ALARM

There are various definitions of 'alarm'. It also depends on various or different situations. The common understanding is that of any sound or signal to apprise of danger or arouse from sleep. It is the sudden fear or apprehension arousing to defense or escape. From its derivation, is a sudden arousal to meet and repel danger and may be quite consistent with true courage.

There is also the 'alarm clock' which is fitted with a bell, of different sounds, which rings when a trip is sprung as the hands reach a predetermined hour.

The fact is that when an alarm sounds, it means something. The present bigger alarm in the world is Covid-19. The alarm went off and is taken hold of our minds with the ability to seize not only physically but also mentally as the world faces this pandemic. It came suddenly and no nation was prepared for it. It had, it has and it will take a devastating effect and impact.

It is unprecedented, it has never before seen, it has been cataclysmic and horrific. I run out of adjectives to describe it. We find ourselves in uncharted waters. Never before such damage has been done to the world economy. It’s hard to know exactly how to describe the post corona virus economic situation, or to know where to start. It’s so big and has so many tentacles. No one really knows the destruction that’s been done so far after widespread and prolonged closures of millions of businesses.

There are so many questions hanging out there - questions on the minds of millions around the entire world.

One thing is for certain. People who say they know what will happen to the economy - whether they are "experts" or not - do not have a clue. They are all speculating or giving educated guesses. Things will not bounce back overnight. We can compare it to a house that has been, at least partially, burned down and it will not magically be restored in an instant.

As if a pandemic, a battered economy and soaring unemployment weren’t enough, the world has once more been shocked by social unrest and racial strife. Is there a path to a better solution?

And so we asked ourselves, what does it mean for now? What do we learn from this? In fact what should we learn? The real question is, what will we learn from this event to be better prepared for the next time. And make no mistake, there will be a next time.

Could God be using this time of massive disruption to gain our attention? Just what is God telling us?

The Covid-19 crisis and ensuing problems have disrupted the entire world. One cannot help but wonder if what we have gone through is on some level a message from God. If so, what is He saying?

This world desperately needs God’s truth.

"The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace."(Isaiah 59:8)

Referring to the current age, the Bible speaks of the injustice of people and human governments. It reminds one of what the prophet Amos declared:

"You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground." (Amos 5:7)

The law courts should be places of justice where the poor and oppressed could find relief. Instead, they become places of greed and injustice. This is happening right now while injustice is rampant in this world, it is also evident that violence usually achieves nothing in terms of solutions for society and most often makes things worse. Many countries struggle today with finding solutions for economic and societal equality.

I remember the words of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1966, Dr. King remarked: "I’m concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice … and when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder … Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that."

Today there is a lot of talk about "social justice." It is a concept behind much of the rioting and looting currently going on not only in America but also the rest of the world. Social justice is a phrase often used by certain anarchist groups as a cloak for Neo-Marxist ideas meant to overthrow society. I am absolutely convinced that there will be no true "social justice" if these radical groups have their way.

As the world is trembling and distressed about the present and future events, we need to adopt an effective grasp of Bible prophecy. God speaks of a different kind of justice. Prophet Amos said to political leaders:

"…Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the greatest unrest within her and the oppression among the people. 'They do not know how to do right,' declares the Lord, 'who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses.'" (Amos 3:9-10)

Israel no longer knew how to do what is right. The more they sinned, the harder was to remember what God wanted. The same is true for us. The longer we wait to deal with sin, the greater it hold onto us. Finally, we forget what it means to do right. Are we, is the world, on the verge of forgetting?

Prophet Amos said something about achieving true justice in society. Amos had strong words for the religious leaders as well. He said,

"On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground." (Amos 3:14)

God's judgement against Israel's altars shows that he was rejecting Israel's entire religious system because it was so polluted. He is speaking here of the religious places - the churches, the cathedrals, the places of worship.

False religion was at the heart of the moral and spiritual decay of the land of Israel - and false religious teaching is a part of the world's problem today. Right now, no one really wants to acknowledge that fact and tackle it directly. Watered-down Christianity and outright false teaching and practice has blinded the world to the true God of the Bible.

We don’t want to hear about God's Commandments. We’ve taken those out of the public places. We don’t even want to refer to them. We don’t want to admit religion, prayer, and godly morality into our culture. In fact, it’s been driven out of the public. The world is reaping the whirlwind of ignorance and defiance of Almighty God.

Not respecting the God's Commandments is at the heart of our problems. Because we have neglected God’s Word, the Bible, we are seeing a corrupting rot emerge on the streets, the courts and the halls of power in the entire world. In America, Bibles have even been burned in recent riots. No one wants to really talk about this.

The world has been shaken by big events that will shape the coming years in ways that only can be understood by a firm understanding of Bible prophecy. God has spoken. Now is the time to listen and to act on God’s warning and change.