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Blessings and Cursings |
Dear Brethren,
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are the Blessings and Cursings
chapters in the Bible. Originally intended for ancient Israel,
today, they are meant for modern Israel and spiritual Israel - the Church.
Blessings:
"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all
his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God
will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come
on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God." (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)
Cursings:
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his
commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that
all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake
thee:" (Deuteronomy 28:15)
As a people we have forgotten our God. We can expect our
blessings to cease and curses to
overtake us. The Old Testament ends with the words, "... lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse." The
natural consequences of sin are the curses that follow
- leading ultimately to death. We will reap what we have sown.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
" (Galatians 6:7)
In recent years, we have been seeing dramatic moral decline and
unprecedented disease. We are witnessing the cause and effect
relationship that God warned our forefathers of in Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28.
Endtime events are shaping up rapidly - more rapidly than we sometimes
realize. As recently as 1980, AIDS was not recognized by the medical
profession as the threat it has become. We heard a minister in Big
Sandy in 1981 say, "40 million people in the United States will
eventually die of AIDS," - we had never even heard of AIDS before then!
Look at how far this disease has spread in 21 years.
It is now reported to be the worst epidemic that mankind has ever seen.
Let’s just take a look at the effect of the AIDS epidemic plaguing the
entire world. As it grew rapidly during the 1980's, scientists began
an intense study of the AIDS disease to determine its origin and to find
a cure. The earliest known case of HIV was found in a blood sample
collected in 1959 from a man who lived in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. Today there are millions of AIDS orphans in Africa, 600,000 in
Zimbabwe alone.
AIDS has now reached into every facet of our society. Early in the
1990's a beautiful little girl, who came up to us and gave us a hug
every Sabbath in our Pasadena congregation, succumbed to this dreaded
disease. That child was an innocent victim - the sin was not hers.
By the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people were living
with HIV / AIDS. During 2001 alone, AIDS caused the
deaths of an estimated 3 million people.
The cause of AIDS is known. From the time of the discovery of the first
cases, scientists knew that the spread of the disease was in large part
due to immoral sexual contact and the sharing of syringes by drug
users. Had these types of activities not been prevalent, the disease
would not have become the major world problem that it is today.
Prevention of the AIDS disease is absolutely achievable. Although most
scientists are reluctant to label the practices of having multiple
sexual partners, homosexual sex, and illegal drug use as “immoral”, we
who understand God’s laws know that God views these behaviors as
abominations. God fully knew the curses that these
behaviours would bring upon society.
What worries scientists the
most about the HIV virus is that it is very different from previous
epidemics. HIV / AIDS is a slow, progressive and permanent disease.
Scientists understand very little about "viruses." Whatever they are,
they are too small to be seen in their "live" state, and too elusive to
be killed. Since there is no vaccine or treatment that cures HIV /
AIDS, and people do not develop any immunity to it, the disease cannot
be contained.
Since there is no stopping HIV / AIDS, many scientists are predicting
such a large increase in the number of individuals who will become
infected with it that eventually the majority of the sexually
illicit population will be infected and eventually die.
The Apostle Paul says that those with that illicit "lifestyle" bring
a curse upon themselves. "And likewise also the men, leaving the
natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men
working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that
recompense of their error which was meet." (Romans 1:27)
>Scientists are working feverishly to find a cure for AIDS. This world seeks a pill to stop
AIDS because they will not change their behaviour. No government
organization or sociologist would even begin to suggest that there
is a way to teach society to cease their immoral practices.
To the extent that God's laws are kept - blessings
follow. Even scientists can see clearly that families who practice
monogamy are virtually free of the AIDS disease. This is proof that
God’s laws work even when people obey them out of
ignorance. How much better it would be if all men believed in all of
God's laws. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)
The world needs the knowledge that we possess - we
know the Truth. We in God’s Church know that the only effective and
permanent cure for diseases such as HIV / AIDS is for people to live
according to God’s Word. That will only begin to occur on a worldwide
basis when God’s Kingdom is established on the earth.
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9)
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"Blessings and Cursings" |
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