A Sign of the "Times"

 

Introduction

I have never been very interested in eschatological topics because interpretations have always been so diverse and confusing. This study will not attempt to predict any specific future events, but will examine some signaling developments in the times we are living in.

The "Times"

In 2016, a headline in The New York Times announced that replicas of the ancient Temple of Baal's arches were to be erected in Times Square in New York City. Due to protests and negative attention, the event was postponed until September 2016. The "Arch of Baal" display was renamed the "Arch of Triumph," which is more closely connected to Rome's defeat of the area of Palmyra. It was also moved to City Hall Park in New York City. 

This article will examine the significance of the original intent, its connections to biblical prophetic events, and what made the original idea so controversial.

Hell's Kitchen

The initially determined location for the Arch of Baal falls in a region overlapped by a neighborhood known as "Hell's Kitchen," near the World Trade Center. The "World Trade Center" has an ancient archetype rooted in Genesis 11. 

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech ... And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves. 

— Genesis 11:1

Trade was also central to an ancient act of treason against God.

"By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones...“You defiled your sanctuaries 

 

By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.

— Ezekiel 28:16,18

What is so bad about trading? Romans describe this unholy exchange.  

... although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 

— Romans 1:21-25

Present-Day "Times Square"

According to Wikipedia, Times Square is known as the "Crossroads of the World," "Center of the Universe," and the "Heart of the World." It is also recognized as a major center of the world's entertainment industry. "World" is the key word in these titles.

... all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

— I John 2:16 

 

Times Square History

Times Square's history culminates in the present-day idols we worship as a culture. Before April 08, 1904, this place was known as "Longacre Square," a "Red Light" district also called the "Tenderloin." The name referred to bribes paid to police to protect brothels. The Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage called New York City the "modern Gomorrah" for allowing the Tenderloin to exist. 

It was also known as "Satan's Circus," noted for its gambling houses, brothels, dance halls, and concert saloons, according to an "Untapped Cities" article. This description fits well with the "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood theme mentioned earlier. Three weeks after its renaming from "Longacre Square" to "Times Square," the first electric billboard was displayed. It has since become home to one of the largest billboard displays globally, peddling to all our worldly appetites in bright neon lights. 

It's About Worship

Frank Sinatra, singer and actor known as the idol of the "Bobby Soxers," gave a historic performance in 1944 at the Paramount Theater in Times Square, New York. He was hailed in a contemporary news article about the performance as "their" (the adoring fans') prophet. The article also called the Paramount a Mecca to which the young idolaters had made their pilgrimage. They were also unashamedly labeled cultists. 

The religious language and parallels in this 1944 article are blatant. It exposes what we worship and how it relates to entertainment. What we think is so secular is, in fact, deeply religious. 

The song "Anything Goes," by Frank Sinatra, in the video above, is very telling. Cole Porter wrote it and, according to Wikipedia, became acquainted with New York City's vibrant nightlife during his college years, living a behind-the-scenes alternative lifestyle. The song is, in itself, a testament to a worldly, prophetic message and an agenda that prioritizes personal pleasure.

The Entertainment Industry Is Nothing New

The temple of Baal was not merely a historic structure. It, too, was centered on base pleasures fueled and supported by entertainment. The ancient temple of Baal included an entertainment theater at its center.

... they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image (one that lets us do as we please) and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 

— 2 Kings 17:16-17

There are two kingdoms: the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. Whichever house we choose to dwell in, we will reap its benefits or its curses. We've convinced ourselves we can have a little bit of both.

They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods ... 

— 2 Kings 17:33

It might be tempting to think the ancients were foolish for worshiping inanimate objects, much like we think it's harmless to view and listen to what we do because it isn't real. But the Lord has this to say about what we give our lives, time, and attention to, and about who we worship, especially when it is everything and anyone other than Him.

They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God. 

— Deuteronomy 32:16-17

What is Paramount?

Paramount is an intriguing name for a theater. It means superior to all others and of the utmost importance. The entertainment industry, for which Times Square is famous, is superior and of utmost importance to the average Westerner's heart and mind. 

Years ago, a gal I worked with traveled to Europe, and on her return trip home, she was listening to a tour guide offering advice to a group of Europeans touring the U.S. She was amused when she heard the guide try to explain to the tourists how obsessed Americans are with their televisions, movies, and entertainment. The guide encouraged them not to take offense when Americans didn't turn off their sets while visitors were present, or even when they ate. 

I also heard a story about a missionary who visited an Eastern country where people still worship small statues. They meticulously displayed their idols on their living room mantel, carefully arranging all the furniture to face their gods. Although this seemed odd and foreign to him, the missionary explained that he couldn't help but think of Western America and our television sets that display and even animate the many idols we modernize. Sex, violence, and witchcraft are served up 24 hours a day for our continuous viewing pleasure.

The Temple of Baal

Baal worship has its origins in ancient Babylonian idol worship, stemming from Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, as recorded in Genesis 11.

"Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick (a man-made substance) for stone, and they had tar (a man-made mix) for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves. 

— Genesis 11:3

According to "The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook," this incident, along with the building of a tower to live indiscriminately, separate from God's ways and judgments, was representative of "prideful and pretentious humanism." Babylon becomes "the prototype of all the prideful nations, cities, and empires that raise themselves against God."

In Hebrew, Babel means "gate of the gods" to the Babylonians. It also means confusion. Can we see the writing on the wall, the illuminated billboards, or displays of ancient gates to other gods? Can we see all the chaos and confusion we have ushered in by forsaking the one and only true God and trading our time, living, and resources for the idols of this age?

I am curious how things play out in these "times." It is fascinating that two towers fell, and one rose in their place, born of typical human pride and defiance.

... Who say in pride and arrogance of heart The bricks have fallen, but we will build with hewn stone. 

— Isaiah 9 

The following is the Lord's teaching on personally contrived "hewn stone" idolatry committed in His name.

... if you make an altar of stones for me, you will not build them as hewn stone, because if you use your chisel on it, you have defiled it. 

— Exodus 20:25

Did we miss the message?

So What's So Bad About Baal?

Ancient idolatries of any kind were steeped in sexual licentiousness.

"How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, 

I have not gone after the Baals’? 

See your way in the valley; 

Know what you have done: 

You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways, 

A wild donkey used to the wilderness, 

That sniffs at the wind in her desire; 

In her time of mating ... 

— Jeremiah 28:23-24

This licentiousness most likely led to confusing situations and harmful consequences for children, similar to what we witness today. The innocent are always the ones who get hurt. Like these ancient people, we sacrifice our children in many ways on the altars of our personal and willful pleasures and desires. 

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle. 

“Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind). 

— Jeremiah 19:2-5

Entertainment isn't the only idol in our culture that puts our families at risk. There is also the pursuit of happiness at the expense of our loved ones, and, much like the Tower of Babel, the idolatrous reputation in the eyes of man seeks to make a name for ourselves in terms of success and notoriety. There is also the love of money and acquisition. There are so many things that compete with the One and Only True God. It is no wonder He is jealous.

Current Events and Temple Baal Ruins

Since 2014, ISIS has made a point of targeting and destroying ancient religious ruins that once hosted the worship of the ancient world's gods. They state that their goal is to rid the world of idolatry. 

In general, the world has viewed these acts as a loss of historical heritage at the hands of evil men. The memorials for these shrines are contested by UNESCO, even though these were temples of licentiousness and shrines of decadence, well-known for child/human sacrifice, mutilation, orgies, bestiality, and incest. I am not sure why that kind of history deserves any recognition. 

Their destruction could very well be a symbolic gesture on God's part. Perhaps He has allowed the issue to challenge the modern gods of our times. Our gods may not involve a physical statue, but they certainly consist of things we form and fashion in our hearts. These have, inevitably, led us down a path of similar results. 

The present ruins of Baal date to the time of Christ, when the Romans occupied them. They mixed their mythology and Western Greco-Roman influence with these ancient Near Eastern worship practices. 

Another site Isis and its destroyers visited was the ancient city of Nineveh, where Jonah was sent to plead with the people to repent so they would not be destroyed. 

I can't help but wonder if there is a message that calls both ancient and modern variations of idol worship to repent, for the "Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

I believe this event presents us with a challenge and not one of protest. If our hearts view the structure only as something to protest, we have missed the message entirely. 

In 1 Kings 18, God commanded Elijah, His prophet, to visit the evil King Ahab and his even eviler wife, Queen Jezebel, with a challenge to their false gods. Elijah instructed them to send their false prophets for a little contest. Each side prepared a sacrifice.

... you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord (YHWH); and the God who answers by fire, He is God. 

— 1 Kings 18:24

The story concludes with no response from the "other gods," but the LORD replies mightily!

... the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” 

— I Kings 18:38-39 

Elijah's challenge to those present was this. 

Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” 

— 1 Kings 18:20 

Our challenge equally is not to protest an ancient symbol of idolatry. Our true challenge is recorded in David's Psalms. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
And see if there is in me the worship of false gods,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

— Psalm 139:23-24 (Lexham English Version got it right) 

 

Concluding Thoughts

I sincerely believe that the message and challenge of the Baal arch display in Times Square, the devil's circus, overlapped by Hell's Kitchen, very near a tower that very much resembles, in representation, a tower of old that symbolized idol worship and forsaking God, is this.

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. 

— Joshua 24:14-15

Can we see how far we have fallen?

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 

— Revelation 2:5

A Current Update! 

According to an article dated April 10, 2016, by Michael Snyder on "The End of the American Dream" website, plans to erect replicas of the Baal arches in Times Square were canceled. The plans shifted to erecting one arch in Trafalgar Square in London. It won't be the temple Baal arch but the "Arch of Triumph" the Romans built to memorialize their victory over that territory. 

The Arch of Triumph marked a road in Palmyra that overarched the path connecting the temple of Baal with the west gate. This switch may carry significance in terms of West-meets-East imagery and the results of that mixing. 

Some cite this as a victory for Christianity. But unless that comes with repentance, I am not sure it is a victory. Interestingly, the date for this staging coincides with Passover, and I couldn't help but think of Christ's "triumphal entry." 

These are just thoughts, not fully developed. Feel free to share any insights. The secular "New York Times" announced the original plans in their article on March 19, 2016, titled "Life Among the Ruins." The Arch of Palmyra quietly made its way to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at the end of September 2018. In the video above, Jonathan Cahn discusses the connection between this display and a significant event that occurred the day after. Carl Gallups writes about this event in his book God's and Thrones.

In April 2016, the reproduction debuted in London, the premier center of global banking and finance. Believe it or not, its unveiling there was timed to coincide with Beltane, a major pagan festival dedicated to the worship of Baal. Beltane translates to "the fires of Baal." As we now know, those fires were the altars for horrific child sacrifices-talismans of prosperity offered to the flames of Baal, "the lord of the earth." 

Five months later, in late September 2016, the eleven-ton Baal arch was unveiled in New York City, in the park directly outside City Hall. The memorial was given its location of honor in the heart of the city's financial district, very near the Ground Zero memorial of September 11, 2001. 

Then, in February 2017, the Baal memorial was displayed in Dubai, a major center of global government and financial affairs located in the heart of the Middle East. The unveiling was deliberately planned to coincide with the opening of the February 2017 World Government Summit.

© 2016 Tamarajo

Sources

1http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/opinion/sunday/life-among-the-ruins.html 

2Gods and Thrones by Carl Gallups. Defender Publishing. Copyright 2017 New Your Daily News.com (Daily News on October 13, 1944.)