WHY GOVERNMENTS ARE SHUTTING DOWN CHURCHES WORLDWIDE AS A COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURE

 2 Chronicles 18:18-22 (AMPC)
“[Micaiah] said, therefore hear the Word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing at His right hand and His left.
 
19 And the Lord said, who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said this thing, and another that.
 
20 Then there came a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. The Lord said to him, by what means?
 
21 And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. And the Lord said, you shall entice him and also succeed. Go forth and do so.
 
22 Now, you see, the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets; and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you.”
 
 
Dear people of God, I recently read an interesting perspective to the above Holy Bible passage from the website gotquestions.org, which I would share with you.
 
The question was why did God permit a lying spirit to be sent to Ahab to deceive him into his downfall?
 
The answer was simply because despite the military victories against Syria God gave him and several warnings from God’s prophet Elijah, king Ahab of Israel continued to engage in idolatry in worship of baal.
 
In fact, this is what is written about king Ahab in 1 Kings 21:25 (GNBDK), “There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the LORD's sight as Ahab — all at the urging of his wife Jezebel.”
 
Since God is sovereign and can use any tool at His disposal to accomplish His purpose, He permitted the spirit to go and deceive Ahab through his 400 prophets.
 
Ahab’s prophets assured him of victory against the Syrian army in the next battle.
 
Even at that, God in His infinite mercy still gave Ahab a final opportunity to repent when his host King Jehoshaphat of Judah enquired if there was another prophet to which Ahab said Micaiah, who was invited and is recorded above as telling Ahab what transpired in heaven and that contrary to Ahab’s expectation, he (Ahab) would not return from the battle with the Syrians into which he was going with king Jehoshaphat as an ally.
 
As usual, Ahab refused to heed the warning, instead got the prophet Micaiah arrested, and went into the battle but never returned alive as prophet Micaiah accurately prophesied.
 
You may be wondering what this Bible passage has got to do with today’s topic and I will summarize as follows:
 
Ø  Nothing happens first in the natural world without first happening or instigated or induced in the spiritual world. This is clear from what first happened in heaven before it happened physically to Ahab on earth.
 
Ø  The devil knows that of all the religious groups in this world, Christians are the only ones whose prayers get to heaven to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Whether you believe this statement or not is immaterial because God knows, the devil, demons know and their human agents are also aware since the devil has informed them.
 
So the devil does not bother to check whatever “prayers” ever other non-Christian religious groups are making because they are offering such prayers in vain and to the devil.
 
Ø  The devil knows the power of communal prayer by Christians as a group in Church having so much power to greatly hinder and even disrupt his evil plans and schemes spiritually than individual prayers of Christians.
 
This is why God’s Word in Hebrews 10:25 warns Christians not to stop meeting or coming together as a group in Corporate worship and prayer to God Almighty and Father of my Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Ø  The devil knows there is power when Christian groups praise and worship God during Church meetings.
 
Ø  The devil knows there is power whenever Christians testify to the greatness of God in their lives over very challenging situations in which God gave them a great miracle that encourages others
 
Ø  The devil knows that there is power in the Name of Jesus Christ and the blood of Jesus Christ when invoked over any issue in prayers.
 
Remember the God-given authority in Luke 10:19 Christians have been given by the Lord Jesus Christ to tread upon snakes and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us.
 
Ø  The devil knows there is power when Christians go on evangelism to tell non-Christians about the saving power of the Gospel, repentance and Salvation found only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Every Christian corporate activity undertaken in a Church – praise and worship, prayers, testimonies, evangelism releases spiritual power as an atomic bomb against the kingdom of darkness headed by the devil
 
As a result, the devil must do whatsoever he can to ensure Christians do not come together as a Group in Corporate Worship of God.
 
Ø  This is why the devil introduced the coronavirus or covid-19 and instigated fear, panic and worldwide lockdown in almost all the nations of the world and ensured even Churches would not gather.
 
Ø  To achieve this, the devil cast an evil spell over world leaders to ensure even religious houses did not open but churches were the main target because of spiritual power against demonic activity.
 
The Lord Jesus Christ has made this revelation known to a prayer and prophecy group anchored by one Sister Happiness Aibangbee.
 
A reference point is the fight American President Donald Trump had with state governors and he refused to issue a country total lock down.
 
Recall that at a point in time in May 2020, Trump issued an ultimatum to state governors to reopen churches otherwise he was going to override them to get it done since he considered religious worship an essential service.
 
America has a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed by Congress in 1993 that gave churches and individuals the right to sue over even widely applicable laws that interfere with religion.
 
However, in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to apply the new federal law to states or municipalities. Some states have passed their own RFRA laws, but they don’t all go as far as the federal one.
 
When Trump made the pronouncement, the main stream media, the politicians state governors who are members of the evil agenda and ignorant people derided the President and said he had no such powers under the constitution to force churches open.
 
 
Dear friends, you can see why Christians need to take their faith serious especially in these very end of the last days and most importantly the genuineness of their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Do not miss church fellowship. Do not fail to pray daily morning and night at home as a family and also at noon where your work permits. Study your Bible daily and meditate daily on God’s Word.
 
The devil and his agents are not relenting in their efforts at unleashing their New World Order (NOW) agenda of a one world government controlling all nations under the beast and with the devil as the head.
 
It is pertinent to note that these demonic spells cast on the world leaders to make them shut down churches would get those among them that are NOT Christians and those who profess Christianity but are living a double life of sin as we witness amongst many political leaders of nations who tell lies, and embezzle public funds.
 
This is similar to what happened to king Ahab of Israel who was neck deep in sin against God and that eventually led to his destruction.
 
Take Nigeria as a case study. Despite the fact that market places open daily and people gather in these places in large numbers without observing the laid down covid-19 protocols, the Federal Government and the Lagos state government are blaming Religious houses for not complying with the so called protocols put in place.
 
There are also ignorant citizens who readily support the FG’s position on this matter as we hear on radio and read on social media and would prefer Churches shut down because they do not understand how the spirit world and the physical world operate.
 
However, truth be told - It is ONLY the prayers of children of God, the Christians, through in the power that is in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that can take out the evil demon responsible for coronavirus.
 
Though this demonic agenda is recorded in the Holy Bible, the demonic plans would not fully manifest as long as Christians are united in living a holy life in righteous obedience to God’s commands in the Bible and prayerful in their everyday life.

After the ongoing Great Tribulation, Jesus Christ is coming to take ONLY those who are qualified according to His righteous standards in the Holy Bible.

Are you living a genuine life as His disciple? Are you ready for Him? Come to Jesus today, for tomorrow may be too late for you.

May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Holy Name, Amen.
 
Gabriel Ama.