Brewerville, Montserrado – The mysterious deaths of innocent people could lead to hardships in the country and must be stopped. Speaking from the book of Second Samuel Chapter 21 verses 1 through 7, at the Wednesday, October 2, 2024, morning prayer meeting of New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Brewerville, Montserrado County, Bishop Kortu Brown narrated how the people of Israel suffered from famine or starvation for three (3) years due to the murder of innocent people by King Saul. “God disapproved of the king’s action because he took the lives of innocent people, who about 500 years before, the military commander of Israel, Joshua, made a covenant with them promising to protect them in Joshua Chapter 9”
The accounts of the three-year hunger which contributed to hardships in the country read that “During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” (2 Samuel 21:1). When King David begun his rule in Israel, things got tough for the ordinary people, year after year, for three years the country experienced food shortages, Bishop Brown said, adding the king got deeply concerned and decided to seek a spiritual solution. “He prayed and God answered him. God told him what was wrong and who was responsible”, he added.
Cause of the hardships in the society?
Unlike many other leaders in the community, church and nation today, the Pentecostal cleric averred, that King David was interested in finding out about the cause of the hardships in the country. He was genuinely interested in knowing what was wrong and not just blaming other people like we see in our time. 2nd Samuel chapter 21 begins with a famine or scarcity in Israel. It lasted for over three years in the initial years of King David. The length of the famine finally moved David to ask God why the famine is taking place in his kingdom. The Lord God answered that the previous king, Saul broke a vow and killed the Gibeonites and the matter needed to be corrected.
“Are we seeking genuine answers to challenges we face as a people? Are we really trying to find out why the murdering of innocent people continues unabated in our society many times without any redress?” Bishop Brown inquired. Liberia’s foundation is cherished as being premised on “Christian principles” but why are the principles i.e. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, Faith, meekness, temperance, missing in our society? Why do we now believe that morality is not necessary for governance of the State and that anyone can do or say anything and go free? The former president of the Interreligious Council of Liberia quipped.
“Why the continuous murderous act of innocent people in our country without any remedy?” he asked.
Who caused the hardships?
The Apostolic Pentecostal Church general overseer said that in an accountable and lawful society, people should always want to know the cause of hardships on ordinary people. When Cain killed Abel in the book of Genesis Chapter 4, God identified the killer, “And He (God) said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries unto Me from the ground…” (Genesis 4:10). Initially, Cain tried to evade the murder of his brother, Abel; however, God confronted him with the facts which compelled him to succumb, Bishop Brown narrated, adding, “When David asked God about the cause of the hardships in Israel, God told what was wrong and who was responsible”
“Why can’t we find the murderers of innocent people in our society? There are many unexplained and/or inconclusive investigations into the deaths of many innocent people in our country. When will we know who killed them?” he asked, adding when will we know the killers of Rev William Tolbert, III, Charloe Musu, Precious Cooper and the many others being murdered in their homes and other places without fear. Who is responsible for the hardships in the country”, the former president of the Liberia Council of Churches, asked.
The tough-talking cleric called on the Liberia National Police and Ministry of Justice to buckle up in finding the killers of many of the unfortunate and gruesome murders committed in our society adding, “Do not allow the blood of innocent people to be on your hands”.
God knows the killers
Bishop Brown reminded those killing innocent people through physical attacks, witchcraft, witch hunt, envy, jealousy, hatred, revenge and hiding themselves that God knows them and that they will never go free. He reminded them of the consequences of their action on the society and nation and the hardships such unfortunate and cowardly actions could bring on the nation and its people. He call on Liberians to stop killing one another and exercise the rule of law in addressing misunderstandings or disagreements border on the rule of law
