I had not to this point ever spent any significant time at Appomattox. If you could only go to one Civil War site to get an understanding of the war, I would say spend no less than two days at Gettysburg. But if you want a better understanding of how the war ended and what the following days looked like, visit Appomattox.
Now the actual site name is Appomattox Courthouse. The nearby town of Appomattox was originally Appomattox Station where a separate battle occurred. Using the correct name reduces confusion but not entirely. When you refer to Appomattox Courthouse, it might be assumed that the surrender meetings and signature took place in the courthouse, but that would be incorrect. It was so named because the little town of just over 100 people included the county courthouse. The signing took place in parlor of a local house. Though I went over the property, history, write-ups, and people of the scene with decent thoroughness, I cannot quite say the same for my photographs. To see what I did manage to record, click on “Conciliatory Surrender“.
Why did God include Obadiah in the Scriptures? Afterall, the judgements cited are repeated in Jeremiah 49, though who is repeating whom is not known since the date of Obadiah’s writing is uncertain. The book is very short, fewer verses than Jude, though a few dozen more words. Its purpose at the very least is to introduce or reiterate and confirm the judgements determined for Edom and clearly delineate why.
Verses 15-17 are key to the book:
“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow and become as if they had never existed. But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.” Obadiah 15-17
God is making use of Edom as an example of how He deals with any and all nations that tamper with His Chosen People. Edom and Israel are closely related by blood, history, proximity, and interaction, but they are treated identically to any unbelieving nation that harms Israel and will receive the same treatment at the hand of God. At this level it seems straightforward.
The understanding of God’s determination turns on the metaphor of drinking. Jeremiah 49:12-13 says, “For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it. For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.” From the context it is obvious that the cup that Bozrah, the capitol city of Edom, will be forced to drink is not pleasant. It is a cup of judgement. The Lord more clearly defines the nature of this cup in Jeremiah 25:15-16: “For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” The cup is for Babylon, but verses seventeen and following tell of the many other nations who will have to drink it.
The tenses of the verb in the Obadiah verses cited above arrested my attention. In order they are “drank”, “will drink”, and “will drink”. Understanding that Edom will drink of God’s judgement and that all nations will likewise partake, is, as I said, straightforward. But what is it that Edom “drank”. Is God from His eternal, non-time bound perspective speaking of Edom’s future judgement as though it has already happened? I think that the detail of the passage says otherwise.
“As you have done, it will be done to you.” (v.15) In the metaphor of “drink”, I believe that the passage is saying that as you, Edom, did harm to My People, I, God, will do harm to you. How had Edom drunk? Verse 10 says, “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.” Then the prophet lists the things that they should not do which they later did when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. The cup that is drunk is one of wrath. Edom got their fill of scoffing, looting, enslaving, and cutting down escaping Israelites. They would receive the same punishment and more from God since they would “become as if they never existed” (v.16), like the nations.
The application to the United States as one of the nations is obvious. God will not ignore the many evil things that America has done and is doing to many peoples including their own. To name but a few, recall our proxy wars, setting up tribes (Taliban for instance) and turning around to destroy them, broken treaties, the many ways we poison our food, water, air, and soil for profit, sex trafficking, and abortion. Persecution of God’s People, the Church and the remnant of Israel, by America has begun and will intensify. God will not turn a blind eye concerning all of this evil. We will be judged like all the other nations who have not acknowledged Him and have hurt His People.
The judgements listed in Obadiah for Edom and the nations are further tied to the day of the Lord which includes God’s blessing of Israel. It is hard to sort out what parts of what verses refer to Edom and Jerusalem in the past and which are reserved for the future but based on the immediate and wider context of eschatological Scriptures, God is not done with Israel or the nations. And it is abundantly clear when the last verse of Obadiah says, “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” (Obadiah 21) Take note of similar statements at the end of Joel 3, Amos 9, Zephaniah 3, and all of Zechariah 14, not to mention numerous times among the “major” prophets. The day of the Lord is a time of setting things right by fulfilling promises for judgement of sin and completing all of the blessings God has promised but not yet fulfilled. God be praised for His infinite knowledge, righteousness, and power. He has made known what His plans are for mankind.
While the Papists and Heathen celebrate All Hallows Eve, many believers across the world remember Reformation Day when a struggling monk was seeking the truth and setoff a firestorm of changed hearts and minds.
We must all as believers relive times of revival and reformation, for as the nailing of the Ninety-five Theses to the Wittenberg Church door was only a beginning, so our day of salvation and moments of rededication are only beginnings. It is usually at this moment that we quote II Chronicles 7:14 about the the people of God humbling themselves and calling on God’s name or Hosea 6:1 in which we are admonished to return to God. These are worthy of deepest consideration, as we are so often self-deceived about the depth of our walk before God.
But today I call to your attention the words of Daniel 9:3-5: “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.” The church in America and our church specifically has seen a period of barrenness and declension in numbers and depth of spiritual life. We need revival. We need restoration. We need reformation.
It is appropriate that we should sing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” by Martin Luther on this day. Not only is it appropriate to remember the work of God through a humble monk, but even more so to recall that God can and will overcome the forces of Satan, the world system, and our sinfulness. We need to call on Him to be gracious to work it powerfully in us now, in this day, in our church, in our country, in our hearts.
Our daughter and her family visited this weekend. I thought that we should plan at least one activity of interest. I remember meeting the CEO of the Hart Square Museum at my local climbing wall. She invited me to come see the Museum that her grandfather and grandmother put together over many decades. Since it was between my family members and myself, it would break up their trip a little and get us outside. I was concerned about our tour schedule time being at noon, because of the heat of June, but I was pleasantly surprised that 90% of the tour was in the woods under shade. The CEO met us in their brand new event facility that has been in the works for 5 years from fund raising to near completion. Already events are being scheduled there. I think that this new facility will be a big drawing card and help to fund the museum for many years into the future.
It pretty well dazzles the moment you enter the hall, and there is a kitchen, bathrooms, and dressing rooms in one wing and offices and conference rooms in the other wing. Here you see a birthday party being set up.
The young and energetic CEO passed us off to the young, talkative, and knowledgeable tour guide. He has lived on the premises as son to the caretaker for ten years and has been involved in deconstructing, moving, and reassembling several of the historic structures as well as repairing and upgrading others constantly. Here he is (on the right) in an upstairs bedroom of one of the larger log cabins describing the set-up to my son-in-law. Very few of the pieces of furniture were original with the cabins they are in, but they are all very much period pieces.
Our tour guide (from here on XS) said that there are now 103 and historic log structures on site, approximately 80 of which were log cabin homes. The structures range in construction date from 1792 to the 1870’s (the latter number being an observation of mine and not definite). Most were bought by the late Dr. Hart. XS said the property was originally intended to be a personal preserve for the good doctor but shifted purpose when a friend suggested a log cabin be purchased and moved to the edge of the pond and then a barn. Two of the most fascinating and used structures are the log churches. You might well imagine that some couples would want to be married in these rustic and romantic houses of worship.
The old 19 century pump organ is functional and used in weddings and gatherings.
With a tour guide along and care taken, this is largely a hands on museum. My son-in-law and two grandchildren confirmed that the organ worked. I ran up the scale, impressed with good sound. I only found one white note that had a reduced, though in tune, sound, I suspect because of a dirty or jammed stop.
The people that I met at the museum are not shy about their faith, so it made the whole presentation seem all the more real. Amazingly this structure was an apartment with siding on it when Dr. Hart found it. It cleaned up quite nicely, as we say.
The other church is smaller and has a circuit rider’s portable pump organ that could be folded and strapped behind the saddle of the traveling preacher. My grand-daughter pretends to be the organist on this day. I found an old hymnbook on the podium and began leafing though it. I think myself somewhat knowledgeable in Christian hymnody, but I had gone 50 hymns before I found one I knew. I sang the first verse. It seems an apt response to being in a structure constructed and dedicated to the worship of God.
XS says this is perhaps the best view on the site and a drawing point for small weddings.
I didn’t think to ask at the time, but I wonder if this glass above the window was original. It doesn’t seem likely to me since a “St. Mark” glass should be grouped with the other three Gospel glasses.
The cabins, many and varied, are furnished in even more varied ways. Some, to be sure, are furnished as the homes they originally were and similarly to their actual use according to interviews with former occupants. But others were furnished as workshops and businesses which they were not. This increases the interest in their contents and plays into the one day reenacting festival every Fall.
Most, the following one not included, had original rock chimneys along with the mostly original logs and timber.
This one was decorated as if Christmas was soon to arrive.
The cookstove was impressive.
Except for the cobwebs, which XS says they are constantly clearing, the cabins are furnished to appear occupied in the present.
Given the number of bedrooms, however, I can assure you that this pantry should be better stocked. Check out the blue Mason jars with the zinc lids.
If you included the four poster at right, this bedroom alone could have housed seven youngin’s. It was adjacent to another room with two double beds.
There are also several modern, old design structures on site like this covered bridge…
…and cotton press for making bales. The cotton gin in the barn like structure is one of only two period gins in the country that is still functioning.
There is also a functioning grist mill fed by one of the ponds.
My family members loved combing every inch of what we had time for and asking many questions. Sometimes I think XS was talking as much to himself as to us. He had plenty to say and good, interesting information, too.
I observed that a modern leather belt replacement might be quite expensive and XS added, less durable.
My grandson is positioned just right to be grabbed up by the millstone hoist.
The passage between living quarters and the kitchen is called a dogtrot. The design helped with heat management by avoiding the heat of the kitchen in summer and providing a shady, breezy passage. I think a quick way to get out of the rain without tracking mud into the house would be nice, too.
There are clay and brick ovens and kilns here and there for the festival reenactors to make anything from bread to pottery, pewter, and more.
Can you guess what we saw inside of this cabin?
Bear on the wall, buffalo on the bed, and deer on the foot board, I’m told.
The large, iron rich, mica schist blocks on this chimney were fascinating.
The Holstein hide bed coverlet drew my attention as well.
There were museum pieces at every turn. You should see what was inside the shed.
There is a centrally located picnic pavilion where my grandchildren were attempting to call up anyone with ears to hear.
My son-in-law caught a little wildlife for his daughter to play with.
There is not enough time to go into all 103 structures on a given tour, but you may request that anyone be opened to inspect. I was interested in the pottery cabin. It was full of labeled historic pots. Some were from a well known local potter and his business from the 19th century. This was definitely a no touch zone.
My daughter observed that the Indian glazes had a more smooth appearance and I would add a more matte finish as well.
The last cabin that we went into was furnished as a doctor’s abode. It had matching horn “silverware” and a grand Lazy Susan at table.
I had a few more pictures, but I seem to have arrived at the limit of the blog entry. That is fine, because you need to go see for yourself. Even with every picture I took, you would not have seen the half of it. Go check it out. They seem quite flexible in scheduling tours and there is some real history hear. Or plan an event there. Yes, I’m advertising, but not because I get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of knowing that I pointed some people to a profitable tour for mind and body and helped out a worthy museum. Check out their tours at Hart Square | A Common Past, Uncommonly Preserved. It is located just south of Hickory, NC, near Vale, NC. I was going to add a map, but I have maxed out the storage, evidently. You’re smart, so check it out and go see it this summer.
The transition of power has occurred. We look forward with hope or dread or some ambiguous go between.
With all of the wrangling and division that has gone on, politics is about the last thing you want to read about right about now. But I kept having a thought run through my head during all of the insanity: This reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, “One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish”.
“One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish, Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish. This one has a little car. This one has a little star. Say! What a lot of fish there are. Yes. Some are red, and some are blue. Some are old and some are new. Some are sad, and some are glad, And some are very, very bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad?”
Was Dr. Seuss only talking about differences in people or was he also making a political statement?
Well, “One fish…” was published in 1960, the year I was born. The present color scheme for Elephants and Donkeys solidified in the 2000 presidential election. So, no, Dr. Seuss was not being prophetic about politics.
But “why are they sad and glad and bad?” Politics is broken in America. Many, not all, are “very, very bad”. Contrary and contradictory worldviews have separated us into camps so that we don’t even know how to understand each other, let alone want to. There is very little talk about what God would have us to do that would work. And since He knows best, this lack of acknowledgement and seeking of His counsel will spell disaster, even if ever so slowly. There is non-stop wrangling about how the other side is stupid or trying to cheat or lie into power (see my blog called “The Basis of Civil Debate”). The words “public servant” are used but the idea and the sacrifice are missing.
So we have red fish and blue fish all living in the same pond trying to eliminate the other population in a feeding frenzy brought on by the very, very bad blood in the water and fear mongering croakers and immoral snappers dragging us down. The only hope for clearing the waters so that various stripes of fish can live in this habitat is a return to the ecologically sound living of repentance and acknowledging the Caretaker, Creator God.
I frequently hear in election cycles these days a repeated phrase that sounds something like the following: “This is the most important election of our life-time.” I think the purpose of the statement in its various forms is to stir certain emotions and resolves toward rushing to the polling place and casting a vote to stop this madness. But like the 100th artillery shell to fall near your trench, you become numb to the effects of these dire predictions. Either the effects of this election will end life as you know it, or it won’t, and there is little to be done about it. We are “election shell-shocked”. That does not mean that there is less danger because we are insensitive to the falling declarations of disaster, but only that we can no longer respond to it as such. But the situation is grave for the continuance of our free society and it causes me to think about the first verse of a hymn:
“Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever, ‘twixt that darkness and that light.” (1)
“One salient point of this hymn is the burden that it places, not only upon the individual man, but upon nations as well to obey God and to honor His Law. If decisions to obey God are made in the hearts of the people of a nation, that nation will also follow in like obedience to that Law. If we find that our beloved nation today has gone from following God to following after the world, it is because our ministers and churches have failed to call her citizens to repentance. When we begin to see national laws that forbid sin to be repealed, and those laws converted to the side of evil, then we shall know the extreme danger of our national condition. There is only one great decision – to follow God!” (2)
Take note about the conclusion to this quote about the hymn. It does not say panic and run off doing some Herculean task. It says “follow God”. That is a daily, in the trenches, persistent, long-term repentance. It matters not what shells of destruction fall around you. You continue about your duties to your ruler. Live a life different from the world that pushes and pulls others, even a society toward God.
Furthermore, though the hymn verse is grave, the situation is not yet so grave as the hymn talks about. Later verses speak of “by the light of burning martyrs” (3) and “Tho’ her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong”. So, I think that in reality there are many choices on the road to hell, not just one great decision. There comes a time certainly when God says enough is enough. When the Israelites turned away from entering the Promised Land (Numbers 13 and 14) and God made them wonder in the wilderness for 38 more years until “your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness”, (Numbers 14:32) there was a “Once to every man and nation.” But this judgment had been building, for God says in His first response after Moses pleads that God not immediately destroy them, that “none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.” (Numbers 14:22-23) Did you see it? Not once but ten times they spurned God. As He says in Hebrews 3:16-19: “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” It was not merely a single act of rebellion but a condition of unbelief revealed through continued rebellion over time.
So, where are we as a nation? At the time of this writing, purposefully so, this is prior to the election. I do not know the outcome or the ramifications of that outcome. Regardless of the outcome, repentance, trust in God, and perseverance in right living are far more important than what the result of this election will be. God may again be gracious to us and prolong our prosperity, or He may gives us what we deserve, and our demise will be swift, but we must turn to God for the good of our nation, our neighbors, our family, our posterity, and our world.
What is the hope for a nation over whom destruction has been declared? In the case of Israel, it was God’s mercy for the children, for He says, “But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.” (14:31-32) God may yet be entreated by a repentant people, just as He was by Nineveh (Jonah 3:10).
May God give us “a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:4 says He had not yet done so for Israel.)
1. Hymn: “Once to Every Man and Nation” by James Russell Lowell in 1845
Here is a recent scene from early voting in my small town:
When I first came to this area 27 years ago, our voting place was a one room school house no longer used for anything but voting. It gave the feel of voting from times a century and more before. All who voted there were neighbors of long standing and we were the new ones, welcomed and smiled upon for voting in the long held tradition.
This year all tradition seems gone. Many would contradict, saying the voting has prevailed, but we wonder if it will be a free and fair election. Neighbors are distanced by disease and rhetoric and the persistent electronics. Somehow, I don’t feel like I am in the same nation I grew up in, the one that taught its young the regional songs and tales of the frontiersmen and miners and canal workers and farmers. We had connections to our past and stability in our present. Now we have neither. Rather than gain these things for those who lacked them as newcomers or oppressed people, we further divide ourselves from each other in order to scrap anything good about our nation for a future of slavery to the ruling class. (1)
The voting does not look and feel different because of polemical pandemic and politics. We have had division in the past. We have had disease and drought and war and depression and social unrest. It is different because we are giving up our freedoms for slavery of mind and one day body.
John Basil Barnhill, in a meeting in 1914, said, “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.” (2) At present, the people are in fear of the government while simultaneously not respecting its institutions or personnel. This is a formula for disaster.
On the subject of the cruelty of slavery, Thomas Jefferson said, “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and that His justice cannot sleep forever…” (3) We have long since righted the wrong of the institution of slavery, though many have not changed there attitudes about it on either side. Now we threaten the liberty of us all by giving it up to control by government, to the continuance of slaughter or the unborn, and outright denial anything moral according to God’s law.
Why are we doing this evil to ourselves? We have turned away from God. Even many in the church do not know Him and the culture as a whole does not acknowledge Him. Many have argued that we have no need of acknowledging God as a nation since ‘we are not a Christian nation’, but God warns otherwise. “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.” (Psalm 2:10-11) “Nations are obligated to worship the true God,” said John MacArthur in a recent sermon. (4)
You may be asking what this turning away from God has to do with voting. I can think of several ways, all of which involve God’s judgement on our forsaking Him and running to wickedness:
1. We will lose our incredible freedom to have substantive say our government.
2. God judges individuals and institutions.
3. The righteous in general are delivered over with the wicked in times of judgement.
4. Voting may no longer be neighborly and civil.
It is on this last point that I want to dwell upon for just a short moment. I have friends who have been missionaries with AIM/Air in Nairobi, Kenya, for many years. As a mechanic, the man is head of maintenance to the many planes that fly out to villages for the many ways they help people. The woman has taught in a local seminary. In their newsletters over the year by paper and then email, they would periodically ask for prayer about national elections. This is frequently a time of violence in the streets and at the polling places and upon the candidates. This nation is not the only one plagued with this problem, but one that has dealt with it more or less since their independence. With the level of division, selfishness, and God hating present in our nation, it will come here if we do not repent.
Intentionally pray for your repentance and mine and our neighbors and our nation. Pray that God will yet again be merciful and patient to give us a time of renewal and turning to Him. Vote for righteousness and the rule of law. Pray for civility throughout this election process.
“The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow. They come to be accepted by degrees, by precedent, by implication, by erosion, by default, by dent of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other- until the day when they are suddenly declared to be the country’s official ideology.” Ayn Rand
Wow! You want to have a worthwhile history/social studies lesson? Have students write a short interpretation of this and the following quote: “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Adolf Hitler.* Then have them discuss the following proposition: Propaganda and ignorance are happy partners that ravage the land.
It occurs to me that by quoting these two individuals, I could be wholly dismissed by anyone who knows their philosophies. Many Empiricists and Naturalists would applaud Ayn Rand for clear-headed objectivity, but she dismissed faith and religion out of hand. So much for logic and fair-mindedness. Her nearsightedness blinded her to evidences of God. We all have blind spots. I wholeheartedly disagree with her perspective in order to point out that we may learn truth from many people in many places, even opponents, if we are open to it. Her quote here is apropos to our present situation. We have a phrase yelled at us, proclaimed and assumed to be true, day after day, scouring away any right or level-headed thinking by demand and insinuation. So it’s true, right?
And the Third Reich demonstrated that persistent and horrendous lies will be taken as truth. It need not even be believable at first, nor crafty, nor partially true, only persistently and passionately told. We are experiencing these repetitions in several arenas at this time.
The question is, “Will we allow the lies to drown out the truth by our deafening silence?” All of the loud protestations of lies as truth are the propaganda. Silence is the willful ignorance that partners with it to promote destruction of our freedoms. And yet silence is the passive willfulness.
Our ignorance runs deeper and more active: “‘They bend their tongue like their bow; lies and not truth prevail in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,’ declares the Lord.” Isaiah 9:3 We repeat lies by meme and manifest, little caring that our “causes” promote evil.
Go to the source of truth (John 17:17, Psalm 119:60) and ask the Author of Truth (Psalm 86:15) to strain out all of the man-made lies that have seemed as truth to you.
Lord, have mercy on us, and draw Your people and many lost people to Yourself. Cause us to stand for truth as surely as men of valor in battle and saints in the fire. Thank You for the God-ordained institutions of the family, church, and government that give us order, peace, and joy. Strengthen us to defend them against subtle and outspoken lies that seek to destroy Your gifts to us.
If you are reading this blog entry and have not read the prequel (“Basis of Civil Debate“), it will seem to lack context and may be confusing. Please read the previous blog entry first so that I may be truly heard in this one.
The debate itself was about the following subject:
Mr. L stated that he hated child labor laws because they represented an abrogation of family jurisdiction. The state does not have the right to tell the family how to function even if the family structure is severely compromised or clearly in the wrong. I pointed out that the reason such laws exist was because of Dickens’ writing about conditions during the Industrial Revolution. Those conditions were not right and needed to be stopped. At least two times, and I think more, I agreed in principle with Mr. L’s statement and Mr. F’s restatement of their point.
In part I may have not been heard because of my initial statement about Dickens. Why you may ask? It was immediately thrown back at me that poor conditions are no reason to lay aside the law of God. Again I agreed, but I was not allowed to state my case. The more I tried the louder the counter repetitions of the first point became.
What then was my point? I agree that it is wrong to lay aside the God-given jurisdiction of the family in favor of a mis-placed jurisdiction of government. However, I do not believe that, for instance, child labor laws are the problem or that eliminating them will solve the problem. In fact, I do not believe that under the present form of government, ruled mostly by emotion rather than law, that child labor laws, or many other family jurisdiction abrogating laws, will be rescinded until the real problem is solved. Why do I believe that? I believe that people will not allow abuse of women and children to continue even if the means of attempting to stop it is wrong and a failure* in practice.
So, what is the real problem and what is the solution? We the people, by and large have turned away from God and His Law. Until and unless we repent and turn back to His way we will not rescind these laws because we think we know better than God. And maybe we should not even try to change the laws and we definitely won’t, because there is too much travesty and hurt in a society where God’s rule is debased and ignored. Does that mean we can never go back to being a godly nation**? No, it does not, but there will need to be some deep repentance on the part of parents and employers and government officials, both bureaucratic and elected, and most notably those who claim to know God. The order of retracing our steps to godliness is more likely repentance, revival, renewal, then reformation of life and law. That does not mean that to have just, God honoring laws we must be a perfect nation, but we must first have a majority of the people acknowledging God and God’s Law. When the travesties of child abuse in the home and the society at large are rarities rather than regular fare, then we will be more likely to correct our laws to reflect God’s Law.
To simplify this idea, let me summarize by saying the following: You don’t legislate morality; morality determines just law. Mr. L stated the first half of my statement at one point in his argument, and I believe he could agree with the second half of the statement if he had truly heard me. That might have involved me having a better handle on how to present it to him and Mr. F.
The Founding Fathers, by in large, got it right. They based our laws on God’s law. Even as we, they had influences that drew them away from the knowledge of God and His law. Therefore, unlike the Scriptures, the Constitution is a human document, which cannot be perfect. It is very likely the best document of its kind produced by humans, because it so largely reflects God’s law. And I agree with Washington when he said to Henry Lee, “Let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation of the constitution be reprehended. If defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst it has an existence.” (letter 10/31/1786) It has been and is being trampled upon because the basis for this document, God’s law, is trampled.
*Yes, child-labor laws stopped children from working in dangerous conditions, but it did not stop the abuse of children.
**I do not equate us with Israel, nor do I say that we have no heinous sins for which God will judge us. However, we have a system that is based on God’s laws with many past examples of godly people and building of God’s kingdom around the world.
If ever I could hope that one of my blog entries would go viral, this would be the one!
What is the way forward in this time of crisis for our country? Is is sociological, psychological, judicial, political, philosophical? There is a Facebook post shared among some that is a Venn Diagram having four circles representing perspectives on our present troubles (You can see it here). Simply put, it says that a person may reasonably hold that murder, looting, and corruption are wrong and that lawful protests are legitimate responses. When my friend posted the diagram, I had an immediate two-fold reaction. Firstly, I agreed with the diagram. Secondly, I felt like it was incomplete and needed a fifth circle. I assumed at the time that the fifth circle would be a part of a five-circle Venn struggling to overlap in the middle. Later it occurred to me that the fifth circle should surround the other four, being both foundational and all encompassing.
Circle Five: Until and unless we repent and forgive none of these other ideas or steps we may take will matter.
We will continue to deteriorate as a society. Fomenting elements will continue to stir up the crowds. Unreasoning anger will continue to prevail. Corruption will proceed unchecked and at length increase in various levels of government and in the streets. Fear and hatred will increase.
America, repent! Lord, begin with me. Cause me to love my fellow created beings regardless of culture, color, creed, or craft. Cause us to see our eternal and daily need of a savior, the Savior, Jesus, because we are full of hatred, selfishness, apathy, and unbelief.
America, forgive! Lord, begin with me. Enable me to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged me. Change us so that we do not suspect every neighbor of ill toward us, but desire and work for their good.
Church, pray! Lord, begin with me. Give me a persistent spirit of intercession for our nation and the Church. We are in dire and perilous times. If we don’t see it, it is because our enemy is not visible. The spiritual forces are stirring up trouble and trying to destroy our freedoms and blessings. God is calling on us to arise and call on Him for help. He will not continue to tolerate our evil and refusal to acknowledge Him.
God be merciful to us. Pour out the knowledge of Yourself and Your ways upon Your Church who is slack in their piety at best. Extend mercy in salvation to a lost nation which is satisfied in their self-righteous refusal to acknowledge their sin and need of You. We need a revival of the Church and renewal of our nation. May You be merciful to give us repentance and forgiveness.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. ” (Galatians 5:1)
“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12)
What is liberty? How do we obtain it? How do we live in (or by) it? Many lengthy treatises have been written on this subject but a simple, functional definition is frequently beyond our grasp. I began to think on liberty after considering a line in the hymn, “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”, by Fredrick Faber: “There’s a kindness in God’s justice, which is more than liberty.” In order to understand the meaning intended by this line you must understand kindness, justice, and liberty, not from a humanist standpoint, as we frequently do with liberty, but from God’s viewpoint.
A short article on Christian liberty I found online had a succinct discussion and concise conclusion: “The ultimate goal for the Christian should be to glorify God, edify fellow believers, and have a good reputation before unbelievers.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-liberty.html) This sentence confirms what I had heard to be a simple statement of what Christian liberty (and therefore any real liberty) is: Liberty is the freedom to do what is right.
In order to stand firm in that liberty we need to stay out of two miry, hazardous ditches: legalism and license. We best keep our eyes fixed ahead on Jesus and the liberty trail He has blazed rather than fearing or obsessing over the ditches on either side of us. We must be aware of them, wary of them, and wise to them, but if we obey the voice of God as He guides us, we need not fret over them.
So how do I run the right wheel of liberty merrily along without being tracked into the icy waters of the ditch legalism? I love the hymn that says, “Free from the Law, oh, happy condition, Jesus hath bled and there is remission; Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all.” As the Scripture says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Galatians 3:13). That curse was death demanded by the righteousness of God proclaimed by the Law. In fact, “we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6) There it is! The Spirit gives us the power and freedom to do what is right. The statutes of the Law for the Christian were abolished in Christ, but not the moral law, the ten commandments. Instead, we are now enabled to do what is right- blessed liberty!
Many friends reading this blog will not have trouble with the aforementioned ditch. So how do I run a true course with the left wheel of liberty and avoid sliding off into the ditch license? Again I refer to this old hymn: “Children of God- oh, glorious calling, Surely His grace will keep us from falling; Passing from death to life at His call, Blessed salvation once for all.” I see three Scripture based answers to the license danger in this hymn verse: 1) His grace keeps us from falling (2 Corinthians 12:9), 2) The glory of our calling in Christ gives us purpose and worth to resist mere license (Romans 6:1-4), and 3) We are being fitted for heaven which brings great hope and focus (2 Corinthians 5:1-2).
So the “standing firm” of the initial verse of this blog entry means walking in liberty without tracking or sliding into the ditches. When you “Consider yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 6:11) you guard on the one side and “So speak and so act as those judged by the law of liberty,” (James 2:12) in defense of the other. Tracking in liberty is not looking at the worrisome waves on either side, but keeping full view of the Savior out in front of us. And He even knows our frailty and extends a hand to catch us up when we call for help. (Matthew 14:28-33)
We extend this liberty to others in the natural realm through governance, community involvement, church unity, and family togetherness, so that they may come to see true liberty in the spiritual realm through the two great commandments: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40), and thus be saved to eternal joy and peace. Happy Independence Day!
A few months ago I heard about a student at my school who will be speaking at the 75th anniversary remembrance of D-Day in Normandy, France. I began to wander, what level of perspective he could possibly have on the subject? He doesn’t even remember 9/11, let alone D-Day. But how silly of me to think that, since I don’t have a contemporary or first hand knowledge of the event either. Instead, I think that the young man and I may add two generations of perspective to what we may learn from and remember about the events on the those beaches. In some ways I have already (see “Memory Lapse” and “Allegiance” and “Has the World Really Changed?”) So, I consider, given the opportunity, what would I say on such an occasion?
I think that the wider issue concerning such a remembrance runs deeper than the extent of sacrifices made on that day, significant though they be. Such events, with their terrible tragedy and selfless sacrifice point to the reason such events have happened and must continue to happen. Freedom has always and must always be fought for.
Perhaps the nature of war has changed in 75 years and such all out attacks may not need to occur again, but there do continue to be individuals, groups, and nations that want to destroy freedom and those who have it and love it. Why is this so? All honest people must admit that the vices of hatred, envy, and murder reside in the heart of us all and we are all capable of evil acts given the opportunity and circumstances. Apart from God’s grace I am capable of heinous sins and persistent failings. But in reality, many people refuse to admit to total depravity, an internal sin nature inherited from our father, Adam. But it exists and thrives, nonetheless, being clearly taught in Scripture (Romans 5:12-14, I Corinthians 15:21-22, Romans 3:23, Romans 7:14-25, Ephesians 3:5-9).
And so, were I to give a speech on that occasion, I believe I would speak in some part similar to the following:
On this occasion of the 75th anniversary of the combat operation called D-Day, we come to remember the bravery and sacrifice of men who fought for the freedom of others and for the grand concept of Freedom. The depth of depravity lodged against the French people and the world at that time demanded an all out battle to preserve our freedoms. The soldiers who labored here helped to secure those freedoms in their generation.
It is not as though this battle was the only time our nations have fought together for freedom. The French formed a decisive shield for the fledgling nation of the United States at Yorktown. We are grateful.
But I think that it is reasonable to ask, why do we value Freedom so much? Afterall, men do not run into a rain of bullets to preserve their own freedom. They fulfill their duty for the sake of the freedom of others and for freedom in the world. Those others for whom they purchase freedom include people for whom they care: family, friends, comrades, community, and freedom-loving people of all nations. Freedom in the world is a concept, an ideal, as well as a way of living. What motivates an individual to die for a concept?
I believe this motivation is lodged in what it means to be a person. Without freedom one comes to realize that he/she is less than a person. Personhood does not necessitate autonomy, but it does require some ability to act in accord with one’s own conscience. Those who love freedom preserve it with their watchfulness and sacrifice. But those who hate freedom have given it up to serve some lesser fear or pleasure.
Indeed, the sacrifices exhibited here are a testimony to the greater freedom which we are in danger of losing. As modern men and women we seek for what several writers* have called “negative freedom”, which is being free from interference or constraint. But this type of freedom is a dim shadow of the greater “positive freedom”, which is the state of reaching full potential as a person. We may reach that state in the midst of great constraint and even threat of death. Therefore, people fighting for freedom both to preserve it and to be free in the act of gaining it, are free. Their sacrifice is reasonable, purposeful, and laudable.
We stand here in appreciation of those who bought and preserved our freedom. Thankfulness must needs do more than say thanks. True thankfulness will honor the wishes of those who sacrificed here. What then would those freedom fighters want from us but to preserve and rightly utilize freedom.
In order to fulfill this duty, we need to know the source and way of freedom. The Scripture says that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” (James 1:17) Freedom is such a gift to be utilized in giving glory to the Giver and help to all within reach of us. And the deepest and truest freedom is internal. If we have peace with God, peaceful intention toward our neighbor, and peace within, we are truly free. And the source of freedom is given to those who “have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) So how should we now live? “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil” (I Peter 2:16) And “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
So then, fellow freedom lovers, seek the true everlasting freedom so that you may also extend freedom to all those for whom you care and even to those enemies of freedom who do not yet know how good freedom is. Remember those who have cherished freedom more than life and sacrificed to purchase and preserve it for you. Fulfill your duty to procure and promote freedom for all who will own it, fighting against all who will try to destroy it. With the keeping of these duties those who fought here would be pleased and their sacrifices are then valued.
[Also check out the following passages: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36) “Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin.” (Acts 13:39) “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:28)]
“Happy Birthday to my first love, America,” the Facebook newsfeed read. Given the picture of the young man sitting in front of an American flag and it appearing on July 4th, there was context for the content. Still it sent a shiver up my spine.
Among countries, my first love. Among homelands, my first love. Sure. But just “my first love, America?” Where is the sense of priority? How about God and country, or even better, God, family, and country?
Politics and patriotism are not the solutions to our problems. Helping our fellowman and giving sacrificially are not the solutions to our problems. Raw moral courage and consistency are not the solutions to our problems. Environmental awareness and action are not the solutions to our problems. They are part of the solution, but America, in great pride and ungodliness, has cast God aside.
It is as in the time of Jeremiah: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (2:13) Once this was a nation called to be a “city upon a hill” (Puritan John Winthrop, 1630), and declared to be “great because she is good.”, but the time has come for the rest of that quote to be fulfilled: “If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” (summation of Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”) Now I know that the naysayers out there will say that she never was good, and there is some truth to that (broken treaties, persecutions, immoral cities, environment abusing, etc), but there was a seeking after God and a general acknowledgement of God and His moral code, and many good things that were done, and God’s blessing upon us.
But the gig is up! Repent, America, before the judgment comes. It is determined and it will not delay if we continue to go on heedlessly. Now is the time to turn and plead with God for mercy, before He says no more and your future is sealed. Some will say, but God is always forgiving, how can you say that He will not forgive. Yes, He is, and He is also just and He hardens those who continue to refuse Him. Perhaps the atheists, agnostics, and amoralists will ignore me, but what of the church goers and spiritual crowd who claim a knowledge of God, but refuse to submit to the clear call of the Gospel and the simple moral absolutes of His Law. Repent or we are doomed.
Do you want to show allegiance to America on this 4th of July. Order your allegiance to God, Our Creator and Savior. Quit making excuses that you will take care of it later (which you probably won’t have), or it’s none of my business (more than that, my responsibility to declare the truth), or you have my own beliefs about God (not according to His Holy Word), or I don’t hurt anybody (but you offend God by keeping Him at arm’s length and sleep with your girlfriend as if that is OK since it is consensual), or I see no evidence that God exists (though the heavens declare His glory and all Creation points to His power and wisdom), or I’ve always been a good person and help everyone that I can (but refuse to turn to God in Jesus to rescue you from your coveting what belongs to others and disrespecting your parents and elders and those in authority).
God have mercy on us, as Thomas Jefferson said, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
God is merciful, and because He has still given us freedom, albeit dwindling, we have opportunity to turn to Him. Jesus, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (I Peter 2:24) Don’t think that you can make it in your own goodness or by another way for “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
And what does this have to do with the 4th of July? Our very survival as a country and a culture is dependent upon us turning back to God. Most of you likely to read this are my friends, many of whom agree with what I have said, though perhaps some of you think I should soften the delivery (to which I reply, “We are way too far down the road for tender pleading.”), but I plead with you to share this with others who may be in danger of ignoring the need to turn away from their wickedness to God.
I love my country; I love my family more, but my first love is and must be my God, my Savior, to whom all allegiance is due.
CreatorWorship 
Hard Words
Posted in America, Consequences, Cultural commentary, Day of the Lord, General, God's Word, Judgment, Metaphor, tagged Cup of Wrath, Day of the Lord, End Times, Judgement, Obadiah on November 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Why did God include Obadiah in the Scriptures? Afterall, the judgements cited are repeated in Jeremiah 49, though who is repeating whom is not known since the date of Obadiah’s writing is uncertain. The book is very short, fewer verses than Jude, though a few dozen more words. Its purpose at the very least is to introduce or reiterate and confirm the judgements determined for Edom and clearly delineate why.
Verses 15-17 are key to the book:
“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you.
Your dealings will return on your own head. Because just as you drank on My holy mountain,
all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow and become as if they had never existed. But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.” Obadiah 15-17
God is making use of Edom as an example of how He deals with any and all nations that tamper with His Chosen People. Edom and Israel are closely related by blood, history, proximity, and interaction, but they are treated identically to any unbelieving nation that harms Israel and will receive the same treatment at the hand of God. At this level it seems straightforward.
The understanding of God’s determination turns on the metaphor of drinking. Jeremiah 49:12-13 says, “For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it. For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.” From the context it is obvious that the cup that Bozrah, the capitol city of Edom, will be forced to drink is not pleasant. It is a cup of judgement. The Lord more clearly defines the nature of this cup in Jeremiah 25:15-16: “For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” The cup is for Babylon, but verses seventeen and following tell of the many other nations who will have to drink it.
The tenses of the verb in the Obadiah verses cited above arrested my attention. In order they are “drank”, “will drink”, and “will drink”. Understanding that Edom will drink of God’s judgement and that all nations will likewise partake, is, as I said, straightforward. But what is it that Edom “drank”. Is God from His eternal, non-time bound perspective speaking of Edom’s future judgement as though it has already happened? I think that the detail of the passage says otherwise.
“As you have done, it will be done to you.” (v.15) In the metaphor of “drink”, I believe that the passage is saying that as you, Edom, did harm to My People, I, God, will do harm to you. How had Edom drunk? Verse 10 says, “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.” Then the prophet lists the things that they should not do which they later did when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. The cup that is drunk is one of wrath. Edom got their fill of scoffing, looting, enslaving, and cutting down escaping Israelites. They would receive the same punishment and more from God since they would “become as if they never existed” (v.16), like the nations.
The application to the United States as one of the nations is obvious. God will not ignore the many evil things that America has done and is doing to many peoples including their own. To name but a few, recall our proxy wars, setting up tribes (Taliban for instance) and turning around to destroy them, broken treaties, the many ways we poison our food, water, air, and soil for profit, sex trafficking, and abortion. Persecution of God’s People, the Church and the remnant of Israel, by America has begun and will intensify. God will not turn a blind eye concerning all of this evil. We will be judged like all the other nations who have not acknowledged Him and have hurt His People.
The judgements listed in Obadiah for Edom and the nations are further tied to the day of the Lord which includes God’s blessing of Israel. It is hard to sort out what parts of what verses refer to Edom and Jerusalem in the past and which are reserved for the future but based on the immediate and wider context of eschatological Scriptures, God is not done with Israel or the nations. And it is abundantly clear when the last verse of Obadiah says, “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” (Obadiah 21) Take note of similar statements at the end of Joel 3, Amos 9, Zephaniah 3, and all of Zechariah 14, not to mention numerous times among the “major” prophets. The day of the Lord is a time of setting things right by fulfilling promises for judgement of sin and completing all of the blessings God has promised but not yet fulfilled. God be praised for His infinite knowledge, righteousness, and power. He has made known what His plans are for mankind.
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