Baal-worship and The
Long Delay
Does Baal-worship Exist Today?
A quick check
of the Index of the writings of Ellen White, shows that there are
over 100 references to Baal. We have already mentioned the 1890
Salamanca vision which revealed that in consequence of our 1888 unbelief
in the true Christ, a false christ would sneak himself in among us.
Adventists have long known that at the very end Satan would not only try
to carry on the work of God, but he would try to appear in the likeness
of God. This counterfeit impersonation referred to by Christ, is
explained by Ellen White in this familiar setting:
As the crowning act in the great
drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. ... as a
majestic being of dazzling brightness. ... unsurpassed by anything
mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the
air, "Christ has come! Christ has come!" The people
prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his
hands and pronounces a blessing upon them. ... His voice is soft and
subdued, yet full of melody. ... This is the strong, almost
overmastering delusion. 12
Long before
this final act of deception, Satan will have conditioned the people to
accept his methods. This means the use of "brilliant, sparkling
ideas," "charming philosophical speculations,"
"principles of Satan" pitted against "principles of
heavenly origin," "unsanctified ministers ... arraying
themselves against God ... praising Christ and the god of this world in
the same breath." As the vision pointed out, "The religion
among us will be the religion of apostate Israel"—Baal-worship.
Since Baal was
solely the creation of man, counterfeit from the beginning, an insult to
the Creator, made to fit the desire "to be mighty ... in the
earth," and to build cities and make Babylon the capitol—so it
must be plain that Baal-worship is none other than self-worship.
The verbal use of the name of Christ and all other Christian terminology
means nothing so far as establishing and identifying truth. Baal is a
false christ and it should be obvious that all worship of self, even
though disguised as worship of Christ but which evades the principle of
the cross is in reality Baal-worship. The roots of this Satan-inspired
worship go deep, often unknown to us and beneath our consciousness.
One current
refined and subtle manifestation of Baal-worship, is the cult of
self-love. Through a clever manipulation of Scripture, the love of self
has been transformed into a virtue. In recent years it has been
strenuously taught as a supposed Christian duty. The divine command to
love our neighbor as we love ourselves is twisted into a command to love
self, when in fact the Lord taught that our natural-born sinful love of
self is redirected through genuine faith to a Christlike love of our
neighbor.
Genuine
self-respect is another matter. It becomes authentic only through an
appreciation of God’s self-emptying love revealed at the cross. True
self esteem is therefore rooted in Christ’s atonement. But the love of
self is antithetical to devotion to Christ and His work. It is
understandable that an enemy would promote the cult of selfism as though
it were Christ’s teaching. This is foreign to a people who are
preparing for translation.
No matter how
much we may profess to serve Christ, no matter what our position may be
in the church, wherever self becomes the object of devotion, there we
have Baal-worship. The myriad forms that this takes are frightening. In
a certain sense the ministry is in greater peril than any other segment
of the church. It is among the ministry that a kind of ladder-climbing
fraternity has been established— as if office could enhance character.
Where we have a coveting of promotion, office seeking, with prestige and
power as the motivations of ministry, there we have the prophets of
Baal.
This denial of
the true Christ and glorification of self is to be found in many of our
now-standard practices. Why does the Remnant Church need plaques,
trophies, certificates, and all the other trappings the world uses and
loves? Where the true message of righteousness by faith is understood
and believed, these emblems of greatness will fall away. Baal-worship is
the fruit of a species of corrupted teachings that encourage a profession
of faith in Christ while self refuses to be crucified with Him.
Just how we can
find ourselves in the present confusion is made clear by the word of the
Lord through His messenger:
The present age is one of idolatry,
as verily as was that in which Elijah lived. No outward shrine may be
visible; there may be no image for the eye to rest upon; ...
Multitudes have a wrong conception of God and His attributes and are
as truly serving a false god as were the worshipers of Baal. 13
In this age antichrist will appear as
the true Christ. ... But the true leader of all this is Satan clothed
as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the
place of God, and deify him. 14
Christ will be personified, but on
one point there will be a marked distinction. Satan will turn the
people from the law of God. 15
Those who are not wholly consecrated
to God may be led to do the work of Satan, while yet they flatter
themselves that they are in the service of Christ. 16
The apostasy prevailing today is
similar to that which in the prophet’s day overspread Israel. In the
exaltation of the human above the divine, in the praise of popular
leaders, in the worship of mammon, and in placing of the teachings of
science above the truths of revelation, multitudes today are following
after Baal. 17
How
Long Will Baal-worship Prevail? |