There was another “mass shooting” at a Florida Junior High School yesterday. It is truly a sad day when we read news stories such as this. Should they happen? What can be done to stop them?
Many will now call for more gun control. Perhaps that may help, I don’t know. But this is not a debate about gun control. I will leave that up to the politicians.
One person asked why God allowed things such as this to happen. I know this is going to sound flippant to many, but perhaps we should look at the fact that God is no longer allowed in schools. Neither is he allowed in many other areas of our society. Perhaps if we look at some of the things God has to say about society when this happens, we can better understand why these things actually happen.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of My people And direct their desire toward their iniquity. And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds” (Hosea 4:6-10 NAS95).
God reprimanded His people for forgetting Him in this passage. While we may debate exactly who His people are, the point of this is that when God is taken out of peoples lives, there is a price to pay. Notice closely what is being said. God is not going to help those who forget Him and leave Him out of their lives.
The Israelite’s were continually turning their back on God and we can over and over again see the results of the disobedience. “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it. So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased, The eyes of the proud also will be abased” (Isaiah 5:13-16 NAS95). Should we think God has changed His mind about disobedience?
Society to accepts many things which are disapproved of by God and then wonder where God is. The New Testament also tells us what will happen when we leave God. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:20-32 NAS95). Also, consider, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NAS95).
Understanding society engages in, and approves of, many things God hates and then wonders why so many horrible things that happen in society. Perhaps we need to consider the God is more important than the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-21). We have an obligation to teach our children about God and see that they follow His dictates (Ephesians 6:4).
If we want school shootings (and many other evils) to stop, it is time to put God back in His rightful place.