June 30
2 Kings 17:1-18:12 | PS 148:1-14 | Prov 18:6-7 | Acts 20:1-38
Sin is an archery term which means to miss the mark. Therefore sin could represent just missing or missing by much. But if you were to set sail from America to Europe, and you were just slightly off with your compass, at first it might not seem that drastic, but over time you would find yourself in Antarctica. When it comes to the novel virus that has swept through our world, the "facts" surrounding it is just like sin. Many like to state that it was so new and so dangerous that people did not really know what they were doing. But, decisions were made by those in power, and have been relegated as fact. Drugs that were effective were kept from the hands of those who would have benefitted, and those who prescribe them were falsely told they were not effective. Loved ones were not allowed near sick patients but were surprisingly allowed with infected patients who were pregnant. Physicians who saw things differently have been silenced. The truth is physicians who speak out against the vaccine are under threat of suspension or revocation of their license. So the masses either believe false statements or remain silent due to fear. Our current state is no different than trying to have a free election in Iran. Vote for the "wrong guy" and it will likely cost you. When I try to dialogue with other physicians about it, it is as though they can't hear me, many will even avoid eye contact when I discuss these things. Since the realities will never get published, there will be no data points, and the stories remain anecdotal. What little that is coming out now is only the tip of the iceberg. Most will never come to the surface. So, when my friend's mother who suffered from dementia, who had refused to take the vaccine, enters the hospital and becomes unconscious, then is administered the vaccine while she is unconscious, then subsequently dies and this virus is placed as the cause of death, the only response to the son who questions, was a private apology for the mistake. When the child who suffers an MI at the age of 17 goes to the ICU, immediately after the vaccine, the connection between the event and the MI is never made. On a different note, our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. We have always welcomed those immigrants from other nations who, though maintained some of their heritage, agreed to assimilate into the principles of our nation, even being tested for citizenship. Now, this is no longer the case. Our principles have been abandoned, and maintaining former loyalties is now encouraged, not discouraged.
So, we read the sad demise of the nation of Israel, the ten northern tribes, as they are destroyed and taken into captivity by the Assyrians. But this demise did not happen overnight. They were without excuse, as we read in 2 Kings 17:13-16, "Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal." So, Israel fell into sin slowly, but over 250 years, the nation did not even resemble what it initially did. Notice the strategy of Assyria, in repopulating the land in 17:24, "Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities." By bringing in these pagan cultures, whatever was left of God from the people would be eliminated.
Does our nation resemble the nation which was founded 250 years ago? I don't think so. If our founders were to walk through our streets and see what we have become it would be shocking. Would those doctors which worked in my profession decades ago even recognize what my profession has become? I don't think so. What is passed off in the name of science would shock them. So, what do we do? We must align ourselves with God's never changing principles. They were and they are perfect. His standards never evolve, they transcend time. So, we must become students of His Word and be ever sensitive to the leading of His Spirit. Only through this will we find clarity in the murkiness surrounding everything ongoing in our world. Father God, I pray our inner compass is sensitive to your leading as they one day lead us to the shores of eternity in heaven.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: