PTNews
August 2019
Published monthly
All Bible references are from the KJV (Examining the News in Light of Biblical Truth)
P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006
Living in a Culture that Loves Satan
By Mike Wingfield
For true followers of Christ, it is very evident that our world is in a free-fall toward the final hour of horrific spiritual darkness. Christians who are walking in the light of the Word and are in fellowship with a holy God can see the spiritual darkness all around them. This shroud of darkness is sucking the souls of people around them into a black hole of deception and death at an unprecedented rate.
There has been an ongoing spiritual war between the forces of heaven and hell since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Satan and his demons know what the Bible says about their future doom and they are consequently focused on intensifying the battle to defeat God’s plans for His Messiah. They know they must attempt to stop Jesus from fulfilling His Father’s eternal agenda. 
When Jesus came to the world the first time, He centered His ministry in Galilee. This area was called “the Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 9:1). It received this title because the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee was occupied by wicked pagan Gentiles who were worshiping demons. The entire area, including the Jewish territory on the western side, was influenced by this pagan culture. Likewise, people suffered from demon possession. More than 700 years before Jesus came, the prophet Isaiah predicted that the people occupying this area would be living “in the land of the shadow of death” (Isaiah 9:2). The demons had taken control of the people and they were being “driven to darkness” (Isaiah 8:22). This great prophet of God also proclaimed that the people in this region would see “a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). Most Bible scholars agree that the context of Isaiah 9 is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. Consequently, Jesus, during his time on earth, was constantly rescuing people by casting demons out of them. As Jesus approached His sacrificial death on the cross, He declared, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).
On Jesus’ first visit to earth, He triumphed over Satan, his demons, and their evil agenda. About 70 years later, He revealed Himself to His apostle, John, who was isolated on the isle of Patmos and declared, “I am he that [is alive], and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death” (Revelation 1:18).
From the perspective of our eternal, omnipotent God, Satan is a defeated foe. However, the spiritual battle is still raging because Satan is desperately trying to defeat God. It is his finite, sinful will that keeps him focused on doing what he fears is impossible. He really has no other option.
As we approach the end of this age, Satan knows that his time is growing short and that he must intensify his war against God. A part of his strategy is to deceive the nations into following his wicked agenda. His ultimate goal is to have the nations of the world worship and serve him. The Bible tells us that when the end times come, the global population will be in love with Satan (Revelation 9:20). They will openly worship and serve him. Some people will do this in ignorance, while being deceived by others and Satan’s schemes. Satan’s desire is to entice their sensual feelings and appeal to their sinful will. These people will cling to seducing demonic spirits (1 Timothy 4:1). However, there will be others who will be fully cognizant of their commitment to Satan and his demonic hordes. Some will openly and adoringly embrace the devil as their god.
I recently saw the evidence of this. While waiting at an airport for my flight, I saw a young couple boarding their plane for a flight that preceded mine. They were wearing large black top hats. It was very apparent that they wanted to draw attention to themselves. The young woman was wearing a t-shirt that said, “Satanic Fanatic.” I must admit that I was stunned to see this person proudly wearing her allegiance to Satan as a badge of honor.
Several weeks before this, I was sitting in my car at a local Walmart. My attention was drawn to the car parked in front of me. I did not want to stare at the car since a young man was sitting in the driver’s seat. In a few moments, he got out of the car and went into the store. I gazed at the car and after a few moments, I decided to get out of my car in order to casually walk around the car to more closely examine it. I could not believe what I saw! In the back window area there were two large black plastic scorpions facing each other. The symbols of death, aliens, and demons were prominently displayed around the car. The word “tattoo” was plastered across the top of the front windshield. The license plate on the car brandished one word– “carnage.”
As I witnessed this, I immediately thought of the details of Revelation 9. This chapter of the final book of the Bible speaks of one of the most chilling judgments of God that will be poured out upon the earth during the Tribulation. In this divine judgment, God will send one of his angels to open a bottomless pit on earth. The text reads, “And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power” (Revelation 9:2-3).
It is apparent from the text that this chapter speaks of two demonic invasions of earth that will occur immediately before the mid-point of the Tribulation. The first demonic invasion will bring pain and s uffering. Demons will materialize as flying creatures that have scorpion-like tails. They are described in symbolic detail in Revelation 9:7-10. These demons will attack the sinners on earth, striking them with their scorpion-like tails. This sting will bring unbearable pain upon its victims for five months.
In the last section of Revelation 9, the apostle John wrote about the second wave of this demonic invasion of earth. This invasion will be both painful and lethal. A demonic army, numbering 200 million, will come out of the Euphrates River (the former area of the Babylonian Empire). This same area is today the heart of the Islamic world and the current center of Islamic jihad aimed at creating havoc and carnage to attain global control. This demonic army will slay one-third of the earth’s population (Revelation 9:15). These demons will materialize as weird creatures with serpent-like tails. They are described with in detail in Revelation 9:17-19.
In my opinion, we are living at a unique time when many people are being prepared to worship these demons and be fascinated with them when they appear. Satan is using various forms of media to carry out his diabolical plot, including sci-fi movies, violent and sensual video games, and rock music to lure people into his trap of death and eternal damnation. People’s fascination with tattoos, body piercings, alien beings from other planets, and the occult give even more evidence that Satan and his demons are hard at work. It is highly likely that when these demons materialize as described in Revelation 9, the demon worshippers on earth will be enamored with them. Sadly, they will run toward these demons, only to be stung with their scorpion-like tails.
The young man who owned the car that I saw in the Walmart parking lot is certainly focused upon these creatures. The fascinations that flood his mind tell me that he has been captivated by Satan’s agenda which will unfold during the Tribulation Period.
As we consider all of this, we must recognize that we are living at a time when people have no Biblical insight and have seared their conscience. They are living without any influence from the Holy Spirit to restrain them. As a result, they have no fear of evil, death, and deception. They have reached the spiritual point of no return. They have lost the ability to reason or have any common sense. As I mention in my book, Living in a World with No Conscience, this is the kind of world that is open to demonic possession. You can order copies of my book from this ministry. 
In my book, I wrote, “the work of the Holy Spirit in man’s conscience is the only means whereby God can restrain a person from the deadly dangers of sin. According to the Bible, a nation or individual can spiritually reach a point of no return. This means that the Lord’s work of grace and restraint in their conscience ceases, and they are left to their own foolishness and ultimate eternal demise. A person or culture reaches this point when the Spirit of God can no longer do a work in the human conscience to produce a fear of evil that can lead them to repentance. When this takes place, God gives them over to their destructive ways (Romans 1:24-27). This spiritual point of no return is irreversible! John MacArthur, Jr. states in his excellent book, The Vanishing Conscience, ‘Obliterate the human conscience, and you will raise an amoral and unredeemable generation.’
“When this takes place, another horrific spiritual tragedy takes place. When a person no longer has a functioning conscience and is completely driven by his sinful rebellion against God, he will be open to demonic oppression or possession. The Bible informs us that demons, who are fallen angels (see Revelation 12:4), roam the earth looking for individuals to enslave. Simply stated, they are looking for a person who will become their puppet. They want a person whose conscience has been seared. This person will have no inhibitions. Therefore, the demons will be able to use that person’s body and mind to accomplish their hellish agenda while destroying their victim at the same time. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 gives the following warning about the end of this age, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of [demons]: Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”
When people have no conscience and they are influenced by demons, they will act like animals. They will be filled with a spirit of lawlessness, greed, violence, murder, hatred, immorality and arrogance. (Read the complete list in Romans 1:29-31.) They will exhibit unmerciful behavior, while also being unloving and unthankful. Moreover, they will be fierce, lack self-control, and have a deep passion for sinful pleasure. A person influenced by demons will hate God and all of those who want to be like God. (Read the complete list in 2 Timothy 3:2 thru 5.) If we are honest, we must admit that this is a description of the current American culture.
“Sadly, the reality of demons and hell is not being taught in our so-called evangelical churches today. And while churches tragically neglect their duties, the Bible says that the future of a nation depends upon the good conscience of its citizens. This creates the foundation upon which a nation lives and works. If that foundation is weakened or destroyed, the nation will be destroyed also. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do” (Psalm 11:3)?” (Mike Wingfield, Living in a World with No Conscience, pp. 36-38) If you have not read my book, I urge you to purchase a copy. My book addresses the question – Has America reached the point of no return?
Satan is very busy preparing this global generation for his final assault on God’s eternal agenda. He is marshaling his forces in his desperate attempt to defeat God.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we do not need to fear any of this. “Greater is he that is in [us], than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We are on the side of Almighty God! We are on the winning side. When the end comes, Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10). All of those who follow him will join him in that eternal place of damnation (Revelation 20:15).
Those who are redeemed will be with their Lord in the New Heaven and the New Earth, where the former sinful and painful things “are passed away” (Revelation 21:5).
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Latest Population Stats
Israel recently released its latest population statistics. Now, 9.021 million people call Israel home. Jewish people make up 74.2 percent (6.697million) of the population. The number of Arab citizens now stands at 1.89 million, which is 20.9 percent of the total population. It is estimated that about 45 percent of the world’s Jewish population now lives in Israel (The International Jerusalem Post, May 10-16, 2019, p. 9).
Just as the Bible predicted, the world’s Jewish population continues to migrate back to their ancient home land. The Bible predicts that eventually, all Jews will move back home to Israel. Listen to the declaration of God in Ezekiel 39:25-28, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.” According to the Scriptures, the final regathering of the Jewish people to Israel will take place at the end of the Tribulation Period. When the millennial kingdom of God begins, the entire Jewish population will be redeemed (Romans 11:26). They will return to Zion to live in the presence of their Messiah in their land.
Making Water Out of Air
According to the prophetic Word of God, the end of this age will bring a life-threatening drought and a shortage of fresh water (Revelation 11:6; 16:4-6). There is one nation that is more prepared than any other nation to deal with this calamity – Israel.
More than one-half of the state of Israel is desert. To the south and east, Israel is surrounded by semi-desert and desert land. Israel does not have adequate water for its present population living on the western side of the Jordan Valley. More than 23 million people depend upon the water sources in this area. Water is being drawn from the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and underground aquafers. However, all of this is not adequate to care for the residential, agricultural, and commercial needs for water.
Israel is a world leader in the management and creation of water. The Israelis have developed an ingenious series of innovative water conservation measures. More than 86 percent of the wastewater in Israel is collected and filtered for agricultural use. For several decades, Israel has designed and used a drip-irrigation system to grow their crops. A series of plastic pipes are laid down in agricultural areas. Near each plant there is a brass orifice in the pipe where water is pumped and released at each plant near the roots in the soil. Irrigation systems that spray water into the air are inefficient, allowing too much of the water to be wasted as it evaporates. Water tanks are also filled with plant food so that each plant also receives the right amount of nutrients for optimal growth. And electrode is inserted in the ground in a few plants in sections of the field. These electrodes constantly measure the amount of moisture in the ground. When the moisture is too low for plant growth, it sends a signal to the computer that controls the pumping of the water to the plants so that it turns on the water and plant food to flow into the field. When the right amount of water saturation has taken place, the electrode sends another signal to the computer to turn off the water flow to the field. This ensures that the crops will not be over watered, which minimizes the waste of water.
Israel not only manages its use of water, but it also creates an abundance of fresh water. Israel is a world leader in desalination of ocean water. Their desalination plants produce 55 percent of all of the fresh water consumed in Israel.
One Israeli company, Watergen, has developed the technology to make water out of air. This process operates much like a dehumidifier. The water generator takes in the air through a heat process and removes the moisture. This moisture is filtered, and collected; minerals then added to create pure drinking water. These water generators are being manufactured for homes and larger commercial usage. There are plans to have an application for cars, so that people will have a constant source of fresh water as they travel. All of this ingenuity would also eliminate the demand for plastic bottles, which are a problem for the global eco system (The International Jerusalem Post, May 10-16, 2019, p. 24).
Jesus was a Palestinian?
For several decades now, Muslims have been claiming that Jesus was a Palestinian. It is true that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, which are now occupied by Muslim Arabs. However, this does not make Jesus an Arab Palestinian.
The Bible is adamantly clear about the lineage of the Jews and Arabs. Jewish people trace their ancestry back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 1:1-17). The Arab people’s ancestry goes back to Abraham, Ishmael (Genesis 25:12-18), Esau (Genesis 36), and the sons of Abraham and Keturah, Abraham’s second wife after the death of Sarah (Genesis 25:1-11).
Therefore, the Bible gives overwhelming evidence that Jesus was not an Arab Palestinian. He is an ethic Jew with a proven ancestry. The reason for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is because Joseph and Mary were both descendants of King David, the king of Israel, and needed to register for taxes in the city of their ancestry – Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-4). The prophet Micah, 700 years before the birth of Jesus wrote, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
Why would the Islamic world want to make Jesus a Palestinian Arab? They do this in an attempt to erase the Jewish history of Israel. This is part of a larger argument that is based upon a false claim that the Jews are new comers to the Holy Land. The Muslims claim that all of the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – were devout Muslims. This is also an attempt to deceive the evangelical Christians into supporting the Palestinians’ claim to the land. Believe it or not, there are many Christian groups who believe these claims and support the Palestinian struggle against Israel’s claim over the land and the city of Jerusalem. This demonstrates that many so-called Christians have twisted the Word of God to their own means. Those who have done this have unknowingly made it impossible for Jesus to be their Savior. Jesus taught that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). When Jesus sent out His disciples, He instructed them to not go to the Gentiles, but “rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” (Revelation 5:5). Clearly, if you side with Islam about the identity of Jesus, you are worshipping another Jesus and cannot be saved! Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They do not believe that He died on the cross or arose from the dead. To Islam, Jesus is nothing more than a prophet who is merely a godly man. The Islamic teaching about Jesus is an open denial of all that the Bible teaches.
“Israel is A Dreamland”
Some of the Sunni Arab states from the Persian Gulf continue to move toward a reserved recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in the midst of their Islamic world. As this develops, journalists and diplomats from these countries are beginning to visit Israel for the very first time.
As these Arab visitors come from their arid desert countries, they are wowed by what they see in Israel. One visiting journalist recently said, “This visit to Israel is like touring a dreamland. If only we would be able to bring hundreds of people from our countries so that when they go back, they can tell what they saw and felt.” (worldisraelnews.com, July 23, 2019)
This reaction of wonder and awe is a testimony to the fulfilled promises that God gave to His people about their return to their ancient homeland. The land of Israel at the beginning of the 20th century was a desolate wasteland. Since the beginning of the return of the sons of Jacob, they, with the blessing and wisdom of God, have been able to transform the land into an agricultural and commercial miracle. Long ago, God spoke to the land of Israel and promised what would take place when her children would return from the nations of the world. “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:8-11).
It is amazing to visit the Holy Land and witness the ongoing miracle of the transformation of land as God has promised. I have been going to the land of Israel for more than 30 years and I have witnessed this amazing marvel. However, some of the amazing progress in the greening of the land of Israel has been a result of the hard work and agricultural technological advances of the Israelis over the last 100 years. It has been especially intriguing to watch the gradual greening of the desert in southern Israel. On several occasions, my tour groups have traveled through these desert areas. To our amazement we have witnessed the growth of large Israeli farms (kibbutzim) that are pumping water up from the large underground aquifer to irrigate their crops. They are expanding the massive groves of date palms that flourish in the desert heat, with the application of the irrigation water. These dates are very large and they are scrumptious. I know because I purchase them and bring them home. A stop at kibbutz Yotvata is very rewarding. This desert farm operates one of the most popular dairies in Israel. Their rich fields of alfalfa, watered by irrigation, provide the cows with the perfect nutrients they need. My tour groups have feasted on the dairy products at this kibbutz. Their ice cream of many exotic flavors is creamy and tasteful. It is some of the best ice cream I have ever eaten.
Amazingly, all of this is only a small token of the incredible miracle that will take place in Israel’s desert at the end of the Tribulation. Then, God will send a massive earthquake in this desert and flood portions of the desert floor, making it a fertile swamp and a place of incredible vegetation (Isaiah 35:1-2, 6-7). Those who walk through this refurbished desert during the kingdom will refer to it as being like “the garden of Eden” (Ezekiel 36:35).