A few days ago, in Florida USA, a man named “Stephen Thomas Rodda” frenziedly attacked and killed his teenage son, “Stephen Lee Rodda”, with an angle grinder of all things (ref. 1). The man is said to have used meth since high school, and he has a lengthy rap sheet of drugs, “psychotic episodes”, and “bizarre comments”. Florida police described the case as “inexplicable”, but a county sheriff and preliminary investigator correctly ascribed to the case the word “evil”.
This was the work of a demon. The drug methamphetamine turned the addict into a zombie.
It seems to me, this killing was done in response to my recent discoveries about “the preserved of Israel” and “the rod” of God’s inheritance.
The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
Jeremiah 10:16
Satan’s side is angry that Isaiah 49 and its mission statement are now understood.
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing [light and also “small”, as in God will accomplish it anyway come what may] that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Isaiah 49:5-6
The main task in these last days of the servant of Isaiah 49 is to help gather the lost and preserved of the tribes of Israel, so that the saints become an instrument of war, a weapon of God that is lethal to demons: the “rod” of iron.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:15-16
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.
Revelation 2:26-28
Once the saints are gathered, transformed, and assembled as a unified fighting force, there will be nothing the other side can do.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Romans 8:19
It is no coincidence that an angle grinder is a heavy saw that is used to cut pieces off a literal metal rod.
I suppose, they could not find someone named “Rod”, so they went with this father and son surnamed “Rodda”. Still, the other names, “Stephen” and “Thomas” and “Lee”, are pertinent to the message.
Essentially, this was a threat, some new kind of terrorism, involving spirits (ref. Ephesians 6:12).
Imagine for a moment being the son watching your father psychotically charge at you wielding an angle grinder like something out of a horror movie. Even if you could defend yourself and prevail, it would be an awful situation.
In recent times, there have been plenty of cases of bizarre murders, involving demons. In Wisconsin 2022, during a drug fueled sex episode, a 24 year old woman strangled her lover to death with a chain, then severed his head and dismembered his body, and then continued to have sex with his dead body (ref. 2). In NSW 2019, a 27 year old woman stabbed her mother to death repeatedly and decapitated her, and then prodded out her eyeball, cut out her tongue and even cannibalised parts of the dead body (ref. 3). When police officers reached the scene, she continually asked them if her mother’s head could be “sewn back on”. There have also been reports of toddlers shooting dead their siblings or others nearby with guns that were left loaded in the house (ref. 4). How could a toddler know how to fire a gun and where to aim? With the very young, apparently, demons do not need drugs to control their minds. There is also the self-confessed “evil” British nurse who murdered 7 helpless babies in her care (ref. 5). I have covered these sorts of things before.
But now, it appears, there is terrorism and what amounts to hostage taking, something brand new.
My point is, demons will try anything and everything for their cause. There is no low to which they would not stoop.
They will deceive and mislead (ref. John 8:44). They might resort to flattery, and appeals to your ego and pride (ref. James 4:10). They might look to greed or envy (ref. Mark 15:10). When all that fails, they will try false accusations and fairy tales (ref. Revelation 12:10). And beyond that, they will resort to threats, and depending on where you are located, they will try to carry out those threats.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him [Jesus Christ] which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Revelation 13:10
In war, for a soldier, terrorism and hostage taking are traits of the weak. So, this desperation, in and of itself, is an admission that they are on the losing side.
This sort of terrorism might also have something to do with Satan’s plan to usurp control of some of the army of the saints, a matter I previously brought up.
In Air Force One (1997), where America is imagined as good and Russia as evil, hijackers threaten the American president’s young daughter to get him to do what they want, at which point the president says “We are soldiers. You take my life. Have you no honour?”
The same concept is repeated in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), where Lex Luther convinces Superman to cut off the head of Batman by threatening to harm Superman’s mother, Martha.
I say all these things now, because the saints, and also Christians generally, should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices in these last days. To be forewarned is to have an advantage.
The idea of stealing God’s weapon and using it against his own army has also been telegraphed elsewhere.
It took the Devil nearly 6000 years to get one third of the army of angels. Today in these last days, he has merely 3.5 years or thereabouts to deceive the saints.
If every single saint were to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and God the Father in this war to come, then every saint would be invincible, and the work of recovering the world from evil would be completed sooner rather than later.
Nevertheless, God has anticipated that the Devil might go in this direction (ref. Psalms 2). The Devil knows about the rod of Israel, because he once accessed the tree of knowledge in Eden.
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
Isaiah 24:16
If it turns out there is some treachery or a rebellion, it will be defeated.
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
Isaiah 54:15
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 54:17
Goes without saying, any saint that does betray God to serve Satan will “perish” (ref. Psalms 2:12), and everything that Satan has given to that person will be taken away.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges [saints] of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son [metaphor of the marital fidelity of the bride of Christ], lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalms 2:10-12
Therefore, in the grand scheme of things, treachery would only mean a delaying of the inevitable.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10-11
As the end comes, normal people everywhere will rejoice. Only those that have thrown in their lot with evil will dread.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Psalms 22:28-29
References:
1. Isabel Keane (5 September 2023), “Florida father accused of killing teen son with angle grinder: Inexplicable”, nypost.com
2. Laura Collins (3 March 2022), “She’s a monster: Family of man, 24, hit out at married woman accused of choking him to death with chain during drug-fueled sex, carving up his body and leaving his head in a bucket for his mother to find”, dailymail.co.uk
3. Candace Sutton (12 March 2021), “Woman who beheaded mother gets 21 years in prison”, news.com.au
4. WKYT (8 September 2023), “Toddler dies after being shot in the head by another child, sheriff says”, wkyt.com
5. Peter Wilkenson (18 August 2023), “I am evil, wrote British nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies in her care”, cnn.com