Chapter Ten 

 

The

Beginning Advances 

of  Technology and 

the Work

 

 

Another very important area that identifies the office of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong as the promised Elijah of the end-time is the parallel of the beginning of his ministry with the advancement of technology in the media area, science, transportation, and other areas, in this end-time; just as it was prophesied millennia ago by one of God’s ancient prophets:

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book UNTIL the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and KNOWLEDGE SHALL INCREASE” (Daniel 12:4).

When viewing the historic film of the early beginnings of God’s Work in 1934 and seeing it as it came to be toward the close of Mr. Armstrong’s life is nothing less than incredulous!

The phenomenal advancement of knowledge in all of those areas would not only make possible the work in his life-time ministry of 50-plus years to reach the world, but also would make possible the state of the art recordings of all of his broadcasts, sermons, and writings, that are in use today on many websites and in the homes of many members.

To better grasp the amazing advancement of science in the media area from past centuries to where it has advanced today, please take note of the following writings:

From the Internet: “Better communication means have been introduced throughout history. Improved methods of communication displace the less-effective and become the dominant mode. Spoken words preceded the handwritten word, which gave way to the mechanically printed word, that was eclipsed by the telegraph and telephone. Four major communication modes, each one more efficient than the preceding one, dominated eras of American economic growth over the past century: the low-cost "penny press," which made inexpensive mass-circulation newspapers and periodicals available to an increasingly literate populace; regular radio broadcasting that began during the mid 1920s; television, starting in the 1950s; and computers that flooded consumer markets by the late 1970s.

Computers of the 1960s and 1970s were big, costly, few in number, and limited to top-management use. During the 1980s, desktop PCs lopped off middle-management paper-pushers, and decentralized decision making. Takeoff during the 1990s greatly enlarged computer networking, and the Internet provided access to the fund of human knowledge.

Solid-state devices, microelectronics, computers, and communications equipment of all kinds are today's economic mainsprings. Computer household penetration rose from 27% in 1990 to 51% in 2001. Integrated circuit chips fashioned from flyspecks of rare earths and traces of silicon marshal knowledge and information that can change the fate of a business or an empire.

Science constantly seeks faster, better, more-efficient, less-costly, and more-streamlined technologies.”

The following comments should further enable the reader to connect the past century with the present and ponder on the dramatic changes that have taken place during those years:

From the Internet:  “Do you ever sit back and look at the rate technology has been advancing at in the past century?  How about since the beginning of time?  At first, advances were slow, but as we look more recently, we see the rate of these advancements continually increasing.  What does this mean for the future?  Imagine what our ancestors would think to look at us today.”

Your Views: - Amazing Changes in 100 years

“Since The Telegram is celebrating 100 years of publishing, we thought readers might enjoy information on how things were here in America 100 years ago.  Turn the clock back to the year 1905 and 1906.  This will boggle your mind; I know it did ours.  What a difference a century makes!

Here are some of the U.S. statistics for those years:  Average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.  Only 14 percent of homes had a bathtub.  Only 8 percent of homes had a telephone.  A three-minute call Denver to New York City cost $11.  There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.  The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.  With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21^st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!  The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.  The average U.S, worker made between $200 and $400 per year.  In one year a competent accountant could earn $2,000., a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000.

More than 95 percent of births in the U.S. took place at home.  Ninety percent of U.S. doctors had no college education.  Instead they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as “sub-standard.”

Sugar cost four cents a pound.  Eggs were 12 cents a dozen.  Coffee was 15 cents a pound. 

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.  Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1) pneumonia and influenza, 2) tuberculosis,  3) diarrhea, 4) heart disease, 5) stroke.  The American flag had 45 stars.  Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn’t been added to the Union yet.  The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30.  Crossword puzzles and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.  There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. 

Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write (not sure we have improved much on this one).  Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstore!  Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.” (shocking!)

Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.  There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S. Today we can receive an item like this from someone without having to type it ourselves and can send it to anyone in a matter of seconds!  Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.  It staggers the mind.”   

Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong Wrote of Those Years:

MYSTERY OF THE AGES, Page vii, Author’s Statement, Mr. Armstrong: “I have lived through the horse and buggy age, the automobile and industrial age, the air age, the nuclear age and now into the space age.  . . .   I have seen the twentieth century develop into a state of awesome advancement and achievement industrially and technologically.”

Indeed it staggers the Mind

Though the author of this writing only goes back to 1926, I also have seen the advancement in these areas from my early years. Had there had not been a gradual change in the transition from one into another it would have been difficult for me to grasp them.

Changes from the horse and wagon to the Model T and Model A Ford and later automobiles to the SUVS of today; from trains and greyhound busses to huge passenger planes; from conventional war weaponry into the nuclear super-bombs, missiles and the space age.  

To pause and reflect back over past millennia and then think about occurrences of this past century to where we now are at the present is incredible! Truly we have seen the prophecy of Daniel come to be fulfilled in our live times 

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book UNTIL the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and KNOWLEDGE SHALL INCREASE” (Daniel 12:4).

As one ponders this Scripture with the above writings in mind from the Internet should remove all doubt but that Jesus Christ was making all this possible so that His gospel and the Ezekiel warning message would be used at the close of this age to serve as a final warning to the Church and Israel before the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, UNLESS He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.  The lion has ROARED!  Who will not fear?  The LORD has spoken! Who can but prophesy” (Amos 3:7-8).

Through the use of websites the recorded works of Mr. Armstrong are now available at the click of a mouse by anyone anywhere on earth with a computer and access to the Internet linked to global satellites.

The statistics are proving that he is beginning to reach far more people, and in a far greater manner, than he did during his life-time through the use of home-owned computers and play-back recordings of cassette tapes, CDs, and DVDs.

  

Keeping Pace with the Advances in Media

While pondering the foregoing, it should become clear to the unbiased mind that from the very beginning of the ministry of Mr. Armstrong on October 9, 1933, to the close of it in January 16, 1986, he kept pace with the continued advances in the technology of radio, recording devices, the printing press, television, and transportation. As the result the quality of the recorded messages continued to improve and can be clearly heard today even though in some cases the recordings have been duplicated several times. 

Though this incredible advancement made it possible for him to reach the world with a witness to it in a most miraculous way some few years before his death, it is now greater today because of the continued technological advances in the area of media.

With this background in mind it becomes easy to see that the apostles of the early Church of God, and the ongoing history of the Church of God through millennia, little was accomplished until the early years of this past century.

                                                                                                  From the beginning of those early years Jesus Christ was able to accomplish through this ONE MAN with a microphone before him and his use of the printing press more than all of the other men He had used combined.  

God also opened the door for him to meet with world leaders in other countries during the last few years of his life. In some countries his airplane was the only one permitted to enter their airspace. He was honored by all of them. At the same time he was able to make known to them of the coming time when their nations and the world would experience world peace and their problems of today would then be resolved.

Is There Yet Doubt Remaining?

When we look back with all of this in mind, could there be any real doubt or question but that he was the man Jesus Christ raised up to be here to fulfill the end-time prophecies of the promised Elijah? (In addition, please read his Autobiography.)  

Looking for Another Man to Fulfill the Office of Elijah?

As far as is known there is only one evangelist of the many within the Church of God in this time who acknowledges that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was indeed the Elijah who Jesus said would come at the time of the end and restore all things (Matthew 17:11; Malachi 4:5).

There are others who believe the Elijah is yet to come and will do an even greater work than did Mr. Armstrong before the Great Tribulation takes place. When we consider where we are in time, which one can easily do by keeping current with the news, both national and world events clearly make known the death of this age is at hand!

With this in mind, a most serious question needs to be asked: where would be the time for another man to do it?  Another serious question: What would another man restore that has not already been restored by Mr. Armstrong?  

Additional proofs will be touched on later in these writings.

The Rejection of Mr. Armstrong as the Elijah

From what can be seen and understood from the Bible, the belief of another man yet to come to fulfill that office is not based on any Scripture, but on the rejection of one or more of the 19 doctrinal teachings Christ used him to restore within His Church with which they do not agree!  One major rejection is that of the Government of God that he was used by Christ to restore within His Church.

If they were to accept Mr. Armstrong as the Elijah then there would be no justifiable reason for rejecting any of those teachings; which also includes the ruling he made on the use of makeup.  

One must also realize there exists another reason for their rejection and that is the seeking of their own recognition! 

This is evident when we see there are over 450 corporate Churches of God existing today that have split off from the parent Worldwide Church of God; each one with it’s own variation of beliefs and teachings.

The Evidence is Conclusive and Irrefutable

While having in mind the above Scriptural writings, along with pondering his life-time ministry and all that Christ enabled him to do during those many years, should clearly prove to the unbiased mind the factual evidence that he was indeed the promised Elijah for this time! How can there be any serious question but that this man was the one Christ sent?

It must be emphasized there is no Scripture where God makes known any other major figure is yet to come on the scene between Mr. Armstrong’s death and the Great Tribulation!

Again, if there were to be someone – the question begs -- WHAT WOULD HE RESTORE THAT HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN RESTORED BY MR. HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG? What would another man do differently?

It bears repeating: Jesus Christ used Mr. Armstrong to RESTORE a bare minimum of at least 19 doctrines within the Church – including the doctrine of Government, a doctrine that is rejected by many. Sorrowfully, those who do accept a version of it are often misusing it!

Then there are a few who believe Jesus Christ will resurrect Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong back to mortal life and use him once again just before the Great Tribulation is to take place. Though God can do anything, this is only a wishful thought that has no Scriptural basis.

At the same time, by use of his recorded works, he has been resurrected to give the final warning though he yet remains asleep. 

Miracles at the Close of This Age by the False Prophet

As this age draws very close to its end, there will be astonishing miracles displayed before the world by satellite television by a man the Bible labels the Beast, the Man of Sin, and the False Prophet (Revelation 13: 11; 16:13; 19:20; 20:10; II Thessalonians 2:3-4)! This we understand from those Scriptures in the Holy Bible. And Scripture also makes known the Christian world will be mesmerized and captivated by seeing those miracles performed by him:

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth (in Europe), and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon (both Church and the Vatican State).  And he exercises all the authority of the first beast (the man he will choose to head the revived Holy Roman Empire and who will support him) in his presence (together with him), and CAUSES the earth and those who dwell in it to WORSHIP the first beast (like the Caesars of old and the HOLY Roman Empire), whose deadly wound was healed (the Holy Roman Empire restored once again).  He (the Pope) will PERFORM GREAT [SPECTACULAR] SIGNS, SO THAT HE EVEN MAKES FIRE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN ON THE EARTH IN THE SIGHT OF MEN. And he DECEIVES those who dwell on the earth BY THOSE SIGNS (miracles) which he was granted to do (by Satan working the miracles through him)  in the SIGHT OF THE BEAST . . .”  (Revelation 13:11-14).  

The Christian world will be deceived by this world-renowned False Prophet into believing he is God: “Let no one DECEIVE you by any means; for THAT DAY will NOT come (verses 1, 2) unless the falling away comes first; and THE MAN OF SIN IS REVEALED, THE SON OF PERDITION (destruction) who OPPOSES and EXALTS HIMSELF ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD or that is worshiped, so that HE SITS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD SHOWING HIMSELF THAT HE IS GOD” (II Thessalonians 2:3; Revelation 13:14; Matthew 24:15).

Miracles Performed by False Ministers within the Church of God

Holy Scripture makes known there will also be others performing miracles somewhere about the same time as the False Prophet and proclaiming Jesus Christ is already here and even proclaiming themselves as Jesus Christ:  “For false Christs AND false prophets WILL ARISE AND SHOW GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS; so as to DECEIVE, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT” (Matthew 24:23-24).

How could the deception be so great as to possibly deceive even the elect when it will be very obvious the miracles performed by the False Prophet, or from any of the ministers of the world’s Churches, are of Satan?

There is only one way the deception could be this great!  Those miracles will have to be performed by known ministers within the corporate Churches of God who have strayed away from God and His true teachings; ministers who are now known!

Think about it! False ministers from any of the worldly religions would be easily recognized and rejected just as will be the pope himself by the true Christians, but not as easily when the ones performing the miracles come from men who are well known from within the corporate Churches of God.

They are already in leadership roles and are accepted as true ministers of God but in reality they are not being used by Jesus Christ due to their having rejected some of the major doctrinal teachings! And in so doing they have rejected Mr. Armstrong as the apostle and the Elijah.

Soon their rejections of the truth Christ led him to restore within His Church will come back to haunt them, but too late:

“My people are [being or to be] destroyed FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.  I also will REJECT you from being priest to Me; BECAUSE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LAW OF YOUR GOD. I also will FORGET your children” (Hosea 4:6).

From what we are now seeing with thousands of members already in the camps of false ministers who yet claim to be of the true Church, the miracles will completely ensnare all but the very elect of God’s people who are already seeing through their facade!

Another factor to think about: If these men who will begin performing miracles are indeed from among the churches of God, it is very possible two of them will also be considered to be the Two Witnesses. Only the true elect would be able to discern the difference because they will be looking at what these men believe and teach apart from the miracles as well as the time frame.

MANY to be Deceived

Jesus Christ made known there will be MANY who will yet be deceived by these false ministers! (Matthew 24:22-25) And this can easily be seen as many members have great trouble even now recognizing the false leaders among the corporate churches who have not yet performed any miracles!

The timing of these false ministers beginning to perform these miracles will be about the same time as the great False Prophet who will begin performing his miracles, or shortly before that time (Revelation 13:13-14).

It should be emphasized that this will make it all the more dangerously deceptive for the members of the Church will be looking for the Two Witnesses during this time.

The Two Witnesses

Though there is no Scripture to support it there is the hoped for possibility that God may send the Two Witnesses just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation to give perhaps a last-ditch warning to Israel. 

This possibility can be questioned due to the timing of it and how their appearance would fit within the time frame of God’s elect going to the place of safety.

Think, if they were to appear before the elect of the Church of God leaves for the place of safety the miracles they would perform would also bring about many of the members of the Laodicean Church of God and Tares going along with them!  Prophecy makes known God does not intend this to take place (Matthew 25:10-12; Revelation 3:16-18).

When the Church did not leave in 1972, Dr. Herman Hoeh said to me, “Think about the mess we would have had with members going along with the elect who would not belong!”  His point was proven in 1995 when approximately 50,000 people walked no more with the true Church of God.  The same would be true in the future.    

Since there will be a small window of time left after the elect leaves before the Revived Holy Roman Empire conquers and enslaves this nation, Britain, and other nations of Israel, the slim possibility could exist whereby Jesus Christ might use the Two Witnesses to make an appearance with a last ditch miraculous warning to Israel. 

If so, it would already be too late for anyone else to flee to the Place of Safety with the exception of the Two Witnesses. Even then they would have to give a brief miraculous warning and then flee.  

Please realize this last-ditch warning by the Two Witnesses is conjecture and very probably will not happen due to a time limit of three and one-half years for their mission of witnessing to the Gentile world (Revelation 11:3). And it would appear this will not begin until after Israel has been destroyed as nations.

However some little time before the demise of the nations of Israel the prophesied False Prophet will begin deceiving the Christian world by performing astonishing miracles, such as bringing fire down from heaven (perhaps in the form of great flashes of lightning without a storm being present) and will leave mankind wide-eyed and on their knees in worship of him. This will be no great feat for Satan, for he killed the sheep and servants of Job by bringing down fire (lightning) from heaven on them (Job 1:16). 

The miracles the Two Witnesses would perform would be counteracted by the great miraculous feats performed by the false prophet just as were the first two plagues Moses and Aaron performed by Pharaoh’s magicians.

The Fire the false prophet will bring down from heaven is also a type of what God used Elijah to do in consuming with fire a captain with his 50, and shortly afterwards another captain of 50 with his 50!  They had been sent by King Ahaziah (son of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel) to bring him as a prisoner before the King (II Kings 1:10-12).

We should realize that Satan has great powers and is sometimes permitted to use them by God, either directly or indirectly, through men, and sometimes women.

 

However, he primarily uses those who wield authority over nations or masses of people, such as he did with Adolph Hitler and Stalin in this past century. It should also be no surprise to know that he sometimes is permitted to take control of the weather and bring about death and destruction with it (Job 1:16; Hebrews 2:14).

The miracles performed by the false prophet will be illusionary but of such a spectacular nature as to capture the attention and worship of the Christian world. However, they will only be for showmanship designed to further deceive the world into the acceptance of his ends, just as did the miracles of Simon Magus, the magician (Revelation 13:11-17; Acts 8:9-11).

In comparison, the miracles God will perform through the two witnesses will be genuine and are designed to be of a corrective nature! Sadly, no one likes to be corrected; and the world will refuse to be corrected, as Scripture reveals.

The Two Witnesses will be hated because of the miracles they will be performing, for they will be very similar to the plagues performed by Moses and Aaron. Hatred for them will grow greater and greater due to the continued destruction after each plague that will finally leave Europe devastated, just as Egypt was destroyed by the plagues from God. 

Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us?  Let the man go (meaning free Israel – and cease killing them) that they may serve the LORD their God.  Do you NOT KNOW that Egypt is destroyed” (Exodus 10:7)?

This hatred will be coupled with their inability to kill these two men, though they will try time after time over the three and one-half year period of their mission! However, due to God’s supernatural protection, their efforts will be in vain until the mission of the two witnesses is completed (Revelation 11:5)!

To aid us in our understanding of the hatred they will have for these two men, we should think of Jezebel seeking the life of Elijah after the miraculous answer to his prayer and the putting to death of the 450 prophets of Baal (I Kings 19:1-2).

With these things in mind there is cause to seriously question that the Two Witnesses will be seen before the Gentile public all the time. In all likelihood they will likely only appear before the Beast and the False Prophet, as did Moses and Aaron before the Pharaoh, when God makes known the need for them to bring about other plagues.

Scripture makes known that in between the plagues, Moses and Aaron returned to Goshen where Israel dwelled and remained there until God once again would send them before the Pharaoh.

Keeping in mind the principle of DUALITY that is so often used in the Bible, it seems logical to believe these two men will slip away after each necessary appearance and return to where God will be protecting the faithful elect of His Church in a place He has prepared for them. 

If God should make this possible then it seems very likely that they will be used in helping prepare the members for the return of Jesus Christ. 

Let My People Go!

In the context of Moses and Aaron appearing before the Pharaoh, consider the Two Witnesses first appearing before the Beast and making known to him that unless he ceases killing the captives of Israel and sets them free from slavery there will be a most severe famine coming on them with accompanying plagues (Revelation 11:5-6).

The Beast and the False Prophet will try to intimidate them with their greatness and military might just as King Ahab tried with Elijah (I Kings 18:17). Scripture reveals the world will be in great awe of the Beast and the False Prophet during this time and will be worshiped by the Christian World.  With this in mind it is easy to foresee the arrogance of the both of them, who will think and say:    just who do these two puny men think they are to be so bold as to come before us with these demands?

Even though the Pharaoh of Egypt was perhaps the most powerful ruler of the world during that time, Moses and Aaron were not intimidated by him or by their false prophets. Likewise, these two men of God of the near future will not be intimidated by their greatness either.

At the same time they will be told by the Beast that God led him to conquer the nations of Israel and enslave them because of their many sins; so why should he free the people of Israel from their slavery?

This is made known by God in a prophecy for this coming time through His prophet Jeremiah:

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds led them astray . . . all who found them have devoured them. And their adversaries said, ‘We have NOT offended, because they have SINNED against the LORD, the habitation of justice, the LORD, the hope of their fathers” (Jeremiah 50:6-7).

And just as the Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and refused to let Israel go after each plague, so will it be with the Beast, as God makes known in another prophecy for this future time through His prophet Jeremiah:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, “The children of Israel were oppressed (coming captivity), along with the children of Judah: all who took them captive have held them fast; they have REFUSED TO LET THEM GO” (Jeremiah 50:33-34).

And after the Two Witnesses’ commission to the Gentile world is completed, the Beast power and the False Prophet will be so furious they at last will be permitted by God to finally kill these prophets.

Moses’ life was also threatened during his final meeting with the Pharaoh: Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die” (Exodus 10:28).

Though the Pharaoh was unable to kill Moses, the Beast will be permitted to have the Two Witnesses killed in their final meeting.

The world will then rejoice knowing these Two Men are dead. For God will have used them to bring about a devastating condition on them and their continent through the miracles and plagues during that three and one-half year period (Revelation 11:3-10).

Knowing the way Satan works, they will very probably be murdered immediately in front of the new Temple in Jerusalem that will in all probability have been built. If so, this is where the false prophet will sit proclaiming that he is God (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).

If this should take place in this manner the Gentile world will then believe these two men were not servants of God but of Satan; for surely God would not have let this happen to them had they been from Him!

The same was true when Jesus Christ was dying on the stake or tree in 31 A. D. They taunted Him, saying that if He were really the Christ, why should He remain on it and not come down from it (Matthew 27:39-44)?  

By remaining there on it unto death proved that He was truly the Messiah!

The Interim Period of Time

What more can be expected in the near future for Israel and for the Church?

Before we continue with the answer to this question, we need to understand a little more about the background of the Elijah of ancient Israel, and where Israel is today.

This is necessary to see in even greater depth some of the other major areas of the sins of Israel then and today which will further show WHY the LORD deemed it vitally necessary to send Elijah to His chosen people then and again in our time today.

The Famine of Elijah’s Time and Today

 So far, I have been writing about the parallels between the time of the original Elijah and our time today. Those parallels should make known just where we are in regard to the fulfillment of the prophecies in our time.

 Please consider the parallel with the famine at the time of Elijah and the prophesied famine of our time today, as found in Joel, and the causes for it.

If one is viewing the weather conditions as well as their results, it is then easy to see that the exact same causes presently exist.

Let us consider this as we again review some of the background to enable us to better understand the comparison.

Background of Israel at the Time

Both Scripture and reputable historical writings make know the horrible evils that existed among the nation of Israel during that time. For the most part, the nation was almost completely saturated with evil. Only a bare few thousand Israelites remained faithful to God in their worship (I Kings 19:18; Romans 11:3-4).

The great evils that absorbed Israel were primarily due to the rule and example of the King and His Queen at the time God sent Elijah to them. This couple was very evil, as can be seen in the following historical writings:

UNGER’S BIBLE HANDBOOK, page 220 (I Kings 16:29-33) “Ahab outstripped his predecessors in wickedness and shrewdness [much like president Clinton, 1991-2001, and his wife, as has been well documented and seen on national television. Also read – ‘Slouching Toward Gomorrah” Judge Bork, pages 2, 183, 284, 309, 341], erecting an altar to Baal the great NW Semitic fertility god, in the Baal temple. He also made an Asherah, 33, a wooden pole symbolic of the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah.

“Asherah was the patroness of sex and war. Snake worship, both male and female prostitution, child murder, and sacrifice, and every conceivable vice was associated with Canaanite religion. Priests and prophets of Baal were official murderers of little children and hence deserved death themselves (18:40).”

ADAM CLARKE's COMMENTARY, volume II, page 457: “The king and queen had different religious establishments. The king and his servants worshiped Baal, the supreme lord and master of the world, the sun. For this establishment 450 priests were maintained. “The queen and her women worshiped Asherah, Astarte, or Venus, and for this establishment 400 priests were maintained. These latter were in high honor eating at Jezebels’ table; they made a part of her household. It appears that these 850 priests were the domestic chaplains of the king and queen, and probably not all the priests that belonged to the rites of Baal and Asherah in the land.”

The Commentary continues by making known that Ahab, and his father Omri before him, led the people of Israel into idolatry and all forms of evil by precept and example – which included the involvement of demons.

To be continued