“When one looks into a palantír, one can mentally communicate with other such stones and anyone who might be looking into them; beings of great power can manipulate the greater stones to see virtually any part of the world. They were made by the Elves of Valinor in the Uttermost West, by the Noldor and maybe even Fëanor himself. Many palantíri were made, but only eight are specifically mentioned in Tolkien’s published works. Fashioned of a dark crystal, they were indestructible by any means men possessed at the end of the Third Age…” (quote from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

In Chapter 7 of J.R.R. Tolkien’s great book The Return of the King we encounter the insane Denethor, Steward of Gondor. At the end of that chapter Gandalf observes, “Though the Stewards deemed that it was a secret kept only by themselves, long have I know that here in the White Tower, as at Orthanc, one the Seven Stones was preserved. In the days of his wisdom Denethor did not presume to use it, nor to challenge Sauron, knowing the limits of his own strength. But his wisdom failed; and I fear that as the peril of his realm grew he looked in the Stone and was deceived; more than once, I guess, since Boromir departed. He was too great to be subdued to the will of the Dark Power,  he saw nonetheless only those things which that Power permitted him to see. The knowledge which he obtained was, doubtless, often of service to him; yet the vision of the great might of Mordor that was shown to him fed the despair of his heart until it overthrew his mind.”

Such is the danger we Christians ourselves face in this dark hour, this time when Satan’s rule appears to have overthrown every once-Christian government on the earth. Nations which once modeled its laws upon God’s holy Word, like America, have now changed their laws to embrace and to mandate that which God says is abominable. The State now punishes and destroys Christians who even attempt to obey God’s Law in their personal lives. Even worse, rampaging Satanic Islamists now behead Christians and destroy every vestige of Christian civilization in the Middle East, the cradle of its origin. And American government does nothing to stop. It is said that we even arm, train, and fund them.

And so, in this time of profound darkness and evil, many Christians find themselves spending hours reading books, watching movies,  and listening to songs inspired by “the Illuminati” and other Satanic minions who rule our world. They do this, of course, to try to understand  what Satan is really doing now. Many of these people post articles and videos about what they find. And they do find many clues to Satan’s plan.

But, do we need to know the details of Satan’s plan? Do we need to know why Miley Cyrus sticks out her tongue or makes a triangle shape with her hands? Do we need to understand why Katy Perry dances with sharks? Do we need to watch the movie “Prometheus” to discern what Satan intends for mankind? No, a thousand times NO! Let us build ourselves up in our faith instead of weighing ourselves down with Satan’s madness. We do not edify our souls when we watch or think about the godless things our society does. People who continue looking into the palantír, i.e. the deep things of Satan, will, like Denethor, ultimately give in to fear. When that happens they will try to make preparations in their flesh to fight against the tribulation and terror that is coming. They may even become insane and try to kill their children and commit suicide as Denethor did. We do live in last days. This is the time spoken of by the prophets and by Paul to Timothy,

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.⁶ For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV)

Yes, these are times of difficulty. Nevertheless, our hope rests in God, not in understanding and trying to out-prepare the evil one. We must continue in God’s Word and we must do what that word says to do. So,

 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV)