In a sobering message about spiritual decline in modern culture, Messianic rabbi and author Jonathan Cahn delivered a warning many believers may find unsettling: the same ancient spirit that once led Israel into idolatry is reappearing today—and even influencing parts of the church.
Speaking in a recent sermon, Cahn pointed to the biblical account of Israel turning away from God and embracing the pagan god Baal, explaining that the pattern carries a prophetic warning for modern societies that abandon the Lord.
“When Israel turned away from God, they turned to the gods,” Cahn said. “If you turn away from the Elohim, you will end up turning to those elohim. If you turn away from God, the gods are coming in. The vacuum is not going to stay.”
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According to Cahn, Baal represented more than just an ancient idol. He described Baal as a spiritual force tied to materialism, sensuality and worldly obsession.
“When Baal came to Israel, it was a turn to materialism,” Cahn said. “Baal was the god of this world… carnal physical sensuality, materialism.”
Cahn argued that many of the cultural changes unfolding in America mirror the same spiritual shift seen in ancient Israel when Baal worship spread. As a society removes God from public life, he said, other “gods” inevitably rise to take His place.
“When you take away God, you end up with gods and idols,” Cahn said. “When God is removed, you can’t remove the need for God. So if you don’t worship God, you’re going to worship something else.”
In modern culture, he suggested, those substitutes can take many forms—self, pleasure, money, ideology or even political movements.
“When you take away God, everything becomes God,” Cahn said. “Anything becomes God.”
Cahn also warned that rejecting God’s authority eventually leads to rejecting truth itself. When a culture abandons objective truth grounded in God, he said, society begins to replace it with subjective ideas.
“We move away from truth and we move away from even the idea that there is a truth,” Cahn said. “People say, ‘I have my own truth.’ But truth by definition is not your personal truth.”
Another modern manifestation of idolatry, Cahn argued, is humanity’s increasing dependence on technology.
“When man turns away from God… he will end up worshiping the works of his hands,” he said. “He will serve his own technology.”
Yet Cahn’s warning did not stop at secular culture. He said the influence of Baal can also creep into the church when believers begin adopting the values of the surrounding culture rather than the truth of Scripture.
“Baal doesn’t just go for the culture,” Cahn said. “He goes for the people of God. In other words, Baal goes to church.”
And Baal has infiltrated both the church and the culture in sweeping ways.
In recent years, replicas of the Arch of Baal, an ancient gateway associated with the temple of the pagan deity in Palmyra, have been erected in several global cities and even displayed during events such as the World Government Summit in Dubai, which Charisma previously reported on.
Public demonstrations have also featured dramatic Baal imagery.
A recent protest in Mexico City included the burning of a Baal effigy while demonstrators smashed piñatas representing President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Similar imagery has been repeated in Iran as well, with at least two different Baal statues being set on fire. These moments are not random.
Instead, they are part of an ancient spiritual battle.
As Cahn shared, Christians must pick up the call to stay rooted deeply in the Word of God, no matter what is happening around us.
“We are not to be slaves,” he said. “We are children of God… and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the upcoming book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
