Satan’s Diabolic Dialectic
In just a few short months we’ve seen how rapidly the world can change; and yet, what we are witnessing is little more than the product of 6000 years of Satan’s strategic deployment of deception and destruction.
The adversary has specialized in the development of two different, though complementary, satanic forces: 1) the spirit of authoritarian tyranny, and 2) the spirit of anarchy/rebellion. It’s undoubtedly a diabolical dialectic.
Recently, we have watched, stunned and awestruck, as the forces of evil have managed to toggle between the two destructive forces in a matter of mere days. And as we approach the close of time, the interplay of these two will become more pronounced, each mutually enhancing the other and accelerating this world into the final events of earth’s history.
So, if you get nothing else from this analysis, take away this idea: Jesus is coming soon, and it’s time to get ready and get others ready!
Tyranny
Let’s begin with a brief comment on 1) the satanic methods of tyranny. Historically, we know about the danger of tyranny, as witnessed in the conduct of both pagan and papal Rome. We see tyranny also in prophecy as foreseen in Revelation 13’s enforcement of counterfeit worship.
And since such tyranny is so diametrically contrary to God’s character, God’s messengers have been entrusted with a message about the inviolable freedom of the individual conscience – one of our core doctrines, which magnifies the character of Christ in the great controversy.
Recently, we have witnessed the advancement of tyrannical measures in response to the pandemic, the likes of which have never before been witnessed in American history. These developments shocked the student of history and the lover of liberty. I’ve detailed them in a recent series, so I won’t say anything further, but we remain on high alert.
So, there was a brief wave of totalitarian measures and pronouncements, but then in just a moment, the historical script is flipped entirely! And the opposite danger of anarchy has revealed itself. And, as we’ll see shortly, anarchy always begets tyranny of one flavor or another.
Anarchy
In response to the murder of George Floyd and the pent-up indignation of justice-minded individuals (which is hopefully all of us), nationwide protests exploded on the scene. Immediately, as if on cue, riotous mobs and opportunistic criminals, actuated by the spirit of anarchy and rebellion, seized upon this grievance to co-opt the historic moment for their own destructive and selfish aims, as looting, death and destruction have taken to the streets, drowning out the voice of peaceful protesters. In just a matter of days, rioters have now killed more people than all unarmed black suspects killed by police in an entire year; Los Angeles witnessed a 250% increase in homicides during "protest" week, and Chicago witnessed its deadliest day on record on May 31.
So what will the response to this mayhem be? The president threatens to use the military domestically. Not just the National Guard. The regular military.
To give some historical perspective to the gravity of that suggestion, remember that presidential use of the National Guard to restore order and protect civil rights has a most definite historic precedent; in the 1950s and 1960s presidents used the National Guard to protect civil rights activists and to usher the famous ‘Little Rock 9’ into school. But the notion of full-scale military deployment on domestic soil is absolutely unconstitutional during times of peace and sounds more like a nation potentially under martial law than a nation under the rule of law.
But anarchy begets tyranny. That’s Satan’s whole strategy. Bring death and destruction to the streets and then provide the ‘solution’ – restore order with martial law.
A friend of mine who goes by the name “Big Joe” went viral in 2017 after the president’s inauguration, receiving 100 million views – yes, you read that right – 100,000,000 views of a video he just stumbled into. His prediction of anarchy to be followed by tyranny should be heeded by all. [Stay tuned to that YouTube channel for an interview with Big Joe that we just recorded yesterday; will be released next week.] For now, take a look at the highlights of his viral encounter with protesters where he makes the prediction:
This same dialectic has happened countless times throughout history, and the adversary thinks that he’s discovered the ultimate, genius, win-win scenario. My, how is he deluded. We know the end of the story! Satan does move the ball forward, passing it back and forth between these two great evils of anarchy and tyranny, but the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet shortly! (Romans 16:20).
If there is any doubt about the satanic origins of violent rebellion and anarchy, read the chapter in The Great Controversy about the French Revolution. Papal and kingly tyranny over France begets Satan’s second principle of the anarchy of the reign of terror. It goes without saying that just because it’s opposed to Rome doesn’t mean it’s good. Both principles – anarchy and tyranny – are of Satan, even though they appear to oppose each other.
You could call what we’ve witnessed recently on the streets of America the beginnings of a potential French Revolution 2.0, forming the counter-play for what will become the counterfeit revival of Revelation 13. We know that something of this nature is coming; take a look at this prophetic prediction:
“In India, China, Russia, and the cities of America, thousands of men and women are dying of starvation. The monied men, because they have the power, control the market. They purchase at low rates all they can obtain, and then sell at greatly increased prices. This means starvation to the poorer classes, and will result in a civil war. There will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. And at that time shall Michael stand up…” (5 MR 305.4).
(When you read ‘civil war’ here, think less of the war between states, such as occurred in 1861-1865, but more of uprisings of the poor in what we would more likely refer to as ‘civil unrest’ or even ‘revolution.’)
What we are witnessing on our streets has the definite flavor of the French Revolution or Marxist revolutions of the past. Indeed, if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find well-trained agitation organizations that have a much deeper agenda than peaceful protest.
In Second Beast Rising, Episode 18, I cover what the beliefs and aims of these movements are. The leadership of these organizations are overtly anti-Christian, just like the Godless revolutionaries of the last 230 years. They wear the disguise of social justice to advance anarchy, as a stepping-stone to attempt a communist-style overthrow and establishment of socialist tyranny. Decent, well-intentioned people who populate the movement and repeat its slogans are merely along for the ride.
So anarchy will either invite the clamp-down of martial law-style tyranny or succeed in the overthrow of the rule of law entirely, leaving the socialist revolutionaries to fill the void and establish their own despotism. In history anarchy always invites tyranny of one variety or the other.
I won’t try to repeat the information from Episode 18 about division and discord and violence and civil unrest (which all amounts to a sure sign that we are in the last days!), but one revealing contemporary example of the satanic nature of this movement is worth noting. The very playbook for modern extreme leftwing agitation comes from the book, Rules for Radicals, by Saul Alinsky who was rather inspired by a certain entity. In the opening epigraph to his book, Mr. Alinsky, as a 1960s “radical,” acknowledges his debt of gratitude to the entity that he refers to as “the first radical known to man” – none other than, you guessed it, Lucifer.
It’s not surprising at all that a movement of rebellion is inspired by the spirit of rebellion that proceeds from Satan, himself.
And some things never change. Today it’s called Antifa, and you won’t find very many Bible Christians putting on black-bloc style dress and masks to go into the streets to destroy the property of businesses on a quest to overthrow private property ownership in the name of atheist, Karl Marx, who, himself, openly opposed religion and even called for the abolition of the family.
Similarly, with the leadership of Black Lives Matter you find an ideology not rooted in the black church with its biblical moral authority, as was the case with civil rights movements of the past, but with BLM we now have an organization that is openly hostile to Christianity, which has openly dedicated itself to the LGBT agenda, and even promised to literally “disrupt the nuclear family!”
Did our people know they were signing on to that when they posted on social media with the BLM hashtag? Did our leaders know who they were helping to empower when they made their statements about racial justice with no disclaimers about the nefarious ideology associated with this movement and no distancing of ourselves from the death and destruction that the uprisings have brought?
To get a glimpse into how dangerous these movements are, consider what Larry Grathwohl uncovered as an FBI informant who infiltrated a prominent militant leftist group (called The Weather Underground) in the late 1960s. The ideologues heading up this movement spoke openly to him about how they were prepared to completely hand over our free society to be ruled by foreign socialist governments (USSR, China, etc) and to establish communist re-education centers in the American southwest, culminating in the mass murder of 25 million Americans. (Watch his 2-minute description below.) And the moral cover for this tyranny can be carried by conscientious Christians in the name of “liberation” theology (a Jesuit Marxism), and today adopting the term “social justice.”
I share these unfortunate facts and challenging questions to help us to become aware and awake to the schemes of the enemy, so that we are just as vigilant to guard against inadvertently yoking ourselves together with satanic anarchist/communist front groups as we are to guard against aligning with would-be religious oppressors.
Let us be a voice for justice for the oppressed (Is. 1:16) and in the very same sentence, completely disavow the unholy agendas of this anti-God, anti-family, anti-freedom wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing.
It seems that we, as a people, are very prompt to distance ourselves from anything that might at some time in the future lead to the enforcement of false religious dogma, such as the president holding a Bible and going to church. Yeah, Rome 2.0 is coming; be alert!
But then, we’re strangely silent as a clear and present French Revolution 2.0 is openly declaring its satanic allegiance and Marxist aims before our very eyes.
The protest chants announce their intentions as, “no borders, no walls, no USA at all.” Tear it all down; end the Constitution!
And literal demands are made for not just the abolition of law enforcement (abandoning any adherence to Romans 13’s rightful government task to maintain law and order) but even extending to public chants that call for murdering police officers. Followed by the actual murder of police officers. Lawlessness, anarchy, and murder… in the name of justice.
Indeed, the lawless marriage of church and state is a prophetic reality and is the greatest near-future danger to liberty; and at the same time, the pages of recent history are littered with the extreme dangers and actual genocides of the atheistic authoritarian state empowered by the blood-lust of mob rebellion and anarchy.
Ask anybody who has lived under the modern atheistic tyrannies in socialist countries this question: “do you think it’s wise for us to run from Romanism into anarchy and into the open arms of Marxism, falsely called ‘social justice?’ Is the atheistic authoritarian state friendly to religious liberty?”
They would be appalled that we are even asking the question.
But isn't socialism a loving and generous system of justice? Most definitely, well-intentioned people believe so and urge their ideology forward, but we have been instructed otherwise:
“There are many who urge with great enthusiasm that all men should have an equal share in the temporal blessings of God. But this was not the purpose of the Creator. A diversity of condition is one of the means by which God designs to prove and develop character. Yet He intends that those who have worldly possessions shall regard themselves merely as stewards of His goods, as entrusted with means to be employed for the benefit of the suffering and the needy” (PP 535.2)
We humans like to get into our corner with our team. One political agenda points exclusively to the danger of the extremes on one end. Another political agenda points exclusively to the danger of the extremes on the other end.
This is why we’ve been so wisely counseled not to be aligned with party politics! It blinds us. It compromises us. It divides us.
But if we can prayerfully recover some measure of objectivity during these polarizing times, perhaps we can honestly call out the extreme dangers on both extremes.
Again, we hear often about the evils of a church-state; let’s stay on that issue with vigilance; it’s central to our preaching of the third angel’s message.
But many, who are blind to the dangers of anarchy, itself, not to mention the tyranny it begets, are finding out too late that death and destruction are the sure result, as we watch helplessly as the rioting transpires before our eyes.
So Will We Fall For it?
Are we intelligent enough to see past the marketing slogans that use the language of justice to advance injustice?
Will one ‘team,’ married to their right-wing politics, empower the church-state of the religious right by failing to warn against its historic and prophetic dangers; while the other ‘team,’ also married to their politics, empower the leftist anarchy and its godless socialist ideology?
Or how about this as an alternative? “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).
Let’s pull back and ask ourselves, have we lost sight of the gospel?
Indeed, we can be a voice for the oppressed while not going down the slippery slope into relinquishing the gospel in exchange for the counterfeit (known as the social gospel). In standing for the right, we witness to souls by pointing to the loving character of a just God.
Likewise, we can preach religious liberty without descending into partisanship, and in doing so, win souls by pointing to the character of God. (I’m personally living proof of that, since the religious liberty message, along with God’s character as revealed in the great controversy, was the very entering wedge that was pivotal in my conversion to the present truth.)
This article is both far too short and quite lengthy at the same time. There is so much more to be said, but I’d better stop writing.
Let this be a part of the discussion as we prayerfully seek the Lord’s will for how we think, speak, and behave during these tumultuous times. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Scott Ritsema is the founder and director of Belt of Truth Ministries and Media on the Brain. He lives in Lakeview Michigan with his wife Cami and three amazing children!