Are We Cursed by God?

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1)

If we were to accept that the events portrayed in Revelation are unfolding chronological order, this would expose certain truths that we are not prepared to accept.   

I began this discourse in a confused state, it is not the confusion of Christianity that shapes my gloomy outlook, nor is it the gloomy breaking of daylight outside my office window, it is the confusion of humanity.  The people of the world and the people of this nation now exist in a confused state. Undeniably, this nation has become a sea of confusion.  It is not necessary to establish a timeline when these changes began to occur, they began when we began systematically removing God from the equation, thus preparing the way for the advancement of (the) antichrist.   Revelation 13:1 speaks of a new nation rising up out of the sea (confusion).   In simple terms, martial law is declared, elections are set aside and a new and ungodly nation emerges. Whether history is repeating itself and whether we are in the first or last act, the stage is set.

In my study of the Book of Revelation, there were numerous inconvenient truths uncovered.  Revelation is a book about the vengeance of heaven. Ignorance of God is naturally accompanied by vice and crime, filling the nations and communities with violence and bloodshed, and making it ripe for the vengeance of heaven. (Hosea 4:6)  To mask these truths it is necessary that the interpretation of this book follow certain guidelines (denominational and politically correct).  These guidelines often inject variables into the book that renders it incoherent.    This is not only true with the book of Revelation, the same technique is being used to discredit the entire Bible.   

Never in the history of this country have Christian values been subjected to the harsh criticism that it endures today.  What once was a God fearing society now has raised up a generation that fears not God nor does it fear man.   It seeds have become corrupt and what has emerged over the past years is a nation torn apart by hatred that has been exposed to the light of day and allowed to grow.  In the name of change, this nation is in open defiance of God and other ancient deities are exploited. 
The introduction of multiple Gods, multiple beliefs or multiple religions has always been a factor in humanities struggle for self-recognition and self-worth.  The worship of multiple gods is a common denominator when studying failed or cursed civilizations, that disappeared under a cloud of unexplainable darkness.   

Regardless of the belief system, there are variations introduced from time to time that alter the true focus of the belief system.  Judaism, a monotheistic religion evolved based on the expressions of a monotheistic God who proclaimed that I am and there is none other.  Once Judaism had established itself as the flagship of religion, to allow for the acceptance of multiple creeds, religion divided itself into three groups.   Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three major monotheistic religions, all originated in what is known today as the Arab World. Monotheism literally means "the belief in only one God".

There is a strange sadness emulating from the land, not because of a presidential election, but because hatred has been cultivated, nurtured and it has grown.   Hate is akin to a plant if kept in the dark it become frail, weak, expose it to the sun, and it grows.  Any conversation that highlights the negative does not produce a positive result.  The lessons taught us by Nancy Reagan escaped us at the most critical time as we struggle to deal with a hatred that threatens to destroy us.  In an attempt to address the drug problem she instituted a conversation called, "Just say No".  The intent was good but the program caused a widespread increase in drug usage among the targeted students. 

In a natural world of opposites, emphasizing the negative is more fashionable then accenting the positive.   In a natural world, can we eliminate the negative and keep the positive?  This question begs for an answer.  How would the human condition fair in a world without night?  The Devil, the opposite of God preys on the negative aspects of society, even the Word of God 

In the aftermath of the presidential election, I expected to find small conclaves of Christians   rejoicing that the suppression of Christian values might be ending.   I expected pastors to breathe a sigh of relief at the prospect of no longer having their sermons scrutinized by the government.  When the moment of a possible change in government or administration arose, Christians began crying and begging God to allow the same administration to proceed. Many so-call Christians are content with an administration whose focus is on a godless society.  

The internet has proven to be a dangerous platform, fake news site publishes fake news stories that the gullible quickly accept as facts.  In today's high-tech arena, it has been said, "A lie can travel around the world before the truth can get up and get its pants on."  The media and the government have done an unfair job on characterizing those who stand against the prevailing agenda.  Shaming has become an acceptable tool to control dissent.  Those who seriously proclaimed to be Christians are shamed with words such as, uneducated, irredeemable, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and downright deplorable.    The sadness of the situation is that many are buying into this government supported, media driven frenzy, even families are being torn apart.

There are those who pretend that they oppose shaming and bullying with all their hearts and souls, the truth is far darker: they are the greatest purveyor of shaming and bullying in modern American history.   The government-supported media driven feeding frenzy has created a climate of fear wherein ordinary Americans must abandon their principles, and remain silent.  "They believe America is a force for evil that the military is composed of war criminals and that patriotism is the deepest form of treason. They incite riots and threaten violence by playing the race card, and then claim they are advocates for tolerance." (Marcos Carajol)

Those that are of the world, as a Christian's would say,  is not totally the blame for the condition of Christianity, the church and it leaders must accept much of the blame.   Our leaders have abused and misused the metaphysical God of our salvation.   What once was a solid foundation has emerged into a fairy tale ideology, based upon a foundation of entertainment.   The stellar awards go to those who can entertain as they recount the stories of a God rendered impotent by our greed. 

  

Over the past days the rallying cries of those offended by the supposed change of government administrations, were, God know what he is doing.  Often the utterance of this statement is as if some great knowledge is present.   Is God sitting back directing the affairs of man?  This is a fallacy that is often ascribed to because of the feel-good effect.  Does the scripture support blaming everything that happens on God?   No, God did not direct Adam to sin; it was a choice that Adam made.   God do not override the free will nature of man, and "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4)  If the answer to any of these questions were yes then humanity would be off the hook, and as the new age preacher proclaim, "The blood cover it all."

I can understand and accept the level of frustration expressed by newly empowered groups, but the response from the Christian community is confusing.     Like the Children of Israel, when Moses, a known murderer offered them an escape plan, they turned against him.  

Many of us, on a day-to-day base, encounter numerous incidents or situations that just do not make sense.  Whether it is Christian endearment, business transactions or in the field of race relations, there is that highly vocal element that has proven its inability to think rationally.  These entities of irrationality thought patterns though lacking the ability to lead, possess the innate ability to indoctrinate and manipulate the masses.  In their wake of deliberate confusion, they leave behind a mass of used, tangled and tortured souls.  The falseness that exists in each one of the fore mention areas speaks for themselves and somehow has found a means of acceptability.  I cannot reconcile the lies and falsehoods that emulate from the household of faith, especially when receiving the blessing of God is reduced to paying money or even typing Amen in a Facebook status.

Paul spoke of God sending a strong delusion in the end time.  When one knows the truth and refuse to obey it, he becomes subject to any lie, any deception, and any untruth that humanity can conjure up.  (2^nd Thessalonians 2:10-12)

To be continued

A Dying World (Part #1)

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.  Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away." (Hosea 4:1-3)

First, to establish the proper perspective we need to define who is speaking, what the subject matter is and who is the focus of the prophecy.  Hosea was a prophet in the Kingdom of Israel.  Tasked by God, he called on Israel to repent its sins of apostasy and warn her of the coming judgment.  His writings form the first of the Old Testament books of the Minor Prophets. Hosea was the son of Beeri and a member of the upper classes He was active 750-722 B.C., considering the repetitious nature of history; this makes his prophecies relevant to today apostate society.

The prophet is predicting doom upon the Children of Israel and to any generation that follows that disobeys God.  In today's modernist society, true to Hosea's prophecies, our food supply is contaminated, the fish and animals are dying and our young people are dying of horrible diseases.   Are we as the world, a nation, a people, standing on the brink of destruction?  History and evidence are all we need to consider.

Since the beginning of time, numerous civilizations have disappeared under what humanity defines as mysterious circumstances.  For almost as long as we have had civilizations, we have lost them. There are records going back hundreds of years of explorers discovering huge temples encrusted with jungle, or giant pits full of treasure that were once grand palaces.  Why did people abandon these once-thriving cities, agricultural centers, and trade routes?   When listening to my learned colleagues discuss the plight of lost civilizations hardly is there a reference to the "wrath of God".

The Maya are perhaps the classic example of a civilization that was completely lost, its great monuments, cities, roads swallowed up by the Central American jungles, and its peoples scattered to small villages. Though the languages and traditions of the Maya still survive up to the present day, the civilization's peak was during the first millennium AD, when their greatest architectural feats and massive agricultural projects covered a vast region in the Yucatán.

What causes the places of this great civilization to disappear into the jungle?   This same fate also befell the African nations.  We as Bible students know that the scriptures list two main reasons for the decline of civilizations, "wars of man" and the "wrath of God". 

Cloaked in darkness since medieval times, the spectacular ruins of the once dazzling, southern African kingdom of Great Zimbabwe posed a thorny dilemma for settlers who claimed to have “discovered” the region a mere hundred years before. 

Refusing to believe the massive, finely hewn walls could be the product of native culture, “experts” eager to claim the land for Europeans credited the ancient city to everyone from wandering Phoenicians to the biblical Queen of Sheba. In so doing, they began a long insidious European tradition of willful misinterpretation of Africa’s past, until, in the ultimate irony, the place where human history began would become a place with no history of its own.   This cloak of darkness, was it an act of God?  Does the worship of multiple God play a role in the decline of a nation or Empire?

There are numerous other archaeological finds that baffle the human mind when the explanation advanced removes God from the equation.  From the creation of the earth to the Pyramids of Egypt, if we eliminate God they become a series of theories and supposition.   

The question of what happen is often entertained, but the reason why is often overlooked.   The Old Testament speaks of many nations, cities, and civilizations wiped from the face of the earth.  Sodom and Gomorra is a prime example of the wrath of God, what once was a thriving metropolis wiped from the face of the earth because of their sins.   

It is necessary to point out that when studying the Old Testament prophecies we should exercise care in our interpretation.  It is necessary that we learn from these prophecies, without placing a greater burden on God.  If we say, God is talking to us as an individual then we are open to injecting inject errors into the scripture.  Too often, we shift the language within the same paragraph from figurative to literal and back, stumbling over perspective and context while trying to prove an asinine point. 

Hosea 4:1-3 seems applicable to the nations of today but it was also applicable to the nations of the past.  Since that day when the prophet uttered those faithful words, the sinful nature of humanity has led to the destruction of many nations and civilizations.  The African nations touting themselves as the birthplace of humanity is condemned to an endless struggle to regain its identity.  Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire and most notably the Maya civilization are timeless examples of the dispersal of people and the destruction of civilizations.   These nations or civilization and others that are not mention had one thing in common, they pollute their religious base with a multiple God conceit. 

The multiple God concepts are a common denominator in all failed civilizations or societies.  As the knowledge of good and evil triumphs over the Knowledge of God, the one God concept is cast aside.  Humanity demands the right to choose what God if any, that it will serve, even the ancient impotent gods of their past. 

The changes that are taking place within the government and the government sponsored churches are akin to the problems encountered during the rule of the British Empire during the pre-colonial days. Not contented with the history lessons of the past, the government once again has begun to meddle in the religious affairs of the populace.  We live in a therapeutic government sponsored culture that seems determined to do away with sin and Christianity. Every form of immorality has been re-classified as addictions. 

Addictions to sex, drugs, and alcohol are classified as diseases, not the results of deliberate actions. Guns are now perceived as a greater threat than the murderers pulling the trigger.  If we could separate the gun from the murderers, we could solve the murder problem.  Whatever the sin may be, there always seems to be a way to excuse, redefine, or minimize it, even to the point of using the Bible to justify it.

  It is the nature of history is to expand and repeat itself.  We as a people and a nation, even the world find ourselves in the same situation as Israel was in.  The Bible is history that we should learn from and use to govern our lives.   When we sift through the prophecies, adjusting perspectives, changing    contexts, we inject errors into the message.  These errors can become an irreconcilable obstacle, as we study and attempt to live by the Word of God.  

I live in a dying world.  Animals are dying all over the world in huge numbers, due to humanities lack of concern for our environment.  Pollution is destroying the quality of the land, sea, and air.  Millions of Fish and massive numbers of various marine creatures are washing ashore dead.  The Bee population is decreasing at an alarming rate. Birds are falling dead out of the sky, and millions of poultry and wildlife are dying from the avian flu. The animals of the land are also dying in large numbers from disease. Although animals and fish have been dying all throughout history, the massive and consistent numbers that we are seeing are staggering.


People are dying as well, not that death is a newly emerging factor, and young people are dying from emerging diseases.  In the early years of my life even if cancer was mention, people live to a ripe old age.   Today the ages in the obituary section just keep getting younger and younger.   Just the other day the preacher was preaching on how God wanted us to live a long and prosperous life

To be continued...