Sound the Shofar

It is past time for the believing church in Scotland to take a stand and speak up regarding what is being imposed on our world and our freedoms.

Over the last few years and most certainly since early 2020 we have seen the Christian church - though not just the Christian church - effectively muzzled, chained and imprisoned. We have witnessed, and are further witnessing, draconian restrictions on the freedoms of religion, speech, travel and assembly; previously unimaginable impositions in and on a free functioning democracy. Countries around the world are turning into de facto police states; and there is an increasing tyranny evident in Scotland and elsewhere which many are equating with Germany in the 1930s.

With respect to the Scottish Government’s current thinking to make Covid-19 powers permanent, a letter in a Scottish daily newspaper recently posed the vital question, “What of freedom and democracy in Scotland?” A reader has responded:

“The ‘emergency powers’ were granted on the understanding that they were time-limited. These powers have already been extended to March 2022. If they become permanent then we, the electorate, will have been deliberately misled and our trust abused.

To allow any democratic government to turn temporary measures into permanent ones is a very dangerous move. Our fathers and grandfathers fought and died so that we may be free.

Are we willingly prepared for ever to be told to wear a mask; to socially distance; to be tracked and traced? To be told if/when we may visit a relative in hospital; if/when we reopen our business; if/when we may attend a wedding/funeral; if/when we may send their children to school, and who knows what other restrictions?

According to the Scottish government’s own figures we have at 0.19% chance of dying from Covid-19. If we permanently give up our liberties to purchase a little safety, now in the future we will never see those freedoms returned.”

Press and Journal, 27/08/21

We are living in a time when, on a global scale, civil liberties and personal freedoms have never been facing greater threat. We are being comprehensively lied to, manipulated and controlled with the full support of a complicit mainstream and social media. The restrictions on daily life which have been imposed since the Covid-19 crisis began have allowed governments to seize almost absolute control of our daily lives – both how we function with one another, and within society at large. Contrary views – not least amongst the medical professions – have been effectively silenced by intimidation.
Even so, many doctors and medical scientists from around the world are trying their best to cry out regarding the behaviour of politicians, fellow doctors, regulatory bodies and the media.

Having had a taste of these powers, and history tells us so, those who have acquired such means of control are extremely reluctant to give them back. To use the familiar adage: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

If we do nothing and remain silent … we will be held as guilty before the Lord on that great day.

In recent days many groupings have formed across all sections of society to fight against these brutish restrictions, and the very real danger now facing us of these becoming permanent. We saw in 1930’s Germany that the churches were largely silent or even complicit as Hitler came to power and embarked on the Nazi’s notorious genocidal programme now known as the Holocaust.

In such situations there is an immense need for Christians – as dual and complementary responses – to embark on sustained and earnest prayer along with united and rigorous action. If we, this present generation of committed disciples of Christ, do nothing and remain silent in the face of these most serious of assaults on our freedoms then I believe we will be held as guilty before the Lord on that great day. (Matt 25:29-30)

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We are on the very brink of a Babylonian-like oppression and captivity. I would therefore, humbly but urgently, call upon all committed Bible-believers who have a voice – whether within the the church, politics, medicine, academia, the media or the public square – to sound the shofar; to man the battlements; to call on the Lord for His mercy; for His empowering and for His wisdom and direction.

Pastor Arthur O’Malley powerfully and passionately articulated the concerns of his heart and those of many in the Scottish churches today. Speaking in May he cited the Scottish martyrs who stood up for the Gospel and for Christ in the land. Meanwhile others including Rev. William Philip has also been writing and speaking out their concerns.

Pray that we do not, in this vital moment, squander the precious freedoms which have been won by our forebears at great cost. In this most critical of hours, let us not fail Scotland; its people, our children and grandchildren; and supremely our Lord.

Verses

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The Editor, 02/09/2021