Idolatry – Curse of a Nation
During a single ten-year period over 5.8 million Filipinos perished in natural disasters.
Isaiah 42:8 (NASB)
8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
God is a jealous God and he will not tolerate people giving credit to idols for the blessings that he provides. Idol worship brings a curse from God for this reason!
Idolatry brings a Curse to any Nation
I was a missionary in the Philippines from 1988 to 2002 and can speak from firsthand experience concerning the national idol-worship culture which exists in this country. The Philippines has a Spanish Roman Catholic culture which is identical to the Spanish Roman Catholic cultures of the countries found in Central and South America.
The problem with Spanish Roman Catholic culture is that they practice “syncretism” which is mixing their Catholicism together with existing pagan systems of worship.
When the Catholic Spaniards arrived to the Philippines and the nations of Central and South America, they found animist people who worshiped spirits in rocks and trees and objects of nature. So, the Spaniards introduced Catholic saint idols to these people and so these animists added the worship of Catholic idols together with their worship of spirits of their forefathers. Thus, the Roman Catholic idols were added to the pantheon of gods which these people worshiped. (The word “Pantheon” means a certain set of gods that are worshiped showing that such worshipers have multiple-gods or spirits in which they worship).
Animism (from Latin anima, “breath, spirit, life”) is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork—as animated and alive. Wiki [as having spirits influencing these objects]
I lived among animist tribal people for a time and observed how they would worship the spirits of rocks and trees and conducted elaborate rituals of spirit-appeasement even offering sacrifices to these spirits
I coined the term “religious-pagans” to describe those who are both religious and spiritist at the same time (meaning that they adopted Spanish type Roman Catholic idols together with their animist spirit worship). The religious part came from the Spanish Roman Catholic influence while the pagan part comes from the spirit worship of their animist forefathers.
The image above shows the festival of the Black Nazarene which is a carved Roman Catholic idol. During this festival multiplied millions of Filipinos all come out hoping to touch this idol or its clothing thinking it has divine powers or gives them good luck.
This shows the animist side of them which sees these objects as having spirits within them. The Spanish Roman Catholic side of them imagines this religious fervor as being devoted to Christ as they worship this carved idol. This is therefore a result of mixing Roman Catholicism together with animism which is called syncretism.
Syncretism Forbidden by God
However, the practice of syncretism is strictly forbidden when applied to the worship of the God of Israel. God’s people were not allowed to mix the worship of God together with pagan practices of spirit worship.
Deuteronomy 16:21 (NLT2)
21 “You must never set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build for the LORD your God.
The Asherah pole was symbolic of Asherah the goddess of fertility and the consort of the false god Baal. The children of Israel were not to erect an Asherah pole beside the altar built to the God of Israel or place a sacred stone or a stone pillar next to God’s altar (such as was symbolic of male fertility in pagan worship systems). Never were pagan religious articles or idols to be set up beside an altar intended for the worship of the God of Israel. They were forbidden to mix pagan worship together with the worship of God.
Deuteronomy 12:3 (NIV)
3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
God’s people were to break down all traces of pagan worship objects in the land such as the heathen altars and sacred stones and Asherah poles and the idols of these false gods.
The reason God commanded the destruction of heathen objects was because whenever humans bow before an object in worship then demons would come to receive that misplaced illicit worship which belongs to God alone.
1 Corinthians 10:19-22 (7KB)
19 So, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols has any significance in itself? or that an idol has significance in itself?
20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
21 You can’t drink both a cup of the Lord and a cup of demons, you can’t partake in both a meal of the Lord and a meal of demons.
22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
The idol itself is nothing but a carved or cast image created by the hands of humans but when someone bows before an idol then demon spirits will come to receive that illicit worship. When a pagan offers sacrifices to an idol, it is really the demon that occupies that idol which comes to receive that worship rendered by the person doing the sacrifice. Therefore, the sacrifices offered by the pagans are not offered to God but rather offered to demons who are part of these idolatrous practices.
The same is true of those who continue to practice animism because when they bow down to a tree or a rock or a waterfall or some other object found in nature then demon spirits will come to receive the illicit worship offered to these objects by these idolatrous animist people.
Any type of object that is man-made or natural will become the receptacle of demons when humans offer worship to such an object. In this sense the animists are correct that these objects can harbor spirits but these are not related to the Spirit of God but rather these are demon spirits who crave for the worship that belongs to God alone. Any type of object (both natural or man-made) can become an abode of demons as soon as humans present worship to that object.
In fact, there are animist people who are well-aware of the fact that they are worshiping demons. I know of a missionary who questioned such an idol worshiping man in Thailand at a pagan temple and inquired why he would bow down to something the he had made with his own hands. The idol worshiper showed him the back of the idol where he had created a hole in the idol. He said that when he bows down before this idol and offers food to it then the spirits would come and enter through that hole in the back of the idol to receive the worship he offered. He said that these spirits would stay out in the forest but would return whenever he would worship the idol he had made. So, in fact this idol worshiping man was well aware of the fact he was worshiping a demon spirit whenever he bowed down before the image, he had made himself.
Demon spirits Require no Physical Space
It should be noted however that demons are spirit beings and they do not require physical space to dwell in. A hundred thousand demons could occupy the head of a pin or one could occupy the space over an entire city that is many square kilometers in area. They are spirit beings so they do not require physical space to dwell in. Also, it is not necessary for them to use doorways or have holes made to enter into an idol. They can enter any type of object or pass through any physical barrier because they are spirit beings and do not have physical limitations as human bodies do.
See the link “Origin and Operation of Demons” for more details.
Psalm 106:37 (NASB)
37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,
Animist people will often offer animals or livestock to the spirits which they seek to appease and worship. In times past they frequently offered human sacrifices to demons as well.
In the time before Joshua entered the land (and even after that time) many of the godless pagans would not only offer livestock but also their own children as sacrifices to demons. Possibly they thought the greater the sacrifice the more they could appease the spirits so the sacrifice of their own children was the best thing they could give. So, they were sacrificing their own sons and daughters to the demons (which is murder and shedding of innocent human blood) and is strictly forbidden by the God of Israel!
1 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)
7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
In the time of Apostle Paul almost all meat sold in the meat market had been offered to demons when it was butchered. When the pagans cut the throat of the animal and its lifeblood drained out then the heathens considered that the life of the animal was taken by the demons (as it expired) and this became a sacrifice to these demons. Pagans considered the life of the animal as going to the demons and the physical flesh part of the animal as going to humans when it was cooked and eaten by people. All food offered in temples was like this because it was offered to demons before it was cooked for the people to eat.
Daniel 1:8-16 (7KB)
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but [pulse] to eat and water to drink.
13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”
14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them [pulse] instead.
The reason that Daniel did not want to defile himself with the king’s food was because this food was first offered to idols (demons) and Daniel did not want to eat such food because of the spiritual defilement related to it. So, Daniel asked for pulse (grain or vegetables) something that grew from the soil which had not been offered to demons as an animal sacrifice before it was cooked and fed to humans. God gave Daniel favor with the officials so that he was exempted from having to eat this defiled idolatrous food which had been offered to demons.
Acts 17:6 (7KB)
6 But when they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men who have turned the whole world upside down have come here too!
The pagan people were used to having their way of life based upon their idol worship culture but these things all changed when Apostle Paul and other believers preached the gospel and got people saved and taught them to turn away from their demon-worship culture of idolatry. It was after the demon-worship culture was broken that people could actually buy clean meat in the market that was not first offered to demons before it was sold in the marketplace. Everything was changing for the good after the gospel had been introduced!
But the pagans claimed that Paul and his companions were turning the whole world upside down! They thought their demon worship culture and the sexual immorality associated with it was normal to them. Doing anything different was thought to be an upheaval of all that was normal or right in the perspective of a pagan!
Deuteronomy 32:17 (NASB)
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread.
It must be noted that these pagans are not sacrificing to the God of Israel but they are sacrificing to demons which are not God! The same can be said of the Filipino National Idol Worship Culture because they are not worshiping the God of Israel or his Son Jesus but they are worshiping carved images which is strictly forbidden by the God of Israel. When they worship a carved image of Jesus then this object will attract demons which come to receive that illicit worship the same as the demons came to receive the illicit worship of their animist forefathers who bowed before rocks or trees or other natural objects.
Revelation 9:20 (NASB)
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
This scripture above speaks of God’s coming judgment upon those who worship the works of their own hands (meaning they crafted their own hand-made idols) then they worshiped these man-made objects. When these people made idols cast out of gold and silver or brass or carved them from stone or wood then they were worshiping demons when they bowed down before these man-made objects in worship. But even after being hammered with many plagues in judgment (as punishment for this idol worship of demons) these stubborn and hard-hearted people refused to repent of this demon/idol worship.
Amos 4:6-11 (7KB)
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
The Lord hammered this idol worshiping people with every type of disaster but regardless of what natural disasters happened to them, they still refused to repent nor turn from their evil ways if idol worship!
God hit them with famine and hunger but still they did not repent and turn to God.
God sent drought upon them so they had no water and yet they still did not repent and turn to God.
God sent plagues of blight and locusts to destroy the fruit of their fields but yet they did not consider their evil ways and repent.
God sent invaders who killed off their young men in war but still the did not consider their evil ways and repent.
God overthrew some of them like Sodom but the survivors still had no fear of God and did not repent.
These people continued in worshiping idols and demons and provoking the God of Israel to anger but they refused to repent of their evil ways.
Amos 4:4-5 (7KB)
4 Come to Bethel [where the golden calf is] and transgress; at Gilgal [another idol worship center] multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes every three days.
5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings– boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
These Israelites were going to idol-worship centers at Bethel and Gilgal and multiplying their transgressions against God by sacrificing to these idols and giving what belonged to God to these demons. This is why God hammered them with every kind of disaster because of the idol worship they were engaging in to provoke the jealous God to anger by the work of their own hands!
Deuteronomy 5:7-10 (7KB)
7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
10 but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
God commanded that humans are not to make any type of idol in the form of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the water or of any type object that exists in the natural realm or spiritual realm. This means there was not to be any type of idol or image made by human hands of any kind! People are forbidden by God to bow down or worship any type of object either man-made objects or natural objects. The reason for this is because demons enter these objects to receive that illicit worship offered to that object or idol. God is a jealous God so this is one thing that will provoke God’s anger more than anything else!
Idols of Heart Verses Graven Images
Ezekiel 14:3 (NASB)
3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?
This scripture above speaks of humans setting up idols in their hearts. But it should be noted that bowing to graven images is of much worse consequence than having heart-idolatry.
It is true that someone who has a heart-idol (like love of money) can go to hell for his offense if he does not repent. But this is on a personal level which is on a different scale of judgment than national idol worshiping culture where millions of people engage in worship of man-made objects or (graven images).
The worship of graven images will bring upon that nation every type of curse and natural disaster that can be imagined! This however cannot be said of heart-idols like a secular man who loves money and has an idol of greed in his heart. Having a heart-idol is bad and it is a sin but it does not compare with the worship of graven images (which is much worse in God’s sight).
Those who worship man-made objects are trafficking with demons who come to receive that illicit worship that belongs to God alone. Nothing can provoke the God of Israel to jealousy more than the worship of idols (as graven images) and the resulting traffic with demons!
A secular businessman by contrast is not trafficking in demons if he has a heart-idol (like greed) but an animist religious-pagan who bows to made-made idols or graven images (or other objects) will bring about great judgment of God (even on a national scale) when there are millions of people engaged in this forbidden practice.
Idolatry the Curse of a Nation
I was in the Philippines from 1988 to 2002 as a missionary and was present in the country when numerous natural disasters struck repeatedly throughout the 7,100 islands that comprise the nation of the Philippines.
When I was newly saved in 1978, one of the books that contributed to my spiritual growth was one on the topic of “How to Be Led by the Spirit of God” which teaches how to follow God’s leading through the inward witness. It is by this “inward-witness” that God does most of his communication with the believer.
See the link “Led by the Spirit” for more details.
As I followed the inward-witness, I repeatedly found that I would miss natural disasters that occurred when others I know had suffered through these disasters. I missed the disasters only because of being in the place at the right time.
For example, in just a three-year period of time from 1989-1991 there were some major disasters that I had missed but others I knew had suffered a lot during these same events.
Coup-d’état Attempt
In December 1989 there was a coup-d’état attempt against the government Corazon Aquino and the transportation in and out of the city was cut off. People I know personally suffered a great deal when they were unable to leave Manila due to the disruption of transportation caused by the fighting. I was not present in this city when this clash of military forces took place because I always follow the inward witness and I was always in the right place at the right time. I was safe in another part of the country that was not affected by this upheaval. I normally traveled frequently from Manila and then onto Northern Luzon but I was not present when this event took place.
Volcanic Eruption
In June 1991 Mt. Pinatubo erupted in northern Luzon Island and produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century. This eruption was followed by the arrival of Typhoon Yunya which brought a lethal mix of ash and rain. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from the region and mudslides and flooding occurring in conduction with this eruption disaster. The effects of this eruption were felt worldwide with more ash and aerosols ejected into the stratosphere than any other eruption since 1883. Again, I was not affected by this great disaster because I was in another part of the country and so was unaffected. I normally travel frequently through the region affected by this disaster but I was not there when this disaster took place.
7.8 Earthquake Devastation
In July 1990 there was an earthquake of 7.8 (surface-wave-magnitude) that struck Baguio city. I would commonly travel to this city on a regular basis but during this time I happened to be in Panay Island in the south and I only felt the harmless aftershocks. This earthquake produced a 125 KM-long ground rupture and caused damage in an area of about 20,000 square kilometers. Many perished in this earthquake as buildings in were leveled and people were buried alive. There were so many decomposing corpses left after this disaster that even the ground water (in wells) was under threat of contamination. Baguio City hotels, factories, government buildings, university buildings and homes collapsed in the disaster. The disaster also destroyed electric, water and communication lines. The main roads leading into the city were all closed by landslides and the airport was destroyed thus stopping all rescue efforts. Large numbers of people were living in tents and clean water and food was scarce and looting was also occurring. Those who survived this ordeal suffered a great deal and experienced much trauma and deprivation. Again, I was not present during this disaster because I was in another region that was not affected.
Massive Flash Floods
In November 1991, in Ormoc city on Leyte Island there was a tropical storm that caused a huge flood. Thousands perished in this region and in Ormoc City alone they buried about 5,000 bodies in a mass grave but thousands more were missing and presumed flushed into the ocean. My ministry travels brought me to this area only after the disaster had occurred and I was surprised to see that great wide-span concrete bridges had been wiped away as if they had been made of grass! A personal friend of mine who lives in this city told me that the water kept rising and he climbed onto the roof of his house then tied some big plastic containers together to act as floats to tie under his arms. Then he climbed a coconut tree as the water went higher than his roof! He said that during the disaster power lines fell into the water and electrocuted many of the people struggling in the torrent! He also said that many Philippine cobras were dislodged from the mountains by the flood and were swimming in the water and would bite people struggling in the waters. He told me that he had to strike them with a stick as he clung to a tree! He was a pastor and said that all of his members of his church survived except one back-slider but they suffered greatly in the aftermath because there was no clean water or food and everything was washed away. Again, I was not present when this disaster occurred but my travels only brought me to this area long after the event had taken place.
I had the operation of the “Word of Wisdom” for knowing future events which led me out of harm’s way repeatedly and it was by the “Inward-Witness that this spiritual gift operated.
See the link “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
When I shared my experiences with another missionary about how I missed all of these disasters then he told me how he had suffered when he was caught in the same disasters I had missed. He was stuck in Manila during the conflict and coup-d’état attempt that shut down the city. He also was on a jeepney just south of Baguio City when the earthquake struck. He was trapped on the highway by landslides that buried the highway. He then was forced to walk for days in mud and rain. Then he was captured by NPA rebels and held hostage for days before he managed to escape. He went through a list of disasters (the same disasters that I had missed) when I was in the right place at the right time while he was in the wrong place and the wrong time.
The inward-witness is available to all believers but many of them do not exercise it or develop it so they end up experiencing a lot of needless suffering because they were not being sensitive when God tried to warn them by the still-small-voice of the inward witness.
Disasters Commonplace in the Philippines
The fact of the matter is that natural disasters are commonplace in the Philippines just as in other countries like Haiti, India, and countries in Central and Latin America where idolatry is commonplace. Idolatry brings a curse and those countries that engage in idolatry on a large scale (national idol worship) will typically see a great increase in natural disasters.
In Manila, there is a place where the Roman Catholic idol called the “Black Nazarene” is kept is in a church located in a district called Quiapo. Around this church and within this area called Quiapo are many idol factories where idol-makers manufacture numerous idols! In just a short walk in this neighborhood I took hundreds of pictures of idols which could be seen in every store and home and business throughout that area. I was planning to use these images when I put on a seminar to teach about idolatry because most of these people are so used to these idols that they have become part of the landscape there. I wanted to illustrate with numerous images how widespread idolatry is in the Philippines. The idolatry is absolutely “rampant” as these animist people worship Spanish-type Roman Catholic images and idols.
Santo Nino is one of the popular type of images found everywhere in homes and businesses and even on public transportation (like buses and jeepneys, taxis and even ships). This idol is comprised of a carved head placed upon a stick. This idol head is dressed up from the chin down with gaudy religious robes (something like what a Roman Catholic Pope might wear).
Even though this idol is only a head on a stick (dressed up in Pope-garb) yet I have seen college-educated people like PAL airline stewardesses bow to and even kiss these idols! This is not something that only illiterate mountain people do out in the jungle but educated people also have the same religious fervor for these idols. They will pray to these idols for help and direction and bow to them and kiss them and offer food sacrifices to them and burn incense to them (as if these things were a living god that could help them in some way).
The idol manufacturing industry is booming in the Philippines because of millions of Spanish Culture Roman Catholics who are buying and worshiping these idols. There were idols galore in every home and shop and business around this one spot in Quiapo where I stopped to take pictures of this idol-culture. But this is a nationwide problem which is not just confined to one neighborhood like Quiapo in Manila.
Liberals always speak of preserving the culture of the people but in fact the gospel can purify any culture. In the time of Apostle Paul his preaching put a stop to the pagan practice of making child sacrifices to demons, and stopped the sexual immorality and the associated STD diseases related to their pagan worship systems, and all of the curses and natural disasters that come along with those people who worship idols. The gospel has the power to purify any culture and remove from that culture those things that are demonic and harmful to the people. There are many aspects of pagan culture which should be abolished completely especially when it is detrimental to the people and results in their own destruction.
The worship of idols brings natural disasters and if people do not see this from a spiritual perspective, they will wonder why their country is suffering an abnormal number of disasters.
Within just a ten-year period (within the fourteen years that I was present) there was recorded over 5.8 million Filipino people killed by natural disasters. This figure was confirmed by two separate disaster relief agencies.
This type of thing also occurred throughout the Old Testament. Whenever the Israelites worshiped idols they would be hammered with natural disasters and calamities in non-stop manner. The worship of these man-made objects attracts demonic activity which brings a curse to the idol worshipers and when idol worship is practiced on national scale (and is part of their national culture) then it brings disasters upon the entire nation and effects millions of people.
Nations like India and China and Haiti all have idol-worship cultures where millions of people engage in idol worship and these same countries have millions of people perish as a result of numerous natural disasters occurring. Over 70% of all disasters worldwide take place in Asian countries where idol worship is rampant.
Idol Worshipers Import Disasters
Even the United States has had an increase of natural disasters since the opening of the southern borders and the importation of idolatry from Central and South America. I have witnessed Hispanic Spanish culture Roman Catholics selling of idols on the streets in cities as far north of the Texas border as Nashville Arkansas. They are actively spreading the curse of idol worship to every state within the entire USA!
The Immigration Act of 1990 was passed by godless US politicians who have no comprehension about spiritual matters and their effect on such things as immigration. This Immigration act of 1990 opened the door for the large-scale importation of idol worshiping people from Spanish-culture nations of Central and South America. This Immigration act also removed homosexuality as grounds for exclusion from immigration. Thus, idol worshipers poured into the nation from Central and South America and homosexuals were also given special status for entry. Both idol worshipers and homosexuals bring spiritual defilement and a curse to any nation.
Spiritual Defilement Invades USA
The year 1990 when the Immigration Act opened the door for the importation of Spanish Roman Catholic idol-worshipers was also the year of the pig bomb! Wildlife biologists do not understand why the population of wild pigs exploded in the year 1990. Millions of wild pigs spread their defilement into forty states and have the potential to double in population every six months. Vast herds of wild swine have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of agricultural damage in the US and they are reproducing faster than they can be controlled. See the Utube video link below:
Again, secular people see no correlation between spiritual defilement and natural defilement. Often natural things are a reflection of spiritual things just as in the case of the Pig-Bomb population explosion! The filth and disease and destruction caused by the over-multiplication of wild swine has direct correlation to the importation of spiritual defilement and idolatry sponsored by the Immigration Act of 1990. This was the very year that the Pig-Bomb population explosion took place. It is no accident that the pig bomb of wild swine population exploded in the same year that the doors were opened for the spiritual defilement caused by the importation of millions of Spanish-type Roman Catholic idol worshipers into the US.
The chart above shows that the number of natural disasters worldwide peaked in the 1990’s just when the USA opened its doors to spiritual defilement and the importation of idol-worshiping people and homosexuals. The USA had previously held onto a Judeo/Christian culture that abhorred idol worship and held to biblical principles for living. But when the USA was flooded with idol worshipers then the same curse of disasters found in Spanish-culture Roman Catholic idol worship nations in the Philippines and Central and South America was also imported into the USA. When a nation as big as the USA begins to assume frequent disasters (like the Philippines) then the world-figure of disasters spikes incredibly high (as seen on the world-disaster statistics chart above-spiking in 1990 and after).
Idolatry is the Curse of The Nations
Until people understand that idol worship brings a curse of natural disasters, they will not comprehend natural phenomenon such as a Pig-Bomb population explosion or the spike of natural disasters that affects hundreds of millions of people across the globe.
But even when these people are hammered with one disaster after another the typical behavior of the idol worshiper is to call out to their idols for help in their trouble. I have even heard them say that the reason for the disasters is that they are not worshiping their idols enough! The truth of the matter however is the exact opposite and the worship of idols brings about a curse and causes multiplied disasters just as it did during the Old Testament era.
Jeremiah 44:16-18 (7KB)
16 “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD!
17 We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time, we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.
18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
Jeremiah the prophet rebuked the idolatrous Jewish women who invented a female deity which they worshiped by burning incense to this “Queen of Heaven” and pouring out drink offerings to this false idol. It was because of this idol worship that the anger of God was aroused and the nation of Israel was completely destroyed by war and disasters.
But even when everything was destroyed (and these idol-worshiping women were fleeing as homeless refugees) they still would not repent of the sin of idolatry. Instead they said that the reason they had all of these disasters was because they were not worshiping their idol called the “Queen of Heaven” enough! They would not listen to the rebuke of the prophet Jeremiah who told them they cursed themselves and brought all of these disasters upon the nation by their idol-worship and provoking the jealous God to anger by worshiping the work of their hands!
Jeremiah 44:20-23 (7KB)
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him,
21 “Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land?
22 When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today.
23 Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.”
Again, Jeremiah the prophet had to correct the twisted-thinking of these idol worshipers who said that the disasters were occurring because they were not worshiping their idols enough! Jeremiah told them clearly that this idol worship was the sin that brought all of the disasters upon them for breaking God’s commands not to worship idols!
I have repeatedly heard the same old worn-out statement from idol-worshipers (which is typical of their twisted reprobate thinking). These people always say that the disasters they experience were due to a lack of worshiping their idols. This in fact is exactly the opposite of what the God of Israel says who promises that those who worship idols will provoke the jealous God to anger and will bring disasters upon themselves by this illicit activity of idol worship.
Those who do not see things from a spiritual perspective will not make any correlation between what is happening in the natural realm with increase of disasters as it is related to the spiritual defilement of the increase of idol-worship worldwide!
Deuteronomy 8:19-20 (7KB)
19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.
God makes a clear promise to anyone who worships idols that they will surely be destroyed. Over 5.8 million Filipinos perished in this one small country during a single ten-year period. This occurred during part of the time (one segment of ten years of the fourteen years that I was present there). How much more judgment will occur with greater idol worship in larger nations like China and India and all of the idol-culture nations of Asia combined?
When America was added to the list in 1990 for becoming disaster-prone then there was a huge worldwide spike in the total number of disasters which cannot be ignored! The worldwide total is now enormous and there are now numerous disasters in many nations which affect hundreds of millions of people on earth!
Leviticus 18:28 (7KB)
28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
This scripture promises that if the people defile the land with their idol worship and perversion then the land will vomit them out! The huge increase in natural disasters is an indication of the land vomiting out the citizens who are bringing spiritual defilement to the land just as the godless heathens did before the time when Joshua arrived in the Promised Land to eradicate them completely.
Homosexual Defilement Brings a Curse
New Orleans for example was destroyed by a great flood in 2005 but this was the same city famous for holding “Mardi-Gras parades” which celebrated homosexual freedoms! Judgment came upon this city were spiritual defilement was not only accepted but also “celebrated” as a great freedom and milestone of cultural advancement!
Most certainly when people defile themselves with idol-worship and homosexual immorality (against the clear commands of the God of Israel) then they will open themselves up to the occurrence of natural disasters. This is a cause-and-effect situation of the land vomiting out those inhabitants who made themselves “vile” as seen from the perspective of God!