We have an appointment to keep in the 21st century. We have become supermen [and supermen think they have no need for God]. We have fashioned ourselves through imagery to be … as gods. Our appointment is to meet the Ant-lion … a type of the DEVIL [and we will keep this appointment with the DEVIL], and thus comes this message to you.

This message concerns … imagery. The image before us begins in the sides of a pit. Now, this isn’t just any pit. It is THE PIT! This pit is Hell. The word of God foretold of one who would be brought down to HELL. “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” [Isaiah 14:15]

Many others will follow!

In the gray mist that is descending in the road ahead for us, it becomes all so unclear to the eye … this ill-defined landscape we must all traverse.

The scene before us [for generations and generations] has seemed to us to be too remote in distance, and too far off in time, to give it proper due or consideration.

Now, certainly for most of us it seems too far off to even worry about, but eventually it comes for us … all of us. In a moment we reach the slippery slope to begin our uncontrolled descent down the side of the pit where untold millions have gone down before us.

“Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.” [Ezekiel 32:23]

We see in the murky light in our downward-speeding descent in the sides of this pit ahead of us … this groping ferocious appearance, a hideous creature with a robust, fusiform body revealing the very plump abdomen of a backward-moving bull.

Further, we see gleaming [in the pit’s light] the sickle-like jaws of this monster, which include several sharp and hollow projections, waiting for us to keep the gruesome scheduled event in life … called death.

Now, the jaws of this beast with his pincers [which are formed by maxillae and mandibles] are ready to pierce us, to inject his death-venom into us … his prey. We are his prey: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” [2 Corinthians 4:4]

This is a dark age that is closing in upon us. It is utter darkness … a spiritual darkness that is being foisted upon us by “the rulers of the darkness of this world.” “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]

It is for us today in the United States of America, as it was in Ezekiel’s day for the nation of Israel [as seen by the prophet]: “every man in the chambers of his imagery.”

As the leaders [the ancients of the house of Israel] were doing in secret in the chambers of their imagery so our leaders are doing today in secret in the chambers of their imagery.

Here is a question. What are these images seen in these chambers?

“Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” [Ezekiel 8:12]

1. The Spirit of Jealousy
2. Estrangement
3. By Imagery
4. In a Similitude
5. In a Secret Place
6. Emanates the Image of the Beast
7. The Culmination of Things in the Image of God

1. The Spirit of Jealousy

[Numbers 5:14] “And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:”

It has been many years ago now when I once knew a married man, who had a “spirit of jealousy” inexplicably come over him concerning his wife. Everything outwardly was looking okay with his marriage; however, he had this feeling coming over him that something was very wrong, that she wasn’t being faithful to him. There was this “someone” in her life that was that special intimate person to her [and he was not that person].

Now, someone who is faithful is true. And someone who is true is known as a virtuous person. Therefore, a virtuous person can be trusted to be faithful to the other person in their [marriage] relationship: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” [Proverbs 31:10-11]

To return to the story, with the passing of time, this man slowly figured out why this pall was hanging over him [the spirit of jealousy]. One day, seemingly by chance, he found out his wife had been hiding from him images [or pictures] of a secret person [the object of her romance] that she had been keeping from him. Her true affections [her love] had already been transferred to that other man.

The “spirit of jealousy” had performed, for this husband, as a true seeing-eye dog performs.

Now, it wasn’t too long before this man’s wife left him [divorced him] to pursue this other love.
Now, the ability to experience “the spirit of jealousy” is a very normal thing, and is intended to be part of the human design, for God designed man.

The “spirit of jealousy” is the part of us that gives the defensive sense that something is not right in a relationship between two persons. Being unfaithful to the one who loves you [within the marriage covenant] constitutes the very ultimate treachery of treacheries.

Now, why do we all have this defensive sense capability [“the spirit of jealousy”] built within us? The answer comes from asking another question. Here it is: Does an acorn fall very far from its tree? Then, where does this defensive sense capability come from? It comes from God! Man was created in the image of God.

This sense [“the spirit of jealousy”] is rooted in the very nature of God: “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” [Exodus 34:14]

Therefore, God is able to sense [or to feel] “jealousy” over those who are in a covenant relationship with Him. See for this thing in the word of God: “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.” [Deuteronomy 32:16]

2. Estrangement

[Genesis 35:2] “Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:”

When the one who is the object of a person’s love becomes unfaithful [in that relationship], then the result is this: Estrangement [or alienation] comes to destroy the relationship. This is what happened to “the house of Israel” in their relationship to God [in their hearts], according to the Scripture: “That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.” [Ezekiel 14:5]

Israel’s secret love affair with their idols estranged them from God. They became strange to God … through their creation of their evil imagery [their idols].

Now hear this: A spirit of jealousy comes as a result of an estrangement. This estrangement comes … when we look away from the one who loves us, in order to look upon another, and this thing is done from within the chambers of our imagery .

Now consider this truth. The chamber of our imagery is located in our heart. Watch your heart! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” [Jeremiah 17:9]

Lesson: Trust God’s word [the Bible], and not your heart!

There is something else to be seen here. This thing is concerning Israel’s turning from God to turn to their idols. It is the length of time [the duration] to turn from the one to the other. Note this: Israel turned “astray” after a while, which thing contrasts to what the “wicked” do. The “wicked” go “astray” immediately from very their birth! “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” [Psalm 58:3]

3. By Imagery

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” [Genesis 1:26-27]

Thus, the word image is equated to being in likeness. Man was created in the image of God.
Further, a man produces [or begets] a copy of himself “after his image”: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” [Genesis 5:3]

The lens of the Holy Ghost is used to focus the light of the word which is emitted from the self-same Spirit into an image seen in the human heart.

• This invisible latent image in the human heart was meant to bring glory to God.

• This invisible latent image burned into the human heart was meant by God to remain in the human heart without resorting to props, or to external replacements.

Thus, we have God’s commandment [to Israel]: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” [Exodus 20:4]

“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.” [Leviticus 26:1]

“Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,” [Deuteronomy 4:16].

God forbids the graving of an image [the likeness of anything, which act of engraving corrupts a man], which begets an intention to replace God with man’s inventions. [Deuteronomy 4:23-25, 16:22]

“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” [Isaiah 42:8]

The image becomes an object which receives the attention of a man. This object then becomes an idol to a man. The idol replaces God and provokes God to jealousy because the idol gets the attention [the worship], which attention [or worship] belongs … only to God. [2 Kings 3:2, 2 Kings 10:27, 2 Kings 21:7, Psalm 106:19]

Now for this, we see men in the Bible [Daniel’s three friends], who were on top of this vey danger [of idolatry], and had determined [in their hearts] to be wholly true to God, and not worship this image before them: “But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” [Daniel 3:18]

We are now ready to see a relationship. The form of a thing is tied more to the physical while the image of a thing to tied more to the supernatural. There is a connection but not a hard connection.

We see this relationship pictured for us in the Scripture in the book of Job: “It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,” [Job 4:16].

The definition of an image fashioned … as an idol … is given by the Holy Ghost through the prophet Isaiah:

 Man manufactures the image: “The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.” [Isaiah 40:19-20]

 Man witnesses in his vanity the transformation of the work of his hands: “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.” [Isaiah 44:9]

 Man worships the image that has become the idol. “Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.” [Isaiah 44:15]

 The image becomes their god [idol]. “And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.” [Isaiah 44:17]

The conclusion [by the Holy Ghost] is this:

The propensity of man is to corrupt himself with self-made imagery is the futile attempt by sinful man to produce his own god, and thereby, produce his own salvation. See this in the book of Isaiah: “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.” [Isaiah 45:20]

Once corrupted, man now degenerates to the level of total confusion. He becomes “confounded”. “Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.” [Jeremiah 10:14] [See also Jeremiah 51:17.]

This is what man has done! Read Romans chapter one, verse twenty-three: “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” [Romans 1:23]

Next  4. In a Similitude