A Sign Of The Times?

The Greek physician, Hippocrates, said, “Look well to the spine for the cause of disease.”^[1]

For the past almost 19 years I’ve experienced this truth. I work in a physical medicine office and as such, our medical office has a Chiropractic emphasis. We treat the spine that houses and protects our central nervous system and we deal with pain naturally.

Three weeks ago our office attended a Conference to learn about some new and innovative ways to help our patients. However, we were also privileged to hear Dr. John Rosa, who, among other things, is the White House Surrogate for the Opioid Crisis. Dr. Rosa gave alarming statistics about the amount of opiates prescribed in the United States and why. Because of pain from injury, surgery, etc., opiates are prescribed. According to Dr. Rosa, in an average day, 650,000 prescriptions for opiates such as Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Fentanyl, Morphine and Codeine are prescribed, 4,000 of those patients start non-medical use, 600 start heroin use, 3,300 visit the ER, 58 babies are born addicted, and 120 die of opioid overdose.

What shocked me most was the number of patients who start non-medical use for these drugs. Prescription Opiates are controlled substances. The prescribing physician can only prescribe for a short period. But, in some cases, it takes very few pills for a person to become addicted. So why, once addicted to the prescription drugs, do addicts turn to heroin?  On the street, the price of these prescription drugs is astronomical. Heroin, in comparison, is fairly inexpensive.

Yet, opiates do not correct the patient’s condition. Opiates work on the central nervous system to deceive the brain into thinking there's no pain. When in fact, nothing has changed except the patient’s perception.

So, why am I talking about such depressing facts when spring has finally emerged?

As I was listening to Dr. Rosa, I realized this opioid epidemic is another sign of the times. I was reminded of Revelation 8 and 9 and the Tribulation trumpet judgments.  Chapter 8 ends with an angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” In chapter 9, the fifth and sixth trumpets are sounded and even though God sends all this calamity upon the earth, “…the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”^[2]

I felt God saying of the opioid crisis, “This is just the beginning.”

It’s interesting the word translated “sorceries” in Revelation 9:21, is actually the Greek word pharmakēia. It means medication [a drug, spell-giving potion] and by extension, magic, sorcery, and witchcraft.^[3]

Additionally, opium, cannabis, and cocaine are connected. While the opium poppy has been used since 3,400 B.C. grown in lower Mesopotamia (Southwest Asia)^[4], native Peruvians chewed coca leaves during religious ceremonies. In 1532, Spanish soldiers invaded Peru and found if they supplied their new Peruvian slaves with coca leaves, it made them easier to control and exploit.^[5]

Antichrist, during the Tribulation period, will be all about controlling the masses. Right now, it’s hard to understand why people wouldn’t repent and seek the One True and Living God in the midst of “natural” disaster. But, comprehending the effects of these drugs on the human brain, it’s not so difficult. So think about this; the original Coca-Cola actually contained cocaine. And it wasn’t completely cocaine-free until 1929.^[6]

What can true believers in Jesus Christ do with this knowledge? First, pray. We know not the hour or the day of the Rapture and the Lord’s appearing. If we think it’s bad now, it will be a hundred times worse once the Holy Spirit lifts the restraint on wickedness and the Tribulation commences. Second, be informed and inform your friends. Know there are natural ways to treat pain instead of turning to drugs. And third, remember, “…when these things begin to happen, look up…lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”^[7]

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[1] http://www.azquotes.com/quote/684374

[2] Revelation 9:20-21

[3] Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Greek #5331 and #5332

[4] https://www.deamuseum.org/ccp/opium/history.html

[5] https://www.deamuseum.org/ccp/

[6] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cocaine-coca-cola/

[7] Luke 21:28