Posted on 01/17/2010 2:15:23 PM PST by Star Traveler
By Tom Barrett (03/11/04)
"Haiti is the only country in the entire world that has dedicated its government to Satan. Demonic spirits have been consulted for political decisions, and have shaped the country's history." Thus speaks Reverend Doug Anderson, who grew up in Haiti with missionary parents, and served there along with his wife Dawn as a missionary until 1990. The leaders of Haiti make no attempt to hide their allegiance to Satan. Haiti's government is a government of the devil, by the devil, and for the devil.
It is a matter of well-documented historical fact that the nation of Haiti was dedicated to Satan 200 years ago. On August 14, 1791, a group of houngans (voodoo priests), led by a former slave houngan named Boukman, made a pact with the Devil at a place called Bois-Caiman. All present vowed to exterminate all of the white Frenchmen on the island. They sacrificed a black pig in a voodoo ritual at which hundreds of slaves drank the pig's blood. In this ritual, Boukman asked Satan for his help in liberating Haiti from the French. In exchange, the voodoo priests offered to give the country to Satan for 200 years and swore to serve him. On January 1, 1804, the nation of Haiti was born and thus began a new demonic tyranny.
At the time of the pact Haiti was France's richest colony, and was known as the "Pearl of the Antilles" for its singular beauty. But it soon became one of the world's poorest and most benighted nations. Scoffers may say that there is no connection between the fact that Haiti was the richest nation in the hemisphere, and then became the poorest after selling its national soul to Satan. But the scoffers can't come up with a better explanation.
Voodoo is a practice based on a mixture of African spiritism and witchcraft. Depending on the source of one's research, between 75 and 90 percent of Haitians practice voodoo. This seems to fly in the face of the fact that the country is predominantly Catholic. But, like their African ancestors, voodoo practitioners have no problem embracing multiple religions. In fact, most who practice voodoo believe they must be Catholic first.
Until recently, voodoo was practiced in secret. Practitioners would go to the Catholic Church on Sunday, and attend voodoo ceremonies deep in the woods at other times. Voodoo was forbidden during the colonial times, and the 32 Haitian governments that followed independence also suppressed the practice because of world condemnation. But on April 8, 2003, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide approved Voodoo as an officially recognized religion in Haiti (see links below). Voodoo priests can now perform marriages and other ceremonies previously reserved for Christian religions. "An ancestral religion, Voodoo is an essential part of national identity," Aristide said in the decree recognizing Voodoo.
Aristide has been a controversial figure since he became the first freely elected president in Haiti's history in 1991, 200 years after the nation was dedicated to Satan. A defrocked Catholic priest, Aristide was expelled in 1988 from his order, the Salesians. He was a hero of the resistance to Haitian tyranny, then president, then exiled, then restored to the presidency by his close friend, Bill Clinton. One of his first acts was to express his support for reinstating the Voodoo pact that expired the year he was elected. He claimed that Voodoo was the "national religion" of Haiti, and a source of national pride.
Even before Aristide came to power, a U.S. embassy official in Port-au-Prince described Aristide as "a Marxist maniac." Newsweek Magazine called him "the flaky Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide." And none other than Henry Kissinger declared that he was "psychotic." While it is true that Aristide used Communism to gain power, I don't believe he is psychotic. What many see as madness is simply the pure evil that emanates from the man.
The Media Research Center (see link below), which describes Aristide as a "charismatic Marxist priest" had this to say about the man: "Aristide wasn't much of a Democrat, paying people to beat up his opponents, and becoming wealthy from drug trafficking into the U.S. For a good, brief primer on Aristide, see "Aristide Must Go," the editorial in the March 8 Weekly Standard. It explains how 'It is not the democratic authorities that are being overthrown in Haiti, but Aristide's retinue of gunmen.'" (There is a link to this article below, as well.)
Aristide was only in office eight months before he was ousted and fled to the United States. There he effectively lobbied Bill Clinton and other government officials, convincing them that he was not the tyrant that Haitians said he was. After Clinton sent 20,000 American troops to install Aristide in power in 1994, the president-turned-dictator disbanded the army. But the civilian police force he replaced it with has also brutalized the Haitian people, engaging in summary executions as well as the drug-running that has made Aristide the richest man in Haiti. This drug money allows Aristide to live in a lavish mansion in a nation where the average yearly salary is $350.
As the Weekly Standard editorial by Christopher Caldwell says, "Aristide, of course, did not create Haiti's problems, but he profits from all of them. His ten years of direct and indirect rule have been a disaster. His regime has been democratic only in the Haitian sense of one man, one vote, one time. The last free and fair election in Haiti was in 1990, the closely monitored contest that brought Aristide to power. Even then, Aristide was making use of street violence orchestrated by his "vigilance committees." Four years ago, Aristide received over 90 percent of the vote in a presidential election so transparently corrupt that several American and European agencies reluctantly froze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid money.
With a mystifying regularity reminiscent of Saddam Hussein, Aristide has refused the simplest procedural inducements to unlock millions that could have been used to feed and treat his poorer compatriots. From humble beginnings as a Salesian slum priest, Aristide has become the richest man in Haiti. How? Last Wednesday in Miami, the Haitian mafioso Beaudoin Ketant, go-between for three Colombian cartels, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for transporting 30 tons of cocaine between Haiti and Florida. At his sentencing, Ketant said that Aristide "is a drug lord. He controlled the drug trade in Haiti. It's a one-man show, your honor. You either pay him or you die."
Caldwell goes on to relate how Aristide created a series of banks that paid absurd rates of interest, which enticed Haiti's tiny middle class to deposit their hard-earned dollars. He then stole $90 million from the banks, effectively demolishing the middle class and creating a classic poor-against-rich uprising that resulted in his ouster.
Democrat almost-nominee John Kerry spoke out in support of Aristide prior to his resignation, saying "This democracy is going to be sustained." Democrat Charlie Rangel and the Congressional Black Caucus, along with such upstanding citizens as "Reverend" Jesse Jackson and Alcee Hastings (the former federal judge convicted of bribery), have been calling for the US to once again install Aristide in power following his recent resignation. They have been irresponsibly trumpeting his ridiculous lies about being "kidnapped" by the US and "forced into exile." The obvious facts are that Aristide begged for US help and we protected him. When it became clear that the only way his safety could be assured was to leave the country, we provided transportation for him.
Had we not intervened, Aristide would have been dead in a matter of days, so furious were the people he had abused for years. He gladly boarded the plane, grateful for our protection. Now that he is safe, he is laying the groundwork for a possible comeback with his preposterous lies. Rangel, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee and the rest of the Black Caucus should be ashamed of siding with a vicious dictator against their own country. I don't have a bone of prejudice in my body against blacks. But I am greatly prejudiced against the members of this Caucus because of their constant use of the race card, whether or not race is an issue. It is clearly not the issue here. The fact that Aristide is black is not why his countrymen want him gone. It is because he is an evil man.
My biggest problem with this man is the fact that, not only did he make Voodoo an official religion, he used every device available to him to promote it. On the day that his government officially recognized Voodoo, he paid all the radio stations to play nothing but Voodoo music all day. He flew in 400 Voodoo priests from West Africa, the birthplace of the evil religion, to promote it.
A missionary couple who run an orphanage and a school for 400 children in Haiti sent a report to their supporters last summer (see the link to "Religious Persecution Intensifies in Haiti" below). It reads, in part, "Last week a baby was stolen from the hospital in St. Marc. The reason the child is to be sacrificed to appease the Voodoo gods for the so-called special day of celebration." Can there be any question of the horribly evil nature of this "religion" that former priest Aristide promotes?
And now for the good news. Even with Aristide's support and promotion, Voodoo in Haiti is doomed. God's people have gone on the offensive, and the blood pact that has kept Haiti in darkness for 200 years has been broken.
I first heard this account from Bishop Joel Jeune at a meeting of the Gospel Crusade Ministerial Fellowship (www.GCMF.org). Jeune is the Coordinator of Haiti for the GCMF and oversees 64 churches there.
The link, "US Department of State Report of Religious Freedom" below contains this report: "In early August 1997, three evangelical pastors were arrested near Cap Haitien after they had proceeded with plans to hold a religious revival at Bois Caiman. Bois Caiman has a strong patriotic significance for Haitians, since it is the site of a legendary 1791 voodoo ceremony at which slaves swore to rise up against their masters and risk death rather than continue to live in bondage. The resulting slave rebellion was a precursor to the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)."
"The pastors, who had been prohibited by the authorities from holding the revival on the actual anniversary of the ceremony, proceeded instead with plans to hold the event several days before the anniversary, hoping to rid the area of malevolent influences. This offended much of the local populace and local authorities, who arrested pastors Joel Jeune, Jean Berthony Paul, and Gregor Joseph on August 4. They were released on the orders of a judge on August 6."
The government account tells only part of the story. In the link "Haiti - God's country after a 'holy invasion'" you will see the following and much more (very exciting reading):
"On 14 August 1997, God's people in Haiti experienced a historic victory over Satan, a milestone in winning our country back for God. The reason lies in history. The slaves brought here from Africa have suffered incredibly for many years. On 14 August 1791, a slave leader by the name of Boukman called a secret meeting in a wood called Bois-Caiman near Cap Haitien, which was attended by a large number of slaves. They celebrated a satanic ceremony, sacrificing a pig and drinking its blood, swore to serve the Devil and dedicated Haiti to him. For 206 years, Bois-Caiman was a very holy place, a high place which could only be entered by witch doctors during Voodoo ceremonies. For 206 years, they have been meeting there every August 14 to sacrifice to Satan."
"A number of Christian leaders, including Paul and Gerald Clerie of 'Vision: Haiti' and Christian leaders among the large numbers of Haitians in the USA, Canada, France and other countries, called Christians to unite on 14 August 1997 to pray and fast that Haiti would return to God. In Haiti's towns, villages and mountains, Christians came together to fast and pray, held victory marches in the streets and a large event in the capital from 6am to 10pm during the holy invasion."
"Our church members started their march in front of the President's palace and marched for 6 hours to the place where the satanic ceremony took place 206 years ago. We had informed the government and media of our intentions weeks before the event, and were told that the witch doctors would be there, as they were every year. When we arrived, they had hidden themselves, unable to directly confront the Christians. It was a significant spiritual battle to reach the tree under which the pig was sacrificed in the original ceremony. We formed a Jericho march, circling the magic tree seven times. On the seventh time around, God gave many people a vision of the Devil fleeing from the area. The Christians were overjoyed. We cancelled the satanic contract and broke the curse, before celebrating communion and dedicating the area as a place of prayer. We also declared 14 August to be a national prayer day, on which people should pray that Haiti will return to God."
"On the same day, several witch doctors were saved during the events in the capital. Three days after our holy invasion, the witch doctors returned to Bois-Caiman to bring their sacrifices and call on the spirits. After days of effort, nothing happened, because we had commanded the spirits never to return and dedicated the area to Christ."
"The witch doctors complained to the government and media. At first, the government also protested, speaking in a press release of 'terrible damage to a Voodoo holy place in which no Christian had set foot for 206 years.' By the grace of God, the government relented and respected our legal right as Haitians to gather at any place on Haiti, including Bois-Caiman, where they now allow all Christian groups to meet. The place is now very popular, and local Christians gather there daily for prayer and fasting. All Haitians now know that the country no longer has a pact with the Devil; the contract has been cancelled, the curse broken."
In 1991, 200 years after his predecessors had dedicated Haiti to Satan, Jean-Bertrand Aristide became president of Haiti and attempted to renew the contract. In 1997, the contract was broken forever. In 2003, in a last desperate attempt to retain power, Aristide made Voodoo an official religion. And now he is gone. Let us pray that Haiti, with its newfound freedom, will turn to the one true God.
US Department of State Report of Religious Freedom
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/irf/irf_haiti99.html
Haiti - God's country after a 'holy invasion'
http://www.jesus.org.uk/dawn/1998/dawn9802.html
Victory Over Voodoo in Haiti
http://www.christian-connection.org/print.php?sid=299
Religious Persecution Intensifies In Haiti
http://www.andyfigueroa.net/haiti.htm
Haiti; Satan's Stronghold
http://www.raptureme.com/rap16.html
Breaking the Blood Pact
http://www.newdirections.org/index.php/pressroom
Aristide Approves Voodoo as an Official Religion
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/archives/00002966.html
Voodoo - It's Official in Haiti
http://www.ccgm.org.au/articles/ARTICLE-0070.htm
Aristide Defends Record
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/5060184.htm
Aristide Mansion
http://www.salon.com/news/1999/03/12news.html
Media Research Center
http://www.mediaresearch.org/printer/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040302pf.asp
"Pearl of the Antilles"
http://www.rminet.org/retreat_center.htm
"Aristide Must Go" - The Weekly Standard
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/795ywram.asp
Aristide Claims He Was Kidnapped from Haiti
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040306/wl_nm/haiti_aristide_dc_1
Islamic Influences on Haitian Voodoo
http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/voodoo/islam.htm
The Challenges Facing Haiti
http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/arisfarmplum.htm
Some articles by Tom Barrett (the link below), so you can see where he's coming from...
Tom Barrett has been an ordained minister for 30 years. He has written for local and national publications for most of his life, and has authored several non-fiction books. He has been interviewed on many TV and radio programs, and speaks at seminars nationwide. Tom is the editor and publisher of Conservative Truth, an email newsletter read by over fifty thousand weekly which focuses on moral and political issues from a Biblical viewpoint.
Conservative Truth is published weekly. Each issue is read by approximately 50,000 people worldwide. If you're tired of the same old liberal slant that the major media give to the news, you'll find Conservative Truth a breath of fresh air. Did you know that 92% of the producers, anchors, editors and reporters that decide what news you are allowed to see are registered to vote either as Democrats or Socialists? 100% of the Editorial Staff of Conservative Truth are Conservative Republicans or Libertarians.
Conservative Truth reports on news that the major media censor. We offer original commentary on the major moral, social and political issues of the day from a Biblical, moral conservative viewpoint. We're not ashamed to say that America is the greatest country on this globe, but neither are we afraid to point out areas where our politicians are leading us astray.
[ ... ]
Always remember this: Regardless of what the liberal left would have you believe, you live in the greatest nation that has ever existed on the earth, and God is still in control.
Do haitians, or do haitians not, by a large majority, practice voodoo?
I think that is the pertinent question.
Then I would be interested in knowing what the average dominican has to say about the average haitian.
So the Godless Americans--who want America to fail--get their way...and the Godly Americans get punished...? What kind of God acts that way?
Ummmm...., well, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It happened to many godly people in Israel when the "nation of Israel" was disobedient to God and came under the judgement of God.
Now, there is no one who would call Daniel and also Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego "godless" and deserving of judgment from God (in a human sense) -- but -- they were taken captive and also Daniel never made it back home again, after being deported from Israel to a foreign country to suffer under the judgment of the nation of Israel. Also, presumeably neither did Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego make it home again. Along with them were lots of other of the godly from Israel.
It was the nation that was under judgment and the righteous suffer along with the ungodly. It's not an unknown thing in the Bible.
Even in the book of Job, we see that Job was not deserving of the things that happened to him and God still allowed Satan to wreak havoc upon him and his family. Afterwards, God restored Job and multiplied his fortunes many times over again. But, he didn't restore the original children that he lost as a result of that, but did give him new children.
What is being described here is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom we all worship and follow, those who are named in the Lamb's book of life and have accepted the Messiah of Israel for their salvation.
Nations are judged and in the process, when there are those who are "righteous" in the nation, they will suffer under that judgment upon the nation.
BUT, we must remember that there is no one who is righteous, no one at all, as the Bible says and that only God, Himself, is righteous and all are deserving of the judgment of God and of death.
It's only those who come under the "covering of righteousness" which comes from the Messiah of Israel and accepting the salvation that He provides -- they are the ones who have eternal life, as the Bible says. But, that does not mean that they do not come under judgment on this earth, prior to the time when they receive the fullness of the salvation which will come, upon being united with the others in Christ, when the time comes for their eternal state and bodies to be given to them. In the meantime, all are still sinful and still deserving of judgment, here on this earth. As the Bible says there is no one who is righteous on their own merits... and that was everyone -- who is included in that.
I was a little flippant in my first answer. For that I apologize.
God's judgment is already here. It started when Adam sinned. The world is under a curse, and it is going to perish. Jesus came to save His people from the final judgment, which is eternal damnation, or life apart from God. Salvation from this judgment is freely available to those who trust in Christ's atonement on the cross.
I think if a country practices voodoo, there will be a natural result of bad things happening in society perhaps, because God's laws are pretty much the way we have to behave to keep ourselves healthy (He created us in His image, after all). It's obvious after seeing hedonistic people suffering natural consequences of their actions (broken homes, death by drug abuse, etc.) The Haitians were so unfortunately crippled by a bad society, that they couldn't react to warnings about needing structurally better hospitals, etc. And there were warnings. And perhaps we should all become a little smarter about shoring up our resources for disasters.
But I do not believe that Haiti's sinful behavior (corporate) caused God's judgment to send an earthquake to kill them as a group. Earthquakes are natural. The earth is under a curse of Adam - and we won't have a new earth until Jesus returns. Earthquakes happen. God's people were mixed in among that group. God deals with each soul individually. If there were believers in Jesus among the dead (and I am sure that you couldn't prove to me that there weren't), then they are in heaven right now. And how is that judgment? Their souls are still saved. They are rejoicing with their Savior. And the living who are suffering can still take great comfort in the Lord and in the hope of salvation.
Here's a decent explanation of what I was trying to say, but blogged by another person:
"Christianity does not work this way. No part of scripture tells us that God intends to allow natural disasters to overcome any country that involves themselves in sin. Obviously, if things worked this way the Nazis could not have come into power, Stalin would have been struck by lightening, and nations that broadcast pornography during prime time would suffer yearly droughts.(Remember, God only saved Nineveh because He sent Jonah first! He *chose* to save Nineveh, *in spite* of themselves. Jonah was very angry with God about that).No, there's no precedent for this nonsense in Christianity. Sure, in the Old Testament God punished people as he saw fit, but the Bible doesn't establish a predictable formula for this sort of thing; in fact, His preferred method was to establish good relations with those nations. (See Jonah, for example.)"
God causes the "rain to fall on the just and the unjust".
There will be a final judgment day, and those who aren't written in the Lamb's book of life will be subject to final judgment. *That* is much more fearful than having a natural disaster strike, don't you think?
I'm raising my hand and saying that my personal sin is just as great as anything any one in Haiti committed. I can only trust Jesus to cover me from the consequences of my sin. These words of Jesus are as follows: "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
If our country were to perish because we haven't corporately repented, it should have perished long ago, because each and every one of us has sinned just as badly as any Haitian practicing voodoo.
We are all going to die, and then we will be judged. Dying a little earlier as a result of a natural disaster is nothing for a Christian to fear. Rather he or she should take comfort in knowing that nothing can separate him from the love of Jesus.
Paul said this to the Roman believers:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Why should I worship a God who acts thus? Why couldn't He have run a simulation or played a game of chess against Satan, instead of tormenting and killing people?
What I believe has no effect on reality, but I sure hope that there's no afterlife ruled by an arbitrary and capricious God.
To be Christ-like, should I torment and kill my children even if "they don't deserve it"?
I don’t understand why a good Christian would do anything but welcome death...why would a devout Christian wish to delay being with his Lord?!?
Christians are still humans, with all the weakness that comes with humanity. We remember the father who told Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mar 9:24)
We celebrate the Lord’s gift of life, we are thankful for the blessings of being loved by and of loving our families and friends. We have hope in Christ and our belief in Him and His triumph over death.
However, we’re still human.
How could any human who has hung around us FReeper Christians for so long ask the question that you did in the non-empathetic way that you did, Gondring?
I don’t understand why a good Christian would do anything but welcome death...why would a devout Christian wish to delay being with his Lord?!?
The Apostle Paul answered that one and said that it is preferable to be with the Lord, but for the sake of those who need to hear the Gospel and need to have the word of God (of Salvation through the Messiah of Israel) told to them, so they know the way that is open to them -- if not for that -- then we should all go to be with the Lord... yes indeed...
With all who are of the Lamb of God and written in the Lamb's book of life, they have concerns for those around them -- their family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances and wish that all would avail themselves of the Salvation that is there from the Messiah of Israel.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has all of those, written in the Lamb's book of life -- to be here for a reason, which is to give the good news of salvation that the Messiah of Israel came to give to all on this earth, for all generations.
That's the reason why the ones written in the Lamb's book of life are still here.
There is also another reason why they are still here, and that is to raise up more generations "unto the Lord" so that the full number of those who are written in the Lamb's book of life, will come upon this earth. We've still got the number of those yet to be written in the Lamb's book of life -- to come..., to be born and live on this earth...
There is a full number that God is awaiting to be fulfilled and "then the end shall come"....
To be Christ-like, you would die for them, even if they mock you and tell others, when they were ignorant and unknowing about even the basics of how the universe is ordered, they wouldn’t want to spend eternity with you.
Christians are still humans, with all the weakness that comes with humanity.
I don't think it's weakness why Christians are still here, because one doesn't die without the command of the Lord, Himself, giving that order. One dies when it's according to the time that the Lord has ordained.
No, the reason why various Christians are here, comes down to two reasons -- one is for (1) those yet to be saved, and then for (2) the "full number" to come in (that the Lord has already forordained) and then the end shall come.
That's funny. I thought that was the result of polls. But hey, what do I know?
Well, Christians know from the Bible what you may not know yourself -- and it's that all authority on this earth, of any human nature, is put into place by God, Himself. All authority comes from God. We see that in the book of Romans...
God is in full control of all things on this earth.
Jesus very plainly said that before His 2nd coming there would be earthquakes in divers (different) places. Also, if you read the Book of Revelation, you will see that it is GOD who pours out punishment upon the earth for their vile, evil, behavior. We are to pray that we are counted worthy to escape these things coming upon the whole earth. We try to understand God and His ways with our own minds, but, He says that His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts. Neither is He a man that He should lie.
The world is experiencing the beginning of tribulations and Jesus said except those days be shortened, no man would survive. I believe this earthquake is just the beginning of calamities to come upon the entire world.
Why should I worship a God who acts thus? Why couldn't He have run a simulation or played a game of chess against Satan, instead of tormenting and killing people?
Job also thought that He knew (perhaps) better than God about some things, and God "gave him a talking to" -- as you'll see in the last chapters -- from Job Chapter 38 to Chapter 42.
God gave Job a "real good talking-to"... LOL
You can see what Job said here...
Job Chapter 38
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 "Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand
over my mouth.
5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but
I will proceed no further."
And on down...
Job Chapter 42 1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3 You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' 5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
And then, at the end...
12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.
Be sure to read Chapters 38 through 42... :-) God's ways and knowledge and power and wisdom are so far beyond anyone's mere comprehension, that all they can do, is what Job did, which was to "repent in dust and ashes"... when God spoke to him.
Paul actually answered this in Romans 1:20:
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
God can handle all of those people and their situations. But I can't be excused, or complain that I was never told, because I do have God's word.
“I don’t understand why a good Christian would do anything but welcome death...why would a devout Christian wish to delay being with his Lord?!?”
A good Christian does not fear death. But a good Christian does not seek death as a good Christian’s mission on Earth is to lead others to Christ.
What about the people who lived before the Bible was written?
The promised One -- the Messiah that God said was for the salvation of mankind, was first told to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. From then forward, all of mankind had the knowledge of the "coming one" for the salvation of mankind.
Adam lived, himself, all the way up to just a generation before the flood happened, and he would have been available to all who wanted to see him and talk to him.
And Noah live all the way to the time of Abraham, and anyone who would have wanted to see Noah and find out anything from him would have been able to do so.
And we have the Word of God, from the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all who want to know about God and his coming salvation for mankind have all that is necessary for anyone.
God has either sent those who know God (and His revealed word, and the promise of the coming one) and angels, where no one was directly available, and in the Bible even people were carried to far places and away from where they were, to give the good word of God to anyone who wanted to know....
As it says in Romans...
Romans Chapter 1 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
We see...
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
For those who do glorify Him as God, from what God has clearly made known to all on this earth, He sends his message and messanger to any one of those who need salvation from the one whom He has promised to come (and for us, He whom has come).
As the Apostle Paul says, before the Messiah of Israel came and followed through on what was to be the salvation for all mankind -- before that time -- all were save on the basis of the faith and belief in God's promise of the coming Messiah, the one who was to save mankind. They were looking forward to the coming one, the salvation for the whole world.
And for us, we look back to a point in time in which He did come and provided for the salvation of the world. Both looking forward, and looking backward -- we all look for the promised One of God, in whom was and is to be the salvation of the world.
That's what God tells us, through the Apostle Paul tells us, in His word...
Well put. Thank you.
I smile at your tagline, too.
But it still seems like God is a father who could save His children without effort, yet chooses to let them struggle and drown.
I think there is a lot more disagreement on that point than most people realize.
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