Preview:
The myth of “new knowledge” about homosexuality … God speaks through historical events … God speaks to New Orleans, New York, Houston, California, and to the entire USA … Sweeping away of moist and dry alike … God will not be mocked.
The myth of “new knowledge”
An op-ed article in my local newspaper has prompted me to be even more forceful in presenting a message already referred to in my previous writings. The newspaper article was written to protest the refusal by a Christian school to allow an LGBTQ group to register as an official campus activity. (LGBTQ, if you don’t know, stands for Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer, and is sometimes followed by a plus + sign so as to include any other deviant sexual identity that someone may lay claim to.) The article trumpeted that Americans are now the proud possessors of “new knowledge” regarding homosexuality and gender fluidity, and therefore this Christian school should be ashamed of itself for its regressive views. The author contrasted our supposedly new knowledge with “views once thought immutable” contained in “ancient scripture,” and went on to confidently proclaim, “Gay America is here to stay.”
Gay America may be here to stay, but there is nothing new about our knowledge of them. Our knowledge goes back to 2100 B.C., to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (the existence of which is not only supported by “ancient scripture” but by modern archeology, as well). Our knowledge goes back to the lesbian Greek poet Sappho in 600 B.C., and to the moral decadence of the Roman emperors in the early centuries A.D. Our knowledge about homosexuality and sexual deviance is nothing new.
God does give a kind of new knowledge, however
When God speaks directly to someone, the message generally comes as new knowledge, at least as far as that person is concerned. The substance of the message may be something the person could have deduced from reading the Bible, or maybe it’s something the person heard more than once from Mom and Dad; but when it comes directly from the Lord, it comes with a jolt that makes it especially personal and meaningful. It is what Job experienced when he heard God speak to him from the whirlwind. After Job heard God’s voice, he said to God, “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
The flip side of the coin is that all of us are quite capable of shutting God out and refusing to listen to him, no matter how many times and how forcefully he speaks. The Bible records many instances of God’s people refusing to hear him, and hardening their hearts against him. One such instance is described in 2 Chronicles 33:10, which speaks of Manasseh the king in Jerusalem: “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed.” In this instance, the Lord had spoken to Manasseh and his people many times, over many years, but they refused to listen.
God speaks through historical events
A popular conception about the Bible among those who have not read it is that the Bible is a bunch of rules. It’s true that the Bible contains God’s rules for his people, but also contained in the Bible are many accounts of God speaking to his people through historical events. The incident just quoted above about Manasseh provides an example of that. Here is the complete paragraph from which that quote was taken:
The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. (2 Chronicles 33:10-13)
Words from the mouths of the prophets meant nothing to Manasseh. It wasn’t until God used the king of Assyria to take strong action against him that Manasseh understood that God was real.
In the case of Manasseh, the Lord spoke through the actions of a foreign army. But over the years, the Lord also spoke to his people through natural disasters like famine and disease. For example, the Lord many times instructed the prophet Jeremiah to speak to his people, warning them against their sinful living, but the people would not listen. Finally, Jeremiah records the Lord’s endgame:
The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and cereal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.” (Jeremiah 14:11-12)
And God did as he promised: He spoke to the people by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
God is speaking to America today. The voices of any people who speak publicly against the LGBTQ movement are being forcibly silenced; yet God himself continues speaking. And just as in Bible times, when the message is not received, God patiently repeats it.
Why has this message from God received almost no public attention? Probably because anyone who dares draw attention to it is sure to get blamed for the message itself!
God speaks to New Orleans
God’s action: Hurricane Katrina, striking New Orleans in 2005.
God’s message to New Orleans: New Orleans, in order to promote your brand of fun and frolic, you presume to change my laws. You have added to your many adulteries your approval of all the unspeakable abominations of the LGBTQ movement, believing I will not see and will not act. But “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). I am bringing it all to remembrance before your eyes, and calling on you to repent and change your ways. Turn to God in truth before it is too late.
God speaks to New York
God’s action: Hurricane Sandy, striking New York in 2012.
God’s message to New York: New York, you believe the progressive thinking of which you are so proud entitles you to change my laws. You think I will not see you killing a third of your babies through abortion. On top of that abomination, you have added your approval of the unspeakable abominations of the LGBTQ movement, believing that I will not see and will not act. But “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). I am bringing it all to remembrance before your eyes, and calling on you to repent and change your ways. Turn to God in truth before it is too late.
God speaks to Houston
God’s action: Hurricane Harvey, striking Houston in 2017.
God’s message to Houston: Houston, you are proud to fly the LGBTQ flag in a part of the country where it was not previously known, and you have worked to suppress any Christians who stand in opposition. You think I do not see what you are doing. But “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). I am bringing it all to remembrance before your eyes, and calling on you to repent and change your ways. Turn to God in truth before it is too late.
God speaks to California
God’s action: Massive fires and drought throughout California.
God’s message to California: California, you have led the nation — in fact, you have led the world — in championing the LGBTQ cause, which is an unspeakable abomination in my eyes. You have led the nation — in fact, you have led the world — in suppressing any Christian voices that attempt to uphold my laws. You think I do not see what you are doing. But “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). I am bringing it all to remembrance before your eyes, and calling on you to repent and change your ways. Turn to God in truth before it is too late.
“Sweeping away of moist and dry alike”
When you read the above paragraphs, you may find one weakness in the argument. You may object that there were many people in these places who had no involvement in the LGBTQ movement, and yet the disasters affected them equally. If these disasters were from God, the thinking goes, then surely God would have singled out the worst offenders and left all others alone.
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses warns the people “lest there be among you … one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.'” In other words, Moses instructs the entire community to watch out for any person who says, “I can disobey God’s laws, and nothing will happen, because God does not see.” Then Moses adds these words: “This would lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.” Moses is warning that all will suffer the consequences of a single person’s sin, if the people allow that sin to grow and fester among them.
God speaks to all of America
You may ask, What about the floods affecting the farmlands in middle America? What does God have against all those farmers?
Flooding of farmlands does not just affect farmers; it eventually affects all of us by reducing our food supply. And the fact is, hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey affected many people besides the cities mentioned. Through these events, God is speaking to all Americans, and warning us that as our leaders everywhere promote the unspeakable abominations of the LGBTQ movement, it will lead “to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.” This is something that touches everyone; no one is safe. God wants us all to look and see if we can find leaders — not just in government, but in businesses and churches and health services, and so forth — who will stand for God’s laws. He is bringing our disobedience to remembrance before the eyes of all America, and calling on us to repent and change our ways. He is calling on us to turn to God in truth before it is too late.
A warning from “ancient scripture”
The author of the book of Chronicles looks back at the disasters that God sent against his people, and summarizes many years of history this way:
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)
God spoke to his people, not out of malice, but out of compassion! He wanted his people to look ahead, and see that actions against God’s laws have consequences. But what was their reaction? They mocked, they despised, they scoffed … until there was no remedy.
Will that be the final outcome of God’s warnings to America in our own time? Will people continue to mock, and despise, and scoff … until there is no remedy?