[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

Balaam was in the OT narrative, Simon Magus in the new. Same spirit, same infection.

If you do a search under "trading", "merchants", and "merchandise" in one of those searchable Bibles (or a Concordance for you old-timers) it's pretty revealing what you will find. Apparently this spirit has a long and successful history.

Start with Ezekiel 27 & 28, for example. Ezekiel 28 has this:

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (KJV)

and Ezekiel 27 has this:

29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

Which finds a direct parallel in Revelation 18:

15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

The line goes from the holy mountain of God, conceivably even pre-Adamic, all the way to Revelation 18. You have a spirit that was once quite close to God, who can dazzle and bewitch even the stoutest and most capable into full engagement, and then lead them far astray, deep into the burning smoke. When you look at the trail of this spirit, suddenly Daystar does not look like such an anomaly. It looks right in place.