"The Russians are coming": facing idolatry in end times

 

 

 

 

          “The Russians are coming !!! The Russians are coming !!!” shared a dear friend of many years a line from a comedy.  Both of us have had a deep connection to the Russian people and culture most of our lives. To us, 20 years ago, it was funny.  Back in the 60s when the movie came out, right around the time Cleon Skousen was writing “The Naked Communist” and the Red Scare was “all the rage,” I am sure, that was more of a comic relief. All be it short-lived, considering that the Cold War extended its clenching grasp shortly after... Taking that line in the context of Isaiah and his end-time prophecy, makes it yet again, very unfunny...

          Avraham Gileadi, who has rightly earned a reputation of a renowned expert on Isaiah talks about an end-time militaristic leader from the north, who comes as a scourge to destroy what once used to be a prosperous and free “promised land”.   He specifies that the land would be attacked both from the east and the west, the way Israel was by the King of Assyria. 

            In the scriptures, the Lord often draws a parallel between the end times and the time of Noah.  Interestingly, Isaiah uses the same imagery as he compares the latter-day king of Assyria and his armies to an overflowing flood that covers the land. Ours is also a prediluvian time… But we will see a different type of flooding…

          With "Egypt" as a code name for the latter-day United States, the prophecy of sudden yet impending destruction of a once prosperous state is indisputable to those familiar with the scriptural narrative (Isaiah 19). All scriptures are filled with warnings and prophecies of latter-day apostasy and spiritual demise. And “except we repent” the sword of the Lord’s justice will hang over us. (3 Nephi 20: 20)

          Whether or not we are facing national destruction, sadly, is not the question…What is of urgent interest and concern is this: as modern-day Gentiles and covenant-making people, have we, perhaps collectively, if not individually,  violated our covenants without knowing it?

           Historically idolatry has been the number one cause for the destruction of “the Lord’s” people. Heavenly Father warns us of a day of “mourning, and of lamentation” that will begin with “His house”, since those that professed to know Him did not (D&C 112:24-26).

          Avraham Gileadi’s book on Modern-day idolatry and the End of the World is a very enlightening and poignant read. The notes below provide a brief synopsis of some of the main points he makes…

 

          Idolatry is not a concept we understand well. It is hardly limited to worshiping the works of our own hands or dancing around golden calves. It is a more subtle, inductive, or gradual practice. Quite characteristic of the adversary and his inobtrusive ways...

.

 

          What is more alarming is the possibility of the coexistence of true and false worship! The worship of the true God happens alongside the false ones, maintaining a careful equilibrium not to cause any cognitive dissonance.

 

 

          In some instances, the worship of the true and false god becomes fused to a point that the image of the true God becomes distorted. We no longer know His true character and nature. Such syncretism is the epitome of “philosophies of men mingled with scripture” and is the final stage of apostasy before God brings forth His judgment.

          It is also quite telling that those indulging in idolatry do not realize their precarious circumstance. They maintain the appearance and form of godliness and exterior signs of worship until the very end. To them, destruction appears sudden and ‘undeserved’.

 

          Gileadi identifies a few forms and symptoms of idolatry that are quite insightful. Here’s a couple of the ones he listed that seem especially pertinent:

 

*Idealizing of people: looking up to celebrities and prominent figures as well as leaders. Expressing adulation for them, aspiring to be more like them, striving for their positions and privileges and/or callings.

 

 

*The Mammon of unrighteousness: the riches of this world. The rich often do not think of themselves as rich.  The love of money often permeates their thinking. (As a side note, anyone reading this should think of themselves as wealthy by world standards. If you have access to clean water, power, and eat once or twice a day, you have more than many). Since we don’t recognize our wealth, we never acknowledge our responsibility to share and outsource that responsibility to other people or institutions. The rich mourn in God’s Day of judgment as their wealth perishes with them.

 

 

*The culture of Babylon: ‘buying’ into the culture of consumerism and indulgence.  A decadent kingdom that corrupts through the manufacture and promotion of items. An upside pyramid that is unstable and can easily collapse.

 

*Arm of flesh: putting humanity before deity, turning to human strength for protection. Overlooking God as the creator of all things and beings. God gives life and takes it away, raises enemies, national and individual. Covenant with death: looking back at past victories and glories, believing human predictions of a bright future for humanity, being guided by anything less than divine revelation. Entering treaties and secret agreements and pacts, trusting in human counsel and expertise.

Relying on the arm of flesh blinds people to a higher providence, to any other way…

 

 

*Elitism: puts the institution or the peer group before the person, the individual serves the collective. Those exhibiting elitism take pharisaical pride in elite membership in groups and organizations and are primarily preoccupied with outward appearance and their standing with men.

 

 

 

*Pollution of the temple: a kind of idolatry that causes God’s presence to depart from His people. The temple and places of worship become desecrated by those attending as they bring their “abominations” with them when people’s minds and hearts are preoccupied with their idols and religious worship turns into nothing but a façade of worship.[1]

 

 

          Whether it’s the Russians or the Chinese or both that are coming, is hardly relevant. What is important is the condition of our heart and our relationship with the Lord. As a church and as a country we have come to a place of assumed infallibility and invincibility. And what could make us more vulnerable?

          Prone to wander, we might know and feel it…In the face of physical and spiritual destruction, may we un-fuse the true from the false, as we search our hearts and seal them to “His courts above”.

 

---

[1] Some additional insights on the current status of the temple can be found here:   https://doctrinalessays.com/the-temple-is-defiled/