The king's heart is
in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
he turneth it whithersoever he will. ~ Proverbs 21:1
November 7, 2012. One day after the national presidential
election. Is anything different today from yesterday? Much is being said
regarding the results. There is great contrast and nothing but 180 degrees
difference in statements. But, what brought the United States of America to this
point? Through documentations, historical evidences and writings, such as the
Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution, we see our founding
on strong Biblical principles. How did we get to the point where so much has
changed?
Nowhere in daily secular society can you find the
acknowledgment that we are created Biblically. Secular society is leading
people to believe that society gives us any rights we may have in contrast to
God given rights. Secular society has redefined the God-given rights starting
with life. Life is defined as anything that benefits the whole even at the loss
of the few. Liberty
is defined for some in contrast for all as equality for the majority at the
detriment to the few who disagree with the majority.
Was the country founded on the idea of the “pursuit” of happiness
or just plain happiness? Today’s secular society has decided that is the government’s
job to make everyone happy by giving them what their neighbors have. Many now
believe it is only fair that you and your neighbor have all the same things; no
matter what one does to get it, the other is provided it.
How did we get to the point where our government preaches
tolerance for everything in life except for those who hold to any strong
convictions? Biblical Christianity is based upon absolute truths; but, secular society
does not believe in absolute truth. Tolerance is extended to all those who hold
to no beliefs. So, as long as you believe everyone is right in their own eyes tolerance
is extended to all who believe the same way. If you refer to anyone to be wrong
you will no longer be tolerated. How did we get here?
How did we get to the point where one of our choices for
President was someone who wants to “fundamentally change” the United States? Obama
does not like our founding absolutes and wants it to change. Our other choice
was one who believes Christianity is that those who work hard and excel will be
blessed with eternal high heaven. Those who do not excel just won’t make it. All
religions other than true Biblical Christianity strive to teach you to work hard
to get to the desired end. This is a very selfish religion.
Biblical Christianity teaches that salvation is of the Lord
alone and that our works of righteousness by faith is to please the One Who
saved us. We help others not for any reward for ourselves, but the cause of
Christ. The United States of
America was founded on that principle. How
did we get to the point where we are deciding between being selfish for our
benefit or selfish for the supposed benefit of the whole?
The blame falls not where we would like it. The blame is
squarely on Bible Christianity. We are
to blame. Before you think that this is impossible, let us see what God’s
people, the nation of Israel’s
history, teaches us. God warned Israel
at its start: follow God’s laws, and the kicker, teach your children. Study Israel’s
history, problems came when parents neglected the law and failed to teach
children. Obedience implies several things: 1) the authority to be obeyed, 2) the
one who is to obey, and 3) the act of obedience actually carried out. Israel
continued to miss it. I believe we have done the same.
Deuteronomy 4:5-10: Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Moses warned the people to obey their authority and teach
that obedience to their children. Joshua teaches the same thing.
Joshua 24:15-31: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. 29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. 31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.
The problem becomes clear very quickly that the vow was not
followed.
Judges 1:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
After the death of Joshua,
Israel asked, “Who
is in charge?” It becomes very difficult to follow God’s commandments when you
do not know who is in charge. We cannot obey when we do not have an idea as to
who the authority is. The book of Joshua tells story after story; generation
after generation of changing leaders and trouble after trouble.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
At the end of the book, we see a nation of individuals doing
what they thought was right in their own eyes with the implications of being
tolerant of everyone else with their own way of doing things. What we do not
see is people doing what the authorities in their lives were telling them.
There were no absolutes.
The next step in the nation of Israel was to look like the rest of
the world. They wanted a king just to look like all the other countries. (Note:
The United States,
in the election yesterday, showed they want to look like the rest of the world
- no more American exceptionalism, but a European social agenda.) God then gave
Israel
a king. They were warned what this would bring, but they wanted it anyway, just
so they could look like the rest of the world.
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
1 Samuel 8:4-22 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
God gave them what they asked for. We know that soon Israel
did get David as their king, which some would say was a good thing. But nothing
changed. David still added to the power of the king and possessions. We also
note that it did not take much for the people to turn on David and follow
Absalom.
2 Samuel 15:3-6 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. 4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! 5 And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. 6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
People followed their own ways even when they had what they
wanted, their own leader. The people felt like they were happy as long as they
got to choose who was in charge. We then see Solomon become king, who God said
had great wisdom. But, he did a poor job because he did whatever he wanted to
do “under the sun.”
1 Kings 11:11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Then, the dividing of the kingdom occurred.
1 Kings 12:1-17 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? 7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; 14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
The wisdom of God was ignored and the ideas of man were
adhered to. So far we see a nation that began with clear instructions to be
obedient to the commandments of God and teach their children. Now, we have a
divided kingdom by their own testimony serving God their own way. This did not
end any time soon.
John 4:19-20 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
In the New Testament, we see a difference as to where and
why it is acceptable to worship God in different means and that it doesn’t
really matter.
How did the United
States get where we are? We did the same
thing. We have not followed the commandments and we did not teach our children.
What we have done is ignored God’s authority and created our own.
This passage gives us clear instruction regarding how we are
to respond to authority. Notice that the passage refers to multiple authorities.
It would be a good thing to determine all Biblical authorities, make sure we
are following all, and teach our children to follow all.
1Timothy 2:1-15 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
The United States Constitution gives us the right of freedom
of speech. I can say anything I like, I have that right. I can also criticize
my leaders without worry of being arrested or other punishment. Some things may
be American, but not Bible. I can criticize my leaders and change them if I
want; but, is that what the Bible says? Do I agree with the present leaders in
Washington, particularly the White House? Not by any means, but I am sure
neither did Daniel with Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, or Darius. But Daniel
prospered.
It is now time to bring things home. Ephesians 6:1 Children
obey your parents. We teach this to our children with no exceptions and we
never allow back talk. We also would not allow our children to have a voice in
replacing us as their authority or allow them equal access to the authority. But
we begin to get weak when we come to other authorities God gave.
Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
This does not match our society’s way of thinking. So, we
accept a different plan than wives being subject to husbands.
Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
We definitely do see the need to be obedient to the
authority of our bosses at work. We can be critical and challenging. This is
acceptable behavior. Here in the US we have rights.
Hebrews 13:7-8, 17 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Telling statements made:
“This is our church.” “He is just the pastor. We called him here to
preach to us.” “Pastors come and go. This is our church.”
What Biblical authorities are you disregarding, and in doing
so, teaching your children to do the same? You say it isn’t happening. The proof
is in our country. How did we get to the place we are as wicked as Israel? We
followed their example.
Church, it is our fault we are where we are. Do not blame
the ungodly. And, here is an observation that I will address in detail later: Look
at the red and blue precinct map. It is interesting that in many areas, you
will find that we the church left the area, or, in some cases, the churches
closed their doors because the people inside rebelled against the authorities
inside. For answers to our country’s problems, we need to look at home first.
