Friday Morning Manna January 18, 2019
Nathaniel Fajardo email: [email protected]
How is the ‘House of Jacob is Replenished from the East’?
“Therefore Thou hast forsaken Thy people, the house of Jacob because they are replenished from the east [‘filled with Eastern ways, N.K.J.V.].” Isaiah 2:6, K.J.V.
“Prophets are subject to prophets” and “no prophecy is of any private interpretation.” (1 Cor. 14: 32; 2 Pet. 1: 20). Thus, following in the line of prophets and their thread of prophecy, E. G. White explains in today’s language what John expressed in prophetic language: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” Rev. 16: 13, 14. What are these?
The Three-fold Union of Romanism, Apostate Protestantism and Spiritualism—not Islam
Here’s the early stage of the final threefold union of religion of Revelation 16: “By the decree enforcing the institution of the Papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation [the United States] will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. WhenProtestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp the hands of Spiritualism, when under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous workings of Satan and that the end is near!” – E. G. White,Maranatha, p. 190.
Let’s take a closer look at modern-day Spiritualism and some of its widely accepted forms that originated from Oriental East. The antitypical Elijah message of the Advent movement exposes and warns against both Christianized Paganism and Christianized Spiritualism.
Prophesying that “it shall come to pass in the last days,” Isaiah (2: 2-6) first says “many people will go and say,” then follows with what God says: “Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob because they are replenished from the East and are soothsayers like the Philistines and they please themselves in the children of strangers.” (See Isa. 2: 5, 6)
How does this apply to the developments in the religious world at this junction of the Advent Movement? We learned last time that the once-Protestant, turned-antinomian “grace-only” Christian churches that have sadly embraced what their founders protested against and shed their blood for, are the “house of Jacob” are referred to in Isaiah 58: 1.
How are they “replenished from the East,” or as the N.K.J.V. states it, “filled with Eastern ways.”? First, the Oriental nations and countries are known as the East. And Babylon was at the center of the religious east. See Jer. 51: 7. Franklin D. Wagner says in hisThe Drama of the Universe, pp. 481-486:
“Now if the Protestant churches are the ones who are being replenished from the East we should expect to see them forsaking more and more the plain teachings of God’s Word, and imbibing (being replenished, refilled) more and more the religion of Babylon. In other words, we would expect to be rife in the world today many things that savor of the old religion of Babylon. In the preceding pages of this book [by Wagner] the reader is prepared to discern a Babylonian characteristic. Note for instance the immortality doctrine, Christmas, Easter, and the intensified determination to create a union of church and state [1888 Sunday law crisis].
“Never was there a time when Easter Sunday has been so much magnified as now. Can anything be found between the lids of the Bible for Easter sacredness? No, go rather to pagan mythology for its origin.
“Indeed it is a recognized fact that religious notions from the Orient are gaining ground in the western world today. In an article on theosophy, appearing in the East and West, a literary and scientific review published in Bombay, an Indian writer says of the trend of thought in the west, ‘We now have a spectacle of a general intellectual movement in directions strangely parallel with Oriental Philosophy.’
“A Buddhist observer says of the Eastern doctrine: ‘Its thoughts are stealing unseen through the whole West.’ Still another writer says: ‘If we investigate early Paganism by the light of recent discoveries, we soon perceive that its chief strength lay in itsintellectual attractions, and that many of its priests and initiates were distinguished as philosophers and men of science. But, still more strange! If after our investigation, we glance at the world today, we see the men of this nineteenth [now the twentieth] centuryreturning to the wisdom of long past ages, and modern thought sustaining its flight upon the wings of ancient lore. Nay, almost every characteristic of antiquity seems to be reappearing.’
Higher Criticism. “These quotations from the East and West are from the pens of men who are acquainted with the Oriental philosophy, and are capable of discerning its character in the so-called higher criticism—New Thought, Theosophy, Spiritism, All-nature God, God everywhere and nowhere in particular, everybody a part of God [pantheism], Mesmerism, Hypnotism, Christian Science [Scientology], faith doctors, clairvoyants, inherent immortality, etc.
“Mrs. Eddy [founder of Christian Science] in endeavoring to harmonize her views with scripture mixes up the scripture language with her own and develops the following thought: ‘Sinners flourish ‘like a green bay-tree,’ but looking farther the Psalmist could see their end, namely the destruction of sin through suffering.’ – Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 5, b. 17-19. . . . . It will be seen at once that it is merely a revival of the old Babylonian idea of bodily suffering as a means of purifying the soul.
“Surely the spiritual condition of the world today shows that the Elijah message is due. Many of the honest-hearted in the popular denominations are noticing a decided change coming over their people. How often do we hear the remark that such or such a church is not what it used to be. The prevailing new thought idea and higher criticism tend solely toward the repudiation of the supernatural or the miracle of the Bible and seek to account for all things even life itself on philosophical grounds. While the evil one is plying his delusions as never before, God is at the same time uncovering his devices and revealing them to the world, an making up the remnant of His people who He calls His servants and gives them His seal Rev. 7: 1-3.
Truth Vs. Fables. “Should we ask what all this religious declension means, the only answer one could be given is from the divinely inspired book, which, in speaking of ‘the last days’ enumerates 18 different sins that will characterize those who ‘having a form of Godliness by deny the power thereof.’ 1 Tim. 3: 1-5. Of the same class Paul says: ‘For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine . . . . and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables. Remember that the God of Heaven has forewarned us that just what we see in the religious world should come to pass ‘in the last days.’. And He speaks of them as ‘perilous times.’” Franklin D. Wagner, “The Drama of the Universe,” p. 486.
Vance Ferrell, in his must-have reference book, The Occult Invasion into America,Harvestime Books, chapter “The Buddhist/Hindu Invasion,” pp. 90-92, wrote the following excerpts:
Tantra. – “This is the name of the ancient Hindu sacred texts that contain certain rituals and secrets. It is now, for the most part, quietly entering the West. Tantra is the form of Buddhist/Hindu yoga in which, when the spirit comes,—has sex with the one who yields his mind to him! Other sexual activities are also performed. I only mention this to show you the type of totally immoral ‘spiritual being’ you are dealing with.
MANTRAS. – “If you decide to try to ‘find God’ by the use of mantras,–you are going to encounter a demon! He may be very kind at first, but you cannot tell what may occur later.
“The most common method to induce this thoughtless state is mindlessly repeating one word until your mind just blanks out. An alternate method is think about breathing. Either way, you are told to eliminate all thinking from your mind; so that a strange, new sense of relaxation can take control of your whole body. Remember that, when this is done, a person is voluntarily trying to stop mental functions, so he can experience something pleasant. But, in doing this, he is opening the doors for a demon to enter!
“Since mantras are central to this type of so-called ‘meditation,’ we want to carefully learn more about them. ‘Mantra’ is a Sanskrit word which means ‘man,’ meaning ‘to think,’ and ‘tra,’ which means ‘to be freed from.’ And that is exactly what it does to those willing to practice this ancient Buddhist method of making contact with the spirit world. It puts them into a trance—using the same basic method which we earlier learned that a witch uses—in order to make contact with the spirit world!
Yoga. – “The word ‘yoga’, means ‘to unite’ in Sanskrit. The mantra repetitions free them from control of their own mind, and yoga unites them with a demon. Simple as that! A person spends about twenty to thirty minutes topping his conscious thinking process until an altered state of consciousness envelopes him.
“One therapist, Jacquelyn Small, cites so-called ‘contemplative prayer’ as a gateway to the spirituality to which she belongs. But ‘contemplative prayer’ (also called ‘centering prayer’) is just a Christian name for mantra yoga mind-blanking exercises, used to make contact with spirits. Christians will be told that they should repeat ‘Jesus’ over and over again—but that does not make it safe nor Christian!
“In the following statement, Ms. Small reveals that the mind-emptying procedure results in:
‘A form of Christian meditation, its practitioners are trained to focus on an inner symbol [a mantra] that quiets the mind. . . . When practitioners become skilled at this method of meditation, they undergo a deep trance state similar to hypnosis.’ –Jacqueline Small, Awakening in Time, p. 261.
“Both psychiatrists and psychologists are required to study how to hypnotize people in order to obtain their professional degrees. Keep that in mind, the next time you are considering visiting one!
“This state of self-hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness (a hypnotic state) that Buddhists, Catholics,–and now many Christians—interpret as being in the presence of God. Yet similar practices of repeating phrases or the name of a god are also practiced in various non-Christian religions.” Ibid, pp. 95, 96.
Contemplative Prayer.’ – “If you are going to buy the ‘contemplative prayer’ package, you ought to know all that is included in it. Although it is claimed that the spirit which arrives to fill the void in your emptied mind is the presence of God, in reality it is a sensual, vile spirit! It is a horrible demon!
Samadhi. – “The supposed Buddhist/Hindu goal is to have special knowledge that others do not have [as in ‘Illuminati,’]. In Hinduism this secret ‘all knowledge’ is called samadhi or ‘enlightenment.’
“The word, occult, means beyond the realm of human comprehension: it is something available only to the initiate, as in ‘occult lore.’ But Occultism is actually another name for witchcraft, and is a device of Satan to fulfill his statement to Eve in the Garden of Eden: If you disobey God and seek advanced knowledge through indulging in sin—you will enter a higher realm: you will have knowledge you did not have before, and you will be as God Himself. [Gen. 3: 4-5 quoted].
“In Hinduism, samadhi is the final objective in yoga meditation. Sitting cross-legged, or even sitting in a chair, as one mindlessly repeats a single word or phrase until his mind is self-hypnotized,– a spirit enters and gives him thoughts and physical sensations which cause him to imagine that he has entered into a higher existence. The though comes forcibly to him that God is in everything— a force flowing through all that exists. ”(Continued next week)