Incense goes up to the false god by the encouragement of church leadership.

Ezekiel 8:11

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

 “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.” Ezekiel 8:11

Incense symbolizes spiritual communication with God, similar to prayer. This expresses the spirit and soul’s devotion, praise, and reverence to God in the name of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. However, Jaazaniah was offering up adoration and praise to the false god and leading the 70 elders to do the same. In turn, these leaders of the church would teach those in their congregation to do the same. They were inciting the beastly carnal nature to indulge in sensual and sexual desires.

“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Matthew 15:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Matthew 23:15

Today, the leaders of the churches seem to be giving praise, devotion, and reverence to God, but they ignore Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are not feeding the congregation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They no longer offer up the communion of the spirit and soul in thankfulness for what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. He suffered, shed His blood, and died to atone for sin. The churches no longer express thankfulness to God for raising Jesus Christ from the dead after three days. Because He lives, we will live eternally with Him. The churches no longer lift up praise from the spirit and soul that Jesus Christ has ascended into Heaven where He intercedes for us. The churches are no longer devoting their spirit and soul to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” Luke 19:46

The leaders of the churches are giving their praise, devotion, and reverence to the false god that gives them what to think, feel, say, and do. This entity enlivens the image of the beast to live and speak through people. By what they say and do, they harden the spirit and soul against Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They have no devotion, praise, or reverence to offer up to God the Creator. People everywhere offer up their life to the global culture as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they say and do.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1