Stephen
Terry, Director
The
Conflict Behind All Conflicts
Commentary
for the October 25, 2025, Sabbath School Lesson
"Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous
red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its
tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and
they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient
serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was
hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." Revelation 12:3-4a, 7-9
Decades
ago, as a young theology student, I was surprised when a professor of Old
Testament stated that he felt the gods that were worshipped by pagans existed.
In our modern world where those who believe in God are scorned as mentally
deficient to do so, how much more incredible is it to believe in pantheons of
the old gods who were revered before Christianity took the world by storm. Were
Zeus, Odin and all the rest real? If so, who were they, and where did they come
from? And does any of that still matter?
Our
world is filled with conflict. The never-ending wars between East and West,
Palestinians and Jews, and racial and ethnic violence seem unresolvable. Where
did all this conflict originate? Who hit whom first? Is it all just a
continuously revolving cycle of revenge? Is there an exit from this mad rushing
train to nowhere, hurtling ahead until the track finally runs out?
The
book of Joshua abounds with warfare as was the story of the Exodus from Egypt
and the wandering in the wilderness. But it did not start there. It began in
heaven of all places. We think of heaven as idyllic, a place of peace and joy,
but the Bible tells us that someone close to God, a beautiful and charismatic
covering cherub aspired to usurp God's rule. (Ezekiel
28:12-15) Astonishingly, the creature sought to replace the Creator. This
idea is redolent in modern science fiction where a common plot has Artificial
Intelligence (AI) infused robots make common cause to overthrow the humans that
created them. With the growth of AI on the internet, some fear that such a
scenario could become reality. This idea of creature overthrowing creator goes back to before the creation or our world and
humanity. The war that arose from that rebellion came to an uneasy truce when
that covering cherub, Satan, also called the Devil, was cast out of heaven with
a third of the angels who chose to follow him.
We
might wonder how he could have convinced so many of the angels to follow him.
However, lies were unknown before Satan invented them. Jesus said as much
calling the Devil the father of lies. (John
8:44) When we believe and support charismatic leaders who constantly lie to
us today, it should be no mystery how someone like a covering cherub could
raise a following among those who had never had to deal with lies. We have that
experience, yet we still succumb and argue strongly to defend those lies as
truth. Some of us would be as ready to man the battlements with Satan right
alongside those fallen angels, even believing we were serving God to do so.
When
we consider the power of the lie and the special and charismatic attributes of
all those fallen angels, it is not hard to see how they could have become those
pagan gods of yore, ruling over a credulous humanity. The very first book of
the Bibles hints at such things. It tells us, "The Nephilim were on the earth
in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of
humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
(Genesis 6:4) While there have been attempts to explain away the implications
of this passage, it coincides exactly with the pagan narrative of lusty gods
raping human women and producing the demigods of old. Records of demigods are
found in several pagan cultures. The Greeks had Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, and
others. Even the woman renowned for her beauty, Helen of Troy, was a
demigoddess. The Hindus had Karna, Ahbimanyu, and others. The Mayans had
Hunahpu and his brother, Xbalanque. The Norse had Helgi, Skjoldr, Froger, and
Itreksiod, all offspring of Odin and mortal women. With such widespread tales
of fecund gods spread across so many different mythologies, it seems to be a
strong argument for taking the passage in Genesis exactly as it states except
for translating with a small "g" instead of a capital for these were fallen
angels, not emissaries or true sons of God in any sense.
If anyone
is tempted to think these were servants of God in this passage, then the next
verse argues against that, for instead of righteousness and grace abounding
because of all these couplings, we find the opposite. "The Lord saw how great
the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was
only evil all the time." (Genesis 6:5) Deceived by lies, enamored by the
beauty and charisma of the fallen beings, and emboldened by their flagrant
disrespect of their Creator, humanity followed them in their perversity until
the earth was filled with evil. What was created to be an Edenic paradise for
humanity had become hell on earth. Some might think that the gods of paganism
do not exist anymore. But a look at the world today finds it is still steeped
in cruelty and evil constantly alluring others to join in where the fun is and
rewarding those who do, even though the end for them is death.
Those
who would look for those old gods on Olympus or in Valhalla, or any of what the
Bible calls the "high places," would do better to look for them sitting on
mountains of wealth, lording their power over common humanity, who are
enthralled and powerless to stop them, because those gods created the system
that keeps them in power and none of those levers of power are allowed to fall
into the hands of those who would dethrone them. Have you ever wondered why,
even when one of these appears to be overthrown, another of their ilk seems to
rise to the top to take their place?
Revelation
tells us that the ultimate end of evil is tied up with the destruction of the
earth, leaving the planet in the same state as before the Creation account of
Genesis, chapter one "...without form and void." But God will create a new earth
to replace what has been destroyed. (Revelation
21:1) Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God that is not of this earth. This
earth is a sinking ship bound to get to that state where "every inclination of
the thoughts of the human heart is only evil all the time." Nonetheless, Jesus
came to provide opportunity for those who would eschew evil to be a part of his
kingdom. Those who would accept that invitation would face untold hardships.
Evil would become so prevalent that everyone would be tempted to grow cold and
stony hearted to one another, but those who continued to love to the end would
be delivered. (Matthew
24:12-13) Things would become so bad that if Jesus did not return, none
would be saved. (Matthew
24:22) And even so, faith will be hard to find on the earth. (Luke
18:7-8)
Jesus
promised to return and take the faithful home with him. He said, "Do not let
your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's
house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am
going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I
am." (John 14:1-3) And at his ascension, the angels who attended him shared the
same promise. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into
the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come
back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
This
begs the question, what will happen to all those gods and demigods who led so
many into rebellion against their Creator. After God calls those who will to
worship him as Creator (Revelation
14:7), the rebellion will collapse. That kingdom of fallen angels and their
followers is called Babylon, meaning "confusion." Why confusion? Because the
entire kingdom of these gods and their followers is built upon lie after lie.
When each of the endless layers of lies is stripped away, in the end the core
they covered is hollow, empty of any value to those who pledged their lives to
its service. In despair they try to hide themselves from the truth when it can
no longer be gainsaid. Jesus is that truth. (John
14:6)
The
lie and its perpetrators will die, never rising again. (Revelation
20:10-15) "The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he
will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In
that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he
saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in
his salvation." (Isaiah 25:8-9) "'He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order
of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4) "So then, brothers and sisters,
stand firm and hold fast..." (2 Thessalonians 2:15a)