(tm)The first bowl
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And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. (Revelation 16:1,2)
No doubt this is a literal, physical sore that erupts on the body. Even today we see the afflictions coming upon those who persist in improper sexual behavior. God is not mocked. The people who are content to live in a world system in which man takes the place of God will discover that an "evil and grievous sore" will break out on their body. The pain and unsightliness of this sore will remind people constantly that man is not God. Man is the dust of the ground and it is unseemly for him to pursue his own way apart from his Creator. It is possible this sore will not yield to medical treatment.
When the Philistines attempted to take liberties with the Ark of the Covenant, boils broke out in their private parts (I Samuel 5:9). In our own time, as we have said, there are plagues coming upon people who are living in immorality. The governments of the afflicted populations are describing the statistical relationships between sexual promiscuity and the sicknesses; yet, they refuse to discuss the moral implications or the Scriptural explanation of the relationships. This is an example of the perverse spirit of Antichrist in the governments of the world.
Man will not bow the knee to God. Society will do all in its power to combat the diseases and to help the afflicted. But society will not lift up its voice and condemn the immorality, demanding that it cease. In the last days, when the plagues become so prevalent society no longer is able to make even a pretense of overcoming the various sicknesses and disasters, society will raise its fist against God, cursing Him for bringing pain and catastrophe on human beings.
We notice today a peculiar attitude toward the disease termed AIDS. There are other diseases in our time that are common, and often fatal, sometimes causing severe pain and distress to the afflicted.
Cancer is one such disease. Numerous people die each year from cancer. Sometimes the cancer is due to cigarette smoking and thus is a self-inflicted disease. It is possible that all cancer is due to improper diet or stress and that cancer is preventable. However, we do not know as yet all the causes of cancer. Unlike AIDS, cancer is not a communicable disease.
Multitudes die each year due to cancer, heart disease, crime, and drunken drivers. These causes of death are viewed with dismay by all of us.
AIDS appears to be treated differently. Whereas vigorous efforts are being made to protect people from the dangers of smoking, including attempts to stamp out cigarette smoking, the attitude toward AIDS seems to be significantly different. It is obvious that if people ceased from immoral behavior, and people who have contracted AIDS were placed under quarantine, as is done with other infectious, fatal diseases, the prevalence of AIDS would soon decrease.
A concerted effort is made to work with people with leprosy. Why not with AIDS? The public attitude toward AIDS, at least in America, is that the patient with AIDS is a helpless victim who ought to be allowed to cook in a restaurant so there is no breath of "discrimination" against him or her. The individual who would object that other people might be infected by this practice is viewed with scorn as though he is insensitive to handicapped people or racial minorities.
Recently the government of the United State has set aside a cemetery as a national monument. It is a cemetery for the victims of AIDS. The idea seems to be that dying of AIDS is somehow on a level with dying for one’s country.
Why don’t we do the same for pneumonia or heart disease? Why don’t we do the same for those who are killed by drunken drivers? Why not a national monument for heavy smokers who die of lung cancer?
We are not suggesting that we should be harsh and unloving toward people who have needs. Rather we are stating that the public attitude in America toward AIDS is different from leprosy, typhoid, or any other highly dangerous infectious disease.
Surrounding the AIDS problem is the attitude that the AIDS patient is some kind of a martyr. In one city the flag over the administrative offices was flown at half-mast to honor those who have died of AIDS. Why was it not flown in honor of all who had lost their lives during the same period of time? What is the difference? The only comparable attitude is that toward those who have died in the service of their country.
In our point of view, the public attitude toward AIDS, the concept that the AIDS victim is a hero, a martyr even though he had caused his own death by immorality or drug abuse, is the beginning of a revolt against God. Because AIDS is caused by homosexual activity, a behavior condemned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, there is a fear that the Judaic-Christian values may somehow be involved in how the AIDS victim is treated. The idea is, someone is causing harm to the homosexual, to the drug addict, or to the promiscuous individual. The homosexual must be permitted to continue his "lifestyle," and anyone who claims otherwise is an enemy of man.
In one hospital a few years ago the nurses were not permitted to wear gloves when treating a victim of AIDS in order not to offend the patient. (But how about the danger to the life of the nurse?)
The prevailing sentiment is that we must not condemn the homosexual or the drug addict for his behavior. Rather we must condemn whoever is causing the homosexual or drug addict to suffer. We must condemn the government for not providing more money for AIDS research or the drug laboratories for charging so much for medicine.
Although the truth is vehemently denied at the present time, it eventually will dawn on the minds of people that the enemy is God!
Homosexuality and drug addiction are no worse than other sins. But they are sins. Whoever practices such behavior is destroying the temple of the Holy Spirit and will suffer at the hands of God. The Lord Jesus Christ came to forgive us our sins, to deliver us from the chains that compel us to keep on sinning, and to heal us from the effects of our ungodly behavior.
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