"Abide with me"
Two very stark terms that will frighten those whose agenda is to remove God and any semblance of His existence from the eyes of society. For 5,000 years we have inherited living proof that we were created by a loving and caring God. Now, in the 21st century since Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Living God, there are elements that are on the verge of a world-wide disaster that makes even new-age philosophy seem like child’s-play.
History is repeating itself or to put it more astutely has never wavered from ancient times when Elijah was sent to King Ahab warning him about the worship of Baal. Along with his wife Jezebel the sacrifice of children was the forerunner of the abortion fiasco of today.
Our society is not exempt from the sins of history. We may read and get a distasteful feeling about what is written in the Books of Kings, and how evil permeated Israel and people just accepted what the leaders promoted or face death. God continued to send prophets to warn these kings but often it fell on deaf ears.
We have to wonder how far from reality the evils of today have changed from the years that existed in the Old Testament. Remember the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before it occurred men of the city came to Lot’s residence asking him to send the messengers out for their pleasure. Sins of sexual perversion didn’t start in our lifetime. It was always around. The sacrifice of children, as noted above, hasn’t changed. It was promoted by the pledges of Baal worshippers and now Planned Parenthood is doing the same with government sanctions. Although the current administration is fighting to overturn Roe vs Wade.
Growing up we used to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. I remember at some point the words “Under God” were added to the pledge. Now there are factions that have successfully removed the pledge from our schools because of those words. Years back no one objected to seeing the Ten Commandments displayed in public arenas or large crosses erected in public squares. Look at your coins or dollar bills. Every coin and paper money we have contain the words, “In God we trust”. When will these heirs of the past (those who would follow Baal and the dictates of that time) begin a quest to remove that phrase as well. Today, cries of abuse ring out as too many want these articles of faith removed as if they will do harm to their beliefs. What are these beliefs? “Take God out of our presence so we may use sexual, hedonistic, and freedom to live as we want. Close the churches so there will be no one looking over our shoulders.”
I wrote a fictional story, “Are You Ready” published March 18, 2017, that shows what could happen when government becomes like Big Brother (1984) and people do nothing to change the progression of evil that might become real.
“Protecting religious liberty,” an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday December 28, 2019, written by Hugh Hewitt covers a lot of present day problems that exist. Much of the article deals with judicial appointments by President Trump and how we should be thankful for these jurists. This article was the impetus for my reflection along with a book by Jonathan Cahn titled Paradigm and covers extensively the comparison of leaders during the reign of King Ahab along with his wife Jezebel to some recent United States Presidents and one first lady. It is intriguing and a must for anyone who is interested in what is happening in our political arena.
To be sure, we are on a path that could change how we pray, what we read, and who we associate with. Never think that what our forefathers wrote in the Constitution and Bill of Rights are safe if we, the public who have conservative ideals, allow the wrong people to get control of Washington.
Ralph B. Hathaway, January 2020