I need some more time to reflect on Isaiah 11:14 before I release Part 2 of my series of blog posts on the verse. However, I don’t want to leave you empty-handed today so I’ll share a strange story about something I experienced while I watched the President of Iran address the U.N five years ago.
This week is the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. World leaders usually spend the week meeting with each other and making speeches to a world audience. Incredibly, every world leader is allowed to pontificate about anything they want regardless of how incendiary it is. For instance, the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can question whether the Holocaust actually happened and the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez can imply that George W. Bush is the Devil without being arrested or thrown out the U.N. building. Usually, the annual gathering is something that can be ignored, but something took place five years ago at the gathering which I can never forget...
Five years ago Ahmadinejad addressed the U.N. for the first time as President of Iran. I remember there being a lot of media speculation and hype about what kind of incendiary comments that Ahmadinejad could make. I heard people I respect compare Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, so I was curious to see him speak on live television.
When I saw Ahmadinejad speak for the first time I noticed that the man was articulate, but he was not nearly at the same level as Hitler in terms of charisma. However, I noticed an eerily similarity between Ahmadinejad and Hitler as Ahmadinejad’s speech continued. I’ve watched a lot of historical documentaries that shown footage of Hitler addressing large crowds of people. When I watch Hitler speak I can actually sense the extreme evil that was inside of him (feeling is hard to describe). I mention this because I felt a similar, evil presence when I watched Ahmadinejad speak…it was extremely strange and something that I could not forget experiencing.
A year or two later I found an article where Ahmadinejad spoke about his 2005 experience at the U.N. Ahmadinejad said that he and his aides saw/felt a strange presence inside the U.N. building as he delivered the speech. An aide told Ahmadinejad that he saw a light shine on him while Ahmadinejad admitted that he sensed something strange as well. Ahmadinejad and his aides apparently viewed the experience as a sign that they were being blessed or protected by a higher power.
When I read the article I realized that it wasn’t just me who felt a presence. There was definitely something at the U.N. when Ahmadinejad spoke. However, I believe the presence was evil rather than something good like what Ahmadinejad and his aides thought.
- I don’t believe the specific evil presence that I felt possesses Ahmadinejad (I'm not denying the possibility he could be possessed by something). I’ve watched Ahmadinejad speak on television a few more times since his first speech, including his 2009 U.N. address, but I’ve failed to sense the presence. What I saw five years ago might have been a one-time event…
Nevertheless, the main message I take from my experience is that the ongoing spiritual warfare definitely affects the world of politics. Spiritual forces can influence world leaders and the decisions they make. To truly understand politics, you need to understand the spiritual context that politics operates under.
