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I do not want to follow the example of many others clamoring about these issues and use education of this problem to promote a sense of fear or advocate violence in any way. I believe that would play directly into the hands of Lord Mammon from which this whole system came from originally. But on the other hand, to have conviction to take an opportunity to be aware of a system of slavery that has subtly deceived the whole world and is tightening its noose around our necks; to reject the chance to enlighten ourselves about the truth of the matter because it makes us uncomfortable, well, I believe that is at the very least highly irresponsible. It would be a choice to leave ourselves in the dark because the light of truth is so radically different than what we have always believed and we assume that it will be too painful and embarrassing. To choose that path is to willingly stay in darkness when we have been offered light and that to me would be a clear choice to sin against light.
But just because we become aware of the enormous hoax that we live under and how it is working to destroy us does not also mean that we know the way to respond to it. I believe that it is entirely two different issues that need to be addressed separately. I believe I am morally responsible today to investigate and clarify to the best of my ability the true nature of the trap that I find myself in, but just as I feel prompted by the Spirit to become more aware of this I also must remember that only the Spirit has the right answers and guidance for each individual to know what to do in response to this knowledge. In my experience it is nearly always true that the first thing that comes to our mind in reaction to bad experiences is the wrong thing to do. That is most likely because it springs from a root of fear and fear is the opposite of the most important element of God's system. So at this point I want to explore further clarification under the guidance of the Spirit and then listen carefully and peacefully to what I am instructed by God to do about it.
First I am going to look up the reference and find the allegory that appeared to me to greatly simplify the complexity of the financial hoax that we live under. That is like tapping into the big picture which has always been a great asset in helping me understand the details in any situation. Then I will listen and pray as to where to go from that point.
Several thoughts come to my mind regarding this situation from what I already know about it and from what is stirring my mind this morning. Part of the outcry about the fallacy of our current money system is that it is not backed by anything valuable like gold or silver anymore. While that is a very valid and critical point of truth, the question always comes to my mind, “What is inherently valuable about gold and silver?”
It almost seems to be a question that many people dismiss as trite and irrelevant. But I think an open-minded person will not dismiss it so easily. When it comes right down to the essentials that we need for living as humans on this earth how much does gold or silver contribute to making our life better or how does it make us thrive? It seems to me that the value placed on these metals in people's minds are always overblown and out of proportion to the real, actual usefulness of these elements.
This is actually part of the deceptive nature of the discussion about the monetary system that makes it so confusing. The arguments usually center around demanding that our currency should be backed by something substantial like gold and silver instead of just the assumptions of millions of people willing to accept pieces of paper stamped with unique lines and colors. There is a certain amount of truth in that argument, but my question goes even further. How life-giving is gold and silver in the first place? What is it about gold or silver that makes people so obsessed to value them so much?
Gold and silver are just metals. They have been found to be useful for decoration, for conducting electricity efficiently and for various other practical applications. But that does not explain the enormous obsession that people have had with these metals for thousands of years. I think a careful observer will have to sooner or later come to the conclusion that there is a supernatural spirit of some kind that infects people thus obsessed that is beyond normal reason and explanation. Careful study of the Bible and the history of money will reveal that, in fact it is a very specific spirit that is demonic in nature and extremely deceptive in its workings that has a specific name from very long ago. It was known to the ancients as the god Mammon.
This was the god believed to be in charge of wealth and everything associated with it. As such, it was worshiped, placated, prayed to and manipulated in man's ever-present desire to obtain more for himself. This is the god who encourages the selfishness inherent in our sinful nature and actually operates at the foundational level that drives the other two legs of the false systems that make up civilization: social position or kingship and law.
As I opened my Bible this morning to restart my study in Romans I read the following verses that again reinforce God's viewpoint of all of this. "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:34-36 NIV)
These verses clearly draw our attention to the true Source of the supply for everything we need for life. And it also makes it very clear that it is completely impossible for anyone anywhere in all of creation to get into a position as a creditor toward God. No one has anything that they could loan to God expecting a repayment because God is the originator of everything to start with so it would be silly at best to think that God could become a debtor. This applies to everyone in this world as well as the rest of the universe. This principle applies in economics just as it does in salvation. We cannot obligate God to us in any way with anything we do or have or attempt.
At first one may wonder what this has to do with our current system of economics. That is generally consigned by most people to the arena of religion and economics is a completely different arena that seldom involves anything about God in most people's minds. But that is part of the massive deception that we have been duped into assuming by Lord Mammon. Economics is not only amazingly deceptive and enslaving as it is currently configured, and far more so than most people realize, but the whole concept of economics itself at its most basic concepts is in defiance of the true system of heaven of which it is a counterfeit.
The prophecies in the book of Revelation make it clear that God's true and loyal children in the last days of earth's history are going to find themselves pushed out of the world's economic arrangements. ...no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. (Revelation 13:17 NRSV) We have usually viewed this as a terrible calamity that we must endure if we are to be God's loyal followers, but I think we need to view it quite differently. The more I realize the interference that the three false systems that make up civilization cause in our perceptions of reality and our proper relationships with God and His children, the more I believe that this time of separation from the world will actually be a great blessing in disguise.
Religious people all over the world, especially Christians, usually believe that to have harmony and unity among believers that we should live more like the early believers as described in the early chapters of Acts. There are many attempts to approximate or even force people to form groups or communes to look as much like that description as we can. It appears to be an ideal toward which we are supposed to strive. But the reality is that those people described in Acts did not come up with the right formula and achieve that kind of unity because they got the formula right or they set up the perfect set of rules that made everything synchronize perfectly. That had absolutely nothing to do with the “success” of the early church. In fact, they were so different and were becoming so foreign to the counterfeit systems of the world that they were being slowly cut off from access to those systems, both economically, socially and spiritually. They were being ostracized from the synagogues where they had spend their whole life worshiping together. They were being marginalized socially by those who refused to accept or appreciate their new, radical notions about God, and they were also being squeezed more and more out of the mainstream of commerce because their value systems were so at odds with each other.
The reality of the situation at that time was in fact just the opposite of what we often view as “success”. Those people were beginning to experience freedom from the systems of the world – economics, kingship and law – by the liberation of their hearts and minds through the light filling them from the Holy Spirit and they began to live under a radically different set of paradigms that were almost totally obscure to most people of their day as well as people today. They were living lives guided and motivated by the unselfish promptings awakened in each person by the unifying Spirit of Jesus. They became charged and empowered as they began to catch glimpses of the real world of the Kingdom of God that the counterfeit system had kept hidden from them for all of their lives. They lived lives of humble, self-forgetful service to others that was not forced or imposed on them in the slightest. In essence, they were being transformed quickly into the likeness of Jesus and were consequently repulsed by the world around them just as Jesus had been.
These two systems of thinking, living and motivation are so diametrically opposed and mutually exclusive that any attempts to mingle the two systems resulted in instant death to anyone daring to try to remain grounded while attempting to connect with this high voltage of God's presence. That is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and that truth was very clear to all of those who heard about what happened. They were not killed by an offended, angry God as some would assume, they were killed by their own choice of trying to touch a high voltage, pure and transparent atmosphere of love and open hearts while trying to remain grounded by retaining a part of the spirit of Mammon in their own hearts.
Likewise, in the end times when the true body of Christ once again coalesces into a similar purity, it would be fatal for those in such a pure atmosphere from heaven in their spirits to mingle any more with the earthly spirit of Mammon inherent in the whole system of worldly economics. Thus it will really prove to be a great blessing and will even be for their protection to be completely disconnected and cut off from buying and selling, because to remain attached to that counterfeit system would prove to be a fatal choice for anyone trying to cling to the world when God is preparing them for transition to heaven.
The real question arises then today, “At what point do we disconnect from the counterfeit systems and start living life in heaven's systems?” I do not claim to have any insight on this right now except to say that we need to listen much more carefully to the guidance of the Spirit and be willing to be educated as to the real issues involved so that we will hear the Spirit better. That is what I am feeling called to do right now and I choose to move even further in that direction. I believe there is coming a crisis very soon, very possibly in the next few months, that is going to shatter the relative peace of this world that will never be restored. We cannot imagine how frightening or intimidating it is going to be and we don't really need to dwell on that, for our greatest danger is in allowing fear itself to overwhelm us instead of clinging more tightly to the only real Source of life. Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18) I want to deepen my dependence on Him now so that I can be better prepared mentally and emotionally to trust Him even more when all hell breaks loose.
