- 148 - mediums acting as bearers of the required odic force, whether they were prophets of Baal or prophets of God. In both cases animals are sacrificed and incense is burned to increase the odic power. In both cases sites are selected that are free from disturbances and where the unfavourable effect of light and heat upon the condensation of the od have been eliminated as far as possible. On this account the Bible damns the places at which communication with evil spirits was held along with the idolatry itself. Hosea 4: 12-13: ‘My people inquire of their piece of wood; they expect their rod to foretell their future! For the spirit of idolatry has beguiled them; they have left their God and practice idolatry. They sacrifice on mountaintops and let incense rise from the hills, under oaks, poplars and terebinths, whose shade is so pleasant.’ Everything that you learn from the Bible about ‘the dead’ points to the fact that ‘the dead’ are the Powers of Evil. Whoever joins these powers separates himself from God and suffers spiritual death. Hosea 13: 1: ‘Israel was great, but when it sinned by serving Baal, it began to die.’ You must not think, however, that the worship of Baal consists only of people’s making real idols and deliberately seeking association with the evil spirit world, as was the case in ancient times and still occurs in the idolatry of some peoples today. • Rather, idolatry is any state of mind that excludes God from our lives, that turns wholly to material matters, and that, under the influence of Evil, replaces God with worldly considerations. Mankind of today is no less idolatrous than the people of whom the Bible speaks, even though in so-called cultured areas idols of wood or stone are no longer erected. • Today’s idols are in people’s hearts: they are money, honour and worldly prosperity. As many sacrifices are made to these idols today as to the visible idols millennia ago. It is to these modern idols that millions of adults and millions of children are sacrificed each year, though in a less crude manner. The evil spirit forces of the ‘kingdom of the dead’ rule over the far greater part of mankind also today, and what the prophet Micah said of the generations of his time is equally true at present: Micah 7: 2-7: ‘ ‘The faithful are gone from this land; among men the honest are no more. Everyone is on the lookout for evil deeds; each one ensnares the other. Their hands eagerly reach out to do evil. The prince makes demands and the judge can be had for a price; the powerful one says what he wants, and between them they arrange things. The best of them is like a briar, the most righteous are worse than a hedge of thorns. The day that has been foretold by thy scouts, thy day of judgment, is coming; it will be a day of dismay for them. Put no trust in a comrade any longer, have no confidence in a close friend. Against her who lies on your bosom guard the portals of your mouth. For the son disdains the father, the daughter defies the mother, the daughter-in-law defies the mother-in-law. A person’s enemies are those of his household. – But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will put my trust in God, who is my help: My God will hear me.’ But God will be merciful even to mankind of today. He will see to it that they enter into
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