Debunking the "leaders"
Part 1
Let’s begin with addressing a couple of the most common claims that Christian Leaders use to push the vaccine.
“Obey them which have rule over you…”
This comes from Hebrews 13:17: Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
a. First off, the word “over” does not appear at all in the old manuscripts, so we will be dismissing it entirely. So let’s take a look at the word “obey”.
The Greek word used was “peitho” which appears about 60 times throughout Scripture and is almost always translated to “persuade,” or “persuaded”.
From Thayer’s and Smith’s Greek Lexicon: “Peitho: To persuade; to induce one by words to believe; to make friends of, to win one’s favor, gain one’s good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one. To be persuaded, to suffer one’s self to be persuaded, to be induced to believe, to have faith in a thing; to believe.”
Furthermore, there is an actual Greek word for “obey”, “hupakouo”, which appears 21 times in scripture, each time being properly translated to “obey”.
Next is “rule”. The Greek word translated here was “hegeomai”. It has 4 common translation: Count - Esteem - To Lead - or To Go
“Them that rule over” seems to be more of a substitution, instead of Leaders persuading those to follow, they’ve substituted a directive command here.
When these translational issues are corrected, we end up with something closer to: Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilent for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for your”. (Concordant Literal)
b. What does scripture say? Consistency in Scripture is key, God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So let’s see if he continually promoted subservience to human rulers, either within the Church or within the World. On the contrary. Scripture is filled with ordinary people that stood up to tyrannical and wicked rulers.
The Hebrew midwives defied the orders of Pharaoh, keeping male Hebrew babies alive. God lends approval in Exodus 20:21- “… because the midwives feared God, He provided households for them.” Even the parents of Moses were disobedient, hiding the baby for 3 months. Moses not only stood up to Pharoh, he led the enslaved Jews from Pharoh’s rule in Exodus.
Elijah challenged King Ahab and the false prophets. He is even called “Troubler of Israel” by Ahab.
Jeremiah frequently disobeyed, challenged, and defied orders of his rulers. And Daniel defied direct edicts of his king. When thrown into the lion’s den as punishment, God protected him.
And this is just skimming the important figures of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, each of the apostles repeatedly and frequently disobeyed laws and edicts of the rulers of their time, each continually answering with “We must obey God rather than men.”
Proverbs 28:2- By the transgression of a land many are its princes, But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.
Psalm 94:16- Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
All of Matthew 23- which records Christ’s frustrations and criticisms of the Religious Leaders.
“The Bible says to love your neighbor, vaccinating IS loving your neighbor.”
This is one of those arguments that drive me a bit nutty because it is propped up on nothing more than empty virtue signaling. This scripture is actually rather deep and profound yet reducing it to vaccine compliance really portrays it as vapid and ultimately self-serving. It’s very- “Look at me! Im a good person because I got vaccinated! Not for myself, for you!” Beyond this though, vaccination and loving thy neighbor aren’t even comparable. Scripture actually tells us what it means, and what to do.
Proverbs 3:29: Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
Luke 6:31: And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Romans 13:10: Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law
Proverbs 25:18: A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
Proverbs 3:28: Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
Exodus 20:16: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Zechariah 8:17: Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:13: You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him.
James 1:27: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
To love thy neighbor, however, really can be summed up very simply with the parable of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke 10:25-37. In the parable, a man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he is ambushed by thieves. He is beaten and robbed and left to die in the road. A priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan each come upon the man, the Priest and the Levite move to the other side of the road and pretend not to see him. The Samaritan however, showed mercy and helped him. He treated his wounds, took him in for the night, and then paid an innkeeper to nurse the man back to health. Christ uses this parable to explain EXACTLY what loving your neighbor means.
And it really is just THAT simple.
God gave us these vaccines!- This one is that we will go through more thoroughly in an upcoming article. Because while it is true, that God did give us what we need, including medicines, the Biblical definition of medicinal has been flipped upside down. For now, it is this simple- scripture lays out a range of ways to take care of yourself, physically and spiritually. Fear/panic induced prevention is far from biblically supported. The phrase “fear not” appears in canonical texts 365 times.
If there had been vaccines when Jesus were living, Jesus would have been vaccinated. (I wish I were joking, but this is precisely what Franklin Graham claimed) The irony for this, is that Jesus Christ WAS the ultimate healer. There is not one account of His time on earth, where he used the medicines of that time, either for himself or for anyone else.
The fact of this, is that Churches, and their leaders, are existing in an odd space. They’re trained in Bible Colleges and Seminaries, placed in positions of authority within Churches where they’re considered responsible for their congregations, and they are being targeted by the Government as useful.
Beyond that, we are all living in a modern world where Scripture has become more of a moral guidance and allegorical way to live than a complex belief system with rich theology and ancient significance. As the world chases an ever diminishing idea of progress, leaders are pushed further from literal belief and into more watered down doctrines for the sake of survival and attendance.
When you add this the fact that DHS and FEMA has been using Churches and Houses of Faith since at LEAST 2006. The Government identified Faith Leaders as prominent and influential people in their communities. When the Government needs the cooperation of the people, what better tool than a trusted Faith Leader.
Does that mean your local Pastor is an evil plant of a global conspiracy? No. Most definitely not. They’re victims in this, the same as we all are. And likely, they’re being cajoled into it with pretty words and the ominous responsibility placed on them. Afterall, what if your a pastor, and you DON’T push the vaccine on your congregation? If someone then dies, it’s YOUR fault.
This was especially true in minority communities. With the covid-19 vaccine rollout, minority Faith Leaders were leaned on substantially. The Government knew that with it’s shady and untrustworthy past, using minority communities to carry out horrific experiments, these communities would have no grounds on which to trust anything being pushed upon them. So rather than just be, you know, honest and transparent, and work to gain the trust of people on the integrity of it’s work, they instead decided to capitalize on the trust these communities have in their Faith Leaders. ‘
Sure, you may not trust US because of what we’ve done so far, but you trust your own Pastor? Don’t you?
We can get deeper into these FEMA contractors in the future if you like, but all of this is the reason why Religious Rights do not, and should never be dictated by “authorities”. So the next time a Faith Leader is using Hebrews, or Romans, to convince you to take a vaccine, I hope I have given you enough of a starting point that you can politely decline biblically and with confidence.