“But
when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it
up for two hours: ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the
Ephesians!’”—Acts 19:34
“Woman
is the glory of man”—1 Corinthians 11:7
“Many
walk...whose glory is in their shame”—Philippians 3:18-19
Realization
of spiritual Jewishness is disconcerting to the natural and unregenerated mind,
and often when it is realized, unbelief, followed fast by confusion and anger,
manifests in violent protest. Man in his
own glory is woman in authority, man out of divine order (in spiritual symbolism). A brief survey of the goddess Diana (as the
Romans called her; the Greeks called her “Artemis”) reveals something
profoundly insidious, and as pertaining to the elect in the process of
redemption, something we would be wise to better understand in these last days
filled with so many “lying sign and wonders.”
Diana
means “bright sky” or “daylight” and Ephesus means “desirable”; in spiritual
meaning, however, Diana of the Ephesians means to desire the lesser natural
light of night above the greater spiritual light of day. For the Christian, it is to put the weaker
vessel in prominence above the greater treasure (Christ) that is inside it; it
is to glory in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. To worship one’s own enlightenment is to
worship the woman Diana, to glory in one’s own shame. Here is the result: “The noble and precious sons of Zion, [once] worth their weight in fine gold—how they are esteemed
[merely] as earthen pots or pitchers—the works of the hands of
the potter!” (Lamentations 4:2 Amp.).
Behind
the idea of the worship of the goddess Diana is man seeking his own glory. As Jesus Christ asked the Jewish leaders
yesterday, so might He ask those who bow down to the spirit of Diana today: “How
can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek
the glory that is from the one and only God?” (John 5:44 NASB).
Unredeemed
man at the height of his powers—in his pomp—is man glorying in his shame; there
is no way around this illicit inordination except by redemption. Moreover, those on the path of redemption,
but as yet purged of idols, are also glorying in shame when to those idols they
still bow. But this is bowing to the
lesser light, worshipping and serving “the creature rather than the Creator”
(see Romans 1:25); this is circumventing the divine order, elevating woman
above man and man above God.
No
matter how bright someone shines—whether intellectually or physically (or in
any other way in natural gifting)—the light of that kind of glory is
disconnected from the Son, and is therefore, a secondary and terminable
light. The bright sky of Diana, however
much she enlightens the mind of man and however much she may seem real as a
result of that enlightenment—if she is measured by eternal measurement (which
is how God measures)—she is illusory (all moonshine without heat). In fact, some ancient writers considered the
word “Diana” to mean “dies,” or that which is related to “the shine of the
Moon.”
When I
think of those that Daniel said would have insight and shine like the
firmament, and of those upon whose heads (and extended upward to “something
resembling a throne” whereupon “the appearance of a man” sat—see Ezekiel 1:26)
that an “awesome gleam of crystal” like an expanse (a firmament) would appear
and shine, I think of the “bright sky” lie of Diana of the Ephesians, and of
the angel of light appearance of Satan as two examples of glory mimicry. Behind the lying signs and wonders of these
last days are the false apostles who do not know God; the elect which are wont
to be deceived are near deceived by this dance of darkness disguised as light.
Wikipedia
defines the mythology of Diana as “heavenly” or “divine”; it also says she “was
the goddess of the hunt, the moon and birthing.” This is eerily similar in meaning to Jericho,
which means “a breathing moon.” In
connection with the concept behind Jericho, is the idea of the human heart
disconnected from God (yet still trying to breathe!). A breathing moon is an impossibility (a moon
being a dead satellite). She can only
“breathe” out the breath of another; she can only reflect the light of
another. Likewise, Diana’s “bright sky”
can only be bright based on reflected glory.
This
is the essential or core deception behind the enthronement aspect of the weaker
and feminine light of man. This is not a
gender issue, but a misunderstanding of God’s divine order. Man enthroned without God outside the church
is like the bride of Christ enthroned without Christ inside the church; both
effectually worship Diana. Since the
woman is the glory of man—woman worshipped (in any form)—is man worshipping his
own glory. Wikipedia also said this about
Diana: “The celestial character of Diana
is reflected in her connection with light, inaccessibility, virginity, and her
preference for dwelling on high mountains”; this puritanical depiction of her virtues,
and her ascended placement on top of “high mountains,” is indicative of man
elevating the premise of vain imagination above the holy ground of the Most
High.
The
glory of Diana is the light of humanity undiscovered and in its pure and
undefiled nativity; but the glory of the Lord discovers her whereabouts and
shines a light on her true character.
The elevated places she ascends to are indicative of the soul that is
uplifted and not right in man. Idol
worship of the goddess Diana in a formal shrine might be gone, but it is really
not so much gone as it has changed its color and shape to better appeal to the “supposedly”
more enlightened modern man. But do not
let overt idol worship be the only rule of measurement; behind all worship is
the spirit of that worship, and covert idol worship is regularly done deep in
the heart of man. Whatever we look at
affects us; if to our own nature we stare, we become narcissistic; if to God we
stare, we are transformed.
“For
now we are looking in a mirror that
gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma],
but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I
shall know and understand fully and clearly, even
in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly
known and understood [by God]”; “And all of us, as with
unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in
a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image
in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to
another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit”; “But be doers of
the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying
yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word
without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man
who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; for he thoughtfully
observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like” (1
Corinthians 13:12 and 3:18; James 1:22-24 Amp.).
Ultimately,
to deface Diana, we must take our eyes off self and put them on God.
