Oh, you returned! If you haven’t already read part 1, I encourage you to do so, as this recap will be enough to get you pointed in the right direction, but can’t replace the sort of context you would get by just reading the earlier post. I set the stage by pointing out that creation is God’s purview, not man’s. We can procreate and we can take preexisting matter and fashion it into this or that, but creation belongs to God. This is a fact that both human and demonic forces have sought to overcome from the beginning as they coveted the rights of God for themselves. We ended up with me starting to weave a potential narrative of the “daughters of man” from Genesis 6 participating in the evil, coveting God’s rights for themselves, and resulting in the Nephilim, the last straw before the worldwide flood.
You are now caught up.
The symbolism of religion isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
All of religion is, by nature, symbolic. In a church service, we symbolically worship before the very throne of God. The Lord’s Supper is symbolic of His body and blood, as we remember his death and as He nurtures us until He returns. Baptism is symbolic of the life, death, and resurrection so that the one being baptized can say that they have participated in the very gospel and their standing before God is based on the work of Jesus rather than the failings of Adam and self. Baptism is literally the announcement that you are represented by the last Adam now, and not the first.
Pagan worship is also symbolic. And in the Bible, there are many examples of how the people of the time worshiped pagan deities through their symbolism. Perhaps it was by crafting and worshipping an idol. Maybe it was through a pinch of incense to Caeser. Sometimes it was feasting upon meat that had been sacrificed to demons. And sometimes worship occurred as one engaged in sexual acts with a temple prostitute. The random man would pay money to the priestess and then would have sex with her. That was his worship. The priestess would accept the money and apply it in the service of her god and then engage in the sexual act. That was her worship. I know there were variations of this in the Roman world that even a pervert of today would find to be disgusting, but that’s all I have to say about that.
Was this activity restricted to the Post-Flood years though? I have no reason to think that it was. I believe it is entirely possible that the same manner of temple prostitution was going on in the days of Noah just as it happened in the days of Moses (Rev 2:14), the days of Elijah, the days of Paul, and if we’re going to hit home, the days of today’s porn saturation. Temple prostitution has been a thriving business for the enemies of God from the earliest days. After all, hasn’t prostitution been defined as the oldest profession? And what is porn but prostitution that has been recorded for a wider audience?
So imagine with me a young prostitute whose intent has been nothing but evil (Gen 6:5). Oh, she thinks that she is doing a service to the men who frequent her but they have been layering condemnation upon themselves with every visit. Still, she is a pillar of the community! And she knows that the services that she has been providing have all been symbolic. The men have been engaging with her and she has been engaging with them as both parties have sought the approval of the benevolent demon behind it all.
Then one day the demon appears.
Oh, he isn’t red and he doesn’t have horns. As a matter of fact, he looks pretty good. He’s healthy, strong, well-spoken. He introduces himself and convinces her of who he truly is. He is everything she ever wanted. He is who she has been opening herself up to, both figuratively and literally. Then he has a proposition. She could bear him a son. This thing could go from the symbolic to reality in a flash. She knows this isn’t how things are really supposed to go, but this is an opportunity beyond anything she had imagined!
When I hear about the sons of God taking the daughters of man, this is the storyline that comes to mind. I don’t picture rapes or spiritual overshadowings such as how the Holy Spirit came upon Mary. Demons are limited in how they are able to interact with the world, and their attempts to simulate creation would surely require participation from an image-bearer of God. And that participation would make it all the sweeter to one destined for Hell.
You may have thought that this post was focused on some ancient concepts that have little to say about today but had you noted my mention of our porn-saturated culture you would know that this just isn’t the case. And the porn that I am speaking of goes beyond the dirty magazines sold in the back room at that gas station on the bad side of town. It also goes beyond those websites that see more traffic than most news sites. It has permeated all of the culture and it oozes out in various manifestations. It is images and videos. It is also seen as diversity training and NCAA swimming meets. It is more than one voting block.
But wait, there’s more!
Yep. The idolatry of sexual perversion is everywhere. If our culture were a free couch just sitting there on the curb for the taking, it would be so far infested with bugs that we wouldn’t even consider claiming it. It would be taken immediately to the incinerator, never mind the ecological impact. You see, the covetousness of humanity has persevered all these years later and evolved into one that still seeks to create, or shall we say procreate, through means of its own devices. This is only necessary because our creator has set boundaries. And we don’t perceive that our actions are going outside of our proper authority in just a more scientific way as the original eugenic project.
Those aren’t boundaries at all! Why, they’re really just obstacles!
Our evil method of multiplication has been a cocktail of good intentions. We federalized the government school system so that we could approach the children with a unified, accredited, social message of what is and what is not acceptable. That is, we have discipled the next generation. And while we were at it, we sought to make this discipleship available to the earliest ages. And for those children a bit too young for preschool, we have pushed hard to normalize surrogacy and adoption on behalf of sexual deviants. The LGBTQ+ community is incapable of reproducing on its own. Like the demons of Genesis 6, they must gather willing participants. And they are not the only ones doing this.
Jude 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
We can’t create life ex nihilo. We can’t accomplish it without renting a concubine that is made in the image and likeness of God. Oh, we can join one bit of genetic material with another, but both of those must come from a source that is beyond our ability to concoct ex nihilo. We take the gifts from God and use them for our own purposes, to fulfill our own desires. This unnatural method of procreation is one that is often viewed as being a sensitive matter, which means we’re not supposed to talk about it. So shut up, you fundie!
Watch your toes.
Genesis 16:1-2 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
What is this unnatural method, nobody asked? Allow a Conservative who has no substantial way to define what things are worth conserving to explain the process to you.
Nowhere does he acknowledge certain aspects of the IVF technology utilized to purchase (traffic?) these babies. He doesn’t mention that you never fertilize just one egg at a time. To the contrary he says that many “embryos” were created following the visit where he and his “husband” each did the deed in a small room, likely filled with pornography, to provide their genetic material. How romantic.
Daddies, where do babies come from?
Out of many embryos, two were selected and implanted into women who were willing to rent out there wombs, quite the lucrative business if you are for sale. Why not adopt a child? Because you desire a child with your own genetic code. It is all about you. Nowhere does God promise to bless any parental unit with a child, and homosexuals reject the very mechanism where God would bless them. So these men took matters into their own hands to gain offspring of their own choosing, and the remaining babies that were not implanted are left there to remain in a frozen stasis until these men determine enough is enough and they can be disposed of.
1 Samuel 1:5-7 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.
Now tell me that it is perfectly acceptable that humans would be able to have children of their choosing on their terms. It is God who opens and closes wombs. It is God who blesses those of us with children, and the withholding of offspring is not a sign of His cursing. It is not for us to covet God’s decree at which women are given children and which ones He said “no” to for the time being. This is a painful topic and one that needs to be addressed with sincerity and tears. Weep with those who weep! But do not call sin by any other name or act as if Christians don’t have any biblical categories by which we can navigate this discussion.
Ultimately, we are no better than the demons who sought to control their own creativity. They demanded the rights that only belong to God and so do we. You can’t be upset that a pair of homosexuals were using the same methodology as some young couple you know who “deserve to be parents.” Especially when these good people are going to abandon their other children to the bio-waste disposal after presuming the role of God in their actions. Adoption points to the gospel. IVF points to the self.
I understand that I am saying some things here that may seem to be hurtful. If by hurtful, you mean that I am speaking falsely I will stop if you can convince me that I am biblically wrong. But if all that it means is that my words are contradicting your subjective desires, then you are making your dreams of parenthood into an idol. The second crime scene is always worse than the first.
Mother’s Day is coming up. If you are childless and grieving over it, take that day as an opportunity to celebrate the opportunities you have within your church to nurture those around you, both young and old. Do not despair over the loving decisions of God. Look for ways to honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Not a big fan of IVF. But a married couple who uses their own egg and sperm and who determine only to fertilize as many embryos as they will implant, will not abort any resulting offpsring or leave them frozen, etc. is a whole different category than this. I still think there are so many potential issues with this method of reproduction as to leave it questionable at best under any possible circumstance . . . but using an egg donor and surrogates and bringing a child into a home without a mother and with two men in a sinful relationship with each other is certainly a new level entirely than a married couple trying to bear their own child and putting limits on how they will conduct the IVF.
“Oh, he isn’t red and he doesn’t have horns. As a matter of fact, he looks pretty good. He’s healthy, strong, well-spoken.”
This is so true. We tend to think that the enemy and his servants will have the crazed look of a certain Prosperity Preacher, who was featured on Inside Edition, or look like the orcs in LOTR, or Medusa from Greek mythology. But, no, more often than not, he and his servants look more like the description in II Cor. 11:13-15 and wolves as shepherds and sheep used by Christ and elsewhere, or Saruman from LOTR (or perhaps Sauron before his true nature was revealed in Tolkien’s world), or the Sirens from Greek mythology.
If we all think hard, there are certain individuals, who fit the above description. Sadly, I can think of one particular individual, who is the top ecclesiastical officer of a mainline denomination, who has the most pleasant, charming demeanor, that people will say, how can you not like him. However, I pay careful attention to the messages he gives and more often than not, while littered with references to love, Jesus, God, the historic traditions of the denomination, etc., it is what is left out, what subtly deviates from Holy Scripture, and what is misrepresented regarding facts about current events, where one can tell that this man in clerical garb, sadly, is a servant of the enemy masquerading as an angel of light. I pray that he and all his colleagues come to repentance, even if it is like the thief on the cross at the last minute; however, the tragic thing is that these false prophets, preachers, and teachers who were trained in the Scripture and could have done so much to truly advance God’s kingdom, unless they do repent, have made a shipwreck of not just their own faith, leading to themselves to damnation, but also that of many others. For that, it really pains me to say, though I know that it is true.