Bible – Page 2 – Thinking Accurately Education

The Bible, Christianity, and American Government

A Historical Study

This book was originally published 2006. We will soon be publishing the 2nd edition. Also, we recently read the first chapter (below) on our podcast and on our first YouTube video.

Chapter 1 – Introduction

In 1651, an English philosopher and political theorist named Thomas Hobbes wrote a book called, Leviathan. In it he claimed that people are predatory in nature and that they need a larger predator–the State (which he called Leviathan) –to control their behavior.

Do you agree with Hobbes?

Hobbes borrowed the word Leviathan from the Bible, where it is used to describe a fierce sea monster or dragon. (See Psalm 104:26 and Isaiah 27:1). However, Hobbes, should not, in any sense be considered a Christian believer. In fact, it is probably more fair to classify Hobbes as a secularist.

secularist = "The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education." (TheFreeDictionary.com)

In the Bible, in the book of Revelation (Rev. 20:2) Satan (the devil)–the arch-enemy of mankind–is also called “the dragon.”

The Bible also refers to Satan as:

“The ruler of this world” (John 12:31)
“The god of this world” (2nd Corinthians 4:4)
“the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2)

How did Satan get this power?

It was surrendered to him in the Garden of Eden, when Adam & Eve chose to submit to him, rather than submitting to God.

The book of Romans says:

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey…”
Romans 6:16

And in another place, the Bible also says:

“…The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (referring once again to Satan).”
First John 5:19

And when we look around the world-even over just the past 100 years–we see 6 million Jews murdered in Nazi Germany, 40 million killed in the former Soviet Union, and at least 50 million killed in Communist China. And even here in America (just considering the past two years) what do we see? Rioting, looting, burning, and all kinds of corruption and violence.

People used to quote from the Bible to describe America:

“Righteousness exalts a nation…”
Proverbs 14:34

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…”
Psalm 133:12

But people don’t quote those about America anymore.

The Bible does say (in 1st Timothy 1:9) that the law is necessary to control the behavior of unrighteous people. And it says (in Proverbs 28:2) that the less people govern their own behavior, the more government (Leviathan) they need.

In the 1830’s, a Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to see why our War for Independence had been such a huge success in comparison to the bloodbath of his own country’s French Revolution. He wrote:

“Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the fist thing that struck my attention; the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France, I had always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions… Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power…”
Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville)

In other words, our rulers can be considered a reflection of the health of the spiritual life of our nation. Consequently, then, we can say that any effort to reform our government merely through political action alone must fail.

Take a look back at the old black and white film, The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) with Walter Huston. Satan’s authority over this world is not limited to sitting on people’s shoulders.

The Bible records something that Satan once said to Jesus:

“All these things (all the kingdoms of the world) I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:8-9

Make no mistake about it–Satan’s influence in our nation’s seats of power is real–and strong.

Does this mean that all rulers are evil and are being manipulated by Satan? No, the Bible, in fact, gives multiple examples of wholesome rulers: Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Daniel, and Nehemiah.

But it is very difficult to be in a position of power and privilege, and not be corrupted by it. By handing out favors–power position, privilege, and wealth, Satan has firmly established his dominion over our world–and, we no longer have the power (in ourselves) to throw off his tyranny.

Take a look at the Bible again–at the book of Job:

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook? …Will you play with him as a with a bird…Lay your hand on him; remember the battle–never do it again! Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false… No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up…
“On earth there is nothing like him… He is king over all the children of pride.”
Job 41: 1-10, 34-35

The book of Ephesians says:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12

So what are we to do?

About 500 years ago, a man stood–alone–against all the powers of Medieval Europe.

And he wrote a song, the words of which say:

“Our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and–armed with cruel hate–on earth is not his equal…”

And he continued:

“…Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side–the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He… and He must win the battle.”

The first step in defeating Satan, and overcoming the tyranny of Leviathan is to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone has the power to defeat Satan.

The Bible says:

“…Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
2nd Corinthians 3:17

That was true in the Middle Ages, it was true for our Pilgrim Fathers and in the founding of America, and it is true today.

Our next chapter will be about God’s plan for self-government.

Cro-Magnon Man 3

A Biblical Analysis

We are putting a bathroom and kitchenette in our basement, and I bought a Formica-covered countertop and a drop-in sink for the project. The next step is to figure out how to insert the sink in the countertop.

Have you ever been in this situation? I thought the process was pretty straight-forward, until I saw that I needed a new jig saw blade.

So–being a product of the 21st century–I checked out some YouTube videos. Since I had to buy a new blade, I wondered if there was one that was preferred for cutting through Formica (though I kind of expected to use just a simple, regular fine-tooth blade).

Well…was I wrong! It turns out you need to buy a special blade, determined by whether you are going to cut downwards from the top, or upwards from the bottom. Who knew?

The reason I tell this story is to illustrate that sometimes we have to go beyond what seems obvious–what seems to be true–to find out the real truth in any situation.

For example–regarding Cro-Magnon Man…

There is a word that I use a bit more than most people would like, “epistemology”. Epistemology describes the study (or science) of knowledge, especially in the sense of knowing what is true.

What do you think is the source of truth? Like if you’re building a wall, you usually use a level and a measuring tape.

For that kind of project, those are your sources of truth.

When the Bible and what Scientists say seem to disagree, why do you believe the Scientists? Have they earned your trust? Have they proven their trustworthiness?

Did you know that:

Cro-Magnons were–for all intents and purposes–not very different, physically, from modern Europeans.
- “(They) carried a mtDNA sequence that is still common in Europe…” (https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002700)
Carbon dating is not as reliable as most people think, and the assumptions on which it is based are open to question.
- “The amount of Carbon-14 in the atmosphere has not been steady throughout history. In fact, it has fluctuated a great deal over the years.” (https://anthropology.msu.edu/anp264-ss13/2013/02/07/radiocarbon-dating-a-closer-look-at-its-main-flaws/)
Radiocarbon dating is periodically “tweaked” (recalibrated using new data).
- “The result could have implications for the estimated ages of many finds…which according to the latest calibrations are 1,000 years younger than previously thought.” (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01499-y)

Let me ask you a question–Are you willing to base your opinions about the Bible, God, heaven and hell on what the Scientists are saying…today?

Cro-Magnon 2

A Biblical Analysis

This blogsite is about helping people to look at information in a whole new way– an alternative way–to at least question whether the information we are being given is adequate anymore for living a successful life.

For example, a few months ago, we had a shortage of chicken in the grocery stores. It was a real problem for most people. Later, the governor of our home state of Virginia explained that several major processing plants had been closed due to COVID19. Fortunately, my wife and I buy our chickens from a local farm, so we never had a problem. We never bought meat from a farm before. But now, we find that’s it’s far better (for many reasons), and we’ve been starting to do the same with milk, eggs, and vegetables as well. And, we’ve been finding that we can make 4-5 quarts of home-made, high-grade soup from our left-over pasture-raised chicken and organic vegetables that is better than the bone-broth that we used to buy at Whole Foods for about $5/qt.

As another example, we got a strange notice from our water company last year, which indicated that the quality of our city’s drinking water was not as good as we had previously thought. At first, we thought of buying bottled water, but then we realized that we could double-filter the water from our refrigerator and get much better quality water for about 1/3 the price of buying it.

What’s that got to do with Cro-Magnon Man you may ask?

My question is, Why do you believe what they tell you anymore? Have you researched it for yourself?

Let me give you a couple of things to consider:

Cro-Magnon Man was discovered in 1868, right?
Radiocarbon dating was not developed until 1946.

How did they know how old Cro-Magnon Man was in the mean-time? What made them think he was older than 8,000 years (the time-frame that the Bible gives for the history of the human race)?

Cro-Magnon Man

A Biblical Analysis

A friend told me other day that they did not know whether they could believe the Bible, and they mentioned Cro-Magnon Man as evidence that the Bible could not be taken seriously. After all, isn’t Cro-Magnon Man a million years old?

I looked, for starters, at the old Encyclopedia Britannica my mother bought for us in 1973. This is what it says:

“CRO-MAGNON MAN, the name originally given to a small number of human skeletons of prehistoric age found in a rock shelter at Cro-Magnon near Les Eyzies in the Dordogne department of France.”
Encyclopedia Britannica 1973, volume 6, p. 795

The Encyclopedia went on to say, “The skeletons themselves were fragmentary, but three crania were fairly well preserved…” and “proved to be typical of a race widespread throughout Europe at this time, most common in France, but stretching north to Belgium and from Wales to eastern Europe.”

What did they mean, when they used the word, “race”?

The authors went on to say:

“In classification he (Cro-Magnon Man) falls into the ‘caucasoid‘ subspecies of modern man…(and) only had a few characteristics which would serve to distinguish them from some modern western and north Europeans.”
Encyclopedia Britannica 1973, p. 796

So–all that being said–how do we know how old these fragmentary skeletons actually are?

The Encylopedia says:

“Radiocarbon age determinations from certain sites in France suggest that the earliest known Cro-Magnon skeletal remains date from about 330,ooo years B.C…”
Encyclopedia Britannica 1973, p. 796

But one thing you should think about: Radiocarbon dating CANNOT be used to date remains that are thought to be 330,000 years old.

“Samples that are older than about 40,000 years are extremely difficult to date due to tiny levels of carbon-14. Over 60,000 years old, and they can’t be dated at all.”
National Geographic, JULY 12, 2019

The 2020 Presidential Election

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Abraham Lincoln

It seems like something has been released upon America, and it reminds me of an old Star Trek episode.

The Bible (and an old song by Barry McGuire) says that there is a time for everything, including a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, as well as a time to hate, and a time of peace.

Regardless of one’s political views, it’s fair to say that it’s getting pretty ugly out there. And I think that one of the reasons this is happening is because people are confused.

For example, a lot of terms are thrown around by politicians and the media which we would do well to look at briefly:

Democrats = political party, started by Martin Van Buren, to support the candidacy of Andrew Jackson in 1828. In the 1850's, the part split over the issue of slavery, allowing Republican Abraham Lincoln to win the 1860 election. (History.com)

Republicans = political party, founded in 1854 to oppose the westward expansion of slavery in America. It's first presidential candidate was Abraham Lincoln. (History.com)

In his book, Are You Liberal? Conservative? or Confused?, Richard J. Maybury claims:

“Both (parties) tend to hover close to the center, which is where they perceive the bulk of the voters to be.”
Richard J. Maybury (“Uncle Eric”)

That was the way it was in the 1970’s (think Gerald Ford), but if you think back, American Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy could also be considered centrists or moderates.

Moderates (Centrists) = "One who is in the middle of the left-right spectrum...not to the extremes..." (Richard Maybury)

And even in the 1980’s, we had Conservatives and Liberals, like Ronald Reagan, “Teddy” Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. But it was still an era of compromise.

Modern Liberalism = "based, in general, on faith in progress and in the ability and goodness of man, and on the firm belief in the importance of the rights and welfare of the individual...Liberalism advocates steady change"  (Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed.)

Conservative = "the desire to maintain, or conserve, the existing order...Conservatives value highly the wisdom of the past and are generally opposed to widespread reform." (Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed.)

But nobody’s moderate now, and compromise has not happened in Washington D.C. since Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton produced The Contract for America (“one of the most significant developments in the political history of the United States“) in 1994.

Today, everyone–to quote Richard Maybury–is “to the extremes.”

But what would our Founding Fathers think of the nation that we’ve become? (For an excellent understanding of their point of view, I recommend, What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This? by Richard J. Maybury.)

The popular musical Hamilton does a pretty good job of trying to tell us about them (See our blog ). They were Classical Liberals.

Classic Liberalism = "One who believes that the country should have a small, weak government, and free markets, and that the individual is endowed by his Creator with inalienable rights to his life, liberty, and property. Also, one who believes in Natural Law and common law, or Higher Law (think Thomas Jefferson)." (Richard Maybury)

But they were not radicals. Radicalism results in “widespread hysteria,” burning, and looting.

And it leads–in the end–to despotism, and the all-powerful State.

Statism = "The opposite of the original American philosophy (Classical Liberalism). Says political power is a good thing. Government is our friend, our protector, the solution to our problems, and there is no higher law than government's law." (Richard J Maybury)

There are many, many examples of this in history–in France, in Germany, in Russia, in China.

The Bible says:

“This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.”
1 John 4:3

One of my pastors once said something very wise about this. He said that every generation has an antichrist waiting in the wings. I think that is true. Yet, it’s really up to us. The Bible says:

” You know what currently restrains him…”
2 Thessalonians 2:6

The American people have restrained him before, and we can do it again.

The 2020 Presidential Election

(From a Biblical, Philosophical and Historical point of view)

“The light shineth in the darkness…”
John 1:5

I find this New Testament teaching fascinating. Firstly, What is it referring to, when it calls one thing “Light” and something else “Darkness”? The implication is that everything is not the same; that things are different–and further, it seems to be implying that everything is NOT equal (despite what many people say), but that some things are preferable (e.g., Light) to other things (e.g., Darkness).

Democracy is close to godliness, isn’t it?

The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943

In “The Ox-Bow Incident,” made in 1943, we get a very clear portrayal of democracy in action.

democracy = "comes from two Greek words that mean people (demos) and rule (kratos)." (National Geographic)

democracy = "government by the people, especially : rule of the majority." (Mirriam-Webster)

Genesis 12 begins the story of how God, in much the same way that He had previously chosen the individual man–Noah–to save the human race, selected a particular family of people–a tribe, if you will, to become his chosen people, to be His representatives to the rest of humanity.

We learn later, in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, that God’s chosen form of government is actually theocracy.

theocracy = "The Jews were under the direct government of God himself. The nation was in all things subject to the will of their invisible King." (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Is the implication, then, that God wants the whole human race to enter into that type of system of government?

Well, yes, as a matter of fact, except that Jesus (the “Son of God”) will temporarily reign until He turns rule of all things to His Father.

“And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: ‘All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth.'”
Matthew 28:18

“For He must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet.”
1 Corinthians 15:25

However, until Christ returns to do that, God has left it to men to rule themselves.

Interestingly, when the American colonists set up their brand-new experiments in self-rule, they did not choose a democracy. The question to carefully consider is why not?

“The founders feared that passions could arouse the public, and national policy could become hostage to these passions. Therefore, they wanted men mediating between public opinion and national policy. They also expected these men to be of substance and property, with much to lose from error and also more difficult to corrupt.”
Huffington Post, 11/17/2016

“Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths
James Madison, Federalist Papers No. 10

No discussion of governmental systems would be complete, I think, without a glance at King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, interpreted by Daniel in Daniel 2.

The statue above indicates a series of “world” governments, beginning with the Neo-Babylonian Empire (represented here by the gold head) and including the Persian Empire (silver chest & arms), Macedonian Empire (brass abdomen), and Roman Empire–and all its reiterations (iron legs). The interesting thing about the statue, though, are its feet–a combination of the iron left over from the Roman Empire (think of it’s tyrannical strength) and clay.

What does that make you think of?

The Western Roman Empire fell in about the fifth century. Yet its legacy carried on, most immediately through Emperor Constantine and his cooperation with the Catholic Church, which became the most powerful organization in Europe. Out of that came association eventually came Charlemagne and the “Holy Roman Empire,” which lasted for about 1000 years. This empire was known as “the First Reich.” The “Second Reich” was the German empire that was ruled by Otto von Bismark, William I and II, that led to the First World War. You may remember that William II was known as “the Kaiser.”

kaiser = "Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor". Like the Russian Tsar it is directly derived from the Roman Emperors' title of Caesar..." (Definitions.net)

The “Third Reich” as you probably know, was “the official official Nazi designation for the regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945…“

There are still ways that the legacy of the Roman Empire lives on in Europe, England and even in the United States of America.

But what about the “iron mixed with clay?”

The main difference today between the governmental systems of most of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is that all of the empires mentioned above were ruled by a dictator, while most of the modern countries are considered democracies.

democracy = 'control of an organization or group by the majority of its members;the practice or principles of social equality." (Bing)

That seems to make sense to me, that people would want to rule themselves by democracy, rather than submit to a dictatorship.

dictatorship = "autocracy (a system of government by one person with absolute power), absolute authority in any sphere." (Bing)

Then, let me ask you a question: Why doesn’t the malleable clay REPLACE the iron in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?

malleable = "easily influenced; pliable" (Bing)

“And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay… but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.”
Daniel 2:43

Rather than replace the iron, the clay attempts to mix with it, but it is not possible. Eventually, under enough pressure the weaker, brittle clay will fall off. And only iron will remain.

In the book, How Should We Then Live?, Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer wrote (in 1976):

“Overwhelming pressures are being brought to bear on people who have no absolutes… The pressures are progressively preparing modern people to accept a manipulative, authoritarian government.. If these pressures do continue to mount, which seems probable, do you think people, young or old, will at great cost to themselves, at the cost of their present personal peace and affluence, stand up for liberty or for the individual? …When these outward forms are imposed on (their) wordview (which) would never have produced freedom without chaos in the first place, people will not stand when the pressures increase… As the memory of the Christian base grows ever dimmer, freedom will disintegrate…”
Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, “How Should We Then Live,” 1976

Is that the future you want?

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

“I will require the blood of your lives… at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.
Genesis 9:5

This is a verse of the Bible that can probably be easily overlooked, but it really is quite foundational to the world you probably want to live in.

In other words, God was letting mankind know that He was going to hold individuals accountable for how they treated their fellow man. This was the beginning of a foundation for civil law.

Later, when Moses wrote what is known as the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), he included what is known as the Mosaic Law. However, in the New Testament, Paul (the apostle) gave us a new understanding of each individual’s moral responsibility for his own actions:

“The law is not made for the just man, but for the unjust and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for the wicked and defiled, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers…”
1 Timothy 1:9

In the French Revolution that began in 1789, and the “Reign of Terror” that followed it, people died. The king, Louis XVI, died. His queen, Marie-Antoinette, died. In fact, 40, 000 people died before it was said and done, including the Rebellion’s architect, Maximilien Robespierre.

In that same year, 1789, the U.S. Constitution was ratified.

And (wisely) founding father John Adams wrote this about it:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
in a speech to the military in 1798

The American government was not designed–and not really equipped–to control the behavior of people who habitually choose to do wrong things.

Years later, Abraham Lincoln (the President who issued the Emancipation Proclamation–freeing American slaves) would quote from the Bible–quoting Proverbs 25:11–when he wrote that the Constitution acted as a “picture of silver” framed around an “apple of gold” (the Declaration of Independence).

And many years after that, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words:

“It wouldn’t take us long to discover the substance of (the American) dream. It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God, Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’ This is a dream. It’s a great dream….”
from A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin, Peter Holloran, et al. | Jan 1, 2000

Dr. King went on to say, “..That dream goes on to say another thing that ultimately distinguishes our nation and our form of government from any totalitarian system in the world. It says that each of us has certain basic rights that are neither derived from or conferred by the state. In order to discover where they came from, it is necessary to move back behind the dim mist of eternity. They are God-given, gifts from His hands. Never before in the history of the world has a sociopolitical document expressed in such profound, eloquent, and unequivocal language the dignity and the worth of human personality. The American dream reminds us, and we should think about it anew on this Independence Day, that every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth…”

Then he said:

“Now ever since the founding fathers of our nation dreamed this dream in all of its magnificence…America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles.
Dr. Martin Luther King, on “The American Dream”

And on July 4, 1965, when he spoke those words in Atlanta, Dr. King was 100 percent right.

Why? Why was the “dream” of America out of reach for so many black-skinned people?

“You see, the founding fathers were really influenced by the Bible. The whole concept of the imago dei, as it is expressed in Latin, the ‘image of God,’ is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. Not that they have substantial unity with God, but that every man has a capacity to have fellowship with God. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And we must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man.”
Dr. King, “The American Dream (continued)

It sounds like Dr. King’s “dream,” was filled with hope for the future.

The story of human relations through time is an interesting one.

And it starts in an unusual place.

“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”
Genesis 9:1

Seemingly–for a while–they did just that.

In Genesis, chapters 9-10, we see a description of a culture wherein people had small family property holdings, and when children were born, grew to adulthood, married, and had children of their own, they would spread out (scatter), build their own homes, and raise their own families. Each household would have enough land to support themselves. There were no “rich” people or “poor” people. There were no “lords” or “serfs.” There were no “masters” or slaves.”

Yet in Genesis 11, we read:

“And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it. And each one said to his neighbour… ‘Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.'”
Genesis 11:2-4

Let’s unpack that:

God told them to fill the earth (scatter).
They conspired to build a city (and a tower) instead.
Their motive was to reach to heaven (to bring God down to their level?) and to make a name for themselves.

Making a Name for Yourself

What’s your understanding of “the American Dream?” Is it all about making a name for yourself?

Or is it about something else?

What’s this imago dei thing that Dr. King was talking about?

One article interestingly claims:

“(Following the Civil War) many black leaders argued against special privileges and requested for blacks only ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ specified in the Declaration of Independence.”
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Frederick Douglass was a former slave himself, and he rejected special treatment of former slaves.

“Everybody has asked the question, … ‘What shall we do with the Negro?’ I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us!”
Frederick Douglass, “What the Black Man Wants,” 1863

Listen carefully to an excerpt from a book about Frederick Douglass:

“It was (‘an elderly, partially literate, and intensively devout black man, whom Douglass would later refer to as Uncle Lawson‘) who imparted to the impressionable young Frederick a strong sense of self-esteem, convincing the youth that he had an important mission to fulfill.”
David B. Chesebrough, Frederick Douglass: Oratory from Slavery, 1998

Do you have a strong sense of self-esteem?

Are you convinced that you have an important mission to fulfill?

Back in Genesis 9-10, everyone had a purpose. Each family had to own a cow or a goat (milk for the children, and perhaps cheese), and chickens (for eggs and meat). Children often fed, cleaned up after them, milked them, and collected eggs from them. Each family had a small farm, and a small orchard. Each family had a garden. Often, children tended it. Mothers made clothes for their children. Fathers tanned hides. Children picked fruit. Mothers made jam, baked pies, fermented vegetables, milled wheat, baked bread, made elderberry syrup for dealing with illnesses. Fathers hunted, fished, made repairs, built homes and constructed needed tools and equipment. Parents taught children to read, write, and do arithmetic. Children submitted to parents. Families helped each other when necessary.

But a fellow named Nimrod came along:

“Now (Cush) begot N(i)mrod: he began to be mighty on the earth. And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb: Even as N(i)mrod the stout hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.’A stout hunter’: Not of beasts but of men: whom by violence and tyranny he brought under his dominion. And such he was, not only in the opinion of men, but before the Lord, that is, in his sight who cannot be deceived.”
Genesis 10:8-10

In context of the world that had heretofore existed, Nimrod should be considered a sociopath. He tore down the culture, the society, of the world of Noah and his sons, and he restructured a new society, one which included “haves” and “have-nots,” “suzerains” and “vassals”, those who “dominate” their fellows and the unfortunate fellows that they dominate.

This new re-structured, re-imagined world is one of specialization, mechanization, and centralization. This is an urban world, filled with soot, smoke and sweat-shops.

This was not God’s plan. It was built by Nimrod–for his own benefit. This dude was strictly in in for himself.

“The mainstays of his empire were Babel (Babylon), Erech and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From this country came Asshur (Assyria), and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (this being the capital).”
Genesis 10:10-12 (New Jerusalem Bible)

Be careful that someone is not using you as a pawn on the chessboard of their agenda–that someone is not using you.

A while back, Bob Dylan sang:

The Bible says:

“You know well that if you undertake to be somebody’s slave and obey him, you are the slave of him you obey…”
Romans 6:16

Don’t you think that it’s time to stop and re-evaluate some things?

While the ark was being prepared

The earth was filled with violence in Noah’s day, but the Bible tells us that “God’s patience waited” (1 Peter 3:20).

Why did God wait? What was He waiting for?

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

Why was the ark being prepared?

Noah’s Ark

God, contrary to what you might have heard, is kind.

It has always been God’s desire to give people a means of escape, if they would simply take advantage of it.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man (like all that we have been horrified to see played out in the news in 2020) was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart (like tyranny, resistance to civil and public health authorities, selfishness, disobedience, lying, deceiving, conspiring, greed, racism, murder, scheming, rioting, looting, and anarchy) was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
Genesis 6:5-6

One site, called The Hope Project, says: “The phrase, ‘And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth,’ could be understood in a number of ways…So what is this verse saying to us? …To say that God was sorry and that He grieved in His heart shows us that God has emotions… In the original text the phrase, ‘He was grieved in His heart,’ literally reads, ‘He was grieved to His heart.’ In other words, God looked on the evil in the world and was grieved ‘all the way to His heart.’ One version of the Bible (the NIV) translates this verse, ‘His heart was filled with pain.’ …If God is infinite, then how far is it to the depth of His heart? How big is His heart? How much grief would it take to fill God’s heart? …God knew He was going to hurt this deeply as a result of creating man, and He did it anyway. And not only that, He did it exactly the way He intended to do it. But why would God do such a thing?”

The Bible tells us that:

“God is love…”
1 John 4:8

A.W. Tozer writes:

“The love of God is one of the great realities of the universe, a pillar upon which the hope of the world rests. But it is a personal, intimate thing, too. God does not love populations, He loves people. He loves not masses, but men. He loves us all with a mighty love that has no beginning and can have no end.”
A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy

The Bible tells us the following:

Noah was told to build the ark three hundred cubits (450 feet) long, fifty cubits (75 feet) wide, and thirty cubits (45 feet) high.

cubit = "about 18 inches" (Bing)

In his book, God’s Plan: What Every Christian Should Know, Dan Malczewski writes:

“This is a gigantic boat! Only some of the modern luxury liners have dimensions greater than this.”
Dan Malczewski, God’s Plan: What Every Christian Should Know

The Bible also refers to Noah as a:

“preacher of righteousness…”
2 Peter 2:5

To whom did he preach? His friends, his neighbors, the families of his daughters-in-law. How did it go? Did many people listen to Noah?

The Bible doesn’t say.

However, we have an account of a similar event, when Lot warned his in-laws to leave the city of Sodom with him:

“So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, ‘Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!’ But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.”
Genesis 19:14

And we know that only Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives were saved.

“A few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
1 Peter 3:20

One website, “Answers in Genesis,” says:

“When the door to the Ark was shut, there was room for many more people.”
Paul F. Taylor, “Noah the Evangelist,” March 29, 2007

So why didn’t more people get on the ark?

I recently saw an interesting movie version of the story of Noah’s ark that was made in 2014. What I found unique in this film was that Noah’s own sons originally thought Noah was being foolish by building the ark..

The Bible says:

“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-28

Today people are claiming that Jesus may be coming back soon, to “Rapture” the church.

What does the Bible say?

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3-7

What do you think about these things? Do you think of it all as just foolishness?

What if you’re wrong?

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

When the Bible says (in the book of Nahum):

“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; He will never leave the guilty unpunished.”
Nahum 1: 3

A lot of people laugh.

Those people look around, and see riots, and fires, and hapless government leaders without solutions. They certainly do not see the guilty –if they actually believe there actually are any–punished.

The Bible (in Genesis 4) tells us that Cain killed his brother, Abel. Why did he do it?

The answer is there, in Genesis 4.

“Sin is crouching at the door…”
Genesis 4:7

What does that mean?

If you believe the Genesis account is moral fiction, just mythology, as Jordan Peterson does, then sin–as a concept–becomes a nothing more than a metaphor for chaos (contrasting with order).

But the Bible (in the book of Ecclesiastes) says:

“The hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts…”
Ecclesiastes 9:3

So, sin is the normative human condition.

This is confirmed in the book of Jeremiah:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…”
Jeremiah 17:9

Racism is sin. Murder is sin. Rioting and looting are sin. Hating your brother is sin.

How do we fix the human heart?,

The book of Hebrews in the Bible was originally written to Jewish Christians, who knew the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and it quotes from the 31st chapter of that book:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant… not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke… For this is the covenant that I will make… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people…”
Jeremiah 31:31-33

In other words, God will, through His Spirit–living within individual Christians–empower them to overcome sin, a feat that is otherwise impossible to humanity.

The book of Romans says:

“None is righteous, no, not one… no one does good, not even one… By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight…”
Romans 3:10-20

So, the rioters in the streets are wasting their time. The people in Minneapolis who are disbanding their police force, they’ve got it all wrong.

Then what’s the answer?

“On the way down the mountain trail, in the middle of a storm, Alvin (York) meets his God, in the form a lightening bolt, which melts his gun, and throws him from his mule. From that moment on, Alvin becomes a transformed man of faith, apologizing…for his former behavior… Under the leadership of the Pastor Rosier Pile (Walter Brennan) Alvin starts living his life according to Biblical teachings, growing his faith in God and His word.”
Howard Hawks’ “Sergeant York,” 1941

Alvin York, medal-of-honor winner from World War I, is a real life example of a man who learned to be a contributing member of society by becoming a Christian.

Another example is Desmond Doss, a medal of honor recipient from World War II.

Desmond Doss, hero of 2016’s “Hacksaw Ridge,” receiving medal-of-honor

According to People Magazine:

“Doss’s faith and courage were forged growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia… He was particularly intrigued by a illustration of the Sixth Commandment, showing Cain murdering his brother Abel.”
“The True Story of Hacksaw Ridge and Desmond Doss: the Medal of Honor Winner Who Never Fired a Shot“

The article goes on to say:

“Private Desmond Doss walked into the bloodiest battle of World War II’s Pacific theater with nothing to protect himself save for his Bible and his faith in God…”
“The True Story of Hacksaw Ridge and Desmond Doss…“

And heroics still happen in Lynchburg, VA:

Christians respond to racial strife in Lynchburg, June 1, 2020

So what’s going on in Lynchburg, VA?

In an effort to understand, we found a book about Jerry Falwell, Sr., the founder of both Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University (both in Lynchburg), whose son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., is currently being trashed on social media and being widely accused of racism. The book, titled, Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy, was written by Jerry Sr.’s wife, Macel Falwell, in 2008.

In the first chapter, she wrote:

“When angry protestors at Harvard University asked Jerry (Senior) if he was a racist, he replied, ‘I once was.'”
Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy

What did he mean?

Later in the book she elaborates:

“Jerry would realize that the Lord had been dealing with him about racism for years… Finally, Jerry realized that right was right and wrong was wrong, and he had to take a stand for what was right… He thought of the children in that Dominican Republic orphanage (where he had once done some missionary work), and the Christians he’d worked alongside in Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico… This day, he realized, had been coming for a long time…”
Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy

And this is how seemingly beleaguered Jerry Falwell, Jr remembers his father:

“The day before he died, Dad dropped by my office and said, ‘Go with me up to the (LU) monogram on Liberty Mountain.’ I was swamped with work and couldn’t afford the time… Then I saw the look on his face. It was rare to see him so disappointed. ‘You know (Jerry Jr said), on second thought, I would love to go.’ We sat up on top of the mountain and talked to Liberty University students. It was one of Dad’s last gifts to me, and I will always cherish the memory.”
Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy

Hebrews 10:16 says:

“I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds…”
Hebrews 10:16

Mrs. Falwell, in the book, was careful to point out the rough-and-tumble life that Jerry Falwell had known before God got ahold of him–just like Alvin York. She included all the tasty tidbits that so many people have used to try to destroy what has happened here in Lynchburg. But through it all, making a difference in the world–and doing what he thought God wanted him to do, is what this man was all about (in spite of his faults, in spite of his critics).

The Bible says:

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:3

And John Wesley (founder of Methodism, and largely credited with transforming nineteenth-century England to such an extant that it was spared from the revolutions that were occurring all over Europe at that time) said:

“Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”
from a letter in the Works of John Wesley

Wesley is often quoted as saying:

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can,
In all the ways you can, in all the places you can,
At all the times you can, to all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Attributed to John Wesley

Those words certainly apply to Jerry Falwell’s life as well. And just as Abraham’s, and Wesley’s legacy lived on for many generations, the same will be said about Falwell’s.

This modern worship song could be said to express Falwell’s story well:

“Revival’s in the Air“