Luke 23:47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” 48 And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts.
The former secret service agent and security expert, Evy Poumpouras, said, “Those who are easily offended are easily manipulated.
The crowd had been stirred up by the scribes and Pharisees to become offended with Jesus, and in a short time, the crowd was screaming, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” The leaders of the law, who ranthe Holy Temple, were continually seeking the opportunity to secretly arrest Jesus, but the crowds were with Jesus, and the Temple authorities of the day were afraid of the crowds. The rulers of the law needed to hide their duplicitous plans when hanging around in the crowd as they plotted how to influence the crowd to become offended with Jesus so that they could be manipulated to reject Jesus. Eventually, with the deceptive doublecross of Judas Iscariot, the religious leaders were able to negotiate a betrayal that would allow them to destroy a righteous man. Once the mock trial was moving along, the seeds of offendedness were sprouting fast.
Whether it is by friends, family, or an organization, the feelings of betrayal become real when one discovers that they were caught up in a provoked scenario to become offended, so that they could be manipulated into taking a side in an argument. Those who were supportive of crucifying Jesus felt this exact disgust with themselves. Lk. 23:48 And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts. It was only after Jesus gave up His life that the crowd realized they had been played for the rubes they were. They returned home beating their breasts in regret, embarrassment, and condemnation of what they had been tricked into demanding as retribution for their offended hearts.
The manipulation of the heart is what Satan has been doing from the beginning of man’s existence. The devil knows that once a person is offended, it is easy to trip them up, and before one knows it, they are being manipulated to make declarations and vows of “I will never set foot in this church again! Or, I deserve to be the music director because I have been in this church the longest.” And on and on it goes, wherever offendedness flows. Within a short time, the offended are being manipulated by Satan to leave the fellowship of those who once helped guard their hearts from demonic influences. Matt. 5:23 Therefore, if you shall offer your gift at the altar, and there shall remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and first go away, be reconciled to your brother; and then having come, offer your gift.
We have seen this same maneuver take place in our lifetime. In 1991, this same divisive spirit was at play when the propaganda influencers lied to deceive the United Nations into agreement with the Iraq invasion. Even though the fearmongers were shouting that there were weapons of mass destruction, this did not quite do the trick because many people from around the world wanted proof of these claims. However, when the lie that babies were being taken out of their incubators and left to die in the hospitals in Kuwait City, North Americans became vocally offended. Without hesitation, a big “Yes” to the invasion of Iraq called Desert Storm was palpable and a reasonable option for the citizens of the free world to accept. The Kuwaiti government had hired the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton to fabricate this false story. The allegations of killing babies were made credible because Nayirah al-Sabah, the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, had been shouting this bald-faced lie, and it was bought hook, line, and sinker.
Once the citizens of the world were offended, the manipulation of the public was the easy part of the plan, and Desert Storm became a righteous war to take part in. As is often the case, one lie leads to another because the claims of Iraq having ties to Al-Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction were also found to be false. In an interview with Nayirah al-Sabah, she admitted to making the false claims but rationalized that their strategy to protect Kuwait was the only option they had and was the right thing to do. Again, the propaganda departments of our nations prove what Aeschylus, the Greek dramatist, said, “In war, the first casualty is truth.” 1John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
We are watching this unholy spirit at work on the world political stage at this time. Every political persuasion is hell-bent on politicizing every thought and word that comes out of anyone who tries to bring common-sense reasoning to the podium of leadership. A helter-skelter of nonsensical idealism is being used to create chaos in the hearts of the people while promoting a type of Nadsat speak that has become the language of these political gangs. They seem to be creating an agenda to provoke people to become offended with their neighbours, friends, and families, so that everyone is screaming something obscene at everyone else, then calling on the authorities to do something about the state of dysfunction in their lives. The questions become, “What is the endgame? What are the prince-powers of darkness trying to manipulate?” The demonic influences behind the scenes have always tried to destroy the relationship between God and man and the unity of the human race. That is the endgame!
God gives us the weapon to take this attack right back to the enemy. 1Tim. 2:1 First of all, therefore, I exhort entreaties, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, to be made on behalf of all men 2 for kings and all those being in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. God’s strategy for those who follow Jesus is to pray for one another and pray for those in political office. The reward for our faithful prayers is that we will live in peace, even though the world is on fire with war and disaster. The other reason God asks us to sincerely pray for those who are in leadership roles is that God can move the heart of a man in the direction God wants to go. Prov. 21:1 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it whichever way He wishes.
Prayers for those in authority are a tool that can be used without anyone’s permission other than God’s. The Lord says to pray for them so that they can start speaking a language of reason. Prov. 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to humans, but an answer on the tongue comes from the LORD. Our job/calling is to keep our emotions in line with the Word of God. We are to refrain from being offended and making offendedness our first reactionary choice when confronted with something difficult to process. If we can master this strategy, we will not be manipulated by the forces of darkness, and we will live in peace in the presence of God. Let God lead our hearts rather than letting everything else manipulate our hearts. May God give us the understanding to know the difference.
Another great one Norm.
Thank you, Larry.
We need to keep reading the signs of the time.
1Chron. 12:32 From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.