By Dennis Edwards --
Another aspect of Babylon the Whore in the book of Revelation is her music ministry. In one of the last verses in chapter eighteen which depicts the destruction of Babylon, we see what could be interpreted as the destruction of the music and entertainment industry.
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee.[1]
In the same chapter we also have read that Babylon was
“the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit.”[2]
Jesus has shown us that words are actually spiritual in nature and therefore spiritual forces. He said,
“The words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.”[3]
Words are real things. They bless or they curse. They lift up or they pull down.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,[4] for out of the abundance of the heart does the mouth speaks.
[5]
James even wrote a whole chapter about the tongue. The subject of the tongue is worth our while reviewing because it is a very important part of a successful life. Here it is for you to meditate on.
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.[6]
Are you bringing peace to the world with your words, or strife and division?
Jesus said,
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
[7]
He also said,
“The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”[8]
In other words, if we have heard God’s word and rejected it, we will be accountable for its truth whether we choose to believe it or not. Like James has said,
“To him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.”[9]
In another discourse Jesus said,
Not which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Do not you understand that whatsoever enters into the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man.
[10]
That which goes into a man is not what condemns him, but that which comes out of a man. Could the music industry, with its capital in America and its often open rebellion against God and traditional American values and morals be a foul spirit with its perverse lyrics promoting suicide, sex, violence, and Satanist Aleister Crowley’s “Do all that you will” philosophy. Could the music and television and movie industry be polluting the world with the words they pour out against God and all that is called godly?
In the past America has produced a lot of good movies and a lot of good music like the protest music of the 60s and 70s. Let’s take a look at some of the songs from the Viet Nam war period and afterwards. Bryan McGuire sang one of my favorites called
“Eve of Destruction.”[11]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rYJoVILjo P.F.Sloan, who wrote the song, gave various metaphors showing that it certainly seemed like the world was headed for destruction. I am sorry I cannot include the lyrics here but because of copyright laws you will have to check them out on the internet if you are not familiar with them. Even today when we watch the evening news, it certainly seems like the world is on the eve of destruction.
The Sloan/McGuire song reminds me of the words from Paul,
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away….Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth….But evil men shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceive. [12]
In earlier song by Peter Seeger and L. Hays from the ‘60s called
“If I Had a Hammer,”[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5G4YPNGnVE the authors sing a song of godly warning of the danger approaching our land because of the lack of love between people, the lack of justice and true freedom.
The song brings to my mind the words of Moses who said,
Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shall thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. [14]
The Lord through Jeremiah said something similar many years later.
Thus saith the Lord; Excute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.[15]
Seeger and Hays are calling out for someone to hammer out righteous judgment against the evil which we see so prevalent in the world today. I think it is a universal sentiment within us which yearns for true justice and liberty for all mankind. It is certainly what we find in the writings of Moses and Jeremiah and the other prophets in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the song
“People Got to Be Free,” [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxkwlnesPe4 with words by Felix Cavaliere and music by Edward Brigati, Jr., we find a simple melody reminding us that people everywhere just want to be free. They don’t want big business. They don’t want big government. They don’t want big wars. They just really want to live in peace and harmony.
Sad to say, because of man’s sinful nature, and the lust and greed of evil men, those days of peace and harmony will not be reached until God himself enters once again into our reality during the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. But even that wonderful Millennium period will end in war and destruction until God forms a new heaven and new earth where,
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.[17]
Finally there will be peace on earth and goodwill towards men.
The only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.[19]
I remember singing Dylan’s song as I sat contemplating my own life and the decision I, as a young adult, had to make concerning the war in Vietnam. Besides the words of Jesus, it was the songs of that era which gave me faith to resist the draft and refuse to become part of America’s war machine against the poor nations of the world. Country Joe and the Fish had a great song in
1-2-3-What Are We Fighting For?[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc And there were many others.
As Solomon wrote,
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.[21]
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.[22]
I had gotten a very low lottery draft number and was surely headed for the war after my college deferment ended. Nevertheless, the sorrow of heart that I experienced during my college years, wondering what I should do, caused me to seek desperately for answers to life’s big questions. That sorrow caused me to search for truth and in the end I found God.
by B.Scott and B.Russell, we could hear the heart cry of youth of those years who rejected the dog eat dog values of modern society and yearned to live in brotherly love. As Jesus said,
“No greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”[24]
And John so aptly puts,
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.[25]
Scott and Russell’s song reminds me of the old Indian story from the Himalayan Mountains.
[26] I believe it is a true story. Two men were travelling in the mountains when a terrible storm broke out. With much difficulty they struggle on in hope of finding shelter and safety in the next mountain village. As they travel, they come upon the body of a man dying from cold, unable to go forward. The men debate on whether they should stop and help this wearied stranger who was as good as dead already. But they are not able to come to an agreement.
Finally one walks off in disgust claiming they could barely save their own lives, let alone help some other poor cap nearly dead anyway. The other traveler, however, feels the conviction of heart to stop and help that weakened soul. In great effort he manages to lift the nearly frozen man to his shoulders and more slowly than before struggles forward.
Soon, the extra effort and friction of the frozen man’s body against his own causes his own body to warm up. The weary traveler’s body also began to revive from the same heat. Shortly, they come across the frozen body of the man who had refused to help. He had walked off in defiance to save his own life only to die alone without the help of others. In the end, the dying man wasn’t so heavy after all, but was the salvation of the man who took compassion upon him, a good lesson for us all, and similar to the message of Scott and Russell’s song “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
Simon and Garfunkel’s song,
“Bridge Over Troubled Waters,”[27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-PNun-Pfb4 is another one of those nearly prophetic songs of that bye-gone era. I once saw the song performed by a Kenyan National Dance group, while on a humanitarian trip to Mozambique. We had been invited to the National Dance Theater in downtown Maputo to watch Mozambique’s National Dance Troupe perform a dance rendering the country’s defeat of the Portuguese imperialistic power. It was a war drudge if ever I saw one honoring the National Police among whom we sat.
However, after an unentertaining hour of Africans dancing to war rhythms, we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” by the visiting Kenyan dancers. The two renditions were like night and day. One was of war, while the other was of love and compassion. The words of Simon and Garfunkel’s song seemed as if God was speaking, His Holy Spirit calling down comforting words of assurance. God would himself be the bridge over troubled waters and as Jesus had laid down his life, so His Holy Spirit would be with us to help us in our moments of trial and difficulty and encourage us to be bridges over troubled waters for one another.
Even a Coca Cola commercial in the early 1970’s gave a message of peace and love. The song
“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,” [28] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-Qiyklq-Q sung by the Hillside Singers had a cute little rhythm but promoted world-wide brotherly love in a commercial. The mass media can in fact be used for good.
Of course you all remember the lyrics of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s
“All You Need Is Love.” [29] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI That was all we really needed at that time, love. That was all we felt the whole world needed, love. That’s what we thought was the solution to the world’s problems, love; love for God and love for fellow man. As Jesus said,
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye love one another.”[30]
Paul goes on to say,
“All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” [31]
Paul went on to write one of the most beautiful and thought provoking chapters in the entire Bible, which I will reprint here for your reflection and encouragement. I will leave it in the original King James for copyright reasons, although I’ll drop some of the “ths.” But I suggest when reading, you use the word LOVE instead of CHARITY for better clarity.
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (love), it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity (Love) suffers long, and is kind; charity (love) envies not; charity (love) vaunts not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abides faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love). [32]
The songs which I have mentioned above surely have a Christian element in them. Some admittedly have more than others. They were very popular songs sung during the 60s to 80s with a powerful affect on their audience, you and me. Surely they were more meaningful than much of what is presently being pumped out by the music industry.
But perhaps today’s music is a fulfillment of Jesus’ own words which he spoke to his disciples when he was asked,
“What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”[33]
Part of Jesus’ replies was,
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”[34]Are we seeing the love of many waxing cold even in the songs we listen to for entertainment?
Let me continue in my argument. I have previously applied the following verse to the banking system in an earlier article.
For thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.[35]
But another element of the sorceries helping to deceive the whole world could clearly be the music and entertainment industry which promotes materialism and the worship of money and the things that money can buy. The Bilderberg group contains financial barons and those who own the movie and television industries among others. The music and entertainment industry promotes self worship and even an open worship of or fascination with the dark side and Satan himself. Could the sorceries that deceive the nations be in fact the power of the mass media: music, television, radio, video, computer games, etc.? Are there spiritual realities behind these devices, inspiring them?
Scotland’s Alan Watt, author of radio show and website “Cutting Through the Matrix,” says,
Never watch the television. Never watch the television. It’s the greatest scientific indoctrination tool ever devised. Have you figured that out? It has changed the whole culture of nations, not just one nation. Why do you think it was mandatory that everyone have access to televisions in Britain by the government? Why do you think China is under the same program right now, because they love to be entertained? Do you really believe that? Most of your ideas and opinions come from television, because you mimic what you see. Never watch the television. You can’t even watch a movie unless you do it critically.[36] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmBymKXgrV4
Could the mass media with music, television, radio, video, computer games, rock concerts etc., be the “sirens” of today’s modern world? The Sirens of Greek mythology were beautiful woman who
“sat on the shore and sang with voices seductive and compelling that anyone who heard their song became absolutely mesmerized with them. So mesmerized, in fact, that they became obsessed with reaching the shore to get closer to the sound.”[37]But the sailors were being deceived as the Sirens were actually some sort of beasts luring the sailors to their death.
The term
"siren" is used both in ancient and modern mythology, as well as in modern language in general, to describe something that is simultaneously dangerous and compelling. In later myths and legends, any creature that lured a man in only to cause harm might be considered
"a siren" in the general context of the term.
[38]
Were the ancient Greek mythologies actually warning us of the spiritual realities and how music and beauty can be part of it? Is it any wonder that today’s top musicians are beautiful woman many of which use all their seductive sexual charms to lore us into accepting the message of their music which may in fact be dangerous to us spiritually? Are the beautiful actresses or handsome actors on television or in the movies there for the same reason, to get us to accept the message that is being propagated?
I propose that America is deceiving the world with her sorceries. America is contaminating the world through her ungodly music. She is contaminating the world through her ungodly television programs, movies and addictive computer programs. America is contaminating the world through her humanistic, atheistic, anti-God philosophy found in education, science, economics, and politics and propagated in the movies, music, television programs for both old and young alike.
Surely it is by the “sorcery” of modern mass media and the internet that the world is being convinced that violent acts are a normal day occurrence, that traditional sexual limits are out of fashion and restrictive, that the worship of material things, and man himself will bring ultimate happiness and fulfillment. Man is being convinced that God is dead and man through his own evolutionary process will succeed in bringing peace on earth and good will to all men without the need of God or the supernatural myths of our unenlightened ancestors. May God help us!
Footnotes:
[1] Revelation 18:22
[2] Revelation 18:2
[3] John 6:63
[4] Proverbs 18:21
[5] Matthew 12:34
[6] James 3:1-18
[7] Matthew 12:36-37
[8] John 12:48
[9] James 4:7
[10] Matthew 15:11, 17-20
[11] P. F. Sloan,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rYJoVILjo
[12] 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7 & 13
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5G4YPNGnVE
[14] Deuteronomy 16:19-20
[15] Jeremiah 22:3
[16]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxkwlnesPe4
[17] Revelation 21:4
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWwgrjjIMXA
[19] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6188.Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc
[21] Ecclesiates 7:3
[22] Ecclesiates 7:4
[23] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT57tjz9py8
[24] John 15:13
[25] 1 John 3:11-18
[26] Simon Peterson, How To Win, Aurora productions.com
[27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-PNun-Pfb4
[28] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-Qiyklq-Q
[29] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI
[30] John 13:34
[31] Galatians 5:14
[32] 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
[33] Matthew 24:3b
[34] Matthew 24:12
[35] Revelation 18:23
[36] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmBymKXgrV4
[37]http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/sirens-mythology.html
[38] ibid
