Every man is religious

An actress on the radio related how her mother, the night before she died in a car accident many years ago, had a dream of bucolic fields of waving grain. The actress has always taken this as a comforting sign that her mother is OK. But because there was no indication in the interview that the mother or daughter had any relationship with God, I’ve often wondered about the validity of that dream report.

The interview did confirm my impression once again that people who don’t believe in the God of the Bible invariably end up embracing some kind of spirituality and allow metaphysics through the back door. They think Christians are fools for faith in Jesus, but you will hear them ask each other’s astrological sign, and take it seriously.

The Bible tells us that all men are religious, when push comes to shove, and that God may use an unbeliever’s false spirituality to accomplish His divine purposes. In Ezekiel 21, the King of Babylon is on his way to punish his subjects who are in rebellion. These unruly nations include Tyre, Ammon, and Judah. As Tyre is the most difficult of the three to attack, he decides to pick between Ammon and Judah as his first target. But which one? Should he head straight down the coastal road and deal with Judah, or take the Transjordanian highway and punish Ammon?

The king reaches this fork in the road, but God is waiting for him there. God has directed His prophet Ezekiel to erect a signpost marking the two ways. God knows the king will resort to his pagan means of divination, so God will work through these demonic means to direct the king to Judah, to accomplish His own objectives:

“The word of the LORD came to me again: ‘As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come … make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city. Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah. … For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams …” (Ezekiel 21:18–22, ESV).

Scripture says that great demonic miracles are coming at the end of history, so spectacular as to convince even some Christians (Matthew 24:24). Do not be surprised at signs and dreams reported by people with no relationship with God. Remember that a cool dream is not necessarily an indication of God’s favor. Only those who have the Son have God’s favor (1 John 5:12). All other apparent life is a demonic counterfeit. Satan knows that every man is religious at the core. As the Apostle Paul remarked:

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22, ESV).

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