Before I go, say, to the hair salon or to the car repair shop or to a doctor’s appointment, I think about what I want and what I don’t want. Then, I am able to choose the path I take.
During my yearly checkup in March, the doctor came into the room all gowned and masked up. He asked if I was vaccinated. I told him “No”. He asked “Why not?” and I told him.
“Why should I take an “emergency-use”-untested- vaccine into my system? Should I get COVID, if I haven’t had it already, my body will deal with it. I will gain immunity and build immunological memory against it. If I get it and have symptoms, I’ll call you for Ivermectin.”
The doctor, looking concerned, went on to justify his giving the vaccine to his other patients. What was troubling: he agreed with me that the vaccine hadn’t been adequately tested. He also agreed with me when I said “You can’t live in fear.” (By that I meant that I am not afraid of COVID or of disobeying authorities who impose scientism tyranny.)
As you know, every prescribed medication has warnings, precautions and contraindications so you can make an informed decision with regard to its use. You would think that an “emergency-use”-untested- vaccine would be an absolute contraindication. And, especially when the recovery rate from Coronavirus is over 99%.
I chose the path I would take and said “No”. I based my adult decision on 1) the absolute contraindication presented to me and 2) the increasing number of adverse reactions (see links in previous posts) and 3) the warnings presented by Dr. Bhakdi in my previous post
*****
Just this week you and I were talked to, like we were little children, by the Biden regime. Joe Biden is now doing the deciding for you and me. Joe Biden now is choosing for you and me. I don’t know how I made it over 68 years without CDC guidance and Joe Biden.
(Apparently, Joe Biden didn’t use ultimatums in his own home. Did Biden ever lay down the law for his son Hunter? If he had, maybe Hunter wouldn’t have turned out to be such a . . .)
Per this ultimatum, our paths are limited to two. You and I are not to venture outside the paths Big Brother has told us walk in. Progressives, like the Evil One, desire a controlled opposition.
Biden’s pronouncement (of no Constitutional standing) was made to produce an outcome: separate strata of obedience to the state. On top, in pride of place, are those who conform to state vaccination. Below them are those who are not “vaxxed” and submit to wearing a mask as a sign of obedience. At the bottom, implicit in the pronouncement, are those who refuse to obey “the rule is”.
Those who refuse both vax and mask are the unclean. They are yet to be washed in the blood of communism.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary exacerbates the divide by producing its own version of a “yellow star” label. Its inscription “anti-vaxxer” connotes “A person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.” The world is lining up behind the dark forces that demand your total allegiance of mind, body and soul.
Now, when someone is commanding me to put something into my body to be acceptable to them, I say “No.” In the Bizarro world of Progressives it is not ironic that those of the Biden regime are the same people who condone “My body, my choice” when it comes to ripping a human from the womb for no other reason than “I want to.” These are the ways of the wicked.
I have also said “No” to mask wearing. I have never been a mask wearer – not here not there and not anywhere at any time. I won’t wear a mask so I can go into a store, or to a hair salon or to church. How ludicrous. How debasing. There is no science that says I should wear a mask. I follow the science and not the CDC and not the “scientism” pronouncements coming down from Mount Olympus.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary will now have to include “anti-masker”: A person who opposes mask wearing or laws that mandate mask wearing; archaic, an individual who refuses to debase themselves to please others.
It certainly appears that mask wearing and now getting a vaccination has become an “us and them” moral statement. Some are copping an attitude: “I am superior to you because I conform to the rules of my political tribe.” And, “I care about people and you don’t.”
For others, it is going along to get along with “governing authorities”. These are the passive -aggressive. They will lash out about restrictions in sermons or in print or to their spouse but they conform nonetheless.
And many conform to the ludicrous out of fear of reprisal. Progressives, like the Evil One, welcome the controlled opposition.
As priests, rectors, rabbis and ministers now submit to CDC guidelines, will they also subject themselves to the “governing authorities” and follow civic leader’s instructions when ultimatum guidelines are handed down: submit to and preach Critical Race Theory or you will not be allowed to minister? At what point do you not conform to Caesar’s pronouncements? Do you “go along to get along” so as to look like a “good little Christian” and to not suffer any consequences?
In the church we need leaders not lemmings. We have enough facilitators. We need leaders. Look at the Apostle Paul. Read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters. Paul spent a lot of time in prison because he spoke the truth. He didn’t go out of his way to break the law. He just spoke highly controversial things – there is one true God, his Son came to earth, was crucified, rose from the dead and now is Lord.
Paul’s words were perceived as heretical and just plain silly by the Greeks who had many gods and no resurrection of the dead in their philosophy. Pauls’ words were received as insurrection to the Romans who addressed their own sovereign as “Lord”.
Paul, like Jesus, submitted to the “governing authorities” AT THE POINT the “governing authorities” decided to deal with him. He accepted the consequence of his words and actions. He did NOT accept a “go along to get along” conformity that would keep him out of trouble.
Listen. Returning to normal is not gaining ground in the spiritual war confronting us. I am not sorry. I can’t stand namby-pamby leaders. If a fig tree is not producing it is of no use.
Will you stand before the Lord one day and say the following?
“You gave me ten talents and I kept them safe. I stayed within the status quo so as to not bring attention to them. I didn’t want to take the risk. So, I buried what you gave me and I obeyed the “governing authorities” who came snooping around. I did what they asked. Here’s the ten talents back. Good luck with that.”
Now, do you as a Christian think that because “science” is involved that it is OK for your mind to go into neutral and therefore you must submit to the “governing authorities”? If Caesar said “You must kill all your firstborn to end the pandemic” would you then resist?
What does it take for you to wake up and see the ways of the wicked and to not submit to them? Joseph and Mary didn’t stick around to obey the “governing authority” Herod when he commanded that first-born children be killed (to assuage his fear of losing power).
Haven’t you noticed? Progressives have no use for you if you don’t conform. And when you do, they still have no use for you except as a prole to do their bidding. It is their way or the highway. “The rule is . . . Conform to our Woke imperialism, take our Woke Jab, or you will be scoffed at, mocked, and exiled”.
Show me what you conform to and I’ll show you your future.
*****
Psalm 1
1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
*****
The Fig Tree and Flashpoint
The day of the “triumphal” entry:
Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the temple, and looked all around. It was already getting late, and he returned to Bethany with the twelve. (Mk. 11: 11)
The next day . . .
“. . . as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From some distance away he saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and hoped to find fruit on it; but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves (It wasn’t yet the season for figs.)
He addressed the tree directly. “May no one ever eat fruit from you again,” he said. And his disciples heard. (Mk. 11: 12-14)
We get a basic understanding of why Jesus is cursing the fig tree from Psalm 1 – those who follow the Lord produce fruit. Those who have the appearance of fruit producing -leaves – but do not bear fruit will be dealt with. Their superficial being is like the chaff that the wind drives away.
We get a pointed understanding from the Prophet Hosea. He describes how God initially thought of Israel . . . and then . . .
Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season, I saw your ancestors. But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved. (Hosea 9:10, emphasis mine)
During the time of the Second Temple, there were those, including priests, who had followed the advice of the wicked and taken the path that sinners trod (Ps. 1). They, like Israel before them, had laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. (Joel 1:6-7)
The cursing of the fig tree was a symbolic message to Israel and in particular to its priests: if you do not produce the spiritual fruit I ordained you to produce, you are to be cursed! For, as priests, rectors, rabbis, and ministers go, so go the people.
In direct opposition to their vocation to be a separate people and to be the fig tree that produced the fruit of righteousness, many Jews had conformed to the world around them. They had the appearance of bearing fruit – the leaves – but produced no fruit.
And so it was that many sat mocking the sacred space of the Temple as they sold their wares within its walls. Over time the Temple had become profaned by priests who had adopted the ways of the world. Jesus would not stand for that. He would drive the chaff from the Temple.
After the disciples heard Jesus curse the fig tree . . .
They came into Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out the traders, those who bought and sold in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the dove sellers. He permitted no one to carry a vessel through the Temple. He began to teach: Isn’t this what’s written,” he said,
‘My house shall be called
A house of prayer
For all the world to share’?
But you’ve made it a brigands’ den!” (Mark 11: 15-17)
The “afraid” governing authorities, the chief priests and legal experts – the chafing chaff, looked for a way to get rid of Jesus. (Mk. 11: 18) And then we read . . .
When evening came, they went back out of the city.
As they were returning, early in the morning, the saw the fig tree withered from its roots. (Mark 11:19-20)
Show me what you conform to and I’ll show you your future.
“Episode_941_Following the money Naomi Wolf, Raheem Kassam, Frank Gaffney”. Released: 2021“Episode 945 – Here Come the Receipts … Fraud in Maricopa and the Coming Digital Currency”. Released: 2021.“Episode 947 – Vaccine Vacillation … Dr. Mercola on Covid Vaccine Risks, Liz Yore the Catholic Church”. Released: 2021.
In this exclusive interview with The New American magazine’s Senior Editor Alex Newman, world-renown German-Thai-American microbiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi warns that the COVID hysteria is based on lies and that the COVID “vaccines” are set to cause a global catastrophe and a decimation of the human population. Starting off, he explains that the PCR test has been abused to produce fear in a way that is unscientific. Next, he explains what the mRNA vaccines are going to do to the human body in terms and using analogies that anyone can understand. Among other concerns, he expects massive deadly clotting as well as immune system responses that will destroy the human body. Finally, Bhakdi, who warned of impending “doom” during a Fox News interview that went viral, calls for criminal prosecutions of the people responsible and an immediate halt to this global experiment. (Emphasis mine)
“Anyone who has the slightest idea about infections and immune defense also knows that the mechanistic concept for the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination which is presented to the public is amateurish and naive from the start.”
“All independent groups of scientists, all concluding the same thing: that the evidence suggests that it [Ivermectin] should be the standard of care,” Dr. Kory said.
What is more monstrous? COVID-19 that has over a 98% recovery rate without a vaccine OR the debilitating pandemic of CONTROL-21 data collection which has no foreseeable recovery rate and forces you into bondage?
Before you answer these questions, ask yourself . . .
Why take an “emergency use” not-fully-tested vaccine? “The Science” terms you a” guinea pig.”
Why take mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) when your body already knows how to fight the virus?
Why take the vaccine when the prophylactic/protocol benefits of Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine are highly effective? If you think you have contracted COVID then call your doctor and ask for Ivermectin.
What does a vax passport mean?
Here’s what it means to Dr. Naomi Wolf. She warns about the IMMEDIATE dangers of vax passports and the end of liberty and human agency:
Here’s the link to Dr. Naomi Wolf on the Eric Metaxas Radio Show. She talks in more detail about Vax Passports, Bill and Melinda Gates, the “closed circle of profit” and more.
And, most curious …
Why aren’t churches and minsters talking about the dangers of the vaccine and vaccine passports? Do they fear losing something? Buildings? Status? Do they think that not questioning authority is what is required of a Christian? We don’t need more Chicken Soup for the Soul sermons and buildings for Bible classes. Where is the leadership? We can no longer live as cowards under cowards.
The scribe Daniel, living within a beastly empire, did not live as a coward. He was offered a passport to go on living – fall down and worship the golden image – and he said “No.”
Who will deliver you? The gods of men (e.g., Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates) or the Almighty God?
California’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum urges students to chant to the Aztec deity of human sacrifice to gain power of social justice. (We are told that Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons. Demons do not just possess a person. They are invited in by the person. And that is what will happen when a child chants to an Aztec deity.)
I wouldn’t be opposed to someone creating a smartphone app that produced Vaccination record false positives for the Vax Passport gods. This would be in keeping with “The Science” – the FDA and WHO promoted PCR-test used to produce inflated case numbers.
You should ask yourself “Why was I born at this time?
Episode 869 – Party Line Science, CNN and the Medical Bureaucracy, Dr. Yan, Dr. Steven Hatfill, Dr. Betsy McCaughey, Dr. Richard M. FlemingEpisode 879 – A Who’s Who of Devils … Vatican Conference, More CNN TapesEpisode 881 – The Russians Investigate Chernobyl … The Global Cover Up of the CCP virus, Josh Rogin
“We have entered, as I see it, a spiritual limbo. Our educational institutions are no longer the bearers of high culture, and public life has been deliberately moronised. But here and there, sheltered from the noise and glare of the media, the old spiritual forces are at work” Roger Scruton
*****
“When a common culture declines, the ethical life can be sustained and renewed only by a work of the imagination.”-Roger Scruton
*****
“Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.” Oswald Chambers
*****
“No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God in a human spirit, it is an inner unconquerableness.” Oswald Chambers
*****
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony,Oswald Chambers
*****
“If we wish to erect new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundations.” John Calvin Coolidge
*****
Atheism is a post-Christian phenomenon.
*****
If social justice looks like your hand in someone else’s pocket then you are stealing.
*****
“In Sweden, giving to charity, absurdly, came to be considered a lack of solidarity, since it undermined the need for the welfare state.” – Roland Martinsson
*****
“…to love democracy well, it is necessary to love it moderately.” Alexis de Tocqueville
*****
Capitalism seeks to help others through a servce or product it provides. Free Market Capitalism is the most moral and fair economic system available to man. Capitalism augments personal growth, responsibility and ownership. Charity flourishes under capitalism. Charity dies under subjective “fair share” government confiscatory policies. Socialism redistributes ambivalence and greed.
*****
“We are to regard existence as a raid or great adventure; it is to be judged, therefore, not by what calamities it encounters, but by what flag it follows and what high town it assaults. The most dangerous thing in the world is to be alive; one is always in danger of one’s life. But anyone who shrinks from that is a traitor to the great scheme and experiment of being.” G.K. Chesterton
*****
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.
It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction. Albert Einstein
*****
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.” Flannery O’Connor
*****
“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
*****
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
*****
God’s grace is not about the allowance for sin. God’s grace is about the conversation God allows regarding sin.
*****
From the book of Proverbs: We are not to favor the rich or the poor. We are to pursue justice.
*****
“Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally.” Oswald Chambers
*****
One goldfish says to another, “If there is no God who keeps changing the water?”
*****
“The truth is always there in the morning.”
From Cat On A Hot Tin Roof script – playwright Tennessee Williams
*****
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
*****
“America’s greatness has been the greatness of a free people who shared certain moral commitments. Freedom without moral commitment is aimless and promptly self-destructive.” John W. Gardner
**
“Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community.” John W. Gardner
*****
“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair, the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.” Dorothy L. Sayers
*****
“Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.”
G. K. Chesterton
*****
“The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn
*****
This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
-The prophet Jeremiah, 6:16
*****
“…our common task is not so much discovering a truth hiding among contrary viewpoints as it is coming to possess a selfhood that no longer evades and eludes the truth with which it is importunately confronted.” James McClendon, Ethics: Systematic Theology, Vol. 1
*****
Cindy Wity 
The Chaff is Chafing
May 16, 2021 2 Comments
Before I go, say, to the hair salon or to the car repair shop or to a doctor’s appointment, I think about what I want and what I don’t want. Then, I am able to choose the path I take.
During my yearly checkup in March, the doctor came into the room all gowned and masked up. He asked if I was vaccinated. I told him “No”. He asked “Why not?” and I told him.
“Why should I take an “emergency-use”-untested- vaccine into my system? Should I get COVID, if I haven’t had it already, my body will deal with it. I will gain immunity and build immunological memory against it. If I get it and have symptoms, I’ll call you for Ivermectin.”
The doctor, looking concerned, went on to justify his giving the vaccine to his other patients. What was troubling: he agreed with me that the vaccine hadn’t been adequately tested. He also agreed with me when I said “You can’t live in fear.” (By that I meant that I am not afraid of COVID or of disobeying authorities who impose scientism tyranny.)
As you know, every prescribed medication has warnings, precautions and contraindications so you can make an informed decision with regard to its use. You would think that an “emergency-use”-untested- vaccine would be an absolute contraindication. And, especially when the recovery rate from Coronavirus is over 99%.
I chose the path I would take and said “No”. I based my adult decision on 1) the absolute contraindication presented to me and 2) the increasing number of adverse reactions (see links in previous posts) and 3) the warnings presented by Dr. Bhakdi in my previous post
*****
Just this week you and I were talked to, like we were little children, by the Biden regime. Joe Biden is now doing the deciding for you and me. Joe Biden now is choosing for you and me. I don’t know how I made it over 68 years without CDC guidance and Joe Biden.
(Apparently, Joe Biden didn’t use ultimatums in his own home. Did Biden ever lay down the law for his son Hunter? If he had, maybe Hunter wouldn’t have turned out to be such a . . .)
Per this ultimatum, our paths are limited to two. You and I are not to venture outside the paths Big Brother has told us walk in. Progressives, like the Evil One, desire a controlled opposition.
Biden’s pronouncement (of no Constitutional standing) was made to produce an outcome: separate strata of obedience to the state. On top, in pride of place, are those who conform to state vaccination. Below them are those who are not “vaxxed” and submit to wearing a mask as a sign of obedience. At the bottom, implicit in the pronouncement, are those who refuse to obey “the rule is”.
Those who refuse both vax and mask are the unclean. They are yet to be washed in the blood of communism.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary exacerbates the divide by producing its own version of a “yellow star” label. Its inscription “anti-vaxxer” connotes “A person who opposes vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination.” The world is lining up behind the dark forces that demand your total allegiance of mind, body and soul.
Now, when someone is commanding me to put something into my body to be acceptable to them, I say “No.” In the Bizarro world of Progressives it is not ironic that those of the Biden regime are the same people who condone “My body, my choice” when it comes to ripping a human from the womb for no other reason than “I want to.” These are the ways of the wicked.
I have also said “No” to mask wearing. I have never been a mask wearer – not here not there and not anywhere at any time. I won’t wear a mask so I can go into a store, or to a hair salon or to church. How ludicrous. How debasing. There is no science that says I should wear a mask. I follow the science and not the CDC and not the “scientism” pronouncements coming down from Mount Olympus.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary will now have to include “anti-masker”: A person who opposes mask wearing or laws that mandate mask wearing; archaic, an individual who refuses to debase themselves to please others.
It certainly appears that mask wearing and now getting a vaccination has become an “us and them” moral statement. Some are copping an attitude: “I am superior to you because I conform to the rules of my political tribe.” And, “I care about people and you don’t.”
For others, it is going along to get along with “governing authorities”. These are the passive -aggressive. They will lash out about restrictions in sermons or in print or to their spouse but they conform nonetheless.
And many conform to the ludicrous out of fear of reprisal. Progressives, like the Evil One, welcome the controlled opposition.
As priests, rectors, rabbis and ministers now submit to CDC guidelines, will they also subject themselves to the “governing authorities” and follow civic leader’s instructions when ultimatum guidelines are handed down: submit to and preach Critical Race Theory or you will not be allowed to minister? At what point do you not conform to Caesar’s pronouncements? Do you “go along to get along” so as to look like a “good little Christian” and to not suffer any consequences?
In the church we need leaders not lemmings. We have enough facilitators. We need leaders. Look at the Apostle Paul. Read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters. Paul spent a lot of time in prison because he spoke the truth. He didn’t go out of his way to break the law. He just spoke highly controversial things – there is one true God, his Son came to earth, was crucified, rose from the dead and now is Lord.
Paul’s words were perceived as heretical and just plain silly by the Greeks who had many gods and no resurrection of the dead in their philosophy. Pauls’ words were received as insurrection to the Romans who addressed their own sovereign as “Lord”.
Paul, like Jesus, submitted to the “governing authorities” AT THE POINT the “governing authorities” decided to deal with him. He accepted the consequence of his words and actions. He did NOT accept a “go along to get along” conformity that would keep him out of trouble.
Listen. Returning to normal is not gaining ground in the spiritual war confronting us. I am not sorry. I can’t stand namby-pamby leaders. If a fig tree is not producing it is of no use.
Will you stand before the Lord one day and say the following?
“You gave me ten talents and I kept them safe. I stayed within the status quo so as to not bring attention to them. I didn’t want to take the risk. So, I buried what you gave me and I obeyed the “governing authorities” who came snooping around. I did what they asked. Here’s the ten talents back. Good luck with that.”
Now, do you as a Christian think that because “science” is involved that it is OK for your mind to go into neutral and therefore you must submit to the “governing authorities”? If Caesar said “You must kill all your firstborn to end the pandemic” would you then resist?
What does it take for you to wake up and see the ways of the wicked and to not submit to them? Joseph and Mary didn’t stick around to obey the “governing authority” Herod when he commanded that first-born children be killed (to assuage his fear of losing power).
Haven’t you noticed? Progressives have no use for you if you don’t conform. And when you do, they still have no use for you except as a prole to do their bidding. It is their way or the highway. “The rule is . . . Conform to our Woke imperialism, take our Woke Jab, or you will be scoffed at, mocked, and exiled”.
Show me what you conform to and I’ll show you your future.
*****
Psalm 1
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
*****
The Fig Tree and Flashpoint
The day of the “triumphal” entry:
Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the temple, and looked all around. It was already getting late, and he returned to Bethany with the twelve. (Mk. 11: 11)
The next day . . .
“. . . as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From some distance away he saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and hoped to find fruit on it; but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves (It wasn’t yet the season for figs.)
He addressed the tree directly. “May no one ever eat fruit from you again,” he said. And his disciples heard. (Mk. 11: 12-14)
We get a basic understanding of why Jesus is cursing the fig tree from Psalm 1 – those who follow the Lord produce fruit. Those who have the appearance of fruit producing -leaves – but do not bear fruit will be dealt with. Their superficial being is like the chaff that the wind drives away.
We get a pointed understanding from the Prophet Hosea. He describes how God initially thought of Israel . . . and then . . .
Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree,
in its first season,
I saw your ancestors.
But they came to Baal-peor,
and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved. (Hosea 9:10, emphasis mine)
During the time of the Second Temple, there were those, including priests, who had followed the advice of the wicked and taken the path that sinners trod (Ps. 1). They, like Israel before them, had laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. (Joel 1:6-7)
The cursing of the fig tree was a symbolic message to Israel and in particular to its priests: if you do not produce the spiritual fruit I ordained you to produce, you are to be cursed! For, as priests, rectors, rabbis, and ministers go, so go the people.
In direct opposition to their vocation to be a separate people and to be the fig tree that produced the fruit of righteousness, many Jews had conformed to the world around them. They had the appearance of bearing fruit – the leaves – but produced no fruit.
And so it was that many sat mocking the sacred space of the Temple as they sold their wares within its walls. Over time the Temple had become profaned by priests who had adopted the ways of the world. Jesus would not stand for that. He would drive the chaff from the Temple.
After the disciples heard Jesus curse the fig tree . . .
They came into Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out the traders, those who bought and sold in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the dove sellers. He permitted no one to carry a vessel through the Temple. He began to teach: Isn’t this what’s written,” he said,
‘My house shall be called
A house of prayer
For all the world to share’?
But you’ve made it a brigands’ den!” (Mark 11: 15-17)
The “afraid” governing authorities, the chief priests and legal experts – the chafing chaff, looked for a way to get rid of Jesus. (Mk. 11: 18) And then we read . . .
When evening came, they went back out of the city.
As they were returning, early in the morning, the saw the fig tree withered from its roots. (Mark 11:19-20)
Show me what you conform to and I’ll show you your future.
*****
*****
COVID Court:
Cult Of The Mask: List Of Documented Mask Side Effects; Vexed; More! — Coronavirus Update LXIX
Fauci Admits — Roughly half of NIH employees have chosen not to get vaccine… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS
COVID vaccines ‘must be halted immediately,’ renowned toxicologist tells CDC | News | LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)
COVID-19: Church of God in Aylmer, Ont. to be locked, pastor and church fined | Globalnews.ca
COVID Nazis are coming for your children . . .
Pfizer Vaccine approved for kids 12 and older… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS
A Pregnant Woman Shows How To Fight Back Against Mask Maniacs
https://tv.gab.com/channel/a/view/a-pregnant-woman-shows-how-to-609a9d936d76272f49d86028
Report: Georgia Mother of Two Dead After Receiving Covid Vaccine – NewsWars
Physical therapist, 28, dies two days after taking COVID-19 vaccine | Daily Mail Online
Trump-Hating Garbage ‘Comedian’ Chelsea Handler Says She Feels Sick and Went ‘Deaf in One Ear’ After Getting Second Moderna Jab (VIDEO) (thegatewaypundit.com)
Eric Clapton hits out at ‘propaganda’ over vaccine safety | Daily Mail Online
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Filed under 2021 current events, Christianity, COVID-19, Culture, pandemic, Political Commentary, Progressivism, social commentary Tagged with Christianity, COVID Vaccination, Jesus Cleansing the temple, Jesus Cursing the Fig Tree, Joe Biden, pandemic, progressivism, Psalm 1, tyranny