Hindu prayer insulted America's true God

Senate's sneakiness triggers transcendental tremors

By Tom Kovach

(NOTE: All Bible references are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.)

Did you feel the earth shake a little last Thursday morning? You should have. On Thursday, 12 Jul 2007, for the first time in the history of the United States, a session of our Senate opened with a prayer ... to a god other than the God of the Bible! At the invitation of Majority Leader Harry Reid, America took a significant departure from our historical moorings to the God that gave us the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of men. How significant was that departure? Perhaps more than most Americans (who are casual students of the Bible, at best) might realize. Read on.

The Senate represents not only the making of laws — a concept that did not even exist until the Lord God Jehovah gave the stone tablets of His Law to His servant Moses — the Senate also represents the concept of equality. How? The House of Representatives has seats assigned by the population of districts. The more citizens living in a state, the more its seats in the House. But, in the Senate, each state — regardless of size or population — has only two senators. That way, there is a balance and equality to the process.

Equality was also a concept introduced by God. He repeatedly stressed in the Levitical Law that the same rules were to apply to "the least among you," "the fatherless," and "the foreigner in your midst." (Before someone gets carried away, and tries to suggest that God doesn't care about border security, consider His position on the Edomites. The roots of the conflict between Israel and Edom go back to water rights and border-crossing permission. God's view of border security is also quite clear in the book of Nehemiah.) So, in a scant few minutes, the United States Senate — whose very existence represents equality under the law, as designed by Jehovah — insulted that very God, who gave us those things. How?

In the Bible, God does things in specific patterns. Many of those patterns are in sets of three. Three is sometimes called "the number of God," or "the number of God's perfection." (Other examples include seven, which is "the number of God's completion," because God rested on the seventh day. Eight is known as "the number of the Messiah" in Hebrew numerology; and, Jesus spent the last eight days of His earthly life in Jerusalem. Jesus arose from the dead eight days after He raised Lazarus. And, after the betrayal of Judas, there were eight "lesser apostles" there in the Upper Room with Peter, James, and John when the risen Jesus appeared to those whom He had called at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Three sets of eight; perfect confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel.) There are three Persons in the Holy Trinity; yet, they are "of one essence" — one God. So, if someone wants to insult the God of the Bible, the "perfect" way to do that would be in sets of three.

sets of three, within a set of three

I do not believe that the guest chaplain (Mr. Rajan Zed of the Indian Association of Northern Nevada) intentionally planned out such an insult against the Lord God Jehovah, the God of the Bible, the creator of Heaven and Earth. (Of course, I could be wrong....) I do believe, however, that when certain leaders within our government chose to turn their backs against our God, then it gave The Enemy (Satan) a foothold by which to use a prayer to a different god as an occasion to thumb his nose at the true God. And, having formerly been created and assigned as Lucifer (which means "bearer of the light"), where he stood in close proximity to the throne of the Lord God Jehovah (before he rebelled, and was "cast down from Heaven like lightning"), the enemy of our souls knows the precise formula for making sure that God is truly insulted. (For the story of Satan's rebellion, see the 14th chapter of Isaiah.)

Back in 1961, our nation insulted God by the Supreme Court's ban against prayer in public schools. In 2005, President George W. Bush insulted both our nation and our nation's God, when he said of our Constitution, "It's just a God-damned piece of paper." Now, our Senate has insulted God by formally praying to another god during an official function. (Oddly, the same Supreme Court that has banned Lord God Jehovah from public schools, public functions, and public property has not taken action to ban prayer in the chambers of Congress. Hmmmmm.) Three sets of direct, history-changing insults.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is reported to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — commonly known as the Mormons, after their founding Book of Mormon. Although disputes exist within some theological circles as to whether Mormons are "real" Christians, most of the ones that I've met do sincerely believe that they are. So, for now, let's assume that Senator Reid professes to be a Christian in his heart. Yet, in his position as the senate majority leader, Senator Reid officially invited the first-ever prayer to a foreign god during the call to order of the United States Senate. Another personal insult came when that day's presiding senator, Robert P. Casey, Jr., used his position to officially call for that prayer. Then, when a small band of Christians voiced their opposition to the Hindu prayer, the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate officially removed those Christians from the chamber. Because they were official acts, they were done on behalf of all of the citizens of the United States. As local Nashville talk-radio host Michael DelGiorno correctly stated the following morning, "They represent all of us." (By the way, after that prayer to a foreign god was offered on behalf of all of America's citizens, the next sunrise occurred on Friday the thirteenth. Coincidence? Or, has "a new day dawned" in this country? And, will it be "a dark and terrible day"?) Three sets of insults within the official acts surrounding the prayer.

Now for the text of the prayer itself. When I heard the sound clip on the radio, I was immediately stunned. I called in to Michael's program, and explained the theological points about the prayer. Now, I take the time to expand upon it in writing, so that my fellow Christian citizens of America can see in detail that this was no small event. The text of the prayer can be found in the Congressional Record for the "call to order" of the Senate on Thursday, 12 July 2007.

Mr. Zed specified that his prayer was to, "... the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky, and inside the soul of the Heaven." Just who is that god? And, is it the same god as the Lord God Jehovah — the God of the Holy Bible? How can we know? Let's examine God's Word, and see if there are any clues. The first clue is that the "salutation" of this prayer has three parts. Hmmmmm.

Jesus predicted the length of time that He would remain in the tomb. At the time, His disciples did not fully understand the prediction. He said, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40, emphasis added) Many theologians believe that the phrase "heart of the earth" describes not only the physical tomb of Jesus' burial, but also the spiritual place to which He descended during those three days. In Genesis 1:2, the Earth is described as "without form, and void." In Greek, the description is made with the word "chaos." The realm of sin and death (Hades) is a realm of chaos; it is a place of confusion. But, "God is not the author of confusion." (1st Corinthians 14:33) Jesus descended into the "heart of the earth" to crush confusion, and to set the captives free. (Luke 4:18) So, when Mr. Zed prayed to the deity "who is inside the heart of the earth," he was praying to Satan. That is a strong statement, but it is true — regardless of whether Mr. Zed realized what he was doing. How could he be praying to Satan? Because he prayed to that "deity" who is inside the heart of the earth. Jesus is not there anymore — He left, and He is risen! (Praise Him forever!) And, when He left the heart of the earth, Jesus took with Him the souls of those to whom He preached the Gospel of deliverance, and who accepted that gift. (Thus, the only people left in the realm of Hades were those that chose to stay there. That is an oft-overlooked concept, but it is exposed in Matthew 25:41.) That was the first insult of this controversial prayer.

Mr. Zed then went on to address that "deity" who is "in the life of the sky." The sky is a place. Does it have a life? But, if it has a life, then which deity rules over it? Saint Paul, in Ephesians 2:2, refers to Satan as "the prince of the power of the air," and to his followers as "the sons of disobedience." As one that can converse in several languages, and interprets between Sign Language and English, I think conceptually. And, conceptually, the "life of the sky" and the "power of the air" are the same thing. (I cannot read classical Greek, to see if the concept holds true in translation from the original text. But, I believe that it would.) Thus, a second time, Mr. Zed insulted the Lord God Jehovah by praying to Satan.

Next, the prayer addressed the "deity" that is "inside the soul of Heaven." Heaven is both a physical place and a state of being. Saint Paul referred to the "third Heaven" in 2nd Corinthians 12:2; thus, he confirmed that it is a place with different parts. Does a place have a soul? As a state of being, Heaven is the eternal joy of being in the presence of the Lord God Jehovah — the Holy God, the Lord Almighty, the King of the Universe. To be apart from God eternally is Hell, regardless of where Hell is. God did not create Hell to punish bad people; He created it to punish rebellious angels. The only people in Hell will be those that choose to follow "the devil and his angels." (Again, see Matthew 25:41.) Although this might seem like a fine point, God cannot be "inside" the soul of Heaven, because God is the soul of Heaven. (Some traditions hold that Lucifer was the leader of the heavenly choir of angels, until he rebelled and was cast out of Heaven. If he was the choir leader, then he could easily be construed to have been "inside the soul of Heaven" until his ejection.) By attempting to assign to Lord God Jehovah a place that is less that his true and rightful place, Mr. Zed insulted God for a third time within the salutation of his prayer.

Thus, the insults came in three sets of three. Hmmmmm.

a fourth set of three!

There was one other set of three. This "fourth" set of three, however, was there to honor the Lord God Jehovah. This set of three was the group of three Christians that protested aloud in the Senate chamber. As host Michael DelGiorno pointed out during his program last Friday, perhaps it is an insult to God that only three American Christians came to the Senate chamber to protest. But, before we get too down about that fact, remember that there was another group of three that stood against a prayer to insult the Lord God Jehovah. That group was ordered to offer a "physical prayer" by bowing down before an idol. Not just any idol, mind you, but an enormous idol of King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon. Those three young men — Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego — refused to bow down, even when told that their alternative would be to be tossed into a fiery furnace. And, when they were tossed in, the king saw that there was a fourth person walking around unharmed inside the furnace. That fourth person was "the angel of God" — the pre-incarnate Jesus. The three righteous youths were offered three chances to bow down; they refused three times. Then, inside the fiery furnace, there was "a fourth" there to honor God. (As you might recall, the three righteous youths walked out of the furnace, and their clothes did not even smell of smoke!) After three sets of three insults against God, these brave modern Christians became "a fourth" set of three — this one determined to honor God.

I agree with the comment of Michael DelGiorno, who said that it is terrible that the only Christians that left the Senate chamber over that Hindu prayer left that day in handcuffs. (How many other professing "Christian" senators stood by in the chamber during that prayer? How many of those that stood also bowed their heads? Did any bravely turn their backs? We might never know the answer, but God knows.)

for the record...

Here is the bulk of an e-mail that I sent to Michael shortly after calling his show about this topic last Friday.

You had a lot of callers waiting this morning, but I had one more important point about the Hindu prayer in the Senate.

You asked one caller before me what he would've done if he had been serving in the Senate. Well, having run for the House last year, I might someday be in a position to actually need to make a decision on that question.

If I'm elected to the House, and someone prays to another god, I will stand in the hallway and not enter the chamber until the prayer is finished. (I will not disrupt those that join such a prayer; but, neither will I join in it.) If the Speaker orders me to enter the chamber, I will obey his order (the Bible commands us to obey those in authority over us — as long as they do not conflict with the laws of God), but I will remain in the back and not take my assigned place until the prayer is finished. If he orders me to take my place, then will go to my assigned seat, but I will not bow. If he orders me to bow (at that point, he will have violated the commandment of God), I will refuse to obey, and will continue to refuse NO MATTER WHAT actions he might take from that point forward.

Voters deserve to know where their candidates stand.

the "crucial" question

My fellow Americans, where do you stand?

© Tom Kovach