The Sky Over You The Ground Beneath You
My spirit has been troubled for many reasons. The first is the news of a great calamity in China. My journey has led my mind to the words in Deuteronomy 28. This chapter contains a speech of blessings and curses directed to the Israelites. It was before they took over the land God had promised them. A paraphrase of a portion of the curses weighs heavy upon me. It reads: the scorching heat, drought, blight, and mildew will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
No, this isn’t a blog concerning global warming. Although that would be a great calamity, God may use it as a curse. I use God’s description of the sky over you and the ground beneath you to illustrate God’s curses and blessings in general. This curse also includes disease. For example, it says: The Lord will send curses, confusion, and rebuke on everything your hand touches until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking Him. Next, the Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering. Finally, the Lord will strike you with wasting disease, consisting of fever and inflammation.
Stop the tyranny
I realize Deuteronomy 28 is specific to Israel. Yet, I remember these curses when I think of China and the Chinese Communist Party. For example, Eva Fu, a writer for The Epoch Times, recently wrote an article about the religious persecution of the Falun Gong in China. The key takeaway for me was this. For over two decades, millions of people in China have been detained in labor camps, unofficial black jails, or other detention facilities.
Additionally, some are sent to mental asylums or drug rehabilitation centers. The reason for their incarceration is their religious belief which contains truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Their punishment, besides vilification, includes torture and murder to harvest their organs. Some that survive have physical and psychological injuries and financial burdens. News like this should motivate all people to stop the tyranny in China.
There is an Arab proverb that says, “Jealousy is nothing more than a fear of abandonment.” The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fears religious people will abandon communism. I can think of no other reason why the CCP would engage in such ruthless behavior. Eva’s article references others who infer the same reason. Interestingly, God is also jealous. Exodus 20:4-6 provides one of God’s commandments.
Punishing the children for the sin of the parents
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
God’s jealousy is due to His desire to protect us from evil. At the same time, the CCP’s jealousy is due to its thirst for power. Sadly, I cannot fully discern when God is punishing sinners or only withholding His protection by allowing people to reap the consequences of their government’s mistakes.
No matter the case, China is suffering right now. Besides the suffering brought on by their evil rulers, a syndrome known as “White Lung” is ravaging the population. There are estimates that 6 million will die this winter in China. Although the Chinese government will not admit it, there are anecdotal reports of crematoriums operating 24/7 and 28-day waiting lists to cremate bodies. In addition, there are stories of emergency demands for freezers to store bodies and increased orders for more fuel to supply the crematorium fires. Sadly, many people do not or cannot use crematoriums, so the death toll may be even higher. On the bright side, I believe the suffering in China will ultimately lead to the destruction of their evil government. For America, I fear the suffering may be just beginning.
Mutilation
My spirit is also troubled by abominable acts in my home country. Some Americans believe God has made mistakes. Some believe God made them the wrong gender. Males and females are being mutilated to appear the opposite of how they were created. Additionally, a pagan-looking statue advocating abortion was placed on a public building. (Click the link here to see and read the details.) There is also a troubling story regarding disturbing research by a pharmaceutical company and dubious relationships between private companies and government regulators.
The sky over you the ground beneath you
Yes, I have ignored the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 because the evil is before me right now. Each American must think of the sky over you the ground beneath you and remember the God who placed them. I started to end my blog here. but my journey had a few more steps. There is a passage in Matthew 7 1-3 that reads:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
God doesn’t make mistakes
The God who placed the sky over me and the ground beneath me told me that people who want to change their gender are not the only people that believe God makes mistakes. Many of us have wrestled with God about many different things. When I reflect on my life and my prayers, I have argued with God. I have thought God answered some of my prayers incorrectly. God doesn’t make mistakes. We must be gentle when confronting all people who believe God has made a mistake, for it is quite likely we have all occasionally thought so. Gender dysphoria seems horrible and more like a plank in the eye for anyone who has it, but God may think differently. Some of my prayer arguments with God may have been larger than a speck to him. I conclude with this verse from Matthew 7 9-12:
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.