My brothers and sisters in Christ, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a lot of soul-searching to do right now. This statement relates to more than just Covid.
But Covid is what I want to talk about right now. It is something we need to talk about right now. Together. As a church. But since we are not doing that right now (good, sensible, two-way communication seems hard to come by these days) let’s just talk about it right here, right now. There is an important question we have to ask ourselves. Are we really doing the right thing?
The Golden Calf
Let’s start with a Bible story. Most of you probably remember this one from Sabbath school. Let’s begin with this verse:
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him” (Exodus 32:1).
Before we go any further, let us examine what we just read. There are a lot of things that stand out to me from this verse. Particularly the first few words: “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come.” I think a good paraphrase for today would be: “And when the people thought that Jesus delayed to come.”
It seems like we get into a lot of trouble when we are sure that Jesus has delayed His coming and won’t be back for a while. We lose our watchfulness, just as the children of Israel did. We take our eyes off of Jesus, and begin to doubt what He said. That is when Satan works hardest to deceive us.
“For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt.” Have the children of Israel forgotten something here? Was it not God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt? In fact, God himself says: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2). God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. It seems like we all too often give man credit for what God does. We still do this even today. Now, do not get me wrong, God used Moses in a powerful way. God uses people even today. But let us never forget to give God the glory like the children of Israel did. When we do, we run ourselves into serious problems.
“And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.” (Exodus 32:2).
Now Aaron is joining the apostasy! This part always made me sad. Aaron, who had witnessed the power of God, who had faithfully accompanied Moses in the sight of Pharaoh. Surely, Aaron would not join in this apostasy, would he? But the Bible tells us that “he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:4). This is inevitably what happens when we turn away from God. I find it interesting how, just a few verses ago, the people were saying that Moses brought them out of the land of Egypt. Now, they are saying that this golden calf brought them out of the land of Egypt!
When we fail to give God the glory for what He has done, we make the same mistakes. When we turn our eyes away from Jesus, and doubt His word, we make the same mistakes. An when we look to man instead of God, we make the same mistakes. The question then, is this: “Is there a golden calf today?” I believe that there is.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people…have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made a molten calf, and have worshipped it” (Exodus 32:7,8).
Coercion
I find it interesting how this story we have just read perfectly mirrors what is happening today. Have we bowed down to a physical, golden calf? No. But we have bowed down to the golden calf of coercion. What is the golden calf of coercion, you may ask? It is the coercion of conscience that we are witnessing in our world today.
It seems like we are getting down to two options: get vaccinated, or incur punishment. It does not matter if you conscientiously oppose vaccination. It does not matter if you have studied the issue for yourself, all of the relevant medical information, and the Bible, and dared to make an informed decision. There is no room for dissenters. Get vaccinated, or get punished. Period. And where is our church in all of this? Our religious liberty department?
Surely, they would be standing up against all of this, right? Nope! Like Aaron, they have joined in promoting this golden calf. “Here is the vaccine, masks, and booster shots, O church members, which will bring you up out of the pandemic of COVID.” You must be vaccinated, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This is the most painful part of all of this to me. I thought that surely our church would be standing up for religious liberty in one of the biggest religious liberty crises of our time. But according to our religious liberty department, worshipping on Sabbath is the only religious right you have.
Jeroboam
There is another story about golden calves in the Bible, and I think we should examine that one as well. It is found in the book of 1 Kings.
“And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem…Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:26, 27, 28). Sounds similar to the previous story we read.
It begins with the same problem: man not turning to God. Jeroboam is worried about politics. He is worried about the things of this world, and he allows this to turn him and his people from God. Is our church doing the same thing? Yes! Our church has herself become obsessed with politics and the things of this world, when our eyes are supposed to be focused on Jesus. Just look at women’s ordination. Or social justice (which seems to preoccupy a lot of our time in the North American Division). Or our Adventist schools (especially our universities). The problem with turning to the world is that we turn away from God. Just like Jeroboam did. We put the decrees of the government in place of the decrees of God. And now we have turned to the golden calves of mask and vaccine mandates.
Another thing that stands out to me from this story is that King Jeroboam took counsel before erecting the golden calves. Is this what we saw happen today? Absolutely! The government took counsel of power-hungry scientists, and our church has taken counsel of the government. The result? The golden calves of coercion! This is why we must place our trust in God and in His holy word.
I reiterate the question I asked to begin with. Are we really doing the right thing? Is forcing the vaccine against the consciences of others the right thing? Is that something Jesus would do? The question here is not whether Jesus would get vaccinated or not, but whether he would be coercing people to get the vaccine against their will, even threatening their employment.
“Earthly kingdoms are established and upheld by physical force, but this was not to be the foundation of Messiah’s kingdom. In the establishment of his government no carnal weapons were to be used, no coercion practised; no attempt would be made to force the consciences of men. These are the principles used by the prince of darkness for the government of his kingdom. His agents are actively at work, seeking in their human independence to enact laws which are in direct contrast to Christ’s mercy and lovingkindness.” (Review and Herald, August 18, 1896, Par. 2).
Coercion of conscience does not come from God. It comes directly from the throne of Satan. If Jesus would not use coercion, then why are we? Is not Jesus our example? “Should not a people seek unto their God?” (Isaiah 8:19).
Coercion is a tool of Satan, just like the golden calves were. It is interesting to note that the Israelites in Jeroboam’s time claimed that they were still worshipping God; that the golden calves were merely a visual representation of Jehovah,
“In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to the imagination of the Israelites by setting before them some visible representation to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. Accordingly he caused to be made two calves of gold, and these were placed within shrines at the appointed centers of worship” (Prophets and Kings 100.1).
We see the same thing happening today. Vaccine and mask mandates, the tools of coercion, are being preached as good things that help people. Even parts of our church are supporting these as tools for good! Just as the golden calves of Jeroboam’s time could never be used for good (they were idols, and the worship of images is prohibited by the Second Commandment) the mask and vaccine mandates of today, tools of coercion, can never be used for good. Coercion is against the character of the government of God. Now, I am not doubting the sincerity and good intentions of some of the people supporting and implementing these mandates; but good intentions can be misplaced, and we must never justify wrong with good intentions. Coercion of conscience is wrong. Period.
“But what about our duty to follow the government?” Brothers and sisters, we have no duty to follow the government when its decrees violate the law of God. When the demands of the government exceed its proper sphere, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29). In fact, God says in His holy word: “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed” (Isaiah 10:1). These vaccine and mask mandates are a grievousness that is being prescribed, they are the golden calves of coercion. Our bodies are not the property of the government, they belong to God, for they are His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and we must render “unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). We must never join with the government in compelling others to do things which are against their conscience, for the Bible asks us all to be “Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.” (1 Timothy 3:9).
“Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off…the workman made it; therefore it is not God” (Hosea 8:5,6). These mandates are not the workmanship of God, and should not have our support. I appeal to you, members of the church, to our church religious liberty department, to AdventHealth, to the North American Division, and to the General Conference: please do not support these evil mandates. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, we must stand true to God rather than bow down to the golden calf of coercion.
Not standing up for the liberty of the unvaccinated is the same as supporting the mandates. Let me end with one final question: Do we serve God, or the government?
Brennan Jarnes is a college student who lives in Westport, Washington. He enjoys reading, writing, Bible study, and being involved in church.