UPDATE October 26, 2023 > Since the vicious attack on Israel recently by the Hamas bunch, there is more talk of terrorism, expecially the possibility of terrorist acts taking place within the United States -- there are demonstations taking place in different parts of the world in which there are shouts, "Death to Israel AND the United States." Millions have crossed into the United States because in effect we have an "open border!" It is known that some of these persons have come from countries that contain terrorists organizations. So it is quite possible that plans are in the making to strike somewhere in our nation at some point in the future! However, as the title above reminds us, the 21st Century Canaanites are a much greater threat!

The president and his appointed officials would have us believe that the most serious threat to our nation's security and well being comes from a conglomerate of groups and individuals commonly labeled as "terrorists." These consist mainly of persons whose ethnic identity is middle eastern and whose religious identity is primarily Islam which worships a god known as Allah. Former President Bush went out of his way to separate "terrorists" from what he and others consider to be "mainstream" Islam. Along with photo ops in which prominent Islamic worshippers are in his presence former President Bush stressed that Islam is really a peaceful religion, etc. He obviously did not seriously consider the logical conclusion of what is taught in the Quran which is the "bible" of Islam! The Quran urges the followers of Islam to envision a world in which all people have accepted Islam as their religion and Allah as their god, and to labor toward making that a reality! And it is interesting to see what "Allah" has to say about bringing that goal to pass. Skeptical? How about taking some time then, and checking into the Quran for yourself (you can bring up a copy on the internet) -- note various instructions given to those who practice Islam such as not taking Jews or Christians for friends -- the reason? Why they will corrupt the follower of Allah, didn't you know?

It is also obvious that former President Bush failed, as do our present "leaders," to realize that there is a far greater threat to the health and well being of our country than that posed by "terrorists" or Iraq or N. Korea or any other alien nation and its allies who allegedly are the possessors of weapons of mass destruction. This more critical threat comes in the form of what could be described as the 21st Century Canaanites!

A bit of historical information is necessary in order to face the reality that Canaanite culture was not really eradicated over 3 millennia ago.

God in due time selected a special people to be His chosen representatives in this world. They would be responsible to reveal His Person, His ways, and His purposes to all other peoples and nations on the earth. This special group of persons came to be known as Israelites. They were descended from the patriarch Abraham, his wife Sarah, the son who was born to them in their old age whose name was Isaac, and his son, Jacob.

The Israelites increased in number during a 400 year stay in the land of Egypt where they were eventually enslaved. The Egyptians felt threatened by the increased number of Israelites and imposed a radical method of population control upon them in the form of killing all male children immediately after they were born.

God responded to the pleas for deliverance from their bitter bondage and under the leadership of Moses the people began a journey to a territory known as Canaan. It consisted of a region directly east of the Mediterranean Sea.

As the journey proceeded, God revealed a number of things about Himself and His standards which clearly reflected the fact that their God was a holy God of absolute purity. By adhering to these standards in their conduct and relationships the Israelites would prosper, be wonderfully blessed, and would provide concrete evidence that they were indeed God's chosen people.

God also promised that the Israelite people would be exalted above all other nations on the earth on the condition of their whole hearted obedience to His revealed standards to which they were expected to conform. Specific details were given as to how the Israelites were to worship and relate to God. Other laws and regulations had to do with human relationships and moral responsibilities. It was all clearly spelled out with nothing omitted as to what constituted acceptable human conduct and what was clearly prohibited.

God was adamant in revealing to the Israelites that they were not to adopt any of the practices of the Canaanites whose land they would be occupying. Further, they were not to intermarry with the Canaanites. Note some of the revelation God gave about this situation:

"...Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who sojourns among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God." "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Leviticus 18:24-30; Deuteronomy 7:3-6 NKJV

The time came when the Israelites moved in and occupied the land of Canaan. As time ran its course disaster struck from time to time as they had a tendency to ignore God's standards and adopt Canaanite practices. What were some of the specifics of the violations of God's moral code as the Canaanite lifestyles became widely accepted among those who prided themselves on being "God's chosen people?"

Here are the primary offenses in light of original commands which God gave them:

the worship of Canaanite deities which constituted idolatry -- a violation of God's commandment that all humans are to have no other god which takes preference over Him!

"Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images '(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves." Exodus 34:11-17 NKJV

engaging in sexual immorality which in some cases consisted of the most depraved kinds -- in addition to the usual habitual fornication and adultery there were the practices of sodomy, incest, and bestiality!

"The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. If a man mates with a beast, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the beast. If a woman approaches any beast and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the beast. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them." Leviticus 20:10-16 NKJV

engaging in witchcraft, sorcery, and various occult practices.

"And the person who turns after mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people." "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you." Leviticus 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:9-12 NKJV

the most heinous practice of the Canaanites was a religious ritual in which an infant or small child was sacrificed alive to a deity known as Molech -- to appease Molech, the baby or child was thrown alive into a burning fire!

"And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD." Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.'" Leviticus 18:21: 20:1-5 NKJV

Israelite history not only reveals the spiritual and moral deterioration which took place, but God's compassionate appeals through His prophets for the people to repent of the ungodly practices of which they were guilty and return to the one true and living God Whose standards are holy by nature.

The Canaanite lifestyle had such a hold on the people over time that the prophets and their messages eventually were totally rejected with the result that devastating judgment was poured out upon the northern kingdom of Israel at about 721 BC and the southern kingdom of Judah at about 586 BC. In both cases the kingdoms were completely destroyed.

Now get in fast forward mode and move from 586 BC to the year 2023 (as of the time of this writing). Take a close look around you and notice what you see in a nation which makes the boast that all citizens should have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- a nation whose national anthem portrays it to be the "land of the free and the home of the brave!"

As TV character, Gomer Pyle, of many years ago would say -- "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" The Canaanites are alive, active, and powerfully influential in USA society. These 21st Century Canaanites are found in all facets of our society -- in churches, government (all political parties without exception!), business and corporate structures, educational institutions at all levels, the entertainment industries, the many professional fields, radio-TV-print media, and the internet!

Review again the list of prominent Canaanite practices in ancient times and note the duplication of these without exception in U.S. culture at the present time. It cannot be denied that we have elevated the sin of idolatry to more sophisticated expressions than simple images made of wood, stone, or metal such as possessed by the Canaanites of BC history. Proof is seen in our unholy attachment to money, things, and pleasures as we relegate our Creator and the day set aside to worship Him to the garbage can!

Yes, there are "high profile" churches with a multi-ministerial staff attempting to fulfill the calling God has given them. Likewise, there are a huge number of smaller churches which never make headlines or engage in a weekly TV ministry trying to carry out their mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well -- BUT just look at the numbers as to WHO is doing WHAT on that day known as Sunday each week -- Canaanite idolatry isn't dead -- it's just been resurrected in new forms and is far out in front in numbers of devotees as compared to those who claim identity with and devotion to the true and living God Who created this mighty universe through His Son, Jesus Christ. (See John 1 and Colossians 1).

And sexual immorality? Our culture is more than qualified to teach the ancient Canaanites a thing or two as to how low you can descend in your sexual moral standards. U.S. culture has developed aggressive methods of selling human sexuality in many packages. The movie and television industries provide a constant diet of suggested fornication, adultery, sodomy, and lesbianism not to mention the manipulation of sexuality in the business of advertising a wide range of consumer goods and services. Has this mass marketing of "sex" over recent decades had any results? Just a few days ago as of the writing of this commentary a news release in a Pennsylvania newspaper revealed a serious and growing problem in the Philadelphia school system -- seems they have determined that at least 62 per cent of Philadelphia high school students are sexually active with the result that one in six female students aged 15 to 19 is testing positive for chlamydia. That does not include other STD's that students are sharing with their sexual partners! Now just where do you think the little tykes got some nudging to get involved in sexual activity? And of course there are those high school sex education courses which are taught with the underlying philosophy, "They're going to do it anyway, so we'll show them how to be 'safe' when they do it!" Yea, sure!

In addition to the supposed "legitimate" avenues by which human sexuality is pushed on us in many forms, we have a pornography enterprise that has now become so highly developed that it provides "specialty" areas of preference. These "specialty" areas cover all degenerate expressions of human sexuality -- sort of like walking into a dining room containing a buffet table with many menu items from which one may select those which fire up one's personal appetite! In addition to hard core portrayals of fornication, adultery, sodomy, and lesbianism, the porno crowd also markets sexual acts of incest, bestiality, rape, men or women with multiple partners, mixed racial partners, sadistic and masochistic themes, etc. So, whatever sexual appetites one may have and no matter how twisted and perverted they may be, someone somewhere is selling graphic images and sounds of the same and laughing all the way to the bank as they do so under the protection of the First Amendment right of "free speech." The mushrooming expansion of the pornography industry has come about in part because of the internet and the fact that people now have the privacy of their own homes in which they can be easily tempted and enticed to patronize those who make it their business to maliciously trash God's sacred gift of human sexuality! Also, since they have no personal standards of decency nor honesty, the porno marketers resort to deception by purchasing legitimate domain names which have expired and use innocent looking email ads which are in their bag of tricks to lure the unsuspecting with the hope of snaring them just as a fisherman places an attractive piece of bait on his hook to catch a trout!

Not to be outdone by the ever expanding porno industry, the purveyors of occult practices are thriving very well also. There is no lack of material which focuses on some aspect of the occult whether it is the daily published horoscope, the practicing of witchcraft in some bizarre form, consulting a "medium" in a séance experience in an effort to contact someone who has died, setting up an appointment with a "reader" who will tell you what the future holds, or you try to penetrate the future with the assistance of a crystal ball, tea leaves, the flipping of cards which have weird illustrations on their faces, or a ouija board! This is a realm dominated and controlled by satanic powers and their human instruments. The ancient Canaanites were specialists in the realm of the occult and would have been impressed at how much the craft has expanded and how appealing it is in U.S. culture.

Secular book stores have whole sections of material devoted to occult subjects which range all the way from astrology to the hocus pocus stuff! There is obviously a hunger for the supernatural these days -- unfortunately large numbers of all ages are looking in the wrong direction and in the wrong places. Our Creator has quite a bit to say about this subject in His special revelation to us -- and this revelation is a supernatural event in itself with the end product being a volume commonly referred to as the Bible. Spend a lot of time in searching it, you'll be pleasantly surprised at what it reveals about us and what the future really holds!

But the Canaanites excelled in one area into which even some heathen cultures go out of the way to avoid. As previously mentioned, that was the practice of child sacrifice. Molech was one of a number of deities in the ancient past which demanded the life of an infant or small child. In the Old Testament you are confronted with a term which describes certain persons causing children to "pass through the fire." Now lest you get a wrong slant on this, the children didn't survive this "passing through" experience -- they were burned to death! One king in Israelite history was guilty of this kind of practice. His name was Manasseh. In fact he would have made a first class convert to the Canaanite way of life just as many citizens in the good old U.S. of A. would be today! You can read details about this character beginning at 2 Chronicles 33. Some time later God referred to him as the primary reason as to why devastating judgment was slated for the kingdom of Judah - see Jeremiah 15:4!

Another term applied to the tendency of the Israelites to adopt the Canaanite way of life is the "shedding of innocent blood." For the serious minded person, it doesn't take much time to realize that Almighty God was more than a little upset with this situation. And after ample warnings had been given, God responded to the rampant apostasy which had infected those who claimed they were His people. It was not a very pretty scene -- the saddest thing of all is the fact that it would not have had to happen. You can read details in 2 Chronicles 36.

Molech and his blood thirsty buddies have resurfaced in the United States under new identities -- they now assume such names as "Convenience," "Easy Way Out," "Deny Responsibility," "Fetus Disposal," and "Constitutional Right to Kill the Unborn!"

The "temples" where the Canaanite deities with new identities are worshipped have a name of some kind but always end with such titles as "clinic," "hospital," or "medical center." The latter two expressions are sort of contradictions due the fact that for some time it has been assumed in our culture that a hospital or a medical center were places where every effort is made to preserve and enhance life through various therapies, surgery, application of medications, etc. However in some locations and for a number of unborn children these places turn out to be nothing less than death chambers with some mothers-to-be checking in and later leaving by themselves -- their unborn children left behind have been torn to pieces and disposed of in the same manner as one would treat offensive and unwanted garbage!

And if you haven't seen it yet, take a look at how the violent record of the United States presently stands in regard to potential citizens who never made it outside the womb alive -- some were seconds from birth, but a "procedure" known as "partial birth" abortion terminated their lives as their skulls were punctured and their brains sucked out by an individual who has a moron level of intelligence in making the outrageous claim that he/she is an "M.D!" And if you have previously seen the record keeper before, how much different is the total now from when you last saw it?

Millions of unborn children have been intentionally murdered all over
the world over time and the United States has contributed tens of millions
to the total - see latest tally at Number of Abortions

There is one sharp contrast between the ancient Canaanites and the citizens of the United States -- the Canaanites left their children be born and live a small measure of time before sacrificing them, but we in the U.S. have exterminated millions before they were even born!

Will we in the U.S. repent of our adopted Canaanite ways? There is no evidence at this point that we have even the slightest intention of doing so! If anything, the national mood that presently prevails is one in which we thumb our nose at God, give Him an obscene gesture, and tell Him to "...stay the @@##%**%% out of our affairs!"

Which leads to a disturbing question -- is it possible that as God's patience is fast approaching its limits that He may reveal to the small remnant of committed followers of Jesus Christ in this country a shocking directive as He did to Jeremiah when the ancient kingdom of Judah was in its death throes?

"Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you." "Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble." Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for this people, for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11,12 NKJV

The middle eastern brand of terrorists may do some damage and take some lives (though not nearly as many as the different breed of "terrorists" who operate "legally" in this country and violently take thousands of lives each week) but the far greater threat comes from the 21st Century Canaanites who presently influence and control our nation's system of values!

Be aware that they are everywhere and will infect you with their spirit and world view if they can -- they are in the majority, you know! Jesus Christ offers you abundant life and hope for both time and eternity -- don't miss out on it -- carefully review How to Become a Christian (use return feature on your browser to come back to this area) and make sure you are on the right road in life -- otherwise, all you have to look forward to is

December 9, 2002
Clayton D. Harriger
Elder in Full Connection
Western PA Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
and former pastor of
Gipsy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) November 1999 through November 2019
Gipsy, PA

UPDATED > February 26, 2023, August 16, 2023, October 26, 2023, January 21, 2024

For further reference see:

Imploding a Culture by Destroying the Young!
Popular Deities of American Culture!
How to Dismantle a Culture in 3 Easy Steps!
Mr. President, We Need to Get Our Own House in Order First!
God Bless America? Really Now, Why Should He?
Trashing Sacred Gifts -- 21st Century Style!
President Bush Failing to Factor in the Keystone for Homeland Security!
"But doctor, I feel good and people say I look great!
Atrocities? Well, It Depends on Your Definition of What Is or Isn't!
United States Holocaust Gallery!
A National Rage Against Violence, BUT Not Always!
USA's Hidden Horrors!
Justice Denied!
Hold It, Mr. President -- About That Statement, "We respect life."

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