The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright 2021 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 95

The Master Deceiver at Work

Heylel-Satan is certainly clever, but the Enemy’s first attack on Yeshua was not rocket science.

Matt 4
1) Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2) When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.

How do you attack someone who’s fasting?

You go for the belly.

As when the Arabs attacked Israel in 1973.

History.com
On October 6, 1973, hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, in 1967, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Taking the Israeli Defense Forces by surprise, Egyptian troops swept deep into the Sinai Peninsula…

…[M]any of Israel’s soldiers were away from their posts observing Yom Kippur (or Day of Atonement), and the Arab armies made impressive advances with their up-to-date Soviet weaponry.

That biased article omitted the very, very relevant fact that Israelis were fasting, and the Arab armies purposely chose that fast day for their attack.

The Arabs just followed Satan’s example. The devil attacked Yeshua when he was fasting, not just for one day but fasting for forty days.

Again this is not rocket science. Satan did the obvious. The devil tempted Yeshua with food.

Matt 4
3) The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Satan used the same technique that was so successful with Eve – the doubting query.

With Eve – “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”

With Yeshua – “If you are the Son of God…”

When Satan queried Eve, the devil implied that God lied. And with Yeshua, the query implied that the Messiah lied. Are you really the Son of God?

Actually Satan lied.

Matt 8:28-29 (WEB)
28) When he [Yeshua] came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
29) Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Yeshua, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Those demons knew who Yeshua was. If they knew it, then their master knew it. So Satan lied when she acted like she didn’t know that Yeshua was the Son of God.

This is the one biggest factor between the followers of Christ and the followers of Satan. The followers of Satan deny that Yeshua is the Son of God.

The disciples knew He was the Son of God.

Matt 14:25-33 (WEB)
25) In the fourth watch of the night, Yeshua came to them, walking on the sea.
26) When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear.
27) But immediately Yeshua spoke to them, saying “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”
28) Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”
29) He said, “Come!” Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the waters to come to Yeshua.
30) But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31) Immediately Yeshua stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32) When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased.
33) Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”

Peter knew He was the Son of God.

Matt 16:13-16 (WEB)
13) Now when Yeshua came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14) They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15) He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16) Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God.”

John the baptizer knew.

John 1:34 (WEB)
34) I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Martha knew.

John 11:25-27 (WEB)
25) Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
26) Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27) She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”

And when Paul learned about the Son of God, he immediately preached it.

Acts 9:19-20 (WEB)
19) He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus.
20) Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God.

All those knew and acknowledged Yeshua as the Son of God.

On the other hand –

Or more correctly stated, in the other spirit –

The head waggers did not accept that Yeshua was the Son of God.

Matt 27:39-43 (WEB)
39) Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
40) and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
41) Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said,
42) “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
43) He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

The high priest did not accept that Yeshua was the Son of God.

Matt 26:63-66 (WEB)
63) But Yeshua held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
64) Yeshua said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.”
65) Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.
66) What do you think?” They answered, “He is worthy of death!”

Even some of those who first followed Christ did not accept the Son of God.

John 6:64-69 (WEB)
64) “But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him.
65) He said, “For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.”
66) At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67) Yeshua said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?”
68) Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69) We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The difference between the disciples who left and those who stayed was whether or not they believed in Yeshua the Son of God.

To not acknowledge Yeshua as the Son of God is to follow Satan.

Luke 12:8-9 (WEB)
8) “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God;
9) but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.

John 3:16-18 (WEB)
16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17) For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
18) He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

In the resurrection, there is no middle ground. When the dead hear the Son of God’s voice, the difference between life and judgment is whether or not they believe in the Son of God.

John 5:25-29 (WEB)
25) Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
26) For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.
27) He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
28) Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice,
29) and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

Again, those who follow Yeshua know that He is the Son of God. Those who follow Satan don’t acknowledge that.

That’s why government schools are Satan’s schools. They don’t teach that Yeshua is the Son of God, and they’re right in Satan’s camp. Public schools are not neutral. They oppose the Son of God. Their schools are Satan’s schools. There is no middle ground.

Yeshua saw Satan fall from heaven, so Satan knew very well that He was the Son of God. And when the devil made this challenge, it was based on a lie.

“If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

The “if” was the lie.

Eve and Adam accepted Satan’s teaching that they would not die if they disobeyed God. They ate the forbidden fruit, because it looked so good, and could make them wise in the world. But they did die.

They were selfish, thinking of themselves and what they could get for themselves. Self is the prime attitude of Satan, and Eve and Adam had that same attitude. As do all people –

Except for One.

Christ answered Satan’s dare to turn the rocks into rolls by looking beyond the bread.

Matt 4
4) But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

How would Yeshua feel after forty days of fasting?

Hungry.

Luke 4
1) Yeshua, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
2) for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.

Yeah, He was hungry. But He wanted God more than He wanted physical food.

I remember the first time I fasted on the Day of Atonement. The idea of going a whole day and night without food or drink seemed extremely extreme. What would happen to my poor, malnourished, 180 pound body? And I made one huge tactical error on my first fast day. I left a bright red apple on the shelf of my desk at college, and the image of that apple imprinted itself on my mind, from that fast day to this day.

However, I did not become as desperate as my wife and her kid sister, ages 13 and 9, who on the Day of Atonement sniffed the peanut butter jar.

Yes, Yeshua was hungry. Although the Bible does not specifically state this, I will state with some confidence that during that forty day fast, Yeshua never stared at a red apple or sniffed the peanut butter jar.

For physical people, food is life. Bread is physical existence. To deny bread, or food, is to be willing to give up your physical existence.

Especially after not eating or drinking for forty days.

In the wilderness Israel had a big problem giving up their food.

Exod 16:2-15 (WEB)
2) The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;
3) and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

11) Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12) “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”
13) It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.
14) When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.
15) When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.”

The lesson was that man does not live by physical bread alone. Ultimately life does not come from bread, but ultimately life comes from God.

Deut 8:2-3 (WEB)
2) [Moses said]You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
3) He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.

That verse in Deuteronomy was what Christ quoted back to Satan.

Even after fasting for forty days, Yeshua did not turn the rocks into bread. He put love of God before love of self. He put spiritual life before physical life.

That trait carried through to the end of His earthly physical life.

Mark 14:33-36 (WEB)
33) He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.
34) He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch.”
35) He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him.
36) He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

Just as when He did not turn rocks into bread, so He did not turn away when He was asked to give up His life. He was exceedingly sorrowful, by His own words, even to death. He asked that the cup be removed from Him. But He humbled Himself to drink that cup of bitter wine. Then He became the bread of life for us.

Notice the difference in the two attitudes between Satan and Yeshua.

Satan tried to exalt herself above the throne of Yahweh, lied and connived, and desperately tried to gain position for her self.

Yeshua was always willing to give up Himself. Going without food, not accepting the devilish temptation to eat rocks, even being willing to give up His life to serve His heavenly Father.

Satan had tricked Eve with “Has God really said…? And Satan tried to trip up Christ with “If you are the Son of God…”

In both cases the devil attacked with darts of doubt. We can expect the same thing.

Satan is currently casting darts of doubt over everything Biblical. Today the Bible is “discredited by scholars.” If scholars cast doubt on something, then how can it possibly be true?

Even many Christians now teach that certain parts of the Bible are not to be taken as truth. This includes the commands that a woman is to keep silent in the assembly and a woman is not to teach a man. It also includes the first chapter of Romans, where it speaks of men who “burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men.” Those scriptures, among others, are said to be just cultural standards of an ancient time, and not relevant today. Those are demonic darts of doubt.

Moreover, modern intellectuals claim that Yeshua is just a mythological figure, like Zeus and Aphrodite. A book description on Amazon reads –
“Jesus Christ: A Pagan Myth” explores the pagan origins of Christianity and shows that Jesus Christ never lived. This book is for doubting Christians,” it says. Actually the book seeks to create doubting Christians.

How do we deflect Satan’s darts of doubt?

We do what the Messiah did.

Bread feeds the body but fasting feeds the spirit. As Christ gained spiritual strength to overcome Satan, so we must use fasting to gain spiritual strength to overcome Heylel-Satan, the deceiving enemy. Without regular fasting, we simply cannot overcome Satan, the world and ourselves –

On our own.

If you want God, you must seek Him with all your heart. That means being willing to give up physical bread, and ultimately even to give up physical life. If you will seek God, you have to work at it, and you must fast. In these end times that we now face, if you do not fast frequently, the devil will eat your lunch.

Yeshua was willing to give up bread and physical life for spiritual life. Christ’s disciples must also be willing to do that.

Satan attacked a hungry Yeshua in the belly. Yeshua attacked a self-loving Satan in the spirit. God’s spirit won, and the rocks stayed out of the oven.