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Hatchet Gods


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By David Wilkerson
October 30, 1985
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O God, why hast Thou rejected us forever? Why does Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast purchased of old, which Thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of Thine inheritance; and Mount Zion, where Thou hast dwelt. Turn Thy footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; the enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary. Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting place; they have set up their own standards for signs. It seems as if one had lifted up his axe in a forest of trees. And now all its carved work they smash with hatchet and hammers. They have burned Thy sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Thy name. They said in their heart, Let us completely subdue them. They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land. We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long. How Long, O God, will the adversary revile, and the enemy spurn Thy name forever? (Psalm 74:1-10 NAS).

David has given us an incredible prophecy about conditions in God's house in the latter days.

He prophesied that Gods anger would smoke against the sheep of His own pasture, against a purchased people, redeemed, a people with whom He dwelt.

He prophesied that in Mount Zion (His church), there would be a spreading cancer of ruin. In his words, "The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary"

He prophesied, "There is an enemy roaring in the midst of the meeting place." I see this to be the devil himself, who is seeking to set up his own moral standards in the meeting placed of the sheep.

David also prophesied, "They have set up their own standards for signs." These are the standards of the roaring lion being perpetrated in God's house. Demonic powers are setting up their own evil standards as a new direction for modern Christians. These are not the standards of the lion of Judah; rather they are demonic, devil inspired standards from the pits of hell. These standards are being set up right now. The enemy is saying, "These standards are of God! Go along with us! Come - enjoy new moral freedom!"

David also prophesied that these adversaries who are setting up all these new standards are actually deceivers who carry about a hatchet in their hand. They are like one with an "axe in the forest of trees... Now all its carved work they smash with a hatchet and hammers" (v.5-6)

David prophesied they have as their goal to tear down, burn, and destroy all the old standards. "They have burned Thy sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of Thy name" (v:7).

"They said in their heart, let us completely subdue them" (v:8). We do not see our signs" (v:9)

In other words, all the old standards of boldness and separation are disappearing. We no longer recognize the old signs or standards that our fathers had.

The adversary has determined to defile the house of God and to completely subdue our modern Christian youth with new and evil standards that he himself has invented. The hordes of hell come as hatchet gods to tear down all the old standards.

Who are these stoogies of Satan who go about in the Lord's meeting places with hatchets, hammers, and axes - chopping away at our moral standards? Who are these who are cutting down Christ's demand for holiness and separation? David said, "They have damaged everything in sight."

These are the angels of light and false prophets who have been deceived by Satan and who are now possessed by the spirit of the hatchet gods. They have been so blinded, they don't even know that they are tearing down the very standards that Christ Himself raised. Many of them been duped into believing that their new standards represents a new kind of Christian morality, when in actuality they are doctrines of demons. As prophesied, the doctrines of demons have most certainly surfaced in God's house in the last days. "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron" (1 Timothy 4:1-2 NAS).

It is very apparent that God's Word predicts that deceitful spirits will introduce doctrines of demons in the last days. There will be hypocrites seared in their conscience who preach and practice deceit in God's house. "For I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully" (2 Corinthians 11:2-4 NAS). "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NAS).

Is it not apparent from these revealed truths that there will be those who disguise themselves as servants of the righteousness who are in actuality servants of Satan? These evil angels of light gush so sweetly about Jesus; and according to Paul the Apostle, they use evil methods to produce good. "And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say). Let us do evil that good may come? Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written. There is none righteous not even one: there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who understands, there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:8-18 NAS).

Who is Paul describing here? Certainly not pure hearted Christians. God has always had a people after His own heart. He is talking about these angels of light who try to use evil to produce good. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Represented among these are some of the new Christian punk rock groups and worldly-minded musicians who, according to the Word of God, have a throat that is an open grave, and the stench of death is upon every thing they do. Their tongues produce a gospel out of deceived lips. Paul warned that the poison of the serpent is under their lips. And their standards lead to deception and destruction of multitudes.

Who am I talking about when I speak of the hatchet gods? Who are these adversaries of God, going about tearing down and chopping away at God's holy standards? The Bible is clear about the answer. "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4 NAS).

I believe those who make a mockery of our Lord's command to come out from the world and be separate and clean have upon them the spirit of the hatchet gods. There is one holy standard the hatchet gods want to chop down more than all others combined, and Satan will twist the Scripture in every possible way to cut it down. It is 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty" (NAS)

This is a holy standard of the Lion of Judah, which I see Satan and his hatchet gods viciously attacking. God calls for separation, and there is no getting around this demand, no matter how many seek to justify mixture with the world.

Those who seek to tear down the holy standards of Christ suggest that Jesus was a pal of sinners who not only ate with them and drank with them, but who lived and moved in their realm. Nothing could be further from the truth! When Jesus walked this earth, every Gentile was considered a sinner. If a Pharisee's robe even touched the flesh of a Gentile, he thought of himself as unclean and proceeded to wash his garment as soon as possible. Jesus did communicate with sinners, and declared Himself to be their friend and savior. He did go into the homes of Gentiles to eat. But never once did He go into their dens of iniquity and partake of their spirit. Furthermore, Paul makes it clear that there was a wall between Christ and the wicked. "For it was fitting that we should have a such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26 NAS).


Christian Parents Have Abdicated Their Authority


Many Christians parents are being duped and deceived by the spirit of the adversary. An evil spirit is blinding the eyes of multitudes of Christian parents. Eli had two sons who became wicked and perverted and who became totally deceived by Satan. "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning this house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them" (1 Samuel 3:12-13 NAS)

Apparently Eli never once rebuked his sons for their decaying moral standards. I find today that even the most devout parents are reticent about crossing their children for fear they will lose them.

David lost his son Adonijah. His very own son, following in the footsteps of Absalom, exalted himself and tried to steal the throne from his father. Why? "And his father had never crossed him at anytime by asking, Why have you done so?" (1 Kings 1:6 NAS).

Too many parents are deaf and dumb. Teenagers plaster their bedroom walls with posters of demon possessed, heavy metal rock stars. Seldom do parents demand of them, "What's that doing on your wall?" Few fathers demand an explanation from their teenagers concerning their activities.

Seldom do mothers and fathers walk into the bedrooms of their children, check their music collection of records and cassettes, and ask sincerely why they collect demonic records and listen to filthy lyrics. I ask you Dad, Mother, have you taken the time to check what your children are listening to? Have you ever called them to account? Have you ever asked for an explanation? Or do you turn your head and refuse to cross them? Have you just passed it off as something the young people go through and you say to yourself, "It's just a stage of development. They will outgrow it. It's this new generation and I don't understand it, but I don't want to interfere. After all, it's only a temporary situation, and everybody seems to be doing it, so really can't be that bad."

Tragically the majority of parents today, including pastors, have no idea what their kids are into. Often, they are being conned by their children - duped - and many of the children seem incredulous at the lack of discernment in their parents . And, often there is very little interest by parents in what the children are doing.

It's time for Christian dads and mothers to take a stand against the flood of filth and immorality being pushed on our kids. Parents who take a stand may run up against a temporary spirit of rebellion, but in the long run, they will be saving their children from hell.

How much longer will Christians parents stand by and permit the hatchet gods of this age to chop away at the morals of their troubled kids?


I Blame Soft-Soap Preachers!


I decry the fact that so many evangelists and pastors refuse to point out sin and show the people their iniquities. There are so few prophets today, so few fearless men in the pulpit, so few who stand in the breach and cry out against the enemy." O God, the nations have invaded Thine inheritance; they have defiled Thy holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants for food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Thy godly ones to the beasts of the earth" (Psalm 79:1,2 NAS).

Our young people today are falling - there is spiritual death all around - so many are becoming prey to demonic powers the beast of the fields (the powers of the darkness)devour them and there seems to be no human authority to chase the enemy away. "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, but you shall flee seven ways before them, and you shall be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your carcasses shall be food to all the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away" (Deut. 28:25-26 NAS).

Where, O where are the men of God with dominion and authority who will rise up and case away these powers of darkness from God's people? "We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long" (Psalm 74:9 NAS).

We have had quite enough soft-soap preaching in our pulpits. We need pastors and evangelists who are jealous with the jealousy of a holy God. God is love! He is also holy! We have a whole generation of young people who have heard only that God is love, and they have little or no concept of the frightening truth that they must one day stand before the judgment seat and answer for their actions.

Thankfully in the past few months, God has been raising up many shepherds and evangelists who have heard God's heart-cry for holiness and repentance and they are fearlessly thundering against the sins in God's house. They are being mocked and scoffed, but God has given them courage, and these are those who are the watchmen of this final hour.


A Warning to the Youth!


Satan and his hatchet demons have two goals - two things that they must do to get full control over youth. First, they must put upon the young people a spirit of rebellion. Second, they seek to baptize the youth with a spirit of stubbornness.

There is a demonic baptism. Satan is seeking to take down into the dark waters of rebellion as many youth as he can, and bring them out of those dark waters filled with his spirit of stubbornness.

He cannot accomplish this goal until first he cuts down and chops away at the tender, willing heart for God. He has to cut down and chop away all the holy standards that have been proclaimed. That is why he is doing everything within his power to break down God's holy altars and substitute idols of his own.

Listen to these frightful words: "Why, O Lord, doest Thou cause us to stray from Thy ways, and harden our heart from fearing Thee? Return for the sake of Thy servants, the tribes of Thy heritage. We have become like those over whom Thou hast never ruled, like those who were not called by Thy name" (Isaiah 63:17,19 NAS)

The danger in filling your soul and mind with the music and morals of devils is that you will become just like the hatchet gods themselves. Your own moral standards will be cut down and destroyed. You will slowly change and end up having the same spirit as those who seek to destroy the righteous standards in God's house.

I'm shocked by the stubbornness of Christian young people who are so addicted to worldly music and morals, even though they are clearly the spirit of this age. How stubbornly they will defend their standards. They despise anyone who cries out against their activities. This stubbornness worries me more than their compromise. What happened to the willing, pure heart which stood against rebellion and mixture with the world. Has the heart now become divided and rebellious? And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in burned offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as quit and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king" (1 Samuel 15:23,23 NAS).

Centuries ago Moses prophesied of a latter day when God's sons and daughters would turn aside to new gods of the new age. "Had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misjudge, lest they should say, Our hand is triumphant, and the Lord has done all this. Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would discern their future!" (Deut.32:27-29 NAS).

They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; but they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you" (Deut.32:5-6 NAS).

"He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him. He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. The Lord alone guided him, and there was no foreign god with him" (Deut.. 32:10-12 NAS)

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked - you are grown fat, thick, and sleek - then he forsook God who made him, and scorned the Rock of his salvation. They made Him jealous with strange gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth. And the Lord saw this, and spurned them because of the provocation of His sons and daughters. Then He said, I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end shall be; for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness" (Deut.. 32:15-20 NAS).

The Bible says that they sacrificed to demons who were not God - to gods whom they had never known before - to new gods who came up lately.

God said, "They have made me jealous with their gods." What He is saying is simply. "O that you would love Me like you love your idols. O that you would spend as much time with Me as you do listening to your music. O that you would defend Me and be as stubborn for Me and My holy standards as you are in rising up in defense for your own newly developed standards."

God is saying - "They are not faithful to Me. Oh, yes they are faithful to their idols. They are fanatically faithful to their musicians and groups. They are so faithful to their friends - but so faithless to Me."

I was conducting a crusade in Toronto recently, and I was truly shocked by the attitude of so many Christian young people who verbally attacked me for calling attention to the growing immorality among Christian rock groups. No one would listen until the final day of my crusade. It so happened that on that day a so called Christian punk rock group from the United States has released a record in Canada that was so blatantly evil that even they were shocked. The title song included four-letter sexual curse words. Many of them came to the alter that night weeping and saying to me, "Brother Dave, now we know what you are talking about. It truly is of the devil now. We never knew it would go this far. It can't be of God when they curse and use four-letter words like they are doing now."

I love young people with all my heart, but I will not sit by while these hatchet gods go through the house of the Lord trying to tear apart every standard that God has raised up over the centuries. I call for parents and pastors and evangelists to take a stand now, before its too late! How far does it have to go? How evil does it have to become? How blatantly corrupt must it be before we see the hand behind it all?

Wake up, church of Jesus Christ, and take dominion and authority through the power of the Holy Spirit, and let us come against these hatchet gods and drive them out while there is still time.

Lately, I've been called every conceivable name. I've been accused of having a nervous breakdown and of being just an old, angry doomsday preacher. I truly don't care what people call me anymore. I feel in my inner-most the very hot wrath of God against the corrupt standards that are creeping into the church of Jesus Christ, and I'm alarmed at the sheepishness and cowardice in so many pulpits. These new standards are not of God, and I don't care how many Jesus-words they add and how many justifications they make for their moral standards - I see a serpent in it!

I ask all young people the same question Jesus asked of Peter: "So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes Lord: You know that I love you. He said to Him, Tend My lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon , son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes Lord; You know that I love you. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time. Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord you know all things; You know that I love you. Jesus said to Him, Tend My sheep" (John 21:15-17 NAS).

This is the question of the hour! It goes beyond whether or not Christian rock music is evil. It goes even beyond the double standards and the idolatry of this age. It is simply, "Do you love Jesus Christ more than all of these? "Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey Me."

I see in all the moral decay in the church today a lack of love for Jesus Christ.

But I also prophesy that God is about to sweep all the filth out of His house, and He is even now raising up a holy remnant who are living in a state of repentance and are crying out to God as never before for renewal, for righteousness, and for a true vision of the heart of Jesus.

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Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O. Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA.


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