The Root Cause
Why are things happening as they are?
A problem cannot be fixed until the cause is found. Until we find the root cause, attempts to resolve the problem will be futile. We can see the world around us falling into chaos. The left wants to blame the right, and the right blames the left. That is exactly where the enemy wants us! We place blame, demonize the other side, and then, fight like hell. We have been doing that since the founding of the nation, since the creation of the world really, but it does seem to have accelerated recently. Is there truly a reason for that, or is the other side just getting worse? We can continue to keep demonizing the other side, or we can find the root cause.
Add to the warring of the right and left the increasing number of unnatural disasters. We have severe droughts, flooding, hurricanes reaching far inland in North Carolina, and Jamaica was decimated just this week. What about wildfires such as Paradise, California; Maui, Hawaii; and Los Angeles, California? These fires destroyed entire communities. There have also been tremendous tornado outbreaks all throughout the middle of the country. Volcanic activity has been increasing worldwide, and earthquakes are shaking the entire planet. We have also experienced COVID, monkeypox, bird flu and measles outbreaks, just to name a few.
On top of all of this, add actual war. Russia invading Ukraine. Israel fighting Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Actually, Israel is fighting most of the world. We, the United States, also have possible wars with Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, and even with China over Taiwan. We could even be drug into war with Russia over Ukraine. Things could even get to the point of actual civil war, a real shooting war, within the United States of America. Blacks are murdering whites in South Africa and Islamic terrorists are murdering Christians in Nigeria and other places. North Korea tortures and murders Christians, South Korea has begun cracking down on Christianity just as China has been doing.
Do we want the real answer, or do we just want to think the next election will solve the problems, that the United Nations can resolve the wars to bring world peace, and that the WHO along with the rest of the public health organizations will solve the disease issues? Assuming all of those things would be the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Unfortunately, the insanity will continue; most people will put their trust in “the System.” You don’t have to do that.
I will now give you the root cause: sin. That’s it. Many people will have just left the discussion; if you are still here, good for you. Please allow me to make the case and then you can decide for yourself. First, sin must be defined. I have heard Christians define it as “missing the mark.” But when pressed to define “the mark,” they have no real definitive answer. We will let the Bible define sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” The law here is the law of Moses: Torah. I can hear it now, “But that is for the Jews!” Is it? Open your Bible and turn to Malachi 3:6 which says, “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” God made sure that this verse is in your Bible on the page just before you turn the page to the one that says, “New Testament.” Think about that. Why does Christianity say that the Torah, the Law, is done away with in the New Testament when God Himself says just before turning there that He does not change? That question really needs, in fact, demands, an answer.
Jesus Himself says that the Torah, the Law, is not done away with in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” He seems pretty clear that “until heaven and earth disappear” it can’t be abolished. Heaven and earth will never disappear, but they will be renewed as promised in Revelation 21.
So, now that we know what sin is, how do we know that the things that are happening are related to it? The answers to this are in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-28. We find there that there are blessings for obeying the law, the Torah, and curses for disobeying. I provided links, go read those chapters and then decide for yourself if we are experiencing the blessings or the curses. If you profess to be a Bible believing Christian, do you believe this part of the Bible? This is in your Bible.
We often hear 2 Chronicles 7:14 quoted, but since that verse begins in the middle of a sentence, we will backup and quote the entire sentence, beginning in verse 13, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” It begins with God Himself causing drought! Why is He causing drought? Because the people are disobedient. If we are experiencing drought, what should we surmise? We are disobedient. What is the cure for drought? Humble ourselves, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. Wicked ways are our disobedience to His Torah, His Law. For this drought example, let me cap it off with a quote from the blessings promised in Leviticus 26:3-4: if we obey, “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.” We should never experience drought, but we do.
The curses are to goad us back to being obedient; the curses are meant to be correction. Jesus says to Saul in Acts 26:14, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” It is hard on us when we continue to kick against the goads. We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way, it is up to us. We usually choose the hard way!
To go deeper into this, I would ask you to consider my new book Blessings & Curses: if my people…
This book reveals who we are, where we are, and what we can expect in the near future. Those are big claims. Get your copy today at Amazon and test those claims!
Visit the book’s website here: www.blessingsandcursesbook.com
New here? Consider reading the introduction here.
If you found this interesting or thought provoking, please consider subscribing, liking, and sharing it. You may also join the conversation in the comment section below.