Sunday, February 14, 2021

He Never Promised Us a Cake Walk

 Sometimes God says, "no."

The god of this age is not Yaweh. The god of this age torments the righteous and promotes the wicked. The Creator God (Yaweh) can pull rank on the god of this age (Satan). Yaweh can hear our prayers, and intervene on our behalf. But sometimes He says, "no."

Many of us fasted and prayed that America would not be stolen from its people. Right now, it looks like God said, "Sorry. Your time is up."

After the division of the kingdom, Israel never had a righteous king; while Judah had very few. Josiah of Judah was one of those few. 2 Kings 22-23/2 Chronicles 34-35 documents his reign. He took the throne at a young age and did what was right as best he knew. He sought the Lord starting at the age of eight, and began "draining the Swamp" in the Kingdom of Judah at the age of 12. Under his leadership, the Jews didn't just "put away" their idols. Josiah had them destroyed, the high places torn down, the alters and Asherah poles smashed.

Then somebody found a surviving scroll of the Law and brought it to Josiah when he was 26. Josiah had it read aloud.

When King Josiah heard the words of the Law, and realized the evil that his people had done, he tore his clothes, wept, and sought the Lord's counsel. He renewed the Covenant and his efforts to purify the kingdom from the generations of evil he had inherited. Judah followed the Law during his reign.

Traditionally, Israelites (whether from Judah or Benjamin or any other tribe) inherited blessings (like peace, prosperity, and a restored Temple and priesthood), then spent the rest of their lives corrupting everything put in their care. Josiah did the opposite. His reforms purged the evil from the Land.

You'd think God would reward both king and kingdom with peace, prosperity, power, and everything Solomon had, because of their repentance, and faithfulness.

Nope.

You could say they were victims of bad timing, or were cursed because of the sins of their fathers. God's timetable came into play. He had tolerated all the wickedness He was going to from His people. He commended Josiah for the effort he had made, but dropped the axe anyway. Josiah was killed, succeeded by yet another wicked leader, and Judah slid down the slippery slope into conquest by Babylon. They survived as a puppet state for a while, then went into captivity. The young Jewish boys were slaughtered in the Temple; the Temple was burned down, and their holy city was destroyed.

Maybe you've already noticed that a lot of parallels can be drawn between Judah and America itself, as well as the Church in America.

President Trump was no Josiah, but he did make an effort to drain the Swamp. Notably, there was no spiritual revival in the USA during Trump's term--and America's spiritual state is at the root of all our problems.

Just as Josiah appears to have blundered into a disastrous battle and his own death; Trump appears to have foolishly accepted the stolen election, rather than take action to restore the republic, the rule of law, the integrity of our elections, justice, and everything else worth restoring.

Many of us fasted and prayed that God grant us the opportunity to right the ship. It looks like God said, "no."

Well, we knew that, by the time of the end, the United States of America would either be destroyed, or too insignificant to be worth mentioning (except as, possibly, one aspect of Mystery Babylon). Many of us have also noticed that the last puzzle pieces are falling into place to fit that end-time scenario.

As an American, I find current events tragic. As someone who treasures freedom, and what is right, I find them infuriating. As a Christian, I know persecution is coming; but (afterwards) so is the return of our Lord, along with true justice, perfect government, and actual peace.

Something far, far greater than the United States of America has been prepared for us in the next life. It will never be corrupted or subverted, either.

Maranatha.

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