The following davar (word) was received early before the sabbath ended and is a part of yesterday's sabbath message.

In the early hours of 22 November 2012, before sunrise and the end of the first sabbath of the nineth month, I was shown an intense and disturbing vision. I was watching the spiritual interactions that take place in certain violent computer games that involve killing as part of its rôle-playing activity. I saw the victim or 'target' in the game having his throat cut and blood gushing out. I then became aware of a psychic connection between the player and a demon and sensed the thrill of the player at having 'killed' his cyber victim. This thrill released psychic energy from the player which was immediately absorbed or vampirised by the demonic entity that was goading the player's feelings as well as giving him the addiction leading him into the imaginary 'chase' and final 'kill'.

Prolonged exposure to satanic PC games progressively change the player's attitude and personality much as prolongued exposure to radiation can cause DNA mutation, sickness and death. By 'satanic' game I mean any kind of game whose activities may be said to be contrary to divine Torah leading to behaviour that is anti-Besorah (Gospel).

Whether we like it or not, whatever we permit our eyes to take in without filtering impacts the soul. One Messianic minister has observed:

"When we view things that are shocking, disturbing, immoral, violent or perverse, those images leave an impact on us. Sometime later, we give birth, as it were, through deeds, action and speech patterned after the things we have been placing before our eyes.

"For example, a person who watches television regularly cannot help but absorb the culture and values expressed on the television programs. The images he sees become a permanent part of his internal being because they are imprinted on his brain. The dialogue he hears begins to write new speech patterns in his mind. This is why King David declared, "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil" (Psalm 101:3-4) [1].

Computer games - and especially violent and immoral ones - take TV one stage further: they involve the player in physical movement and the generation of emotions, so that the whole being is caught up in the action.

We are seeing one of the evil fruits of this kind of 'entertainment' in modern warfare. Many of the attrocities and apparent moral and ethical disengagement of pilots flying drones remotely in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere are believed by some researchers to be the result of playing violent computer games. It is a small leap to human interaction with a piece of software to flying real live missions using similar equipment - a keyboard, joystick and monitor. The distance desensitisies us to the reality of what is happening 'at the other end' of the equipment with real weapons in real space and time.

Christian and Messianic parents must ever be on the lookout for such PC games as would corrupt their chidlren's thinking and feeling. It is so easy to begin with apparently innocuous war games and for the player to be persuaded to play more and more violent games without even realising it. The lure of evil is so often gradual in this manner.

Many of these games are deliberately cursed before they are despatched from the warehouses to shops and online ordering firms or otherwise made available on the internet.

Reporting on one particular PC game, a Christian researcher reported:

"As the player in the Ultimate Doom, you are a futuristic Space Marine on a rescue mission to a distant planet to find out why a Marine base has lost contact with Earth. When you arrive, you are immediately dropped into a pulse pounding war zone where the only way to stay alive is by blasting through a relentless army of bloodthirsty demons. The goal is to stay alive. The only way to do this is to kill the demons, pick up their weapons, and use them to kill other demons.

"Instead of merely watching the violence, this game puts you into the violence. The player is seen as merely a hand with a gun ready to kill. At first you think your mission is to save your Marine friends, but you quickly find out that they are either already dead or under the demons' control. Your only hope for survival is to kill your friends or be killed by them. You are literally being trained to kill your 'friends'. When they die, you see their blood spatter on the dark and eerie walls. You hear the demons growling and you know they are lurking around every corner. You can almost feel them breathing down the back of your neck. The fright is real! As you fight your way through each level, you notice many of your Marine friends disemboweled and crucified with pentagrams drawn on the walls in their blood.

"When you end up being killed by the progressively bigger and badder demons on each new level, the screen pans back to show your dying body crumpled to the ground and the bloodthirsty demons eating you like a piece of meat.

"The game is completed only after you have survived a great number of levels, each requiring scores if not hundreds of hours to master.

"It is not illegal to kill demons but this game definitely teaches to shoot first and ask questions later. As stated earlier your 'friends' have now become the enemy and you must kill them to survive. Unlike police training where you are taught to identify 'good guys' from 'bad guys', for Anything that moves is your enemy and should be blasted instantly -- even your friends! Extra points are given for a shot in the head...

"Most of the scenery is filled with dripping bloody pentagrams and upside down crosses as well as other overt satanic imagery.

"This incredibly bloodthirsty game is literally a walk through Hell. Doom was the first popular 'killing for fun simulations' and by today's standards, considered mild. At first the player is 'grossed out' by the blood and gore, but as he continues to play, it becomes commonplace. Playing this game for one hour may be acceptable. Playing for many hours could be cause for anxiety and/or depression. Playing for hundreds of hours is getting you ready to take action against anyone who gets in your way. Doom receives a 41% (F) due to the abundance of violence, gore, and occult influence" [2].

Because children (and even adults) enjoy such games so much, owing to the devilish 'thrills', they do not usually take kindly to critism of this kind. Yet there are spiritual issues, even with apparently 'mild' killing games. As believers we are not upposed to 'enjoy' war in any form, even playing it symbolically. Can you imagine Yah'shua (Jesus) or the apostles endorsing such activity were they to have lived today and been amongst us? Can you imagine them joining in such 'entertainment'? What do you suppose they would say about it?

If you play such games, ask yourself how you, as a follower of the Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), can reconcile them to the many scriptures that tell us to do the opposite such as:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of Elohim (God)" (Matt.5:9, NIV).

"Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matt.26:52, NKJV).

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Master" (Heb.12:14, NKJV).

There is a world of difference between learning to use a firearm to learn skills in order to defend your family (which may hopefully never be needed) and playing a war or fighting simulation hour after hour, day after day, that slowly turns you into a machine and drags you without your perhaps even noticing it into spirit that progressively turns off feelings of righteousness and which, given enough time, could turn you into a cold killer one day. You may not believe such a transformation is taking place but you are actually allowing the game to program you into thinking and reacting like a hardened killer. And much of the violence which we see on our streets is often learned in part in playing such games.

Use your wisdom and intelligence. Don't fall into the traps of the enemy to change your personality from being a godly one into being one like that of our Enemy himself. Don't let games program your behaviour, let the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) do so by learning the divine tavnith of scriptural emet (truth). The Enemy is relentlessly trying reprogram us in myriads of ways, dulling our senses to goodness, acclimatising us to the way of his world. Don't let him! We have to be alert to them and warn others of them too.

Endnotes

[1] First Fruits of Zion Weekly e-Drash, Vayetze, What You See Is What You Are (November 20, 2012)
[2] John Gocke, Doom-1