Dragon Worship and Correctly Dividing the Word
When you spend a lot of time teaching believers to read the Bible in such a way as to understand what it is actually saying, it can be very annoying to repeatedly encounter people who use it as some sort of Magic Eight Ball. Even worse are the self anointed messengers of God who loudly proclaim new messages to the world. Never mind that what they have to say doesn’t add up with what God has already spoken.
A particularly annoying recent example is a prophetess who has had a lot to say about Japan. (Ever notice how these people tend to come out of the woodwork AFTER something has occurred, toot their own horn, and conveniently have a DONATE button prominently placed on their website?) This one starts out by reminding everyone that she has been predicting major volcanic/geological events for the Pacific Rim for years. (There’s a stretch. I’ve personally correctly predicted the sun’s rise every day successfully for years now!)
She goes on to attribute the recent tragedies in Japan in part to their penchant for dragon worship. She makes a big deal out of the “fact” that Japan even resembles a dragon. (At this point I am really confused. Does the country look like a dragon because they have been engaged in dragon worship for 5,000 years, or did God create it that way knowing that they would be idolaters?) Apparently the events have occurred exactly at the spot on the country/dragon where the soft underbelly is, which every Biblical scholar knows is the place to strike the deathblow on a dragon. (What? There is no dragon slaying in the Bible? My bad.)
The biggest problem with all of this is that it does not measure up with what the Bible already teaches us about tragedies and bad things happening in this world affected by sin. On more than one occasion the Bible tells us that that is an area where our understanding can’t comprehend all the reasons God allows such things to occur. Sure, that may not be as impressive a teaching to offer, but since it is what the Bible says it is the best we can offer. That is unless you want to increase your income.
A particularly annoying recent example is a prophetess who has had a lot to say about Japan. (Ever notice how these people tend to come out of the woodwork AFTER something has occurred, toot their own horn, and conveniently have a DONATE button prominently placed on their website?) This one starts out by reminding everyone that she has been predicting major volcanic/geological events for the Pacific Rim for years. (There’s a stretch. I’ve personally correctly predicted the sun’s rise every day successfully for years now!)
She goes on to attribute the recent tragedies in Japan in part to their penchant for dragon worship. She makes a big deal out of the “fact” that Japan even resembles a dragon. (At this point I am really confused. Does the country look like a dragon because they have been engaged in dragon worship for 5,000 years, or did God create it that way knowing that they would be idolaters?) Apparently the events have occurred exactly at the spot on the country/dragon where the soft underbelly is, which every Biblical scholar knows is the place to strike the deathblow on a dragon. (What? There is no dragon slaying in the Bible? My bad.)
The biggest problem with all of this is that it does not measure up with what the Bible already teaches us about tragedies and bad things happening in this world affected by sin. On more than one occasion the Bible tells us that that is an area where our understanding can’t comprehend all the reasons God allows such things to occur. Sure, that may not be as impressive a teaching to offer, but since it is what the Bible says it is the best we can offer. That is unless you want to increase your income.
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