Judgment on China?
Religious Freedom is a fundamental right we enjoy in the United States and one of the founding principles, responsible for the many blessings America has seen. Likewise, it is about the power of choice which is the same freedom God gives His creation.
God created us to be free will creatures. We have the choice to love Him or not love Him, though anyone who learns to know Him will want to love Him. As we know, love begets love.
In the past few decades, China had been enjoying a period of religious toleration (though not full freedom). It was a blessing that Christians and others could gather together to worship God. Churches were established and the number of believers grew. However, in recent times, a change has come.
It seems China decided that all religions must submit themselves to the Communist State. So, a law was passed that mandated this. The law was to go into effect this past February 1, 2020. In this law, China claims the right to amend and re-write the materials of each religious faith. This includes a rewriting of the Bible to bring its teachings in line with the government’s demands.
This then becomes religious tyranny and whenever nations or governments try to impose religious tyranny they are found to be fighting against God! The result of this is always judgment. The Bible says, “with the same measure you use, it shall be measured back to you”. (Luke 6:38 NKJV).
Thus, whether it be in the dark ages or even more recent times, authoritarian regimes who impose religious persecution, eventually find themselves in deeper problems than they had before and sometimes these deeper problems brings relief to the persecuted.
The Bible predicts a time is coming when all nations on earth will adopt a tyrannical spirit towards religious freedom. Persecution will then fall on those who are true to God’s Word. Ultimately God’s judgments will also fall on the persecutors of His people, just prior to Christ’s return.
The timing of what is happening in China now compared with the timing of the law for Christianity (and others) to bow to the government, is most interesting. Perhaps end time judgments are closer than we think?
So, what can we learn?
1) Religious Freedom/Power of Choice is a precious gift, cherish it.
2) Religious tyranny will result in God’s judgments (as it has in the past and predicted in the future).
3) What we see in the world today, is a foreshadow of future events.
4) Now is the time to have our own lives right with God and to share with others what a precious friend we have in Jesus. He is the only hope and answer in these difficult times.
February 13, 2020 @ 10:43 pm
The extremely rapid spread of the coronavirus does indeed appear to be God’s judgment on China for its almost unbelievable restrictions on religious freedom. Sadly, it is the Chinese people who seem to be suffering the most. We must keep them constantly in our prayers! But God will not be mocked. I cannot believe that He would allow His Holy Word to be corrupted in the manner that this totalitarian government purports to carry out. For those who are in fear of what is coming upon this world, read Psalms 91 — write it out! — memorize it! — repeat it again and again! It is God’s bulwark of faith that will keep us strong as we face the last days before the glorious return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
February 28, 2020 @ 10:09 am
I do believe Jesus return is closer than we all might think. Global events occurring now attests to that.
May 30, 2020 @ 8:54 am
As of this writing there are over 367,000 thousand people worldwide who have died of the Corona Virus. The death rate in China pales in comparison to the death rate seen in the rest of the world. As of today’s report 105,000 thousand Americans have died of this illness while the Chinese claim that 4600 thousand of their citizens are dead. The viewpoint that God’s judgement may have fallen upon the Chinese was a bit presumptuous… no disrespect intended to Pastor Tim Saxton (who wrote this article before the worldwide outbreak began). Covid 19 is no respecter of persons with all the nations on earth experiencing the devastation that this virus is causing. However, currently the USA has the highest number of fatalities. Although I won’t jump on any one band wagon… I truly believe that American citizens need to wake up. In a very short time our laws have changed so much that we now allow those things which are despicable to God; those things which are clearly against God’s law to become the norm and/or legal. We are no longer ‘one nation… under God’. We have abused the blessings that God had bestowed upon this country. Although the USA has the largest population of people who call themselves Christian, this ‘Christian’ population allowed our laws to be changed to accept sin as an everyday aspect of life. The Chinese never thought of their nation as a Christian nation. Most of the Chinese follow false religions or none at all and many Chinese have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, few Americans can make the claim that they never heard of Christ our savior. If I were going to pass judgement on any one nation, I would pass judgement on a people who have the truth right in front of them, have the freedom to choose to follow the Lord and have experienced the blessings that God has brought to their nation… but have rejected this truth and taken their freedom for granted. However, I am not God so I cannot know if this virus has anything to do with God’s judgement. I do know that He has allowed this disease to progress and that He is in control.