Image courtesy of U.S. Army under CC BY 2.0.
In ancient Israel a false prophecy could result in death for the prophet. When he uttered it, it had better come to pass, for if it did not, his life was in danger.
Even for those prophets to whom God spoke, life was often tenuous, for the Word of God, the essence of truth, was no more popular in those days than it is in ours.
Jeremiah spoke to the people of Jerusalem telling them of impending defeat and captivity under the king of Babylon. Patriots were incensed. They falsely accused him of intent to defect to the enemy. He was arrested and imprisoned. Double-minded King Zedekiah released him, then consulted him concerning the fate of the city and was told that unless
he surrendered it would be burned. This truth displeased the King and he remanded Jeremiah to the court of the prison with instructions that he be fed as long as food lasted in the city. But Zedekiah’s powerful sons, the Princes, petitioned the king saying, “Please let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah, unstable in all of his ways, allowed Jeremiah to be cast into a mud filled dungeon without food or drink. There the prophet would have died had it not been for the valiant effort of a eunuch from Ethiopia named Ebed-Melech. The Ethiopian eunuch successfully petitioned King Zedekiah to have Jeremiah removed from the dungeon and once more the king sought his counsel. Again he spoke to the king, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If you surely surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire and you and your house shall live.” Fearing the Princes, King Zedekiah swore Jeremiah to secrecy but did not act on the Truth. Because of his failure to heed the prophet and discern the proper action, Jerusalem was burned and only a few who surrendered were saved. Before his captors gouged out his eyes and he was carried captive to Babylon, by force he watched the slaughter of his sons, the Princes.Following the election, workers to elicit votes for righteousness can empathize with the plight of Jeremiah. Those who had the most to lose failed to heed truth when it is plainly presented to them. In Florida, Michael Peroutka got less than five thousand votes. Instead of voting for the righteous platform of the Constitution Party, voters opted for the heretical policies and unconstitutional government of George W. Bush.
A similar perversity to what plagued King Zedekiah is evident in America and Israel today. As long as their lifestyle is not seriously distorted Americans opt to continue the status quo. Impervious to palpable impending dangers and given to aberrant patriotism they have returned to office a president whose programs are detrimental to the continued existence of not only our culture but the nation itself.
Israel, entwined with America by the glue of Zionism, is as stiff-necked as it was at the time of Jeremiah. With no regard for the dominion of their erstwhile God, like a tail waging a dog they have been able to co-opt America’s military might to serve their theft of lands that God gave to others. Many Americans believe that our national interests are served by this evil and are aggressive supporters of a leader who has been duped into acting immorally and against the Will of God. Ill-gotten votes for President Bush derived from this source.
With failure to recognize the admonitions of America’s Founders, or the history of the Roman Empire, or the frightening similarities between America today and Germany in the 1930s, or to understand the actions required of Christians, the nation continues to slouch ever faster into chaos and tyranny.
At the end of the third of a series of articles in the New American on the history of Rome Steve Bonta writes, “Such was the moral decline of Rome, from a republic reluctant to fight wars except in self-defense to a belligerent, self-absorbed colossus capable of annihilating an entire nation out of sheer spite. For Rome had become an imperial republic; her chief concern now was not securing the liberty of her own citizens, but the domination of foreign powers.”
Spite is a derivative of arrogant pride. It was spite that drove the government to annihilate the men, women, and children at Waco. It is spite that will quickly create a nightmare for those who resist official government authority. Argue with any member of our country’s new ninja police force and spite will be a result. Spite is a malicious arm of the powerful. In a free and democratic society the government serves the people and is unable to be spiteful.
America now has troops stationed in over 100 foreign nations as well as scores of troop installations in every state of the Union. We are currently engaged in a perennial war against that nebulous foe called Terrorism and a hot war is being fought half way around the world in Iraq. The perceived electoral mandate will probably be followed by a war against Iran. Wars must be financed with taxes and while overt taxes go up covert taxes (inflating the currency by creating money) are even more aggressive.
The forked tongued Chairman of the powerful Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, announces that inflation is in check but in the economy the price of gasoline has doubled and prices for food products and the restaurants that use them are rising in 25% increments. As in the deteriorating Roman Empire heavy taxes on middle and lower class citizens will farther deteriorate the standard of living, work to eliminate the middle class, and extend the gap between citizens and gentry.
Promises by the Bush Administration to revise the tax structure will result in overall tax increases.
Michael Peroutka’s running mate Dr. Chuck Baldwin, a Baptist preacher from Florida, has written a rather strident essay in the wake of their dismal showing in it he lists some of the aberrant programs George W. Bush has supported. He points out that not only has Bush failed to stem the murder of babies but he has increased funding for abortion both at home and abroad. He has brought overt, practicing homosexuals into high positions in his administration and increased the size and cost of government more than any previous president. Baldwin lists only a few of the anomalous programs Bush has supported. President Bush’s actions belie his profession of Christianity but in spite of this glaring conflict respected Christian ministries opted to lend him their support. Included in this alliance of infamy were:
Christian Coalition
National Right to Life
Traditional Values Coalition
Center for Bioethical Reform
Priests for Life
American Family Association
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council
Christian defense Coalition
Focus on the Family
Grassfire.net
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed
When a righteous candidate, running on a Christian platform, is available and on the ballot in most states and Christian organizations encourage their members to vote for a heretic it is a sin of great magnitude.
Since the election I have received more than one E-Mail requesting prayer for George W. Bush. My response is that votes for George W. Bush amounted to an endorsement of his programs and those who voted for him should be satisfied with support for the United Nations; Socialist government programs; continued foreign wars; massive government interference in individual lives; loss of freedom; open borders and illegal Mexican citizenship; same sex marriages and homosexuals in government; forced psychiatric evaluation; the murder of babies and of innocent citizens in foreign lands. These are the programs President Bush initiated and that were plainly revealed before the election. They were affirmed by his re-election. Prayers for President Bush amount to an attempt to manipulate God, another egregious sin.
A pragmatic approach to life is common in society and rampant in our churches. Pragmatism allows the end to justify the means. When Christians cast their vote for George W. Bush they cast a pragmatic vote hoping that their support for a measure of evil would result in a greater good. In the Kingdom of God the means must justify the end. Our Christian God is not pragmatic. He requires obedience (the means) and in return for obedience He provides the blessing of freedom, joy, and prosperity (the end).
America‘s Christian churches are programmed with pragmatism. Church growth has usurped the Kingdom of God as the objective and the primary method used to bring about this deviant end is attraction. Attraction requires a non-offensive gospel and a subservient god. One of the reasons Christians vote pragmatically is because they are taught to do so by heretical churches.
Steve Bonta’s History of Rome offers valuable exemplary evidence on the evolution of that nation. At the beginning disparate factions were brought together under monarchies. There were successful, peaceful, and prosperous monarchies and there were viciously brutal and immoral ones.
Rome’s most enduring peaceful period came under the rule of their second Monarch, reluctant King Numa Pompilius. King Numa was forty years old when he became king and he reigned for forty three years. Not being impeded with ambition his reign was characterized by religious revival, peaceful treaties, and an orderly and moral society.
Much like the Biblical narrative of Israeli kings, Rome’s next monarch and several that succeeded him were warlike and progressively immoral. It was this rampant immorality that finally set the stage for the Roman Republic. The rape of innocent women and rampant immorality at the pinnacle of power created the desire for a more moral and law-abiding government. The Republic was founded, laws were added and the moral stability of Rome buoyed it to greatness.
Steve Bonta writes, “As long as the Roman Republic produced men and women of integrity, its vitality was assured. Rome remained nearly impervious to external military threat, and avoided the scourge of civil war and other debilitating internal crises. On the rare occasions when Rome saw her freedom threatened by external or internal threats, she always displayed resourcefulness and resiliency. Only when the later Romans succumbed to moral depravity did Rome cease to produce (quality) leaders…Only then did she become easy prey to foreign military powers; only then was she wracked with unending civil unrest.”
Six Centuries were consumed from the founding of Rome to the spiteful destruction of the City of Carthage; then, in a little more than half a century riots and major civil unrest broke out and Rome began her disorderly and agonizing descent.
America’s decline has been swifter. Lincoln during the Civil War and Wilson during World War I were both responsible for deteriorating our freedoms Though it is difficult to pinpoint, the elements of individual freedom were mostly intact until the Roosevelt Administration devastated Constitutional government during the 1930s and involved us in another world war in the following decade.
America is still in transition. We have not yet become as brutal and vile as Rome in her last days but we have become infinitely more brutal and vile than we were fifty years ago. The partitioning (Balkanization) of our society has set the stage for the civil unrest that initiated the deterioration of the Roman Empire. We are ripe for rioting and rioting would immediately initiate latent police state legislation.
Great leaders are spawned by moral societies and as the moral fiber of the nation declines so does the quality of leadership. That maxim is exemplified in the re-election of President George W. Bush. The current Administration has initiated a policy of pre-emptive war. It has increased the size and power of our government by taking control of our airports and legislating the unconstitutional Patriots Act. The penchant for power and secrecy that surrounds the current Bush Administration is frightening.
America may have reached a point where a righteous leader would meet a mysterious demise but we will never know since we have not been privileged with righteous leadership during my lifetime.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”