- HOW CAN WE NOT ENVY THE WICKED WHO TEMPORARILY ARE BENEFITTING FROM SUPPORTING WICKEDNESS ?
- WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF BEING WISE IN OUR EYES ?
CAN WE GET OUR NATION TODAY, TO REALIZE THAT SECULARISTIC DECISIONS ARE RUINING EVERYTHING, FOREIGN POLICY AND CULTURE?
Podcast : 8-19-22
Forsaking Godliness Leads to Forsaking Of Political and Cultural Wisdom
LEAVING THE TRUE GOD LEADS TO STUPIDITY AND DISASTER
A society and government that is moving away from God is also moving toward disastrous foolish decisions. God's word blatantly says that a society is blessed that is moving toward God. One that is moving toward more evil is headed for trouble.
Psalms 37:3-7 NKJV 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, ... 7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret... Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
So do not fret over the temporary successes of evil men says God. The crucial decisions of government leaders all revolve around national security historically. This paper will focus on nations that had some level of relationship with the true God. If those nations moved away from God and His Laws they lost the ability to make correct decisions. They became foolish. Decisions about war and military alliances are never easy, but leaving the true God insures disaster. They become confused about right and wrong.
Isaiah 5:18-20 NKJV 18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;.... 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
When leaders of nation like Israel, that had knowledge of God, choose evil practices they drag them down like a cart being weighed down by chains. Those leaders and their people cannot discern things correctly.
Isaiah 5:21-24 NKJV 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!...23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man! 24 Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, ….And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
National security starts to fall apart, and the enemies of that nation had cities turned to dust as they are defeated and make stupid decision regarding war and alliances.
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL MAKES BLUNDEROUS DECISIONS
Both houses of Israel drifted away from God and were warned by Prophets of the dangers. However the northern ten tribes known as Israel ,had fallen sooner to idolatry and decadence. Thanks to Jeroboam I they had gone down because of counterfeit religion first.
Isaiah 6:9-10 NKJV 9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed."
Leadership especially were blinded not just to spiritual issues but also to security matters. Further when a nation rejects God they lose his protection and blessings. The people no longer perceived dangers and negative trends. They had no wise vision.
Isaiah 5:13 NKJV 13 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge;...
The leaders lacked true knowledge and insight and made horrible decisions regarding security of the nation. The northern ten tribes were known also as Samaria, their capital would face this fate first.
2 Kings 17:3-4 NKJV 3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. 4 And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year.
The ungodly king of Israel made a monumentally stupid decision. His nation among many were forced to be vassal kings to the powerful Assyrian Empire. The king changed alliances and allowed himself to trust in the Egyptians for security. The Egyptian secured their border but did nothing when it counted to aid Samaria. A spy within Israel told the Assyrians of his decision to alter his allegiance to Egypt and not pay the tribute.
Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
Hosea was arrested by the Assyrians imprisoned and forced to again swear allegiance to Assyria as a puppet king. Apparently the northern ten later decided to resist the Assyrians and suffered a three year siege. The Assyrians pulled back much of their army and Israel had planned to come out of the capital to break the starvation of the siege. But again they made a bad decision. They waited too long. The entire Assyrian army returned and destroyed the nation. They were permanently removed.
JUDAH ALSO FALLS AWAY AND MAKES THE SAME STUPID MISTAKE
Judah mainly because of more Godly leadership lasted another 120 years in freedom.
2 Kings 18:1-3 NKJV 1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea ... king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign....in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
King Hezekiah made good sound decisions and was righteous and his nations was blessed and prospered. Later, unfortunately for Judah king Manasseh came to the throne. Manasseh as he grew older led Judah faster and faster into paganism and decadence. God's priests were driven from the Temple. Faith was replaced by superstition. Like vultures the wizards, witches and sorcerers fed on the nation. Read II Kings Chapter 21 for more details. He was captured outside the city and taken north and placed in a dungeon. While there, Manasseh realized the pagan gods were not answering his prayers and he decided to pray to the God of his forefathers. He repented and God blessed him and put him back on the throne in Jerusalem. However he could not fully move Judah into similar repentance. Paganism had gotten a good start on the hearts of Judah. He did not live long enough to see his nation fully return to God and his son dived right back into the pagan abyss.
2 Chronicles 36:6-9 NKJV 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon.
Similar to what happened to king of the Israel also happened to the king of Judah. Judah's king also promised now to the Babylonians, absolute loyalty as a vassal king to the Babylonian Empire and no further alliances with Egypt. Evil prevents the wise judgment of men and despite Jeremiah's clear warnings the kings of Judah rebelled based on another alliance with Egypt.
2 Chronicles 36:12-15 NKJV 12 He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.
Again the Egyptians did not save them but proved a weak ally. Judah was destroyed by Babylon.
LEADERS MADE A SIMILARLY DISASTROUS DECISION IN JESUS' DAYS
Jesus warned the leaders of his day that they had gone too far and were actually resisting God. He warned that they were making similar mistakes as there forefathers. They were becoming spiritually and politically blind and could not therefore be good leaders. Like ancient Judah near the end, their hearts were also hardened.
John 12:40-42 NKJV 40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." 41 These things Isaiah said ….42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
Many cleric today are also afraid to speak out publicly about any politically incorrect topic even if it contradicts the Bible. Judah's leaders led them to the unbelievably stupid decision to rebel against the Roman Empire twice. Roman legions were like weapons of mass destruction. Jerusalem was burned and the people taken into captivity. The landscape has not yet fully recovered to this day.
Rebelling against God leads leaders and nations to make horrible decisions and suffer the consequences.
