Why did God create us? What was His intent; His plan for us? Simple but fundamental questions we need to ask and answer. When we look around at the sorry mess the world is in, we might be tempted to think HIs Plan is in shambles. If we include all those groups who "self-identify" Christian, there is only about 33% of the world that is Christian, nearly 2,000 years after Christ’s death. According to most studies, roughly 76% of Americans call themselves Christian. In a 2009 survey, Gallup Poll reports that, "Three in four Americans (77%) say Christianity is their religious preference -- down from 91% in 1948." Most would agree that the minimal indication of being a Christian is attending church services. Yet, in a recent 2008 survey, only "42% of Americans say they attend church, synagogue, or mosque weekly or almost weekly according to this same organization (emphasis added.) If we take into consideration attitudes toward the Bible, 54% of those who attend church weekly believe that it is the actual Word of God to be taken literally while, over all, 11% of all U.S. Protestants feel that it is ancient fables, history or legends recorded by man. This latest figure varies considerably by age. 20% of those Christians in the 18-29 age-group believe it is fables, history or legends. And, this is America; a country that used to pride itself in its Christian heritage. Maybe therein lies the truth – Christianity is our "heritage; our tradition; our custom, but not what we have become, not what we are today.

Historically, if we look at the sorry mess the Israeli people got themselves into almost from day one, we see that there’s nothing new about the mess people are in. Basically, disobedience haunted the Israelis from the time they departed Egypt, but it seemed to reach its climax in the events recorded in Judges. Repeatedly, the reader is told, In those days Israel had no king. While, indeed, there was no human king such as a Saul or David, the phrase also speaks to the fact that these "chosen people" had also forsaken God as their Judge and King. When Samuel was getting old, the elders of Israel asked him to appoint a king over them. He refused but God told him to do as they requested because , they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us. He, and only He, was to be their King. The 120 year combined record of Israel’s 3 kings and the disastrous aftermath of their reign shows just how flawed their judgment was and the consequences of defiance. By 135A.D. Roman Emperor Hadrian had renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, built a pagan temple in honor of himself and the god Jupiter, over the site of the Second Temple, prohibited Jews from entering the rededicated capital and changed the name of Israel to Palestine.

But why start there? Just a glimpse into the Garden of Eden shows strong indications that His plan was in trouble from the very start of the human race. After all, the disobedience of Adam and Eve started it all. They had everything, an idyllic existence. That wasn’t enough; they wanted more – that which was forbidden. And, when, where, did the first family strife, divisiveness, murder take place? Actually, we could go back to the fall of Satan where all disobedience began. Believe it or not, it was all down-hill from there. Isn’t this, as some suggest, ample evidence of the failure of God’s Plan? We could go back to the Garden and use that the first human inhabitants succumbing to the wiles of the serpent as proof without even considering the complete debacle of the "chosen people" before and after the episode with the kings.

We can look at this historical and continuing picture of disobedience and conclude that God is fallible, that His so-called plan has been full of holes from the very beginning? But, how could this be so? Did Adam and Eve’s disobedience, that of the Chosen People and our own take God by surprise requiring one adjustment after another? First the heavenly Garden crumbled, the Chosen People fell off the wagon and Christianity has apparently fallen flat on its face. We’re in a conundrum, either God knew all of this was going to happen or He isn’t a god worth our bother. Assuredly, He knows. It was not His intent that we should suffer and do abominations. He wants us to live in Eden-like serenity founded upon our willing submitting to Him. God is not defeated. His plan has not failed. It is right on schedule. People have been, are and will continue to be disobedient. That’s a given. Our obedience will not come in this life-time; for some, not at all. We are living for the tomorrow of eternity, not for today. We are living to worship Him and give Him the glory. A remnant of Adam’s seed knows and will know who is worthy to open the book. It is they who will fall down before Him, worship Him and cast their crowns before Him. It isn’t us; our salvation, it’s Him; His glory.
 

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. 1 Peter 5:9
 

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Like so much of Scripture, we can engage in endless debate about exactly what the author(s) of Judges meant by the part of the above quote that says "there was no king in Israel." Here, the Hebrew word for "king" is melek that has a number of meanings including a supreme governor, judge or magistrate. There is no debate, however, that during this time in the history of ancient Israel there was no established central government and even tribal alliances were ineffective. Nor can there be any disagreement that during this time, everyone did pretty much as they pleased. This is attested to by the account of Micah who set up his own temple complete with an idol made from the silver he stole from his mother. He went so far as to install one of his sons as his very own priest to conduct sacrifices and impersonate God’s purposes and decrees. He had his own house of Worship, his own priest bought and paid for and under his control whom he could direct as he pleased. Later on, Micah met his fate and paid the price for his blasphemies but, for the time being he appeared to be eating high on the hog. An intriguing part of this passage is how people responded without a higher authority to tell them how to behave; they did as they pleased. It doesn’t take much study of accounts of human action, sacred or secular, to discover how very little things have changed in the course of thousands of years of history. The record of ancient Israel from the time they left Egypt until their total annihilation is an abomination. If they weren’t complaining, murmuring or grumbling, Six times in the Book of Judges alone it is written that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. The only good thing to come out of their entire history was Jesus the Christ which, perhaps, redeemed the entire sorry lot.

What happened to a people, a nation that started out with so much promise? In Exodus God told them they were His treasured possession and a holy nation. In Deuteronomy, we find the Israelites called an holy people, a chosen people that were above all people, a special people, His people and other such phrases indicating their very special status throughout the OT. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before this "holy people" corrupted themselves, "turned aside" and started worshipping a "molten (golden) calf." Actually, if you will recall, it came about because Moses was late coming down from Mount Sinai – delayed by God who was giving him the Ten Commandments. And who was the culprit in charge of this fiasco? He was none other than Aaron, Moses’ brother from the tribe of Levi and the first high priest. Moses’ pleadings saved the day for them, but not for long. It is written that the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. There’s one for the record books. Not long after that a campaign started to have a king like the other nations around them. Finally, God washed His hands of the whole mess and they got their wish: Saul was the first of three kings who ruled for a total of 120 years. After the civil war that took place during the reign of Rehoboam: Son of Solomon, 19 kings ruled Israel (North), 19 kings and one queen (Athaliah or Athalie) ruled Judah (South). All of the kings in the North were counted as bad and thirteen of the twenty who ruled the South were also bad. The two kingdoms survived separately for two hundred years. Israel was conquered by Syria in 722B.C and Judah was destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians.

What happened to Israel is that they rejected God and set up not only their own government but their own religion(s). King Jeroboam established religious shrines at Dan and Bethel. Baalism gained ground during King Ahab’s reign. First and Second Kings presents the unsavory story of a people without a rudder. We shouldn’t be too smug when we consider the demise of Israel – its fall from grace – because we are in precisely the same position. Religiously we are in a position in which every man does that which is right in his own eyes. For example this quote from one theologian, "We should stop looking for some objective Truth that is available when we delve into the text of the Bible." Or this one from another, "It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved." Then there’s this, "We must be continually aware that the ‘old, old story’ may not be the ‘true, true story’" and "We make demands of the Biblical writers that we don’t make of any other writers, and I’m not sure our demands are sensible or fair at all. As an analogy, I often refer to the Wizard of Oz in my teaching. Does this mean that I believe Dorothy was a historical figure?" It seems "new Christians" must become "open-minded" to everything but the certainty of God's Word and promises. "Certainty is overrated," declares one of the new breed of Christians, "It simply doesn't fit the envisioned utopia." If you don’t know these people, it would be well for you to get to know them – rudderless as they are.

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. 2 Peter 2:9

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This title was from a 1950-55 play written by Jerome Lawrence and (interestingly enough) Robert E. Lee. It is a fictionalized account of the so called, 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" in which a Tennessee school teacher was convicted of teaching the Theory of Evolution. According to reviews, it was "a response to the anti-intellectualism that existed in 1950’s." Times have changed. Today, Scopes, the teacher on trial, would be behind the curve. In passing, it might be noted the phrase is also found in Scripture; Proverbs 11:29. In this usage, "wind" can mean a "vain and empty thing." That’s how it is used here.

About the passage from Proverbs, the Geneva Study Bible states, "The covetous men who spare their riches to the hinderance of their families, will be deprived of it miserably. For though the wicked are rich, yet they are only slaves to the godly, who are the true possessors of the gifts of God." It’s the story of the Prodigal (wasteful) Son as John Wesley notes, "He who brings trouble upon himself and children, either by prodigality, or by restless endeavours to heap up riches. Wind - Shall be as unable to keep what he gets as a man is to hold the wind in his hand." Today we bask in the profane and laud human creativity and so-called intellectualism to the point of supplanting the God of the universe. Like ancient Israel, we have raised up a false god to represent our fanciful vision of our worth. His name is as old as time, Baal, whom the ancients thought brought them wealth and abundance.

At one point, the ruler over the rubble that once was Israel set up a statue of Baal and started having worship services to him in the Temple of Jerusalem. Today, in so many "churches" we have done the same thing. In one "temple" the preacher noted this in his sermon, "The major difference between average people and achieving people is their perspective of and response to failure." Should achievement be the focus of a Christian sermon? Another preacher in a sermon titled, "Living a Blessed Life," covers such topics as: "not allowing critical voices to steal your dreams," "finding your place of blessing," and "making miracles out of mistakes." And, in another sermon he proclaims, "God wants you to be satisfied. He wants you to be content." Further, he declares, "Begin today to receive every perfect gift that God has for your life. When you do, you’ll begin living the life of abundance and joy that He has in store just for you." And, again he states, "Start seeing yourself as the successful, healthy, prosperous person that God sees." Or "God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you."

These are only a few of the tsunami of voices ticking the ears of the unsuspecting (some would say undiscerning) who, because they are in a "Christian church," think they’re hearing the Word of God. Their "theology" is referred to as "Prosperity Christianity" or "Word Faith." Others simply label it "spiritual pick pocketing" because of the frequent use of statements similar to this by one famous husband and wife team, "giving to our ministry will increase your own wealth" and this from a well-known leadership expert/speaker/author, "I want to talk to you this month on the theme of stewardship, which truly is the missing piece to successful living." Don’t’ be surprised if they sound familiar, they’re favorite pulpit themes.

And the message is getting through, a Time Magazine poll shows 61% of Christians believe God wants them to prosper. And 31% believe "if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money." Nevertheless, just for the sake of argument, let’s say these so-called "prosperity preachers" are right and, as the children of God, we have a right to the riches of this world. First of all, don’t we have to ask what have we gained – fortunes like Bernie Madoff? We may own a $3.6 million jet or a $6 million lakefront mansion or both – throw in a Lamborghini or two. What if we gain the whole world, how well off are we? And, why is it that the Bible casts "worldly" things as profane and godless or tells us that the worldly person doesn’t accept the things of the Spirit of God. Is there nothing to be learned from the temptation of Jesus or when He rhetorically asked, what does a person profit if he, gains the whole world? What about that passage saying those who love this life will lose it? Doesn’t He reject this world? Where does He, Jesus, tell us our wealth should be? On the other hand, we have Joyce Meyer and her $8 million a month "ministry" saying, "Who would want to get in on something where you're miserable, poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven?" Someone is lying? Who are we going to believe, Joyce Meyer, John Maxwell, Joel Osteen or Jesus? Just one final note: Jesus said Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! So much for this world.

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk:
the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Hosea 8:7

 

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