12/22/01

As I woke up this morning I saw a short vision of a building with a sign on it, but over the sign was another in the Spirit saying " Neon Messiahs". I thought that a strange, yet interesting name.

The Lord then said to me " The neon messiahs are coming down." I wondered at what exactly this would mean….was it a word for the church that has exalted men, or those in the world, who have made themselves "gods" or whom we have made "gods".

Then I felt the Lord say " all of the above". " Anyone who has tried to make themselves a god to others will be taken down…I am removing the neon signs. I am exposing men to be merely men, that no flesh should glory in them."

Then I thought of the news flash about Winona Rider being arrested for shoplifting this week. There was a time when that woman was on top and in a lot of movies for a short while. And I thought of Maria Carey, in the hospital with a breakdown.

Then the Lord said,

" Of My kingdom there will be no end. But the kingdoms that men have built around themselves are coming to an end. I am not a man that I should lie, or a son of man that I should change My mind.

Do not look to man for the answers, for in men, you will only find a shallow opinion, based on experience and what they know.

But if you come to ME, and look to me for wisdom, I am always here to show you the truth.

Many in the world , and in My church have fashioned for themselves idols of men. People they will bow to over Me. Whatever that person wants, or thinks, fashions their thinking and belief system…..rather than adhering to My word. This world will pass away, but My word will never pass away.

I am bringing down the neon messiahs , that men and women, boys and girls have built up in their minds to be gods. Whatever that person says, they listen closely to, because in their words, they think they will find wisdom and truth. They think they will have found solace and comfort to warm their lustful souls. But these will brought low, that they may exalt the One Truth in the universe….that all men must bow to eventually.

I caution you to be ready, for everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And I am aiming first at the idols made of flesh and bone. Those who think they can live their own lives apart from Me, and who have gathered men unto themselves to build their own little kingdoms. There will be an earthquake of sorts in Hollywood. There will also be an earthquake in the "Hollywood" of my church. Men who thought they built well for me, but have been deluded into pride and arrogance, greed and avarice will be brought low, that the true purposes of MY KINGDOM will be brought forth. Watch and see what I will do, when this happens, and guard your hearts to not scoff at them. For were it not for My grace, that is where you might end up. Open your hearts to them and forgive them and draw them into My body, that they can experience the love they have longed for all their lives. For they thought they could go on hiding their pain and emptiness through money and fame, and admiration of others. But in a day, I will shatter their world, that they might know there is a GOD in heaven Who loves them and died for them.

Guard your own hearts from feeling somehow you are better than they are, for you know in your own heart the times you put the needs of your husband or wife above what I wanted you to do. How you have made "gods" of your own children and not brought to me the praise I deserve. Do not be caught up in the religious exercise of playing "who knows more than you do?" Or the "I am better than you game" of the prodigal brother’s brother. NO ONE IS FAITHFUL APART FROM MY GRACE!

Search your own hearts for idols; Those things you would rather do than spend time with me; Those words you would read, rather than Mine; Those people you would please more than Me. And if those of you in My church have idolized somehow Your work for Me…thinking yourselves something when you are nothing…consider that you could lose it all in a moment of time. Then, who would be left to please?

Some of you have looked down on others who serve other gods, but do you serve other gods in your own life? I challenge you today to choose Whom you will serve . Will you serve Me, the Living God Who loved and died for you? Or will you serve yourself and your own ways. Will you do church as usual…a few songs, a sermon, a goodbye. Or will you really care for MY sheep. They are My sheep. It is MY church, not yours. I AM the builder of the church. And I will do what I WANT in My church. I want to see people healed and saved. I want people to receive comfort and healing for their brokenhearts. I do not want them ignored and chided on to look past things that are breaking their hearts and destroying their bodies. I have said that you will prosper as your soul prospers. And I want MY body to prosper, physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually in every way! I LOVE My church. Do you love My people as I love them? Ask your heart…do you love your neighbor as I have loved you? Do you care for their soul as you care for your own?

You may not, but with the awakening I AM bringing, your hearts will be changed if YOU allow Me to! There will be a new order…MY ORDER, in the day the towers of men fall…I will raise up My true church and men will know you by the LOVE you have for ONE ANOTHER, instead of your selfish ambition, pride, and selfishness.

It is time to get your house in order, lest the Rock of Defense fall on it, and it be crushed.

Come to ME, cry out to Me. For I AM the LOVER of your souls. I AM the jealous God whose name is Qanna. And I WILL have a bride that is spotless and unwrinkled!

Priscilla Van Sutphin - Upstream Ministries, 15660 Tustin Village Way #27,Tustin, California 92780, www.upstreamcalifornia.com

12/23/01

First I want to say that I am sharing this, not because I haven't struggles in my own life with idolatry...but because our nation is full of it...and if we are going to deliver others, then we in the church need to be free of it. At the very least we struggle daily with idolatry to SELF. It is the war against the flesh. The Lord once told me that mammon, is not only money...but self.

1 Sam 15:23 NKJV For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."

Why is stubbornness associated with idolatry, one might ask ? Is it not that when we are stubborn, we are holding on to what we want, or what we think, our opinions ?, or what we think is best to do ?

1 Cor 10:14-16 NKJV Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Paul says to FLEE from idolatry. When you have been to a place where idols are worshipped, and we all have…as India is not the only place, or China, with it’s Buddhism, then you understand what idolatry can do. America has idols too….idols of money, lust, greed, wanting things, pride, convenience, ministry, jobs, people, and self…and it has mounted up to heaven…below you will see in reading the scriptures what the consequences of idolatry are, and see if it is not our trouble now. Land becomes desolate, dry, unable to grow food. There are storms, violence, bloodshed, and God’s hand comes against us. He says He will turn His back to us if we don’t repent. He has been responsive to our prayers...and most especially, prayers of repentance, not just for blessing, but for MERCY.

Gal 5:19-22 NKJV Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In the old testament…the word adultery is used interchangeably with idolatry. When self is put before God…all the abominations are loosed in the land. Is not our alcoholism an addiction (idol). Have not drug abuse, and sex become idols ?

Col 3:1-11 NKJV If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Covetousness is idolatry Paul says…covetous is wanting what others have…your neighbors things, or your neighbors wife…per the 10 commandments. We have gone insane with covetousness here. People steal and rob to get what they don’t have…just to have what others have.

Rev 9:20-21 NKJV But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The lost do not realize that they are worshipping demons, when they bow to a statue. Their ancestors once had encounters with spiritual forces and called them "gods" not realizing they were demons. So worshipping idols is worshipping demons. Why else would a mother in India kill her children before the statue of a "god" if not demonically motivated ?…All the time she is thinking she is doing right. That is strong delusion, when we are made in the image and likeness of God. God once told me that the highest form of witchcraft is to disdain LIFE. It was after telling me how mothers in China were murdering their children.

Rev 2:20-23 NKJV Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

Sexual immorality is related to idolatry because it is wanting what we want for the moment…what "feels good", and not wanting to obey a God, Who "limits us". God is not a killjoy ! He wants what is best for us. And the bible teaches that those who sin sexually, sin against their own bodies. God made marriage as the appropriate relationship for having sex because sex alone is not relationship. He made woman for man…but to share with forever, not only sex, but our hopes, joys, pains. He made woman as a companion to man and they are helpmates to one another. When we join ourselves to someone, we join ourselves to ALL that is a part of them, soul and body. There have been terrible consequences for sexual sin. There is a law of sowing and reaping. We may not have to take punishment for our sins…because of the blood of Jesus. But our bodies wear down for the anxiety produced from sharing all the spiritual ungodliness of all whom we lie with. We suffer from the diseases attained by intercourse. Sex is a poor substitute for the real relationship and awesome experiences we can have with the Lord…through communion with HIM. He is a jealous God, and He wants NO other gods before Him. Shame is also stressful. And yet we have been willing to forfeit heaven for a time of pleasure, when heavens pleasures are far beyond those of this earth…and in the process, we hurt the Son of God who made us and gave ALL He had, Who died for us and suffered immeasurably for us. The good news, is that because Jesus died, we can be redeemed from the curse of sin…we can be forgiven of our sins. The author of John cautions us that he who loves HIM, obeys Him.

Rev 2:14-17 NKJV But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

The Nicolaitans – (From Ungers Dictionary) The general voice of antiquity accuses them of holding the lawfulness of eating things offered to idols, and of mixing in and encouraging idolatrous worship; and as they are charged with denying God to be the creator of the world, and attributing its existence to other powers, they could unquestionably, on such grounds, permit themselves so to act, and thus far it is probable that the accusation is not ill-founded. The community of women was another doctrine which they are said to have adopted, and their conduct seems to have been in the highest degree licentious"

1 John 5:19-21 NKJV And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 Thess 1:9-10 NKJV For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Unfortunately our human flesh is prone to idolatry…so there is a constant war between flesh and spirit. Alcoholism is a form of idolatry….just try taking away a drink from someone who is drunk…as I had occasion to do before I was saved and working a second job as a barmaid while in my youth. Oftentimes, an alcoholic will give up one idol for another…it is the nature of the beast. Saved or unsaved, we are not so different. Sometimes we trade alcohol or other former addictions for religion…Oh how religious a converted alcoholic or drug addict can become…we turn all our former escapism to religion instead of drugs or alcohol….We suddenly develop a disdain for others who drink or do drugs, thinking ourselves better and forget from whence we came. We are sure to read our bible daily, to pray for one hour, to worship. And become just as rigid as Lot’s wife after turned to stone about some things. Pride has an ugly way of weaseling itself in if we are not healed from all the pain of childhood. Religion is just as wicked as the alcoholism…actually more…because it covers sin. So now we know to do right, but are too proud to admit when we blow it. Thus we perpetuate our sins if we don’t submit to the healing of the Lord….fear of intimacy is usually an accompaniment to the pains unhealed from childhood and only makes things more difficult.

2 Cor 6:15-16 NKJV And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

"I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

The Corinthian church was full of ex-idol worshippers and were having some problems with people continuing in their old ways…sanctification takes time…and people perish without knowledge of right and wrong. Read some of these scriptures...

1 Cor 12:1-3 NKJV You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 10:27-33 NKJV If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for "the earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness." 29 Conscience," I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? 30 But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

1 Cor 10:19-22 NKJV What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

1 Cor 8:10-12 NKJV For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

1 Cor 8:1-7 NKJV Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. 7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

This scripture above makes it clear that knowledge also is an idol to some. Many compulse in their lives on seeking knowledge…and become "puffed up"…that is called intellectual pride. That is one of the major strongholds of freemasonry among other things like humanism. So although the Spirit of knowledge is a blessed gift from God, whereby we learn through Him knowledge we could not get any other way….knowledge from books, science and the like can lead to such a prideful attitude. And encouraged in all the academia is a competitive spirit. The Bible says Compete ye not with one another…Competition is just a form of pride…having to be better than others. When the truth is there will always be someone better than you intellectually, and there will always be those less intelligent…but our focus should be on God, and His Word and on treating others as we would like to be treated.

Rom 2:22 NKJV You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

The apostle here is referring to a Pharisee spirit in people that was portending to hate idols, yet sliding a bit of money under their belt from the tithes of the saints, more than should have been allotted.

Acts 21:25 NKJV But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should

keep themselves from things offered to idols,

from blood,

from things strangled, and

from sexual immorality."

Acts 17:16-17 NKJV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

It is a hard thing to see cities mainly full of idol worshippers…I have seen that in India. I could hardly stay in the building where we bought saris…I could feel the emptiness of the people without Jesus. It was weighing on my soul so strongly, I had to get out of there and pray…so I asked to go to the car…where I could pray and cry out for their souls…it is an overpowering thing. It provokes you to prayer and action.

In the Old Testament, when it says "that day" it refers to the day of the Lord…the end times…and so when you see the "in that days" ….we are very close now to that time.

Zech 13:2 NKJV "It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.

Zech 10:1-2 NKJV Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone. 2 For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envision lies, and tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

The showers refer to spiritual showers of the Holy Spirit…what an awesome verse !

Note also the people are like sheep without a shepherd. In some circles of Christianity the shepherds are too busy building their own kingdom to really care for the sheep.

Hab 2:18-3:1 NKJV "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols? 19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone, 'Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. 20 But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

Mic 1:7 NKJV All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, and they shall return to the pay of a harlot."

Jonah 2:8-9 NKJV "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD."

I never noticed this word for God before….MERCY. Note it is capitalized. So one of His names is Mercy ! Hallelujah…I am so grateful for that ! I have needed much mercy and He is the Source of everything we need.

Amos 5:25-27 NKJV "Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 You also carried Sikkuth your king and Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus," Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.

If you worship idols instead of God Himself…you are in captivity for sure…and delusion is a hard thing to shake without humbling yourself and being brutally honest with God and yourself.

Hos 13:2-4 NKJV Now they sin more and more, And have made for themselves molded images, Idols of their silver, according to their skill; All of it is the work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!" 3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney. 4 "Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me.

This makes me so glad to be under His grace. Note the anger of God for these things. Thank the Lord that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life but run from idolatry!

Hos 12:10-11 NKJV I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets." Though Gilead has idols--Surely they are vanity--Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

The Lord here reminds us that He has appointed prophets so that man can hear from God without looking to idols or demons. Psychics hear from demons…demons offer information, not revelation. So if you go to a psychic…you bow to demons, not God. I know churches here in California, where congregants mix Christianity with witchcraft. Sometimes bigger churches have this problem if they don’t have cell groups , because there is no accountability... No really getting to know each other.

People who don’t want to obey the commandments of God are drawn to such places where they can feel safe, and get 5% of God when they want a good feeling, but do not want to give their lives 100% to Him. There is also the issue of impatience. If you read Judges 17 and 18, they are about personal idolatry, and corporate…it says in the 18th chapter, that the tribe of Dan was looking for land…and they sought out a place where no one would tell them what to do….Later their name is struck from the list of 12 tribes of Israel…look at the list of 12 in Revelation…It is no longer there. A serious lesson for us all. See below the consequences spoken of….

Hos 8:4-7 NKJV "They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves--That they might be cut off. 5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them--How long until they attain to innocence? 6 For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 7 "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up.

Hos 4:16-19 NKJV "For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the LORD will let them forage Like a lamb in open country. 17 "Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone. 18 Their drink is rebellion, they commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. 19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hos 4:12 NKJV My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.

A spirit of harlotry is the category of demons from whence comes false religions, cults, etc.

Ezek 44:10-13 NKJV "And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them," says the Lord GOD, "that they shall bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

The Lord reminded me of how hard it is for people with witchcraft on them to receive from the Spirit. Generational curses, ancestral curses, and control…make it difficult because in hearts given over to witchcraft/control is so much pride. And maybe it is a problem too because there could be the tendency also to use power to serve themselves…The Lord showed me once that the thing that got cults going after the great awakening …(J.W.’s and Mormons got their start) was a PRIDE IN THEIR OWN REVELATIONS. They didn’t think they could be wrong…if they experienced something…well neither did Mohammed ! After 40 days of fasting an angel appeared to him and gave him the Koran…see the similarities with Mormons? …Joseph Smith got the Book of Mormon…when he put his hat on…he would see Egyptian hieroglyphic type writing and the interpretation under it. Joseph Smith was in Freemasonry and a diviner. So he already had some strikes going against him…but He thought because of this "experience" that it had to be GOD.

One thing you will notice with people who have a lot of witchcraft background or a spirit of witchcraft on them…they will not easily participate in WORSHIP. You will find them standing and not singing or moving…nor moved by the Spirit to tears. Sometimes witches come to congregations who are moving in the spirit to cause division and to destroy the church…So we need to be aware of such devices.

Ezek 37:23 NKJV They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

Ezek 36:25-31 NKJV Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

Do you see in this and other scriptures the relationship between famine, no crops, etc. or destruction of crops and idolatry…? More and more of China is right now becoming desert…it is greatly affecting them. India also has been hit with lack of rain, or floods that destroy. Crops have failed this and previous years in parts of America and many other places in the world. The physical things reflect spiritual things.

Ezek 33:25-27 NKJV "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another's wives. Should you then possess the land?" '

Ezek 30:13 NKJV 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also destroy the idols, and cause the images to cease from Noph; There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt; I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

There’s another consequence….fear.

Ezek 23:37-39 NKJV For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. 38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. 39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.

The pagans of India in THIS day have sacrificed their children to idols…it has been in the newspaper in the last year. One mother heard a voice telling her to kill her children, then she would have her prayers answered ! So she took her children to the temple and murdered them there before the idol. We need to be praying for such nations. In Afghanistan it is common practice to hand their own children upside down for punishment and to beat them. Children at the border have drawn pictures of such things, with their mothers turning their heads crying. Muslims serve a Satan…through calling Allah "God" when it is the moon-god of their ancestors they worship. They say it is the same God as Judaism…but it is a delusion.

I will let you read through the rest of the scriptures without comment…they speak for themselves.

Ezek 23:29-31 NKJV They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. 30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.

Ezek 18:14-17 NKJV "If, however, he begets a son Who sees all the sins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise; 15 Who has not eaten on the mountains, Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, Nor defiled his neighbor's wife; 16 Has not oppressed anyone, Nor withheld a pledge, Nor robbed by violence, But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing; 17 Who has withdrawn his hand from the poor And not received usury or increase, But has executed My judgments And walked in My statutes--He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;

Ezek 16:35-38 NKJV 'Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD! 36 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, 37 surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy.

Ezek 14:3-5 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? 4 Therefore speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols." '

Ezek 5:13-17 NKJV 'Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them. 14 Moreover I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15 So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. 16 When I send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread. 17 So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.' "

Ezekiel 6:1-7 NKJV Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! ' Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: "Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

Jer 50:38 NKJV A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols.

Idolatry leads to insanity...

Jer 18:15-17 NKJV "Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway, to make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity."

Jer 16:18 NKJV And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols."

Jer 14:22 NKJV Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait for You, since You have made all these.

Jer 8:19 NKJV Listen! The voice, the cry of the daughter of my people from a far country: "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?" "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images--with foreign idols?"

Jer 2:5 NKJV Thus says the LORD: "What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, and have become idolaters?

Isa 57:12-13 NKJV I will declare your righteousness and your works, for they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, a breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain."

Isa 45:16-18 NKJV They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever. 18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isa 31:6-7 NKJV Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold--sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

Isa 19:3-6 NKJV The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, and they will consult the idols and the charmers, the mediums and the sorcerers. 4 And the Egyptians I will give into the hand of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them," Says the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and dried up. 6 The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither.

Isa 19:1-2 NKJV The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

Isa 2:20-21 NKJV In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.

Isa 2:17-18 NKJV The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, But the idols He shall utterly abolish.

Ps 135:15-18 NKJV The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.

Ps 115:3-8 NKJV But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; 6 They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; 7 They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. 8 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.

Ps 106:36-40 NKJV They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, 38 And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds. 40 Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance.

Ps 97:7-9 NKJV Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O LORD. For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.

Ps 96:4-6 NKJV For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 6 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Ps 31:5-8 NKJV Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.

1 Chron 16:25-26 NKJV For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens

1 Kings 21:25-26 NKJV But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

1 Kings 16:26 NKJV For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols

1 Kings 15:11-13 NKJV Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did his father David. 12 And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13 Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron.

Judg 17:5-6 NKJV The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Deut 32:21-22 NKJV They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled by my anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Deut 29:17-19 NKJV and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them--wood and stone and silver and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;

He associates bitterness with idolatry…If you read Judges 17 and 18 you will see why.

Lev 26:27-35 NKJV 27 'And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, 28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest--for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

Lev 26:1-2 NKJV 'You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.

Lev 19:4 NKJV 'Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.

Gen 31:34-35 NKJV Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me." And he searched but did not find the household idols.

Gen 31:19 NKJV Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's.

Ps 24:3-5 NKJV 3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Isa 66:17 NKJV "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together," says the LORD.

Isa 66:3-4 NKJV "He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine's blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight."