Most people do not understand the significance of what happened in Portland during this incident, not even after another incident the next night, on the same spot, where the rioters were again burning the American flag, but this time with Bibles on top. In short, the whole thing is demonic and demon-influenced. When I first saw the footage of the two incidents, I felt the Holy Spirit bring to my mind a novel that I had to read years ago high school – Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

According to some scholars, Golding saw the world and the people in it as “inherently” evil, no matter their age or other factors. If this is true, then it adheres to what the Bible asserts in Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The story is a novel about the absence of God and the savagery of mankind. It involves a group of boys who are stranded on an island during World War II. They manage to start a type of government with the goals of having fun and securing shelter and food, and maintaining a signal fire for any ships that would sail through the area so they could be rescued. The group was divided into those who would hunt for food and those who would help build shelters. But a breakdown begins as suspicions and fear takes hold of the boys. Cliques are formed. Indolence mixed with imagination generates the invention of a “beast.”

The island has wild pigs which are hunted for food by the boys, but therein begins the real journey into spiritual darkness. The “hunt” turns into a hideous and torturous melee as the hunters along with the rest of the boys attack the prey with their wooden spears. The boys are overtaken by bloodlust as they dance around the victim. Jack (the leader of the hunters) has the idea of chopping of the pig’s head and offering it as a sacrifice to the “beast” whose existence is accepted by some in the group and not at all by others.

One of the boys engages in an extended conversation with the pig’s head (one of the psychological and spiritual parts of the story) which he now calls the “Lord of the Flies” (because the decaying head is now covered with flies). From this point until the end of the story, depravity takes over to such an extent that the boys are abusing and killing one another for power, and the island which they are on is set on fire. The lead character (Ralph) almost loses his life on the beach at the very end but lifts up his head to see a British Naval officer, whose ship had stopped to investigate the fire, looking down on him. At that point, the boys come back to their senses and their “actual ages” but the damage was done. They all burst into tears over the death of friends at their hands and “the end of innocence.” The naval officer expresses his disappointment at seeing “British boys” exhibiting such violent behavior and actions.

There is a lot of imagery and symbolism in the story which I do not have time to talk about here. But the motif of the “Lord of the Flies” was not accidental. It was an acknowledgement by the author that the one whom the Bible calls the “Tempter” and the “old snake” was still very much involved in the savagery of man. What intrigues me most about the story was that existential and religious aspects of the sacrifice of the pig’s head to the beast, and the conversation that one of the boys has with said pig’s head. Why did William Golding put that into this story, and how and why did he decide to call that thing, “Lord of the Flies?” The image becomes a dark, shadowy character that rises up above all others in this story even though it is only imagery.

“Lord of the Flies” is a term from the Bible. It is the translation of the word ‘Beelzebub’ that is used in reference to the god of Ekron in 2 Kings 1. In the New Testament, Beelzebub is another name for Satan. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, “chief of the demons.” I truly believe that what happened on July 31 was something akin to a sacrifice to the devil and/or the release of Satanic activity or influence through this macabre incident. It further is meant to bring about the vilest curse or insult that can be thought up. This type of incident hearkens back to another moment that was prophesied by Daniel and which was recalled by Jesus in Matthew 24: the Abomination of Desolation.

I read the aforementioned novel as a senior in high school. Twenty-five years later, I think I am beginning to understand, and it is not because of the novel but because of the Bible. Jeremiah 17:9-10: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind, even to give ever many according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (NKJV)

“Spiritus Mundi,” the term from the Yeats poem quoted at the beginning of this article can be interpreted as “world spirit” or “spirit of the world,” and the interpretation is negative. It bears in mind the same kind of imagery and idea from Revelation 13 when the Beast is “coming up out of the sea.” Nothing is happening in tranquility but rather in chaos and uproar. It is the second phase of the Antichrist who comes as the rider on the white horse in the first phase of the Tribulation period but who becomes the Satan-indwelt Beast of the second half. Both the Apostles Paul and John talk about it as the person of the Antichrist, but more significantly, about the spirit of the Antichrist that is at work to this present day. And this is very important when one puts this incident with “Lord of the Flies” and this spirit of the Antichrist together.

Only the Holy Spirit can confront this spirit of the Antichrist and hold it back from the total destruction it looks to wreak on the world, until the due time (i.e., the Rapture of the Church). This happens through His influence and power working through the Church. I am not talking about the institution, but rather the power indwelling of the Holy Spirit in born-again believers and the influence they exert on the world. That “mystery of lawlessness” is what Daniel saw in chapter 10 when the angel told him about the “Prince of Persia” and the “Prince of Greece,” demonic powers of the kingdom of the “Prince of the Powers of the Air.” It has been very much a part of the history of the Earth. When Jesus told the disciples that He would build His Church and the “gates of hell would not prevail against it,” he was making clear that there was going to be a spiritual war on this Earth for every soul whom God wanted to save, heal, and deliver. To break the chains of depravity and destruction in every country, there would be a confrontation with demonic powers and the people influenced by them or by Sin. This war would be in every nation and among every people group which God intended to touch with the message of the Gospel.

The disciples understood that Satan would fight against the purpose of God and the workings of the Holy Spirit, and they almost certainly had to be ready to lay down their lives even to the point of death. They could not use the customary weapons of the flesh to fight this war, but rather the weapons of the Holy Spirit. They would go down on their knees in fervent prayer (often with fasting), and then continue to preach the Gospel as best as they could while the world around them was increasingly going out of control. They would influence people to turn to God and His purpose, but likewise, they must be prepared for the attack of the powers of darkness and their influence as well. The summation of that fight would be the final chapter of world history and would culminate with the return of the Lord Jesus. But until then, every generation had to be prepared for that spiritual war.

Unfortunately for the Church today, it does not seem that we are prepared for this reality. Even before this incident took place in Portland, I suspect that most Church leaders would have condemned the violence of the riots and protests. Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA are both leftist, militant organizations dead set against the God of the Bible, not to mention structures of the government in the United States. BLM came into public notice in 2014 after the death of a black man named Michael Brown at the hands of the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, Darren Wilson. The narrative that the media posited was that Michael Brown was a gentle giant who was assassinated by officer Wilson on the street after the officer told him to raise his hands and kneel, from which incident another newsworthy quote was created: “Hands up don’t shoot.” Except, the whole thing was lie. Michael Brown was not a gentle giant and he was not shot on the street like a sacrificial lamb. The evidence showed that he had in fact robbed a convenience store, and when confronted by officer Wilson, he had actually attacked the officer and tried to grab his gun. This altercation happened inside the police car and it was in that interaction that Wilson shot Brown. This was proven three times in front of a grand jury. Of course, in the course of time, Truth really does not matter to people.

Reporters on CNN and MSNBC pontificated on the “iniquities” of the American people. President Obama, while talking nicely, did nothing to stop the insanity but rather played into it and tried to use it for maximum political capital. He succeeded in destroying officer Wilson, a thirty-year veteran with an impeccable record in the Ferguson Police Department. Black Lives Matter was created at this time from a lie. Police were referred to as “Pigs in a blanket” and other epithets, and the rage was fanned to such a degree that in 2016, in one of the Black Lives Matter “peaceful protests” in Dallas, 14 police officers were ambushed and shot by a black man named Micah Johnson. Five of them died. It was around this time that that NFL quarterback Colin Kaperneck began kneeling during the national anthem in the name of “Black Lives Matter” while wearing imagery on his football uniform referring to the police as pigs. But the American people are not easily brow-beaten, and the death of police officers is not easily ignored. And the world does not become any safer with the chanting of slogans and the singing of John Lennon’s Imagine. Quite the contrary. Black Lives Matter was considered a fringe radical group which would use any tragedy to upset mainstream America while spouting generalities and lies without any facts to back up their statements, while at the same time, ignoring the far worse atrocities of Black on Black crimes whose victims DID NOT MATTER, AND STILL DO NOT MATTER, to the BLM, ANTIFA, or any other left leaning group.

Instead of Christian leaders with spiritual discernment, there have only been personalities walking about with an inferiority complex who wish to associate or identify with these groups without reading, or just plain ignoring, the Marxist Agenda in its manifesto, and even its Antigod platform. Anything for appearances!

It has been pointed out that colleges in this country are filled with leftist professors whose main job is to indoctrinate and destroy the youth of this country. Anything and everything that has made this nation exceptional and resilient is trashed by militant, leftist, radical ideologies, and at the end, all that the average college undergraduate has to show for it is a massive debt from college loan and no prospects for a job. Just like during the French Revolution, colleges and universities have become the new religious temples worshipping the “Spiritus Mundi” while pushing atheism, with college professors as the new clergy, or cult leaders urging their adherents and converts to drink the proverbial cyanide laced Kool Aid and initiate a new revolutionary utopia! And so it continues today in the aftermath of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis in June. (I’ve already written about this in previous articles – feel free to go back and look!)

For some of the “Christian personalities,” the justification now is, “We know that All Lives Matter.” But for now, Black Lives Matter more than anyone else!” I wonder if they understand the imbecility in the statement. But I do not think they are thinking twice about it. Emotionalism has overwhelmed all other discretion or discernment and because of this, the rioting continues.

There was not a concerted effort of prayer to find out the leading of the Holy Spirit or to find out what power is working behind the scenes to take away the peace of the country. There is no one willing to raise up the Cross, cry out its message, and rebuke the powers of darkness in the name of Jesus! I say this as a general statement. (I know that God has pockets of people who are praying all over this nation.) Instead, political correctness coupled with an inferiority complex have completely defeated and rendered powerless many in Church leadership to the point that they cannot saying that the wanton destruction is wrong. Instead, it is rationalized and the rest of us “need to listen more to the wounded and infuriated black community.” And all of this while leftists politicians and civic leaders look to “defund the police.” To what end?

There is a vast demonic attack in this nation, and there are pastors, prophets, evangelists, and churches that have recognized this fact, including a few people in the Catholic Church. That Remnant of people is the group that will by their faith, fervent prayer, and the power of the Holy Ghost, move heaven and earth despite how many people in “Churchianity” stand in the way; if we do not, nothing will stop the violence that permeates the streets while at the same time, this COVID-19 pandemic rages. The difference between the right and wrong, the good and bad, the political and civil leaders who are good versus bad, those who are telling the truth and those who spout lies, is the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps it would be wise to remember the words of a politician from Massachusetts and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Robert Charles Winthrop: “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without (outside) of them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.” (It is almost certain the current Speaker of the House shares none of these sentiments.)

Now, I wonder what they will say or think when they come face to face with this article and the evidence presented therein. Regardless of their sentiment, I say that the evidence of Satanic influence is beyond a shadow of a doubt. BLM and ANTIFA share not one iota of a relationship with Orthodox Christianity in theology, doctrine, and/or practice. It must not be countenanced for any reason. If there is any talk or action about racism, reconciliation, healing or the making of a better world, it will only be at the Cross of Calvary. If we truly mean what we have prayed thousands of times in the Lord’s Prayer (“Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”), why would we ignore the only way such a desire can be made possible on Earth?