| by Myra McQueen (Odessa, Texas) |
|---|
| I just want to sort out something here that appears to be a ‘token’ for those of us who have survived the past in the WCG but remain yet in the bondage of carnal drives and other men’s ‘devices’ (ie, II Pet. 1:16) and ‘Jewish fables’ (Titus 1:14). I am not much of a movie goer but after reviewing an editor’s remarks about the amazing 25 negative miracles that led to the sinking of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic in 1912, I decided to research the history a little and found four documentary videos on the subject in a local library. With some astonishing facts under my belt, I decided to check out why so many movies and documentaries, etc., had been made of this event which was disastrous-but perhaps no worse than some of the disasters of the world wars. At least six movies were made along with several documentaries and some television program series (ie, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”), of this historical event during the 20th Century, and isn’t it remarkable that the title of one was, “A Night to Remember”: (Exd. 12:42) The ship of iron (like the ‘iron furnace’) was called ‘the ship of dreams’ and a symbol of man’s mastery of his environment. Some of the witnesses of the launching of the Titanic on her maiden voyage were heard to say that “even God can’t sink this ship”. Those who went on her maiden voyage were separated by a class system, as the elitists were the only passengers allowed to come up on deck and to breathe the fresh air. Third class had to stay below in more cramped quarters (ie, bondage?). The current movie (made in the early ’90s and well worth seeing), was made with the help of a director who wanted to point out the prejudices that separated the passengers due to the class system and the upper class male ego-mania that prevailed in that pre-war period of time. Men had their smoking lounges (women of course were not allowed to smoke or to take any prerogatives or privileges without male permission). The owner of White Star Lines (sound familiar?), refused to place enough lifeboats on board because he said they would detract from the view of the ocean and the beauty of the ship. There was an air of complacency that was comparable to the “sleeping virgins” of Matt. 25 (ie, unaware that the tribulation was on their doorsteps because they had no peace with God and rejected revelation). One historian is quoted as saying that “complacency was written all over the story” and Titanic woke everybody up with a tremendous jolt” (Isa. 30:13-14). There was not enough urgency about the situation while there was time to save lives (compare Matt. 24:21 with Isa. 63:4-5) –our “watch”? And what are we to “watch” for? (Matt. 24:42-46, Christ, not the world.) While the orchestra played, and the lights of the ship burned (their version of ‘light’) the lifeboats (“chariots of salvation” Habakkuk 3:8) were lowered half empty because the passengers were not in a hurry to leave their “comfort zones” and had been told that there was no real emergency that could not be dealt with by these master craftsmen. The poor died mostly because they were poor, and their class system would not allow for these unfortunates to be in the same vessels as the rich. They were not allowed on the deck anyway. Confusion reigned during the final hours as no one was really aware of the deadly ice fields (compare Psa. 147:16-18 with Job 38:22-23–the ‘tribulation’), that lay in their path. The captain was of the old school and refused to acknowledge that the ‘modern gimmicks’ of the telegraph could be accurate in its warnings and the telegraph operators along with the ship’s captain did not think to put these messages together and map out the paths of the ice fields so they could avoid them. According to one editor, the ship’s crew were not accustomed to maneuvering a ship of this size, (WCG was said to be worth $4 billion at the time of HWA’s death and neither Tkach nor HWA had even a high school diploma). The warnings about the ice fields were haphazard and time-wasting and the operators made fun of what was happening and were complacent (ie, leadership of the scattered churches? -who make fun of each other and refuse to acknowledge the authority of God in their doctrinal precepts). Later the Titanic’s wireless operator goes to sleep-missing more important messages (revelation-Hosea 8:12). They were unable to locate the binoculars for the “watch” crew before they went up into the crow’s nest (crows are of the raven family-Song of Sol. 5:10-11), and so had nothing to “watch’ with, except their own eyes and it was nighttime (darkness in their ‘way’ now). It is extremely cold in the crow’s nest and the only warning device was a bell type apparatus that rang a phone in the ship’s control room. From all accounts the actual iceberg that the Titanic hit was now black on its surface due to turning over with the change in water temperatures and no snow had fallen on it to outline its surface. By the time the crew in the crow’s nest were able to detect the iceberg the ship’s crew had exactly 37 seconds to respond and get the gargantuan ship out of harm’s way: Even after the iceberg was hit the reports were casual and most of the first-class passengers went into the gym rather than getting on the lifeboats and most were left with the feeling that there was nothing serious about to happen. The ship’s designer was on board for this maiden voyage (Thomas Andrews), and when he found out that five below-deck compartments of the ship’s hull had been punctured, and he relayed to the ship’s captain that with 5 compartments punctured the ship would sink, as it could stay afloat with 4 punctured-but not 5. The sinking of the Titanic left 1800 dead and dying victims in its wake and few survivors (Isa. 16:14). One more thing-the closest ship (only ten miles away), that could have saved the people’s lives had a captain on board and in charge whose name was Lord, and he refused to come to their rescue! (This article has been updated and re-printed from “The Church of God Messenger” July/August 2001—Issue No. 4.) |
Views: 0
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: