The Devil in the Headlines

[Steve Myers] Looking through the headlines today, we live in perilous times. You can't help but notice what's been on the news. Just look at these headlines, one of them says, "Another Day, Another Disaster." Another one, "Pakistan Explodes in Protest." Here's another one, "French Embassy Schools Closed in 20 Countries," "US Embassies in Flames." Here's another one, "What Now for Afghanistan?" We look around us today in the world news and things are on fire in the world and you can't help but ask the question why. Why are these things happening? And I think if you try to look at these things outside the spiritual realm, you miss a very important aspect of what's going on.

[Darris McNeely] Absolutely, and even a lot of commentators on the world scene recognize that it seems when we get to this September, October period every year that significant, important things happen in the world, whether politically - you have the Yam Kippur War of 1973 when Egypt attacked Israel. You have crashes, economic problems that tend to come up at this time. Certainly we had 9/11 happened in September. In 2008, the mid-September period, we had a major economic problem hit the United States and rolled on into the Western nations as well. This period of time, even observers recognize things happen and there's a reason for it. I think that it is connected with what God's festivals, the Holy Days, teach us about the plan of God. And so, Steve, you're right. You have to look beyond these headlines to a spiritual dimension to understand that things get stirred up at this time of the year.

[Steve Myers] They really do. And there's an amazing passage that's found over in Revelation chapter 12, and it's in verse 12. It says, "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea. The devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows he has a short time" (Revelation 12:12). And I believe we're living in that period where there is just a short time and Satan the devil is stirring things up. And as he stirs things up, people are stirred up, and then there's reflection of that in the headlines today that he knows he has a little time, and so he is impacting the attitudes and the minds of people that allow him to do that.

[Darris McNeely] I believe that is a missing dimension in world affairs that again observers, political philosophers and pundits do not understand. So you have to understand what not only what that Scripture says, but also the plan of God and it seems like as the festivals of God, the Holy Days, really begin to show at this time of year with the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day, you begin to see God's plan unrolled and that stirs up the wrath of a powerful enemy of God, Satan the devil. And we see that reflected in the events that take place. So, understand that and recognize that there is more taking place in this world than just the eyes can see.

[Steve Myer] And that's the amazing part really the headlines, one day, they're going to change. That short time that Satan has is finally going to be over. Christ is going to return. That's the meaning behind these fall Holy Days that ultimately Christ will establish the Kingdom of God here on earth and the headlines will be good ones.

[Darris McNeely] Keep watching. That's BT Daily. Join us next time.