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STOLEN CREDIT LINES

I don't know if you've ever had the experience of having some enemy, some adversary, take your stuff, your things . . . and then use them in a campaign against you. Someone comes into your house, takes your gun, and fires it at someone in your family. A trust officer at the bank dips into your funds and uses them to sabotage the good you're trying to do in the community. A person you thought was your friend — and you wired cash to them at the city where your daughter is going to college, for the purpose of helping her with school — takes that money and uses it to seduce her away from you!
I've mentioned before on this broadcast an exceptional piece of Christian literature entitled Perelandra, the second volume in C. S. Lewis' so-called "space trilogy." It's a classic portrayal of good vs. evil: this faraway virgin world has been invaded by Lucifer, occupying the body of a scientist named Weston. And God's representative, a Christian scholar named Elwin Ransom, is there too. And for hours, days, weeks, months, the two men are both trying to persuade the "Eve," the queen of that brand new planet, that their side of the great spiritual war is right. The back-cover copy of this thrilling story reads as follows:

"[The Queen and Lady-Mother [faces] the choice between ascending to perfection or following an older world to corruption."

And as this war of words and arguments continues, Ransom is continually frustrated as Weston — actually Satan — takes everything good God has created and uses it against God. Things like liberty, freedom of choice, loyalty — which are all God's creations — Weston twists around with diabolical cunning and makes them look like pillars in his own fallen government. And he goes on to paint this fascinating, lofty, almost noble word picture of the maturity it takes, the bold vision required for a Queen like herself to break the commandment of God. All the great programs of earth, he boasts, all the inventions, all the progressive achievements on Thulcandra — the silent planet — are surely because Eden's own queen, a similarly beautiful woman named Eve, had the courage to learn the art of disobedience, to eat the apple and become "older."
And the crowning blow comes when this hissing serpent, using the vocal cords of Weston, tells the woman that it was because of sin, because Eve so boldly broke the Law, that the Son of God came to earth. What a wonderful thing! Surely she would wish the same for her world. Would she not?
Well, friend, it's incredible reading, and I urge you to purchase a copy of Perelandra and prayerfully study it for yourself. But back down here on dusty planet earth, where the Fall has not only happened, but become entrenched in the lives of each of us, we find this same scenario again. Lucifer takes God's good things, claims them as his own, and tries to get the credit. And nowhere is that more true than in this Old Testament phenomenon the Bible calls Baal worship.
All through these Old Testament stories it seems that Baal is the epitome of false loyalty. This Canaanite god — or consortium of gods — was a fertility specialist. Old Testament scholars tell us that Baal was generally pictured as standing on a bull, which was a common symbol of fertility and strength. Here's a description from New International Version text notes:

"The storm cloud was his chariot, thunder his voice, and lightning his spear and arrows." Now notice: "The worship of Baal involved sacred prostitution and sometimes even child sacrifice."

Ashtoreth, we read in the same text notes, was a female consort of Baal, associated with the evening star, and portrayed as a beautiful goddess of war and fertility.

"Worship of the Ashtoreths," these scholars write, "involved extremely lascivious practices."

So we see a couple of obvious realities here. First of all, Baal worship was sensual, erotic, intriguing, and just plain X-rated. It was pornographic pleasure, involving temple prostitution and degrading activities. We studied yesterday how the heathen culture all around Israel seeped into the camp . . . and it's plain now why that would happen.
I don't know if you remember hearing a number of years ago about a North American cult called "Children of God." Sometimes they went by the name "The Family," and you know, to this day you can log onto the Internet and check out their very attractive web site. But founder David Berg, who died some years ago, actually used a recruiting tactic he proudly called "Flirty Fishing." His female converts would go out into the streets and playgrounds and recruit young men into their ranks using out-and-out promiscuity. They would sleep with a guy just to get him to join. And, like we also said yesterday, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." David Berg's cult following grew by leaps and bounds, and in the time of Elijah, the temple of Baal was the exploding megachurch of the day — even right in Israel. This became especially true when King Ahab, led into sin by his wife Jezebel, brazenly imported Baal worship right into the heart of the Hebrew empire, erecting a temple to this fallen sex god, establishing "groves" of worship and the whole nine yards.
Part two of the equation, though, regarding Baal worship was that rain-making was right on the church's banners and letterhead as well. Baal was the god of thunder, the creator of rain, the generous provider of Planet Earth's nourishment. Dr. Beatrice Neall, in her Bible study guide on the Elijah saga, entitled "Prayers For Reformation," writes:

"According to Baalist theology, rain is simply Baal impregnating the earth in order that it bring forth its crops."

It was all very sexy. Another reference book on this topic, entitled Prophets and Kings, makes the same point:

"The worshipers of Baal claimed that the treasures of heaven, the dew and the rain, came not from Jehovah, but from the ruling forces of nature, and that it was through the creative energy of the sun that the earth was enriched and made to bring forth abundantly."

Now right here is where we see the conundrum faced by God. Who is it, actually, who graciously waters the earth with dew and rain? Well, that's the Lord of all heaven and earth, of course. You know that and I know that. In the goodness of God, we have air to breathe and sunshine to warm us and rain to sustain us. But, as he always does, Lucifer steals the treasures of heaven – since he has zero creative powers of his own – hands them out with his own business card stapled to them, and then smirks as he receives the worship of misled recipients. In old Israel, God was protecting His people, nurturing their crops, and watering their fertile land. And season after season, who was getting the credit for the rain? Baal was. And along with the worship and devotion of all Israel, Baal was also receiving the living human sacrifices of Jewish babies. The adultery and fornication and blood ceremonies that went with every temple ritual. The hearts and minds of young men and women who married "outside the faith" and became part of the growing pagan community that was infiltrating from within the city of God.
Have you noticed this in your own town, and in your own heart sometimes? Good things come along . . . and who doesn't get the credit? God. Bad things happen, and who does get the blame? God — every time. Even Job, a wonderful follower of Jehovah, when Satan got God's permission to wipe him out and take everything he had, made this famous conclusion:

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away."

Now, of course, that is simply not a true statement. It was Satan who took it all away; the Bible plainly says so. But God gets the blame for the bad, and false deities like Baal were getting all of Israel's praise for the showers of blessing that kept the nation green and prosperous.
So here in the story we have a very unusual prayer meeting. You know how Christians gather together during a hot, dusty summer and pray for rain? This was a congregation of one — the prophet Elijah — and he was praying for NO rain. Not because he didn't like abundant crops and green-covered hills as much as the next believer. But simply because rain was helping the enemy and destroying the community of God. By the time this story happens, this godly prophet was essentially an alien living in his own land. The nation of Israel was almost completely in the hands of Satan.
Well, friend, it's one of God's least favorite things to do, but sometimes God does work to protect His own kingdom. And the Lord said yes to Elijah's prayer begging for a big dusty NO.

"God loves to bless His people," writes Dr. Beatrice Neall, "but when they forsake Him, He speaks to them through blessings REMOVED. God chose to destroy [Baal's] claim by revealing that He alone is responsible for the earth's treasures – sunshine, rain, and abundant harvests." Then she adds this oh-so-true diagnosis for our generation: "We so often tend to forget God in times of prosperity and seek Him in times of adversity."

You know, friend, most of the time when we watch TV, we don't pay much attention to the closing credits. When it comes to spiritual things and the blessings in our path, maybe we ought to read them with a little more diligence.