There are a good many people crying about the alleged voter fraud that took place with our last round of elections. In one case, Allen West, who ultimately lost his bid at re-election, faced an uphill battle regarding the voting process. It was reported that in one particular precinct there are 7 voters, yet West’s challenger received 100.
How this happens is anyone’s guess, but the truth of the matter may be that voter fraud seems to be an American tradition in many respects. There are reports of it going back many decades and of having been used by both Republicans and Democrats. But people can argue about whether it had anything to do with this most recent election or not and they will arrive at their own conclusions. It’s like anything else that people debate. There are strong emotions, reasons, and factoids alleged on both sides of the issue. In the end, does it really matter?
Voter Fraud is But a Symptom
Let me say this loudly and clearly. If voter fraud was an issue in this most recent election, I’m quite certain it is but a symptom of a much larger problem. Again, it is a symptom. It is not the problem itself. The problem itself is deep behind the veil that unfortunately, remains closed to us. I’m referring of course to the battle that is constantly being waged in the spiritual realm.
As I’ve pointed out previously, Satan has goals he needs to implement within society if he is going to be successful in bringing his man – the Antichrist – to the fore as final ruler of the Gentile kingdoms. Do those goals include voter fraud in order to get the job done? Possibly, but again, even if this is true, we cannot stop to focus on the issue of voter fraud because it keeps us from seeing the full picture.
In order to best bring his goals about, Satan must have his groups of devoted followers…here on earth…in the physical realm. He has one-third of the angels who fell with him in his rebellion against God. He has them. If they give him any lip or show any signs of mutiny, he can easily deliver them to the Abyss.
The Ultimate Con
So, Satan has the spiritual beings who fell from grace with him. That is a good thing for him. Unfortunately, he needs more than just those beings. He needs actual people to work through in this realm to really make things happen.
I believe that he has been working nearly since America was founded to capture the minds of human beings and inculcate his design and ideas so that those ideas would sound amazingly altruistic. It seems that because of our fallen nature, people are easily misdirected and conned. At times, even the best of us have difficulties seeing the truth of a given situation.
The best con man gets beyond this by being knowledgeable and very personal. He also completes his con by surreptitiously and consistently massaging a person’s ego. He works slowly, consistently, massaging in order to create a sense of trust within the other person. He seems completely interested in his “mark” (victim) and slowly brings that person along until they have allowed all vestiges of concern to fall away. Once that happens, the con man has won the day.
I believe Satan is so-well versed at conning that if we could compare his tactics with the best con man alive on the planet, it would be like comparing Houdini with a two-year-old child. It would be that apparent. Satan is simply brilliant at what he does and anyone who fails to recognize that is at the same time leaving themselves wide open for attack and completely underestimating our enemy.
Deceived in Spite of Jesus
If you consider that during the Millennial Reign of Jesus, which happens after the Tribulation period, Satan is locked away for those 1,000 years in the Abyss (cf. Revelation 20). He is no longer free to roam around trying to devour people. He cannot bring his plans to fruition. He is literally out of the way and for all intents and purposes, can do no harm during that time on this planet.
Yet, we are told that Jesus will rule then with a rod of iron. He will rule righteously, but with some element of harshness. Why is this? It is because people with fallen natures will also be part of that Kingdom, though they will be authentic Christians, they will still have the sin nature because they have not died yet. They go from the end of the Tribulation to the Millennial Kingdom still alive. Only those Christians who die have the sin nature completely excised from them so that their character is no longer infected or affected by it. Not so of those Christians who go into the Millennial Kingdom alive from the Tribulation.
However, when the Millennial Reign of Jesus ends, Satan is released for a short while (cf. Revelation 20:7-10). Even at that point, though he was securely sequestered away from humanity, he is able to deceive people from all nations numbering as the sand of the seashore! Obviously, over the space of 1,000 years, a lot of people will be born by those who went from the Tribulation to the Millennial Kingdom without dying.
Those who are born during that time will see the perfection and righteousness with which Jesus rules. They will see it and experience it. Yet, in spite of all of this (and because they have a sin nature), they will succumb to the accomplished temptation of Satan himself. They will seek to join him as he attempts to overthrow God one last time. Of course, his efforts amount to nothing and God quickly and easily dispatches with him. But the larger issue is that so many people will fall for his con! If those people who lived under the rule of Jesus will align themselves with Satan after the 1,000 years has come to an end, what hope is there for those who live in this world and have never physically seen Jesus or lived under His physical reign?
Chief Deceiver
So it would appear that Satan has gathered himself a group of devoted human beings. We simply don’t know how big that group is, but considering all of the secret groups that have existed and continue to exist, it is likely that it is a very large multitude of people who have dedicated themselves to do Satan’s bidding.
So here we are at the end of 2012, having just come through another presidential election for the United States. Mr. Obama was handily re-elected and will carry the torch for whomever controls him for the next four years.
As many look back at the recent election, they are angry, frustrated, and demanding answers. There is no one to provide them. The news is dutifully ignoring even the mention of a potential voter fraud issue. They are focusing on other things.
The people who want answers are fed up and don’t know what to do to change the situation. I’m of the opinion that the entire system of the beast outlined by Scripture is very much alive and well in our world and frankly, I don’t think there is anything we can to except pray. That actually is also probably the best thing we can do. It will bring us much closer to God. It will solidify our commitment to Him and His purposes and it will help us to accept what we cannot change and what God seems unwilling to change.
It’s a “Beast” of a Problem
The issue of voter fraud is a symptom of the big problem. The big problem has been growing for generations until we are actually starting to see it before our very eyes. To many of us, it has become so obvious that we wonder why others seem blind to it. Well, the answer has to do with the fact that they are blind to that truth. But I also believe that this beast is so convoluted, with so many various strands moving out from the center that if we turn aside to try to fight against voter fraud, we will miss other important issues that have also wrecked havoc on our society.
I believe this with all of my heart; that God has allowed this “beast” to grow to this point and I do not believe there is any stopping it because of how big it has gotten. In my opinion, God will continue to allow it to grow and eventually take over the world.
It’s as though we are watching someone caught in a bold faced lie. We know they have lied. They know they have lied, yet they act as if they have not lied. We stand there incredulous that they could lie with such a straight face all the while it is clear that they have lied. What’s worse is that there are plenty of people who believe them and actually call us liars.
The beast is big; very big. It seems to me that it is actually being let out of its cage. This is how confident the elite have become that they are willing to overplay their hand in this last election and continue along as if nothing was done that gave them away. The text in Revelation 13 almost gives us the impression that this beast that came out of the sea appears almost over night. Yet, it is clearly implied from the text itself that the beast had been there all along. It simply got to a point of great magnitude and became much larger so that it was not only noticed but could no longer be ignored.
I know that what I’m saying seems as though I am advocating giving up. I’m not. I’m simply pointing out that we can spend a good deal of time, energy, and anger trying to figure out how to “fix” the system that cannot be fixed because of where God Himself is allowing it to spread. While we are trying to fix aspects of it, we cannot help but miss all the other things that are going on right behind our backs directly related to the same beast; the humanistic beliefs being taught in our schools, the abuses of the banking system and the Federal Reserve, growth in crime, social issues and much more. It is a swirling mass of horror that only God will be able to rein in. For now, He appears to be allowing it to grow.
Focusing on this issue (voter fraud) or that one (tax payer dollars going to Hamas) are important issues. However, if we turn aside to start focusing on those individual issues, we will never see the big picture…ever and it is something that Satan does not want us to see. However, since it appears as though the beast is growing to a point that is well beyond our control, it may not matter anymore whether we see it or not.
Dust Bowl
Last night, my wife and I watched Ken Burns’ “The Dust Bowl.” It had several parts and in many ways, it was depressing. Yet, it made me glad that I was not part of life at that time. The Dust Bowl occurred because people migrated to part of America that was unpredictable as far as rain was concerned. They turned prairie land into farm land. This worked for a while because is just so happened that they hit it at the time when rain was there.
It was not too long before the rain stopped and a drought ensued. In fact, during that time (the 1930s), 46 of the then 48 states were experiencing a drought of some degree. This drought lasted a long time and even though people tried to ignore it, it wouldn’t be ignored. Eventually, crops died and after crops died, the winds (which were a normal part of prairie life) began carrying the dirt away. The way the farmers farmed didn’t help much either because in many cases, they simply wound up turning over the top layer of dirt, instead of digging deep into the soil to create small valleys. As more of this top layer of dirt became exposed by the loss of crops, the wind carried away more and more of the dirt, creating huge dunes like one would see in the dessert.
The dirt began to lodge in people’s lungs, creating a disease that eventually killed people. Many, many people lost their lives. Then the Great Depression hit and that eventually made things even worse. People eventually began to believe that God was sending judgment on them because they had planted crops where He had originally planted prairie grass.
Life was unbelievably hard for people during that time period in U.S. history. They tried to go about their daily routines, but their was fine sand and dirt everywhere. They would wash their curtains, put them back up only to find them covered with dirt the next day. Sand got into everything and made a mess of people’s lives.
Herds of cows and other farm animals died through suffocation after the dirt plugged their nostrils and mouths. People lost everything they had as one dust storm after another rolled over them (some as high as 10,000 feet in the air and 100 miles wide) constantly changing the landscape and leaving destruction in its wake. Though they tried to deal with one part of the problem or another part, eventually, the dust storms became so large that it was all people could see.
The Coming Beast
This is the way the Bible describes this coming Beast. In Revelation 13, we read of the entrance of two beasts onto the earth’s landscape. The first comes from out of the sea, while the second comes from the earth. The Beast that comes out of the sea is the Antichrist that controls a system (also referred to as the Beast because the system was created for him to use and advances his will and purposes). He comes with tremendous power and authority and uses the system to his advantage at every turn.
I firmly believe that what we have been seeing and what has been created is the system by which the Antichrist will eventually rule over the entire world. Regardless of how one might argue that this system began, by the time Antichrist gets hold of it, it will have become thoroughly corrupted and fully pliable in his hands. It seems clear to me that we are moving toward that time, when God has allowed Satan’s Beast (the system) to be fully prepared for the arrival of the Antichrist. I really do not believe we can stop it, quite honestly. I really do not.
There are things we can and should do though. Aside from prayer which should completely undergird everything we do, we can try to educate people about what is happening in society. Jesus says that times will become so difficult for society that their hearts will simply give out (cf. Luke 21:26). The fear that is going to be created as a result of this full-blown “beast” system will cause men to simply die because of it.
During the Dust Bow, multitudes of people died, either by diseased caused by the dust in the air, or by suffocation. However, there were also plenty of suicides too. People were that afraid and that hopeless that they could see nothing in their futures except more hopelessness. That is tragic.
So in the meantime, what should we – as authentic Christians – be doing? Pray. Pray that God will open your eyes to the needs of those around you. Pray that you will be a light in the growing darkness ahead. Pray that He will use you to open the eyes of those who are darkness with Christ. Spiritually, they are already dead. Pray that God might use you to help them understand their need for Him.
Pray also that God will make and keep you alert to all that He is doing during these dark days. Just because terrible things for society may be on the way, it does not mean authentic Christians are allowed to cower in fear in some corner somewhere. We have an obligation to continue to serve Him who saved us in both good times and bad.
Ultimately, we need to continue working, extending to people the truth they need to receive salvation. We cannot be sidetracked by focusing on symptoms. We will miss the big picture.
Our job is not to become embroiled in political solutions. It is to become part of eternal solutions for everyone who still needs to hear and receive the truth about Jesus Christ.
By Fred DeRuvo
