SABBATH THOUGHT 2026-01-17—RECENT PONDERINGS

May God bless you on His Sabbath day!

In the USA, the Bible and prayer were banned in schools around 1960. Having publicly proclaimed their rejection of God, He has withheld His blessing on the “works of their hands.”[1] The results are inflation is up 1000%; taxes are excessive (Social Security tax doubled, Medicare taxes were introduced in 1966, there is double and triple taxation—total taxes are estimated to have risen to 28% on average); billions of dollars of tax money are lost to fraud; loans are burdened with enormous usury[2] (excessively high interest); crops are poisoned with pesticides and herbicides and food is toxic because soil, water, and air are polluted with “forever chemicals;” diseases unheard of decades ago afflict many; COVID produced great fear in people (even though there were well-known and effective medications); the elderly are abandoned to institutions; many are impoverished in spite of billions of dollars earmarked for the needy; terrorists run rampant and destroy billions of dollars of property; children disrespect and hate their parents; politicians and judges are corrupt; criminals murder, rape, and rob without consequences; the innocent are prosecuted and imprisoned; people engage in unimaginable sexual perversions (therians, for example; people who think they are animals); and anger, hatred, rage, and malice are fomented against the law of the land. Modern Israelite nations have embraced wickedness that could not be imagined 50, 30, or even 10 years ago. It is highly likely all this and more is the result of God removing His blessings. No one can imagine how bad things will get when the four “seven times” curses[3] begin.

A couple of striking examples in Britain recently demonstrate how bad things are. One man was arrested for posting that he did not like seeing all the Palestinian flags on social media. No threats; simply an opinion. He was dragged out of bed at 4am from his wife who has stage four cancer. In another case, a woman was arrested while sitting on an outdoor bench for feeding pigeons by SIX police officers. In both cases, the video evidence was the officers’ own body cameras. Not surprisingly, half of them appeared to be Muslims.

The enemy no longer operates in secret. History is a record of debauching the morals of a nation and corrupting governments to bring them down. This is more effective than war and, in fact, only a few individuals are required to destroy an entire nation in this manner. Think of the billionaires George Soros, Bill Gates, Neville Roy Singham, Aileen Getty, and Susan and Nick Pritzker. Or actors George Clooney, Robert De Niro and politicians Barak Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Tim Walz. The list is seems endless. They are one reason the Law of God requires the death penalty for rebellion[4], not just murder.

A single person can cause an entire nation to devolve into wickedness. It is aided by a lying media and, now, the lies of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Even without them, it happened when Israel demanded a king in place of God. It eventually destroyed Israel[5]. Of the 19 kings that succeeded Solomon over the Ten Tribes of Israel, every one of them was evil before God. Of the 20 kings of Judah and Benjamin, seven were called good, two were a mix of good and evil, and the rest were evil. But good kings cannot prevent the eventual destruction of the nation because evil ones replaced them. Neither will a ‘good’ elected president or prime minister make a difference—‘bad’ ones will succeed them because the people are evil.

Many times the debauchery that brings down a nation starts with open sexual immorality. Homosexual marriage has been legalized and pornography is mainstream on the internet. From there it progressed to questioning and devaluing every moral standard that society was founded upon. While there are still people in positions of government who claim to uphold biblical principles, they are stunningly ignorant with their proposed solutions—restore plaques of the Ten Commandments, pass more laws, imprison criminals and offenders, deport illegal immigrants, eliminate DEI and other socialist programs from schools and governments, etc. But those things change nothing. Having rejected God, the people have fallen into wickedness so they will elect politicians who embrace their evil. The only solution is for the nation, at least a significant portion of the population, to turn to God in repentance[6]. But they will not.

If you want to estimate where the Anglo-Saxon nations are in the prophetic times, look at blessings and cursings in the Bible[7]. After extreme hardships, diseases, poverty, etc. comes the internal takeover of government by foreigners followed by captivity. Britain and Australia are well into the takeover phase.

Muslims (believers of Islam) are the obvious threat today. Islam is satanic worship and their Jihad against Christianity began a few centuries after the days of Jesus and the apostles[8]. Their bloody and murderous campaigns in Europe were finally halted after centuries of warfare and the Black Plague but they have never given up their satanic calling, which continues in many countries today. The playbook of Satan is a perversion of God’s ways. His holidays are from sundown to sundown—think All Hallows Eve (Halloween) and Christmas Eve. Notice also that the ‘law’ of Satan as recorded in the Quran is called Sharia. It literally means the path. Does that bring to mind Jesus Christ who said HE is The Way[9]?

Islam has a mandate to eliminate all who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob[10] as part of Satan’s plan to wipe out mankind[11]. Say what you will about Protestants, but Christian preachers in the 1800s left no doubt of what was acceptable to God. Simply read some of their ‘fire and brimstone’ sermons. Today is a completely different matter. It seems common among modern Bible-based churches to encourage sexual immorality in their midst as long as they profess “luv (a tongue-in-cheek contrast to true agape love) for the Lord.” Quite a few churches now promote the Quran and praise Islam, including Sabbath-keepers.

Those who have witnessed the abolution of morality over the decades will “sigh and cry”[12] over the wickedness that prevails. Many are oblivious and are only concerned with their piece of social welfare to satisfy their selfish desires. Self-gratification comes in the form of sexually immoral lifestyles, homes that could house four or more families in times past, cars that cost more than many homes, and mega-yachts bigger than most houses. Many think they are entitled to wealth without any effort on their part or fraudulently attain it. Above all, there is a growing number who are filled with unbridled anger, hatred, rage, and malice, which cannot be described with words. It is amazing they do not die on the streets from burst blood vessels. Is this an indication that Satan has been cast out of heaven and “has come down [to the earth] having great wrath?”[13]

History is a record of the decline and fall of nations. But so is the Bible. The difference between biblical prophecies and history is that God predicted everything before history happened. History has validated the accuracy of the Bible, so there should be no doubt about the biblical prophecies of destruction that will come upon the world. One of the most humbling warnings was recorded by Ezekiel:

[NET 2.1] EZEKIEL 22:1-31 The LORD’s message came to me [Ezekiel]: 2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment? Are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 3 Then say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom) [Abortion comes to mind.], and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, full of turmoil. [Recall a couple of recent presidents.] 6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. [People murdered on January 6, whistleblowers mysteriously found dead, etc.] 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt within you [Especially by their own children.]; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you [Even with all the government welfare they live in poverty.]. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you [Like Jeffery Epstein]. 10 They have sexual relations with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. 11 One commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister—his father’s daughter —within you. [Grooming gangs in Britain.] 12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; you extort money from your neighbors. [Mortgages, credit cards, loans.] You have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD. 13 “‘See, I strike my hands together at the dishonest profit you have made and at the bloodshed they have done among you. 14 Can your heart endure or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it! 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you. 16 You will be profaned within yourself in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the LORD.’” … 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my anger on you.’” 23 The LORD’s message came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that receives no rain or showers in the day of my anger.’ 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. 26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths, and I am profaned in their midst. 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey—shedding blood and destroying lives—so they can get dishonest profit. 28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, [Very common among televangelists.] saying, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. [This is rampant. The greed is beyond description. Congressional insider trading also comes to mind.] They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the resident foreigner and denied them justice. 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I have poured my anger on them and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

The devolution into greater and greater wickedness is unstoppable. So, what should the people of God do? Take up arms and join with their neighbors to fight the enemy? Even if they succeed, the enemy will simply reinforce and come back with weaponry against which rifles and pistols are useless. Storing up provisions might sound reasonable but, again, what benefit is it when in captivity or dead. How about hiding out? Most do not realize how difficult it is to survive alone or with a small group and who can hide from satellites and drones? Playing along with the enemy is another possibility, but how long would anyone be able to secretly keep Sabbath and the holydays before being discovered?

Jesus Christ overcame the world[14] for those seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness[15]. How? By growing in agape love and faith. Agape love and faith are The Way to overcome enemies. Agape love and faith are The Way to overcome fear of torture, imprisonment, and death. Agape love and faith are The Way to overcome fear of family or brethren being subjected to the same. Agape love and faith are The Way the prophets and apostles endured torments unto death[16] and obtained “a better resurrection.” While most still live in relative peace and prosperity, there is no salvation without agape love and faith. That is why we must:

ISAIAH 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

Let your lips honor, worship, and give thanks to our Father and our Lord and King. No evil will ever prevail against Them who have promised salvation from this world[17]. Hold onto the promises of God with the faith of Jesus Christ. Store up in heaven treasures of Good Works of agape love. Visit the widows and orphans in their times of need. Feed the poor. Provide for the needy. Comfort the grieving. Visit the lonely. Pray for the sick. Be merciful to all. Forgive everyone. Bless your enemies. Fellowship and praise God with one another. Pray for one another. Pray with one another. And encourage one another:

MATTHEW 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

May God’s grace and peace be upon you!

Steven Greene

https://sabbathreflections.org

sabbathreflections@gmail.com