The Omega Times May 2007- No Grim Reaper

For centuries the world has portrayed the spirit of death as the Grim Reaper, a hooded figure in all black brandishing a scythe. This depiction originated from the tale of the Titan Cronus, the Greek god of the harvest. According to mythology, Cronus hated his father, and his mother (Gaia) was able to use this to her advantage. In an attempt to sever her relationship with his father, Gaia convinced Cronus to castrate him and provided a sickle to accomplish the task. Once Cronus had done this, he become god over creation and in turn began to devour his own children in order to protect his throne.

This worldly image of death seems only fitting when we consider what the Bible has to say about the root, response, and consequences of patriarchal rebellion.

THE ROOT OF PATRIARCHAL REBELLION
The doctrine of Jezebel

THE RESPONSE
The spirit of Elijah

THE CONSEQUENCE
The curse of death

God's response to patriarchal hatred is to send the prophet Elijah. During the days of Elijah, the Queen Jezebel had led Israel into idolatry and Elijah had shut up the Heavens in order to prompt the people to repentance. Rain did not return until the patriarchal foundation of God was re-established (I Kings 18:21- 38).

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6

The consequence for not heeding this call and failing to restore patriarchal order results in a curse, and it is this curse that we are seeing spread across the landscape. The warning of this curse of death is reiterated in Revelation.

"And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come." Revelation 2:18- 25

The Church at Thyatira was commended in many areas, yet Jesus found fault in that they gave place to Jezebel. They allowed Jezebel to usurp authority and seduce the people with her false doctrine. Further, he says that knowing this doctrine is akin to knowing the very depths of Satan. Satan at his worse tries to disguise his true evil nature and is transformed into an angel of light; that is what the the doctrine of Jezebel accomplishes. It encourages people to believe that they may live as they please (even diametrically opposed to the word of God) and still be accepted by God. It attempts to transform darkness into light.

When discussing what commands to give the Gentile converts, the Apostles declared the following, "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well." (Acts 15:28-29) Yet this is exactly what Jezebel seduces the people to do: eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication.

The Book of Ezekiel says it this way, "Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 22:24-31

These individuals "divine" lies on the people while claiming to speak for the Lord. They teach no difference between the holy and the profane, not upholding the way of the Lord but instead glorifying the ways of the flesh so that they can live off of the wealth of the people. For the unrepentant, God says that He will kill their children with "death." This is the curse and the legacy of a Jezebel spirit; it is an inheritance of death, sexual perversion, murder, witchcraft, and ultimately damnation.

With each passing day, it becomes more obvious that a spirit of death has been loosed upon the world. Many children now anoint themselves in preparation to receive this spirit through the music, the clothes, the movies, the very culture of our times. In such times, God seeks those who will stand in the gap and intercede for the people, so that they will not be destroyed. This is the call to the real church; to stand in the midst of perversion and proclaim God's word.

For those who do not know the Lord, the time of reaping what has been sown is indeed a dark and dismal time. Yet, for the servants of the Most High, it is a time of joy. For the Christian, there is no grim reaper but instead a plentiful harvest on the way to a glorious homecoming where we are met with the loving arms of our Savior. It is time to focus our eyes on the harvest as the Lord turns our captivity once more.