There is a wonderful piece of Scripture that very clearly defines what a true Christian’s attitude should be, and we find this in Ezekiel 9:4: “… the LORD said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’”
“Sigh,” as defined in Strong’s #584, means “to groan,” “to mourn,” and “to moan.” “Cry,” as defined in Strong’s #602, also means “to groan,” and to “to shriek.” It means that this is not just a cursory look at the world’s evils, mumbling something about how bad things are, but then carrying on with life as if nothing had happened. We can certainly become accustomed to the manifold sins of the world and inured and uncompassionate because we see so much of what is going on through the ubiquitous news media where the unacceptable becomes acceptable through constant application and usage. We can, in short, have a much lower threshold of what is right and wrong, if we’re not careful, through the brainwashing and availability of news, 24 hours a day.
The Scripture quoted above refers to abominations in the city of Jerusalem. However, this can be extended to cover any and all societies and places where abominations are prevalent but are seen as being the norm. We read in Isaiah 5:20: “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!” In this sin-sick world, Satan has cleverly manipulated the thinking of man to accept that which is unacceptable to God and make it totally acceptable. How very clever he is, as the people of God know only too well.
Of course, we have to know what is abominable to God, and 1 John 3:4 states that “sin is the transgression of the law” (Authorized Version) and “…by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).
One commentator stated that “Some people can see sin right before their eyes, they can hear it around them, they can live amidst it, but they can never sigh and cry over it because they refuse to allow God’s law to be the standard of their behaviour.” But it must be our standard.
That brings me to one of the latest events where we should all, in the Church of God, “sigh and cry over all the abominations” that we see in front of us.
On Saturday, 26th May 2018, the final results of the referendum to repeal Ireland’s abortion ban was approved by a big majority. In 2015, in another vote, this same country approved same-sex marriage by a landslide. It is remarkable as this is a Catholic country which has defied the teaching of their church. There was unbridled joy by so many young people in that country that was seen in print and on television. It was as if they had just won a world war or some other mighty achievement and, it would appear, that the enormity of what they had done was missed by those who voted for abortion on demand. I suspect that many who were celebrating would also have been among the number of those protesting at the killing of innocent women and children in war. They simply don’t see that abortion is murder and is just as bad as killing others in warfare. It is a double standard that they are oblivious to. ALL killing is wrong as the 6th Commandment of God reveals to all who have an ear to hear.
We cannot sigh and cry if we are unaware of what is happening in the world today. We need to keep ourselves continually updated in what is happening and be amongst those who have compassion on the plight of others and grieve over the problems we can see in every corner of the world. In Ireland, it was the attitude that was so concerning! There didn’t seem to be one iota of concern for the good and wellbeing of the unborn, just the celebration of women being able to make a choice in terminating a life and seen as their “right” and “entitlement”.
Of course, there are many more abominations for us to sigh and cry over as the world descends into chaos. As the great tribulation nears, additional appalling abominations will surface or increase. What we are seeing today, and what we saw in Ireland, is just another manifestation of the power and influence of Satan who convinces the world that sin is acceptable.
The good news is that his time is short and the coming of God’s Kingdom is near.
