A Divided Country, A Divided World

“And it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O troubler of Israel?  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah and have gone after the Baals.  Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves, who eat at Jezebel’s table.  So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.  And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you be limping between two divided opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow after him. But the people answered him not a word.  Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.  Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.  Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of Jehovah; and the god who answers by fire, He is God. So all the people answered and said, The word is good.  And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.  So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.  And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.  So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.  And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.  Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was broken down.  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah had come, saying, Israel shall be your name.  And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.  And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.  Then he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time; and he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.  And the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.  And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your Word.  Testify, O Jehovah, testify, that this people may know that You are Jehovah God, and that You have turned their hearts around back to You. Then the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, Jehovah, He is God! Jehovah, He is God!  And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape! So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.”  1st Kings 18:17-40

 

We are a divided nation, indeed we are a divided world.  All across this once great land there is division and the division is getting greater year by year. 

 

There is a right and there is a wrong and there are those out there nowadays who call that which is wrong, right. 

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  The one believing into Him is not judged; but the one not believing is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been worked in God.”  John 3:16-21

 

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and understanding in their own sight!”  Isaiah 5:20-21

 

Currently this country is heavily divided on political lines.  There is an upcoming election that is looking to become a very hot topic early next year.  Yet the focus of this article isn’t about President Trump and the division that is in this country regarding his presidency.  The division in this country started long ago.

 

So, if there is a God, if Jehovah is God, why then do we as a people live as if there is no God or as if our people serve idols? 

 

Our country is divided, the world is divided over climate change.  There are various degrees of opinion to what is occurring, as well as the solutions to what some believe is occurring.  Yet there are also those who are very hard-lined with their stance that global warming is an absolute emergency and dramatic action must be taken immediately. 

 

While I am certain that God would rather us use the earth in a responsible manner, not having rivers full of sewer and garbage, so that people may get clean irrigation and drinking water, not having toxic chemicals released from industrial manufacturing that cause cancer, etc., the simple fact is that the earth was given to us to use and is not restricted. 

 

If we want to cut down forests for wood, why not plant more trees, but these resources were put in place for our use.  There certainly can be smarter ways to do things, but why the division on what God has said.  Why don’t people believe Him who Created them and this earth that they apparently worship more than their Creator?

 

“Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the heavens, and over the beasts, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth.  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.  And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”  Genesis 1:26-29

 

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with intense burning; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.  Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, of what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness, looking for and earnestly hastening unto the coming of the Day of God, through which the heavens will be dissolved, being set on fire, and the elements will melt with intense burning?”  2nd Peter 3:10-12

 

“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is clearly recognized by them, for God has revealed it to them.  For ever since the creation of the world the unseen things of Him are clearly perceived, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they know God, they do not glorify Him as God, nor are thankful, but become vain in their reasonings, and their stupid hearts are darkened. Professing to be wise, they become foolish, and change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefore God also gives them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who change the truth of God into the lie, and fear and serve the created things more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  For this reason God gives them up to vile passions. For even their women change the natural use for what is contrary to nature.  Likewise also the men, abandoning the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men with men performing what is shameful, and receiving the retribution within themselves, the penalty which is fitting for their error.  And even as they do not like to have God in their full true knowledge, God gives them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with every unrighteousness, sexual perversion, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, depravity; whisperers, defamers, haters of God, insolent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do them, but also approve of those who practice them.”  Romans 1:18-32

 

Oh, but the division doesn’t end there.  We have the prophets of Baal who are trying to foster their motives on this country and the world, but is not the root of the division a matter of the people worshiping God verses Baal?  For we can easily replace Baal with a fill in the blank of any false god that is imagined.  They worship their god, the earth.  What is the division about, does God exist or does He not?!  Stand up and follow what is right and true, do not be deceived!

 

We have those who support and even flaunt abortion.  To me, it makes little or no difference whether it is a day-after pill or a baby being aborted after being birthed, prior to the umbilical cord being cut.  For our nation is divided against these things, indeed the world, but why?  Has not God Almighty spoken and declared the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10)?  Has He not clearly stipulated in His Word to us, what is right and wrong?  Should there be division or is that division once again a division of those who deny their Creator, whether or not they profess to believe with their mouths (Ja. 2:19)?!  Does not the Bible tell us clearly about when life begins?

 

“Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah 1:5

 

“For You have possessed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.”  Psalms 139:13

 

“The Spirit of the Mighty God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”  Job 33:4

 

“You shall not murder.”  Exodus 20:13

 

All around us the promises of sexual depravation come in the form of rainbow flags.  The very banner used by the deviants of today’s society comes from a promise that God will not destroy the earth with a Flood every again.

 

“And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:  I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.  It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.  The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it to remember the perpetual covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”  Genesis 9:12-16

 

Even in Alpena, Michigan, a small city in the northeastern part of the state, at the 4th of July parade there were a group of people celebrating their supposed freedom of immorality, with one even screaming and running by, with a rainbow flag in hand.  Congress wants to change the laws to include protection on those who don’t want to believe that God created them male or female.

 

“And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,”…  Matthew 19:4

 

Yet the freedom of speech is being restricted from those same social media sites who also first restricted our Fourth Amendment, by having everyone who signed up to them relinquish their rights to having all of their personal information handed over to the government, oftentimes without a warrant.  Not that media and corporations who have rewards cards, face scanning technology and in-print materials don’t stomp on the rights of Americans.  Yet our country is divided, the world is divided about such things. 

 

What is written here certainly could get me banned from all of the social media platforms.  Yet if the world decides to ban All Will Stand, then it is not such articles that have essentially caused the ban, but rather they have banned God, they have banned His truth.  For the roots of these divisions often come down to just that, those who believe God or those who do not.  So as not to ignore what God says about the LGBTQ movement, let’s take a brief look at what the Bible says in regards to those things. 

 

“You shall not lie with a male as with a female. It is an abomination.”  Leviticus 18:22

 

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray. Neither prostitutes, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”  1st Corinthians 6:9-10

 

So why are there those who stand on the so called sidelines.  What should be done?  Did not Him who Created us provide Salvation through the Cross (1 Cor. 15:3)?  Did not God command all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30-31)?  If they want division, note that they will have division.  For if they have denied their Creator, what do we who believe have to do with them?

 

“Now I exhort you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and snares, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”  Romans 16:17-18

 

Amen!