Pilgrims Of A Last Age: Armour Up! And Stand For Your God
10/27/24 5:51 AM
Naomi. C.
This post encourages all to armour up to be able to resist evil forces and fully stand for God. It will also introduce/remind the reader of a much-loved historic Christian allegory, John Bunyan’s, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
This allegory can help individuals recognize, and stand against, the evil they encounter. The allegory effectively models the process of standing against various forms of evil in a creative and easily remembered way. The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) remains as relevant today as it ever was. I recommend having a copy in your home like many Christians of previous centuries had a copy in their homes.
Having a greater knowledge of our own historic Christian stories can help us stand our ground at this time. It can also help us to see the level of mockery that Christians, and humanity in general, are exposed to on global scale, via ruthless modern propaganda that often operates under the deceptive guise of ‘entertainment’. (I will address this mockery in the last section.) If anyone believes that centuries old Christian literature has little bearing on today, they may be surprised at just how relevant it is, after all, top level propagandists know it better than most Christians. Propagandists even reference The Pilgrim’s Progress in their own globally influential spiritual allegories, as is the case with a modern music video.
Armour up Christian pilgrims. Know and utilize the protective purposes of the armour given you. The day is evil, we face a total system of highly effective propaganda, dark and spiritually orientated, it attacks from all sides, including via what is sold to all as ‘entertainment’. We should aim to stand with the end goal of letting no man take our crown (God’s promise and prize of eternal life for his faithful).
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ (Ephesians 6:13 KJV)
Visit God’s armoury, in both reality, and in story.
God’s armoury has the following for you:
Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14): ‘Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. (KJV)
Helmet of salvation and Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16) ‘Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.’
Feet of Peace (Ephesians 6:15) “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”
A Christian pilgrim, headed for the Celestial City (Heaven), named ‘Christian’ from John Bunyan’s classic Christian allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From this World to That Which is to Come, was taken to an armoury in the allegory because to do so was important. (Direct quotations from the book in bold below)
‘The next day they took him, and had him into the armoury, where they showed him all manner of furniture, which their Lord had provided for pilgrims, as sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, All-Prayer, and shoes that would not wear out. And there was here enough of this, to harness out as many men for the service of their Lord as there be stars in the heaven for multitude.’
The character, Christian, planned to continue forward on his journey, but first his friends took him back to the armoury that he has seen earlier to cover him. This was very helpful, especially as Christian was soon to encounter and battle with Apollyon, although he didn’t know it at the time:
‘Now he bethought himself of setting forward, and they were willing he should: ‘But first,’ said they, ‘let us go again into the armoury’; so they did; and when he came there, they harnessed him from head to foot with what was proof, lest perhaps he should meet with assaults in the way.’
Christian soon did meet with assault along the way. In The Valley of Humiliation, Christian, encountered the foul fiend, Apollyon. In the following passages you can read of this encounter, and of how Christian effectively utilized his shield (of faith) and sword (word of God).
‘But now in this Valley of Humiliation poor Christan was hard put to it, for he had gone but a little way before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name is Apollyon. Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back, or to stand his ground. But he considered again that he had no armour for his back, and therefore thought that to turn the back to him might give him greater advantage with ease to pierce him with his darts; therefore he resolved to venture, and stand his ground. For, thought he, had I no more in mine eye, than the saving of my life, ‘twould be the best way to stand.
So he went on, and Apollyon met him; now the monster was hideous to behold, he was clothed with scales like a fish (and they are his pride) he had wings like a dragon, feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke, and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion. When he was come up to Christian he beheld him with a disdainful countenance and thus began to question with him.
Apollyon. Whence come you, and whither are you bound?
Christian: I come from the City of Destruction, which is the place of all evil, and am going to the City of Sion……’
Apollyon, as fiends do, put in Christian’s face all that he had done wrong on his pilgrimage, but Christian stood his ground, aware of his failings, genuinely sorry for them, but also aware of the pardon of his Prince. Apollyon is described as full of rage. Christian put his armour to good use as we see in the following passages.
‘Apollyon: Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage, saying, I am an enemy to this Prince: I hate his person, his laws, and people. I am come out on purpose to withstand them.
Christian: Apollyon , beware what you do, for I am in the King’s highway, the way of holiness, therefore take heed to yourself.
Apollyon. Then Apollyon stroddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter, prepare thyself to die, for I swear by my infernal den that thou shalt go no further, here will I spill thy soul: and with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that. Then did Christian draw, for he saw ‘twas time to bestir him; and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand and foot; this made Christian give a little back: Apollyon therefore followed his work amain, and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could. This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite spent. For you must know, that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.
Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that Christian’s sword flew out of his hand. Then said Apollyon, ‘I am sure of thee now,’ and with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life. But as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching of his last blow thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy! When I fall I shall arise,’ and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back as one that had received his mortal wound: Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.’ And with that Apollyon spread forth his dragon’s wings, and sped him away, that Christian saw him no more.’
The Global Mockery and inversion of Historic Christian Allegory – The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is To Come.
Because we have largely discarded our historic Christian stories, they are now being inverted and used to mock us by high level propagandists, who are apparently so proud they consider it highly unlikely that such mockery will ever even be noticed. Proud and contemptuous, modern spiritual propagandists apparently consider a mass of humanity worthless, stupid, and entirely ‘oblivious’. Historic Christian allegories have been referenced in popular culture, apparently for some to laugh at just how ‘oblivious’ Christians, and all others, have become.
In a 2017 music video titled Chained to the Rhythm Katy Perry – Chained To The Rhythm (Official) ft. Skip Marley all are depicted taking a path to Hell on the very deliberately and incrementally laid tracks of modern propaganda. The process of this propagandising is fed back to all as ‘entertainment’. This highly contemptuous mainstream music video mocks the propagandised (common humanity) and refers to them as ‘wasted zombies’. It ever encourages them, at the same time, to continue to embrace and ‘dance to’ all the distortion that modern propaganda has on offer, while simultaneously mocking them for doing so. This includes mocking all who take an unquestioning ‘good vibes only’ perspective on their path of personal demise (I have previously posted here about dangers of Good Vibes Only propaganda: Propaganda Warning #3: The Bad Vibes of ‘Good Vibes Only’ – Naomi C – 444 Prophecy News). The contempt on show is in keeping with the reality that propagandists often have the greatest contempt for those who buy into their propaganda. Together, all at the amusement park depicted in the modern music video (symbolic of the world and its spiritual choices), are on a fast track to hell, something that, for some orchestrating such a path, is apparently cause for pride and celebration, for they know what others apparently do not.
The video I refer to is rich in references to classic literature including Orwell’s 1984, Dante’s Inferno (Hell) the first book of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. Many have noted the music video’s reference to the first book (Orwell’s, 1984), none, that I have seen, have mentioned the last two. This is likely because the relentless propaganda of ‘Forget the past’ and ‘live in the now’ has been so successful over decades. As a result, I have not seen one single person, including academics, who have successfully decoded the symbolism in this global music video on the level that it requires to be adequately understood, with reference to literature much earlier than Orwell’s that is not only referenced but that, in the case of Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, underpins the entire orientation of the video. Instead, largely oblivious and off the mark interpretations of what this music video means continue to circulate around the internet. People are at least trying to understand what is put before them as ‘entertainment’ but in this instance they are not even close to hitting the mark as we have almost wholly lost the language that historic literature lends, and the ability to recognize very specific references to it.
With some knowledge of the literature the music video references, it becomes clear that Chained to the Rhythm represents a boastful and celebratory 21st century allegory of Satan’s Progress in this world, an inversion of Bunyan’s own 17th century allegory. It is a short spiritual allegory, in music video form, as The Pilgrim’s Progress is a spiritual allegory, in the longer form of a book. Both are rich with symbolism. Ultimately, the music video mocks Christianity and shows Christian pilgrims as oblivious, while elevating many forms of occultism.
I have completed an analysis of this video that I intend to share in full in the future. However, I wish to share some key elements here first as they are relevant to this post. In short, the music video I refer to mocks Christian pilgrims, with the well-known female singer (K.P.) wearing a distinct armour inspired pressed breast plate design bodice as part of her costume when she walks into a colourful amusement park that appears to be part of a larger town. Her name, ‘Rose’ , like Bunyan’s ‘Christian’, in allegorical style, is symbolic, it means something. Rose represents the oblivious, those that look at the world with rose coloured glasses and choose not to see the evil that plots the demise of their souls.
Bunyan’s character ‘Christian’, centuries earlier, walked into a fair, a permanent yearlong fair that was part of a larger town.
‘Then I saw in my dream that when they were gone out of the wilderness they presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept called Vanity-Fair. It is kept all the year long; it beareth the name of Vanity-Fair, because the town where ‘tis kept is lighter than vanity; and also, because all that is there sold, or that cometh thither, is Vanity. As is the saying of the wise, All that cometh is vanity.’
Christian was always depicted in old illustrations entering Vanity Fair wearing the breastplate armour that he had put on earlier (as we read about in the passages from the book included in this post). Other costumes the character ‘Rose’ wears later in the music video also have distinct features of Christian pilgrim attire. The music video appears to be set in an equivalent of ‘Vanity Fair’, the fair that the pilgrims had to pass through in Bunyan’s spiritual allegory. In the music video, however, ‘Vanity Fair’ is renamed as ‘Oblivia’.
A modern Vanity Fair/ ‘Oblivia’ depicts all drinking inferno (hell) water /fire water (hell-fire water!) while on a path to totalitarian rule and spiritual demise. As in Bunyan’s Vanity Fair (whose chief lord of the fair is Beelzebub) elevated serpent heads oversee the amusement park of ‘Oblivia’. A hidden serpent exists inside the park mascot (and a two headed one surrounds the ‘innocent’ face of the hamster mascot for the amusement park/fair of Oblivia). The white inner serpent mascot’s shape changes and mutates throughout the video. Not surprisingly, it has a longer neck when shown on a countdown sign signalling (1984) totalitarianism. An occultic double headed serpent mascot is fully revealed in an associated Chained to the Rhythm lyric video: Katy Perry – Chained To The Rhythm (Lyric Video) ft. Skip Marley. To see this, it is best to screenshot the small bouncing marker for the lyrics that presents as the ‘Oblivia’ hamster mascot and then invert and enlarge it. Occultists apparently like to hide their clues, offering different levels of revelation, here, there, and everywhere. Today’s spiritual propagandists think broadly and operate on large scale, they apparently no longer expect Christians to do the same.
The ‘saviour’/antichrist figure that presents himself at the end of the main music video appears to emerge through a dragon ouroboros (2:46-7). Pausing the video and screenshots are necessary to see this image as it appears and disappears so quickly. To even see this image and others like it in the first place, in order to lead others to them, knowledge of scripture was helpful alongside an awareness that Chained to the Rhythm represents a spiritual allegory and a very dark and inverted one at that. The allegory contains multi-layered spiritual symbolism.
‘And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?’ Revelation 13:4
The Oblivious are depicted falling for this antichrist deception and dance in a frenzy to the distortion on offer. It is a distortion that the spiritually awake know will end in the demise of their souls. DO NOT be oblivious!
Screenshots of the music video are also necessary to see a snake head (once hidden inside the hamster mascot now revealed) consume the oblivious (the Vanity Fair/ ‘Oblivia’ amusement park attendees/oblivious hamsters/common people who have been ‘illuminated’ and lined up for destruction and have no clue to what is occurring). This can be seen at approximately 2 minutes and 47 seconds into the video, as the hamsters move from the bottom to the top of the screen.
We must pray for assistance in saving all the souls that we can from such fate in real life. The sorcery and the mockery of Christians, and all humanity, is on a level none of us can fully comprehend, nor would want to. Millions upon millions of dollars have been devoted to reinforcing and celebrating this state of sorcery. This is one of the reasons why full armour is so necessary.
Pray hard and let us begin the process of powerfully reclaiming our stories, one of the most powerful forms of communication. We have a responsibility to right the Christian stories that the Devil and his minions have inverted and that are now used as global instruments of mockery toward all.
The younger generations are very visually orientated, let us also show them that only through God’s word, and with knowledge of great Christian allegories of the past, can we fully interpret some of the inverted visual allegories of our own age, some that celebrate sending a mass of souls to eternal damnation and contemptuously sell it to all as their ‘entertainment’.
Unchain yourself from all distortion, and move to unchain and free others, those who are still Chained to the Rhythm’s of Hell’s propaganda. Pray for the oblivious who are drinking hell-fire water and being conditioned to fall for the antichrist deception, even mocked via modern ‘entertainment’ for doing so, yet do not realize it.
Armour up pilgrims, you are being attacked on all levels. When you stand strong you are a serious threat to the enemy, your swords, truths, and shields are capable of profound damage to the darkness. Reclaim your historic Christian allegories, your heritage, your awareness, and stand stronger still against those who like to depict Christian pilgrims as ‘oblivious’, as drinking hell-fire water along with all others today who are also oblivious.
Bunyan’s characters Christian, Faithful, and Hopeful were NOT oblivious, as a modern spiritual allegory in the form of a music video depicts today’s pilgrims.
Christian, Faithful, and Hopeful understood spiritual realities and made it to the Celestial City. Faithful was martyred at Vanity Fair and was first to go up to Heaven. Like true pilgrims, Christian, Faithful, and Hopeful helped others to make it to Heaven while they still had influence.
I encourage readers to reclaim Bunyan’s Christian allegory and use the modern inversion of it as a powerful example of the sorcery, mockery, and propaganda that currently exists in our world. This sorcery does what it can to condition all for the antichrist, while increasingly silencing the critical message of God’s pilgrims: that there is hope well beyond this world and its vanities for all those that are steadfast.
‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.’ Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV)
‘And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.’ Psalms 39:7. (KJV)
‘Now, as I said, the way to the Celestial City lies just through this town, where this lusty Fair is kept; and he that will go to the City, and yet not go through this town, must needs go out of the world. The Prince of Princes himself, when here, went through this Town to his own country, and that upon a fair-day too. Yea, and as I think it was Beelzebub, the chief lord of this Fair, that invited him to buy of his vanities; yea, would have made him lord of the Fair, would he but have done him reverence as he went through the town. Yea, because he was such a person of honour, Beelzebub had him from street to street, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a little time, that he might if possible allure that Blessed One, to cheapen and buy some of his vanities. But he had no mind to the merchandise, and therefore left the town without laying out so much as one farthing upon those vanities. This Fair therefore is an ancient thing, of long standing……………..’
John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.
