance of innocent, law-abiding Americans on a staggering scale. Moreover, there is a repressive, suppressive effect to surveillance that not only acts as a potentially small deterrent on crime but serves to monitor and chill lawful First Amendment activity, and that is the whole point. Weaponized surveillance is re-engineering a society structured around the aesthetic of fear.”

This ties back to a quote from President Harry Truman that opened the commentary: “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

This is the way to totalitarianism, and America and other Western governments that espouse freedom are on that track. The Bible speaks of a time soon ahead when the world will be plunged into even more severe repression under what the book of Revelation calls the mark of the Beast, where no one will be allowed to buy and sell—participate in commerce—without demonstrating compliance to the system. This will be part of the final European revival of the Roman Empire.

China seeks new world order

When world leaders gathered Sept. 9-10 for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, the year’s premier diplomatic event, the absence of China’s president Xi Jinping was palpable. As reported by Michael Schuman in The Atlantic, Xi “deemed it not worth his time. His absence sends a stark signal: China is done with the established world order” (“Xi Jinping Is Done With the Established World Order,” Sept 9, 2023).

The story goes on to say that “Xi is willing to hang on to some established institutions, such as the United Nations, that he thinks he can repurpose to promote his global aims. But apparently, the G20 wasn’t one of those . . . Xi has been pushing rivals that he thinks he can dominate or pack with friendly clients. One such form is the BRICS group of developing countries, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa” (ibid.).

The same piece interestingly notes: “Xi seems to perceive the future as a binary competition between his China and the United States. But he is mistaken. The global order that is now emerging has multiple centers of power, each with its own goals and interests. China will not automatically be the primary beneficiary of the coming world order, nor will the global South necessarily flock to its banner in a renewed anti-colonial struggle.”

Quite true. The Bible shows that China, Russia and other Asian nations will form a major power bloc in the end time. But they will be overshadowed by a European power, and these two forces will confront each other in global war, leading to massive loss of life and imperiling human survival if not for God’s intervention.

Recent disasters: taste of more to come?

In September 2023, Mediterranean Storm Daniel dumped massive rain on the North African nation of Libya, causing horrific flooding that left more than 11,000 dead as of the time of this writing—with 20,000 still missing. “The floods came without warning, sweeping entire neighborhoods off the map and sleeping families out to sea . . . In Derna, the worst-hit city . . . a whole district had been dragged away by the raging waters” (“In Libya’s Flood-Shattered East, a Disaster of ‘Mythic Proportions,’” The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2023).

As awful as this was, an even greater disaster happened earlier in the year. On Feb. 6, 2023, southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria were rocked by massive 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, causing great devastation, including the deaths of 50,000 people. Aftershocks and other independent earthquakes followed soon after. Many have blamed government officials for the collapse of substandard buildings, while officials have in turn blamed developers. It’s true that better building practices would have saved lives, but many would still have died.

Experts in nearby Israel are concerned that increased earthquake activity next door and within the country signal that a strong earthquake here is not long away (“Experts Agree: Dramatic Increase in Earthquakes May Herald ‘the Big One,’” Israel Today, Feb. 23).

Scientists have also been expressing concerns about a hole 50 miles off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon spewing up hot “fault lubricant” so that enough is not left for the tectonic plates here to slide smoothly. The resultant stress could unleash a catastrophic magnitude-9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest (“Experts on Red Alert for Mega-Earthquake Off the US Coast—After Discovering a Crack in the 600-Mile Long Fault Line at the Bottom of the Pacific,” Daily Mail, April 14, 2023).

And further concerns are noted about a nearing eruption of the Campi Flegrei volcano, believed to be a supervolcano, on the west side of Naples, Italy, across from Vesuvius on the east side. This would be devastating. “More than 1.5 million people have their homes inside its 7-mile long (11 kilometers) caldera”—and many more would be affected by toxic ash and resultant tsunamis (“Europe’s Most Dangerous ‘Supervolcano’ Could be Creeping Toward Eruption, Scientists Warn,” June 9, 2023).

Bible prophecy foretells increasing seismic events and other natural catastrophes in the world leading up to Christ’s return, including massive earthquakes in the land of Israel soon before and when He arrives (see Matthew 24:3-8; Revelation 11:13; 16:18-19; Zechariah 14:3-5). The Greek word seismoi used in Matthew 24:7 also refers to great storms—shakings or commotions of the air (see Matthew 8:24, where the singular form is translated “tempest”).

Our hearts go out to all who’ve suffered in the recent tragedies and those who will be impacted by the calamities to come. Some will ask why God would allow such things to happen, yet there are a number of important factors to consider when disaster strikes.

Major cities plan to ban meat by 2030

As reported at The Federalist, “fourteen major American cities are part of a globalist climate organization known as the ‘C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group,’ which has an ‘ambitious target’ by the year 2030 of ‘0 kg [of] meat consumption,’ ‘0 kg [of] dairy consumption,’  ‘3 new clothing items per person per year,’ ‘0 private vehicles owned,’ and ‘1 short-haul return flight (less than 1500 km) every 3 years per person’—goals laid out in 2019 report “The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5 °C World,” reemphasized in 2023 (Evita Duffy-

Alfonso, “These 14 American Cities Have a ‘Target’ of Banning Meat, Dairy, and Private Vehicles by 2030,” Aug. 19, 2023).

Headed and largely funded by Democrat billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the organization is made up of nearly 100 cities across the world.

Some corporate “fact-checkers” have argued that the meat and dairy bans and travel and clothing limits are not actual policy recommendations but merely considerations for emissions reduction and urban renewal. But these are specifically labeled targets—actual goals.

These and other extreme maneuvers are really not about saving the planet, but asserting more elitist government control over the world’s population. Indeed, more than 1,600 scientists from around the world recently signed the World Climate Declaration, stating there is no climate emergency and no need for climate alarmism (“More Than 1,600 Scientists, Including Two Nobel Laureates, Declare Climate ‘Emergency’ a Myth,” Just the News, Aug. 28, 2023).

As the Federalist piece warns: “Ultimately, the climate coalition’s goals are anti-human. People generally need meat and the protein it provides to flourish. Banning meat and dairy, restricting calories, genetically altering the human body, and impoverishing the masses will hurt the planet and people . . . It will do more than hurt people—it will kill many of them.”

Scripture classes forbidding the eating of meat among end-time demonic teachings: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

Be careful to not be seduced by the dark forces directing the socioeconomic and political movements of this world.

Follow Me: “Antipas My Faithful Martyr”—Holding Fast to His Name

Relying on Jesus’ name, the church of Pergamos, including its faithful martyr Antipas, was able to endure persecution to the end—as the way into life.

by Robin Webber

What’s in a name? For the persecuted believers of the ancient church of Pergamos in Asia Minor, the answer is basically “everything!”

Among them was Antipas, who the ascended Christ calls “My faithful martyr,” the Greek term meaning “witness,” who rendered the supreme sacrifice (Revelation 2:13). Who was Antipas? The Bible says nothing else about him. While apparently an actual person in the first century, he might also represent thousands of other Christians who suffered martyrdom.

Jesus tells this church, “You hold fast to My name and did not deny My faith” (same verse, emphasis added throughout). They were holding on to something far more precious than an autographed signature or verbalizing an individual’s given name.

As fellow disciples heeding the Master’s invitation of “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19; John 21:19), let’s delve deeper into understanding why Christ commended Antipas and this challenged congregation. The answer behind the name they held to may hold the key to how you will handle not only your many tomorrows, but also the challenges facing you today.

The name above every name

There was a time when a name was the full personification of all that a person encompassed. A name spoke to one’s reputation based on his or her full capacity. Names were not merely a series of letters or sounds that identified a person. No, they were lived out and known by reputation! Your word was your bond, and your name sealed it. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.”

The name also speaks to authority, Jesus having told His disciples to pray to the Father in His name (John 16:23). After His death and resurrection, Jesus received from the Father “the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9), being set “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21).

Considering that Christ’s name is above all names, is it any wonder that the apostle John would later write in 1 John 3:23 that it was our Heavenly Father’s desire that “we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ”? John was not instructing us to spell it, sign it or say it out loud. He was telling us to believe it!

What would such belief in a name have meant to Antipas and his fellow Christians of Pergamos? What exactly did they hold to by holding fast to Christ’s name? Let’s allow the Scriptures to fill in not the letters of a name, but the attributes that all of Jesus’ followers need to keep in heart when they “ask in His name.”

The only name by which we must be saved

Those early Christian martyrs held on to the reality found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which declared that Jesus is the Beloved of God (Ephesians 1:6). God’s Son is at the center of all that that our Heavenly Father desires.

These believers were further strengthened by the teachings of John confirming that Jesus was the Word of God (John 1:1-4, 14). Jesus is not only the Word who is God along with the Father, but He is the effective and powerful uncreated Word through whom God calls creation out of nothing and life out of death. Christ is not simply the informative Word of God who brings information, but the One who brings forth the “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the transformation of men’s lives.

The faithful Christians of Pergamos would have probably come to appreciate the aspect of Jesus’ prophesied name echoing from the messianic prophecy of Isaiah. He proclaimed 700 years beforehand that one named Immanuel or “God With Us” would appear on the scene (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). He would come from heaven to earth so that man might touch God and, in turn, God might be touched by the existence and frailty of His creation.

The Beloved. The Word. Immanuel. And perhaps another name Jesus Himself disclosed gave the early martyrs critical insight: “I am the door” (John 10:9). Yes, He is our gateway to the Father above. He is our only entrance to this meaningful relationship as “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The One known as the Door is our return path to Eden, in which God desired to walk and talk with His special creation. And He will yet abide again with His people in another garden, as prophesied in Revelation 22:1-5.

However, what happens when the way forward seems barred, with the end of this life closing in on us? It was then that perhaps Antipas and his fellow believers of Pergamos remembered how Jesus identified Himself in declaring, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and further stated, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).

Peace and assurance through His name

As Antipas and other believers faced death, perhaps they recalled one more name to comfort them in their last moments. This One for whom they were dying was “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

The peace God grants is a divine calm that works from the inside out. It’s a peace that is better than knowledge, better than any understanding man might conjure up. It’s the peace of knowing that whatever God allows right now in our lives, He is working it out for the best (Romans 8:28).

Were early martyrs like Antipas humanly concerned as they were led to their deaths? I’m sure they were, just as you and I would be too. Impending death places the mind in extreme focus. But were they worried and doubting God’s love? I don’t think so, as I imagine them thinking about what Christ did for them. He is often referred to as “the Lamb of God.” That precious sacrificial name makes plain the divine family’s personal self-sacrifice for us. Jesus would never ask us to do something He did not first do Himself. Was God’s unfathomable and undeniable love in question? No!

Did these Christians doubt God’s wisdom at the time of their impending martyrdom? I have a hunch that their minds and hearts were in a good place as they recalled one of Christ’s titles being “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Worry or doubt would have indicated concern that somehow God is not able to plan for His own or that the Master of our lives does not know what is best for those who belong to Him.

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow

Is it possible that, as Antipas and fellow believers faced their executioners, they doubted the power of God to intervene at this seemingly most critical moment?

Perhaps in their last prayers they reflected on what Paul had shared with the Philippians about the exaltation of Christ following His death: “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

As an example of Christian faithfulness in the face of death, Antipas understood that the name he and other believers held fast to signified a spectacular existence that knew no bounds and met no borders.

Until that day when we are ultimately united with the One who bids us “Follow Me,” along with Antipas, other faithful Christians and those yet to understand the power of Christ’s name, let us hold fast to the fullness of His name as we ponder the words of Psalm 23:1, here in the New Living Translation: “The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.”

Letters From Our Readers: November/December 2023

Readers of Beyond Today magazine share their thoughts in the November/December 2023 issue.

by Beyond Today editor

“How to Make God Real to Your Children”

I am 97 years old, born in 1925 without a family, a home, or money. I live at a health center and I read your magazine. Your wonderful article, “How To Make God Real to Your Children” [part 1 was published in the July-August issue, part 2 in Sept.-Oct.] is the best I’ve ever read after the Bible! I became a child of God many years ago; I was an only child and never married. But I’m not alone! Jesus is always with me and next to the Bible, your story was the best I have ever heard or read. May God bless you and keep you and your family. I am looking forward to the next issue.

From the Internet

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Subscriber in Northern Ireland

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From the Internet

Beyond Today helps those who are incarcerated

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I pray God continues to bless your ministry with abundant favor throughout the rest of the year. Once again, thank you for all your support to this prison community that lives on the provisions of God, which we receive from you to help equip these men in living a life pleasing to our Lord and Savior.

Reader in Hawaii

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Reader in Canada

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From the Internet

We trust that you will appreciate reading this issue, which focuses on how Satan has managed to spread his deceptions far and wide—including in religion and churches!

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