Images of the Beast?
“So when you see …The abomination that causes desolation …Let the reader understand” (Matt. 24:15)
Reader, do you understand what this is? What might the Abomination that causes desolation be? We see the seed of anti-Christ already everywhere, especially this seed of his image:
“…He ordered them to set up an image in honour of the beast…He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” (Rev. 13:14, 15)
What is the image of the beast / Satan? Clearly only a few would be fooled by a literal picture of the devil with horns. He is the “Murderer from the beginning” so his image must portray of Murder. He is thief, so his image should convey stealing. Lying, adultery, rape, and violence are also characteristics of the beast. Where do we see the visions or images of all these things continuously? Across the globe every day, in every house? Answer: entertainment! Most media and T.V programs honour the beast. Media has the power to speak; it has ‘breath’. For 2000 years idols had mouths but no breath, but this idol has the power to speak abominable things. It is sad that now even “Christians” spend the majority of their free time watching shameful scenes. An idol is our first love. It is what we get most excited about or watch or concentrate on more than God. When the pastor says Jesus is risen in Church, he may hear a few quiet cheers but when sports stars hit a six or scores a goal, the audience erupts with excitement.
Media serials on TV, YouTube, Netflix and amazon prime video teach that: if you don’t get your own way you must shout and argue; anger will win; it’s OK to gossip and even slander any one, any time and we should just accept hatred and revenge as part of life.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. {23} But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Mat 6:22-23 NIV)
Only Zeros and Ones?
It is no wonder that most families struggle so much with bitter arguing: whatever a man sows that will he reap. By the time a child finishes high school he has watched hundreds of murders where the murderer was the hero! ‘It’s OK to fight’, is the message! Oh, but you say: “It’s only a story!” This then is the question: is there power in stories? Absolutely! God knows this is true. That’s why half of the Bible is stories. Jesus definitely believed that stories could be powerfully anointed. This is why He always taught through parables, made-up stories which were full of the Holy Spirit. Fictional stories, films and dramas even though they are not true can be anointed with the holy or the un-holy spirit! Do not be deceived, it is not just a story! When playing an X-box, play-station or computer war game, who are you shooting? If you are shooting the police or randomly killing innocent people and enjoying it, remember it’s not just zeros and ones. Jesus said if you look at a woman lustfully you commit adultery in your heart. In other words, sin in the imagination, is still sin. Thinking adultery is communing with an adulterous spirit. Murder in the imagination is a murder spirit! Make sure the game you or your children are playing is a ‘just’ war! Otherwise, you may become spiritually dead.
We must discern what spirit is behind each film or program. Once I went to a house where my team and I had been invited for food. They were watching ‘Millionaire’, a quiz program whose winner could get up to a million pounds as a prize. With each question they answered, the prize money was doubled. As I was watched the program for a few minutes, I had a clean impression in the spirit that this was designed by the enemy as part of his last days tactics, to inspire the love of money in the viewers. If you cheer and get really excited when huge amounts of money are won, you are programming your consciences with the lie that money is very important. However, it is one of the least important things in life as God will show when most of it will seem to disappear in the coming world-wide recession.
Many believers struggle with fear. Actually, fear is a sin since God says repeatedly “Do not be afraid.” How then could we watch programs which inspire this through continuous suspense, such as horror movies? If you like to put the light on as soon as you wake up in the night it could be that some fear has been let in through dark media?
A generation ago, England was fairly moral and there was a fraction of the adultery and sexual immorality which is now so prevalent. When I was young, all the children loved James Bond: 007 films. In each film the hero would commit adultery with four or five beautiful women. Now in England and indeed in all the western countries, about 85% of young people commit fornication before marriage and almost half of the marriages end in divorce! There is power in stories! You really will reap what you sow.
Televisions or Heavenly Visions?
James (not bond) chapter four says “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?” If we love the things in the world it shows that we are still bound by an earthly vision rather than a heavenly vision. Be careful what you let your children watch. The worst media seems to be English! Now this is available everywhere in the whole world. Revelation 13 seems to be coming to pass. Jesus said that this abomination would be “In the Holy place” or as Paul says in 2 Thess. 2:4 “in the Temple.” What is this temple? The church is this temple. It’s not the building but the believers. They get home from work and “relax” watching filth during meal times as they switch from one program to the other. I am amazed that believers can watch program after program on their day off. What a great last day saint! Don’t they know they have the Sword of the Spirit to sharpen and fight with for eternal issues? Yes, it is being set up, even in the temple… Don’t watch entertainment in the morning but only after a good days’ work, and then put a limit!
In the end times more and more believers will be entrusted with heavenly visions if they have overcome the televisions! A normal Christian life will be two or three angelic visitations each month. Saints from ages past will be appearing and giving regular training, people will go to the third heaven as often as people now go on their annual holidays. These experiences will lift the faith and focus of the church up automatically. If you don’t want to miss out on what’s coming, overcome the abomination that causes desolation!
“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them”. (Rom. 1:32)
(In the middle of the word pr-act-ice is the word “act”.) People admire actors even though they blatantly glamorize sin. The heroes used to be good but now the latest trend is for even the hero to be corrupt. This is especially a strong influence on youths who admire and imitate them.
Some people have no conversations and are boring, as they have gotten so used to just watching life without living their own fully. Many people never seriously consider the truth as they live from one fantasy to the other, they think life is also just a game, not realizing that for the next billion years they will reap whatever they sow in this momentary life.
“According to my conscience I can watch this program” you may think! Be careful you don’t sear your conscience and grieve the Holy One living within you. Is it a wonder why so many people have only a tiny anointing when they pray?
Cutting Out Your Eyes
If you really can’t control what you watch I offer Jesus’ advice: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away…” (Matt.5: 29). Better to be blind than be in hell i.e., disconnect the cable, cancel Netflix or Prime subscriptions or remove the T.V. If your eyes do not cause you to sin, i.e., you have self-control over what you watch, you immediately switch off from bad language and unacceptable programs, then no problem. There are many good and harmless programs. I am not giving a law that we should not watch media at all but that we should recognize the evil and keep very high standards of what we watch. Some entertainment is good. I especially like innocent family films. When we finish watching such fantasies we can come back into the presence of God and realize that the truth is far more exciting than any story! Our hearts should be stirred afresh by the awesome fact that we have a personal relationship with an infinite Supreme Being! No author or film director has ever come up with a plot as amazing as the truth: an all-powerful Spirit allows Himself to be executed by His own creation due to His passionate love to make them immortal, brings Himself back to life and returns to exist inside them to empower them to be recreated instantly in their cores and step by step every day in their lives.
God Speaks Though Good Media
Even normal ‘non-Christian’ films with romance can give us a revelation of Jesus as the Bridegroom. We can laugh more than most at clean comedy. Adventures remind us of the ultimate adventure we are in. God can give us prophetic words through a scene in a film. We should watch the media we watch, with the Lord. When I rest at end of day and watch media, I often pause the media and discuss it with the Lord. I like to keep in communion with Him throughout. He enjoys us inviting Him along. I had been to an orphanage in India many times when passing but never as a specific trip. One year I had no bookings for Christmas and thought of spending it with these precious children. I prayed that the Lord would speak to me about this. I found myself watching “Despicable Me” in which a bachelor man adopts 3 orphans. Immediately after the movie God spoke into my spirit that I was Gru, a reformed super villain and this was His answer to my question: “Yes go and be a father to the orphans over Christmas!” I went and it was my best Christmas ever. There were 45 semi and full orphans and all the staff were on holiday apart from two cooks. I had four days of sport competitions, worship and dancing, bible stories, powerful gospel animation movies which I translated live from English to the local Indian language, including Narnia after which many got saved. For the next five years every Christmas my team and I went to that orphanage. All because of a prophetic word spoken through an animation movie! I am not promoting a religious rule of no media, or that all media is of the devil.
However, Media is morphing: more pornography, increased perversion, blood, fear, horror and violence. Certainly, it is ready for the anti-Christ to use to inoculate the masses; honouring sin is the aim. There may also be a few indoctrinating programs, which have to be watched. Viewers will then have the opportunity to show their approval or otherwise, which can be easily analysed throughout the world through computers. This at first may be optional however according to John’s prophesy about the image of the beast in Rev. 13:15 this would soon become compulsory. Therefore, those who do not participate will be executed. Alexa, Siri and OK Google can understand human speech or “test to see” who is responding. All digital devices and smart TV’s now come with “eyes” (web cameras) and ears, (microphones). It is all falling into place. The worship of the beast will be much more subtle than what people imagine and therefore dangerously deceptive. Actually, this world leader who stops all the wars, gives everyone food in time of the worst famines, calls down fire from heaven, and will even declare that Jesus was the Christ, (Matt.24: 5). Since the majority of regular Church going Christians in the world are now Charismatic / Pentecostal, the anti-Christ will have to come imitating a Pentecostal politician, doing amazing healing, signs and wonders. (2 Thes 2) Those who do not participate in or share or click like on the “peace programs” or “New World anti-hate training sessions” clearly must be executed for rebellion. As far-fetched as this may seem it is already being adopted in Chine. Every citizen gets a social media score determined by what they have watched and liked and determines the opportunities for career and education or imprisonment!
Apostles and Cricket
Certainly, there is a lot of good media about God’s creation, world news, sports, family films which can be enjoyed. God has and will also use media in the last days’ revival. The cameras will focus on the Apostles, whom God raises up who will amaze the world with mighty signs and wonders. Cricket matches will be cancelled for lack of interest but stadium after stadium will be filled with souls thirsty for life as the Glory of God descends again and again to do awesome miracles. This will be so glorious that it will arrest the attention of nations worldwide!
However, there is another danger. Like with the tree of knowledge that was in Eden, the good side can be just as deadly as the bad if it distracts us from pursing our destiny and call. Paul worked hard day and night but the modern-day spiritual warriors seem to watch media day and night. I think that a greater temptation than the smoking or the drinking habit is the media habit. About 30 years ago, pastors preached about the dangers of worldly films at the cinemas. Today the same pastors have 100 cinemas in their houses, and in their pockets! Even the kings did not have this quality of entertainment a 100 years ago but it is now available for a small monthly fee for everyone in the world! What a temptation! If you really want the treasures of heaven then try a media fast for a month and focus on your heavenly vision. Presents from Jesus are waiting for those who will seek for supernatural revelations, prophetic abilities and power to be a sign and wonder. The world should be watching you rather than the other way round.
On amazon prime I have set the settings to only show movies rated 12 and below. It used to be that we have to avoid 18’s but now there is so much darkness in 15’s as well! The portrayal of reality has become so dark. Check the rating of films and media before you watch and set your children’s devices to protect them from the spirit of this world. Remember: be on guard the first ten minutes of any program, you can usually determine its spirit that quickly! You need to be on guard against media with bad language, nudity, evil heroes, weird concepts of reality, horrible plots, glamorization of the darkness. Drink from these streams and you will have a dry quiet time the next morning as the Holy Spirit’s anointing has left! Be very careful what you watch and how much you watch. There is an abomination that is causing much desolation set up inside the temple- the people of God!
Pray for self-control to limit your T.V viewing and for discernment. If the film is full of bad language, turn it off! Rest in God, lie on your bed praying in the Spirit, and put a Bible message on while having food. You don’t have to always watch comedies to laugh. You can be so burning with the abundant life of God that you can become a sanctified comedian making people laugh (and cry) wherever you go. You don’t have to only feel excitement when watching an action movie. Your very life itself can be an action movie! Fighting for eternity! Each hour guaranteed to affect everyone forever! An adventure beyond the wildest dream of any human author. Are you just watching war films or participating in the greatest ever world war? Are you caught up with fictional family problems or pouring out life to real hurting people as they open up their lives to your love and trust? In your house, are you showing the horror dramas or shooting hordes of demons? It is for you to choose to be a spectator or a participant!
This article is taken from Moses’ book “Preparation to Face and Overcome the Anti-Christs” available from the home page on this site as paper back, e-book and audio book.