And Now For Something Completely Different

We Are Doomed

This is an absolutely true statement, we are doomed. But that was true the moment we were born. The real question is what will you do in the period in-between? Will you let yourself become obsessed with politics and the coming even worse economy? The Beloved Editor of the Prophecy Podcast blog, Pam Dewey, has been writing about these issues on her own blog. Here is an excerpt from the 23rd. (!) in a series on this:

And yet—there really are not widespread devastating conditions as yet in most of the country. Just worrisome “trends.” Unless we as Christians are able to come to a sense of inner peace in these relatively “good times,” we are going to be no use to ourselves and others in the bad. I’m suspicious that many of my troubled friends are not really troubled just by “current conditions.” A significant proportion of people who consider themselves Christians seem to be victims of life-long issues of discouragement, doubt, fears, anxiety, and more—totally outside of any added obsession with partisan politics. Given the large number of Bible passages that admonish believers to not worry, to trust God, to have faith in His plans for them, I am also suspicious that this isn’t just a modern affliction. It seems to be a timeless one, touching people in every generation since Jesus walked the Earth in the first century.  

The emphasis in the series is that there is no reason to be upset about current events as things have always been bad. (This is my waggish summary.) In this post she talks about WWII, and that even in such disaster, it is possible to hope for a better tomorrow. 

While my posts tend to be pessimistic, I try to mix in what you can do to make things better. Pam’s posts tend to be optimistic, but she mixes in the reality of our current situation. I think both approaches have validity, but my approach seems to be draw out of the prophets, while Pam’s approach seems to be drawn from some of Paul’s letters like 1 Thessalonians 5:

¹⁴ Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. ¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

Where Did These Cats Come From? Pam!!!! So if you want a dose of “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks” mosey on over to one of Pam’s blogs (or become her daughter’s friend on Facebook). If you want a dose of “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil,” stay right here.

But please Pam, fewer cat pictures!

Isaiah 5: A Song for Our Time

Everything goes in cycles. Patterns exist and can be seen, if you have the eyes to see them and the ears to hear them.  No, history does not repeat, but it does rhyme. So in that spirit I made a very small change to the Message’s translation of Isaiah 5. If the shoe fits, wear it. 

Looking for a Crop of Justice

5 ^1-2 I’ll sing a ballad to the one I love,
    a love ballad about his vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard,
    a fine, well-placed vineyard.
He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,
    and planted the very best vines.
He built a lookout, built a winepress,
    a vineyard to be proud of.
He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,
    but for all his pains he got junk grapes.

^3-4 “Now listen to what I’m telling you,
    you who live in Washington and London.
What do you think is going on
    between me and my vineyard?
Can you think of anything I could have done
    to my vineyard that I didn’t do?
When I expected good grapes,
    why did I get bitter grapes?

^5-6 “Well now, let me tell you
    what I’ll do to my vineyard:
I’ll tear down its fence
    and let it go to ruin.
I’ll knock down the gate
    and let it be trampled.
I’ll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for—
    thistles and thorns will take over.
I’ll give orders to the clouds:
    ‘Don’t rain on that vineyard, ever!’”

⁷ Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    is the country of America
All the men and women of England
    are the garden he was so proud of.
He looked for a crop of justice
    and saw them murdering each other.
He looked for a harvest of righteousness
    and heard only the moans of victims.

You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil

^{No Isaiah 5:8 is not speaking against apartments, but against greed and selfishness8-10} Doom to you who buy up all the houses
    and grab all the land for yourselves—
Evicting the old owners,
    posting no trespassing signs,
Taking over the country,
    leaving everyone homeless and landless.
I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say:
“Those mighty houses will end up empty.
    Those extravagant estates will be deserted.
A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,
    a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.”

^11-17 Doom to those who get up early
    and start drinking booze before breakfast,
Who stay up all hours of the night
    drinking themselves into a stupor.
They make sure their banquets are well-furnished
    with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,
But they’ll have nothing to do with the work of God,
    pay no mind to what he is doing.
Therefore my people will end up in exile
    because they don’t know the score.
Their “big men” will starve to death
    and the common people die of thirst.
Sheol developed a huge appetite,
    swallowing people nonstop!
Big people and little people alike
    down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.
The down-and-out on a par
    with the high-and-mighty,
Windbag boasters crumpled,
    flaccid as a punctured bladder.
But by working justice,
    God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.
By working righteousness,
    Holy God will show what “holy” is.
And lambs will graze
    as if they owned the place,
Kids and calves
    right at home in the ruins.

^18-19 Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,
    who haul sin to market by the truckload,
Who say, “What’s God waiting for?
    Let him get a move on so we can see it.
Whatever The Holy of America has cooked up,
    we’d like to check it out.”

^{Doom To Those That Call Evil Good20} Doom to you who call evil good
    and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
    and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

^21-23 Doom to you who think you’re so smart,
    who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!
All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers
    who collect trophies from drinking bouts
And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty
    while you violate the rights of the innocent.

²⁴ But they won’t get by with it. As fire eats stubble
    and dry grass goes up in smoke,
Their souls will atrophy,
    their achievements crumble into dust,
Because they said no to the revelation
    of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
Would have nothing to do
    with The Holy of America.

^25-30 That’s why God flamed out in anger against his people,
    reached out and knocked them down.
The mountains trembled
    as their dead bodies piled up in the streets.
But even after that, he was still angry,
    his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.
He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation,
    whistles for people at the ends of the earth.
And here they come—
    on the run!
None drag their feet, no one stumbles,
    no one sleeps or dawdles.
Shirts are on and pants buckled,
    every boot is spit-polished and tied.
Their arrows are sharp,
    bows strung,
The hooves of their horses shod,
    chariot wheels greased.
Roaring like a pride of lions,
    the full-throated roars of young lions,
They growl and seize their prey,
    dragging it off—no rescue for that one!
They’ll roar and roar and roar on that Day,
    like the roar of ocean billows.
Look as long and hard as you like at that land,
    you’ll see nothing but darkness and trouble.
Every light in the sky
    will be blacked out by the clouds.

De Facto, De Jure, DiGiorno

There is an important distinction that I use to look at the world. It is the difference between de facto and de jure.  Taking important concepts and giving them artificial names in another language can be a helpful step in one’s understanding of things. Here is how Wikipedia describes the difference between the two terms. 

De facto is a Latin expression that means “concerning fact.” In law, it often means “in practice but not necessarily ordained by law” or “in practice or actuality, but not officially established.” It is commonly used in contrast to de jure (which means “concerning the law”) when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique (such as standards) that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation. When discussing a legal situation, de jure designates what the law says, while de facto designates action of what happens in practice. It is analogous and similar to the expressions “for all intents and purposes” or “in fact”. The term can also be used in the context of conducting activity as a “matter of course” e.g. copying an individual on an email de facto.

This point even comes up in Biblical interpretation. Here is Romans 13 (The Message version): 

^{Here is where the Roman Government took Christians to die. 1-3} Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.

^3-5 Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you’ll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That’s why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.

^6-7 That’s also why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.

Is Paul talking about human government in a de facto or de jure way? In other words is there an official relationship between God and human governments or instead, is it that as a general rule, governments leave you alone unless you are up to something? 

Two examples may help us understand which Paul means. I am going to violate an internet meme and bring up Hitler. The King James says this, “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Was Hitler ordained of God? I remember a long Facebook disagreement I had over this. Finally my frenemy admitted that he thought that Hitler was ordained of God. When you come to an absurd conclusion, I suggest that you have made a mistake somewhere. 

Are governments God’s agents, or Satan’s agents? Ephesians 6 tells us who we as Christians should fight against. 

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,

I chose the King James Version here because it retains the phrasing of the Greek of “principalities and powers.” There is an “underworld.” No, I am not talking about the stereotypical Dante’s Hell. There are spiritual forces at work and these forces control governments. 

So should we then disobey government? Titus 3:1 tells us:

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work

Even though the world is Satan’s world, we still need to obey governments. In general, in a de facto way, that is just the way the world works. If you oppose the Beast, it will eventually get you. If you try to ride the Beast, it will turn on you and devour you. This is good practical advice.  

My other example is that just a short time after Roman 13 was written, Paul was beheaded. Nero, the Hitler of his age, took Christians and impaled them on stakes, covered them with tar, and set them afire, while they were still alive. This would light his parties. Was Nero ordained of God to do this? Was turning Christians into human tiki torches what God had in mind? 

So then can we as Christians serve in the police and the military? In a de jure way, yes we can. There is nothing in the Bible to forbid it. But in a practical de facto way, Christians should not serve in these functions. If you are a member of the military you are giving your assent to the illegal acts of the government you serve. Will you refuse an unlawful order? A soldier is supposed to have this right, in a de jure way. In a de facto way, if you try this you will be arrested. In my view illegal and immoral acts of the military are relatively common. In fact the last legal war, in a de jure way, was WWII. 

A Christian Policeman has these same issues. Police perjury is relatively common in the judicial system. The idea is to frame the guilty. This is common enough that it has a name—“testilying.” 

If you as a police officer see police brutality, will you report it? Will you as a police officer, report other officers who get freebies from prostitutes? Will you cross that “thin blue line” and snitch on your fellow officers? No one likes a snitch. If you do, in a de facto way your career is over. I do not see how someone can serve in either the military or a police force and retain one’s conscience—“having their conscience seared with a hot iron” as Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 4.  

Can a Christian serve in either job? Absolutely. Should a Christian do so, hell no. You can’t leave Babylon the Great by serving it.  

Slavery and God’s Judgment

Steven Martens asked a question in a comment on my most-read blog post this month, Band of Angels (Behold He Comes). It was an interesting enough question that I decided to make another blog entry about slavery. After giving a reference that 4% of the total slaves crossing the ocean were going to America, Steven asked:

My question is: Why would a judgment of God come upon North America and seem to not land upon the countries which ended up owning the 96%?

I have several comments on this. The first is that I doubt the guestimate Steven provides. Just a modest increase in the estimate of slaves transported to America or a modest decrease in the estimate of the total number of slaves shipped would dramatically increase the percentage. Or an increase in the total slaves shipped would decrease the percentage. One would also need to factor in that the slave trade stopped in America relatively early.

But I risk quibbling on this if I am not careful. The 4% estimate of the percentage of slaves that ended up in North America may in fact be too high. The entire slave trade was huge. The death rate for slaves in the Caribbean was quite high and this required constant replacement slaves. Wikipedia estimates it at 1/3 dying in the first year after arrival.

One recurring theme we have all seen in old movies and books from the time was the fear that the slaves had of  being “sold south.” 

Between 1820 and 1860 more than 60 percent of the Upper South’s enslaved population was “sold South.” Covering 25 to 30 miles a day on foot, men, women, and children marched south in large groups called coffles. Former bondsman Charles Ball remembered that slave traders bound the women together with rope. They fastened the men first with chains around their necks and then handcuffed them in pairs.

I am not too confident with this figure of 60% being sold south either, but it was a big fear for the slaves. By selling south I am not meaning that the slaves were exported to the death trap that was the Caribbean. I am meaning that slaves from Virginia were sold south to Georgia. Anyone who has ever been in Georgia knows how horrible that would be! (Note to reader, the beloved editor of the prophecypodcast.com, Pam Dewey, lives in Georgia.) The reality was that this was a much harder life as it involved the establishment of new plantations in new areas. 

Why then was America specially chosen to be punished? It may not have been. The natural consequences of multi-generational slavery had their own reward. Breaking up families to sell them south is a another good example why the American version of slavery was so evil, but not quite as good as the original example of the evils of sex slavery I had in the original post on slavery. “What we sow is what we reap.” Or as Proverbs 6:27-28 tells us. 

Can you build a fire in your lap
    and not burn your pants?
Can you walk barefoot on hot coals
    and not get blisters?

You cannot be involved in multi-generational slavery and not get burned. It is certainly possible that the hand of God in Judgment was laid on the South. This can be true even if others are worse. Here is an example from Isaiah 10:

^1-4 Doom to you who legislate evil,
    who make laws that make victims—

Laws that make misery for the poor,
    that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
    taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
    when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
    What good will your money do you?
A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,
    or just some corpses stacked in the street.
Even after all this, God is still angry,
    his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

Assyria was worse than Judah, yet Assyria was used to punish Judah. The next verses tell us that Assyria was "the rod of God's anger." Assyria too will receive judgment at the appropriate time. The North may have been no better than the South or Caribbean slavery worse than American Slavery, it really does not matter because what “goes around comes around.” 

Yes others were worse, but is this a valid point? 2 Corinthians 10:12 tell us:

Of course we shouldn’t dare include ourselves in the same class as those who write their own testimonials, or even to compare ourselves with them! All they are doing, of course, is to measure themselves by their own standards or by comparisons within their own circle, and that doesn’t make for accurate estimation, you may be sure. (Philips) 

Yes, our excuse that the other guy was worse will not be well received on the Day of Judgment. 

If you are a part of the system then you will receive the punishment due to that system, even if your share of the evil is smaller than others. Since it is impossible to entirely remove oneself from the system that I have been calling Babylon, this is not a happy thought. God does not have to do anything. The natural consequences of our own actions are punishment enough. Looking back on my own life, I see that this is so—no divine intervention needed. 

So was the calamity that was the Civil War from God as punishment? I do not know. But I do know that no one can do evil and not have it come back to haunt them. Thanks Steven for reading my blog and posting such an interesting question.