< When Judgment is coming part 1
The Timing of God’s Wrath
Nov. 9, 2024
This is the first part of a series entitled When Judgment is Coming. This study will give us a brief glimpse of the heart and mind of God. From what we can observe, from the Bible and history, why are some wicked individuals and peoples spared due to the loving patience of God, and why does judgment seem to come very soon, in this life? My prayer is that this study only deepens your understanding of God, and encourages you to live a godly life of holy awe, and exhort you to be more diligent in prayer and sharing the word. But this study might also change what you tell others when you share the gospel.
Does God Have any Limits?
God is Almighty, All-knowing, very loving, all-present, completely holy and sinless, no limit to His goodness, no beginning, and no ending, but does God have any limits? They Bible shows some “logical contradictions” God cannot do, like sin, lie, or deny Himself. But does God have any limits? Yes, God can place whatever limits on Himself however and whenever He likes. The Bible shows one limit that God has placed upon Himself. God has limits on his patience with the wicked, before judgment comes. 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 shows that people fill up their measure of sin, or sin up to the limit. In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that a reason he did not inherit the land now, was that the sin of the people of the land had not yet reached their full measure, - at least until Joshua’s time.
The Bible does not only saw that God gets annoyed, or that God gets angry, but also that God has great wrath. If an extremely liberal Christian said, “I just want to ignore the books of the Bible that bring up God’s wrath”, which books would they have to ignore? Exodus 15:17; Numbers 16:46; 18:5; 25:11; Deuteronomy 9:7-22; 28:18; Joshua 9;20; 22:20; 2 Kings 22:13-17; 23:26; 1 Chronicles 27:24; 2 Chronicles 28:13; 29:8; Ezra 5:12; 8:22; Nehemiah 13:8; Job 21:30; Psalm 2:12; 21:9; Proverbs 11:4; 21:18; Isaiah 9:19; 10:6; Jeremiah 4:4; 7:20; Lamentations 2:2-4; 3:1; Ezekiel 5:13-15; 8:18; Daniel 9:16; Hosea 13:11; Micah 5:15; Nahum 1-2; Habakkuk 3:2,12; Zephaniah 1:15,18; Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7; John 3:36; Romans 1:18; Ephesians 2:3; 5:6; Colossians 3:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:16; Revelation 11:18; 14:10. If a person rejects that the truth that God has wrath, it might be more honest that they not call themselves a Christian.
Jeremiah 6:9-11 even says that God can be weary of holding His wrath back. "This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches. To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.”
Just how bad do a people have to be before their destruction?
In Jeremiah 26:13 Jeremiah prophesied to the people to amend their ways to turn aside the doom that God has pronounced. However, in Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11 God told Jeremiah NOT to pray for the people. They had made up their mind, and so there was no escaping the doom of the nation. In Ezekiel 8-9, God chose to give us a glimpse into His thinking.
Here are some factors that can be involved.
1) The severity of the sin. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, and not the peoples around them, because of the severity of their wickedness. Some people can do some very bad things. David committed adultery and murder; but after discipline he repented. Hosea’s wife left him and went back to being a prostitute. But through Hosea God showed his tender mercy and forgiveness. Saul of Tarsus was very evil, having Christians killed, but instead of destroying Him, Christ appeared to Saul, and Saul, soon to be Paul, repented.
2) How much they know. In Numbers 14:19-23 it was the Israelites having seen the signs and then being disobedient that they had to wonder for 40 years. Pharaoh and Abimelech were warned about Abraham’s wife, but they were not punished. Also Romans 4:15; 5:12 show that sin is not counted where there is no knowledge not to do the sin.
3) People’s willingness to repent. Is there hope that the people would repent? The Ninevites were exceedingly violent, and in human eyes it would look like there was no hope. But God saw differently, and the Ninevites repented, at least for a time, at the preaching of Jonah. But in Nineveh’s case, there was a plague in 765, a solar eclipse on 6/15/763, another plague in 759, and then Jonah in 758/757 B.C.
4) Believer’s prayer. 1 Sam 12:12 says, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
5) No ineffective prayer. Our prayers can be ineffective if we ignore the cry of the poor, according to Proverbs 21:13. A righteous person helps the poor, according to Psalm 41:1 and Proverbs 29:7. Other things can hinder our prayers too.
6) Have believers gone to sleep? As children of the light, and of the day, Christians need to arise from sleep, as Ephesians 5:13-14. We should be alert to be on point on our mission, and observant of what is going on around us, rather than be asleep as 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7 warns against. Matthew 24:42 and Isaiah 5:5 also tell us to watch out and not be asleep. While Jonah’s ship was about to sink Jonah was asleep in the hold in Jonah 1:5. In Judges 16:19 Samson was asleep in Delilah’s lap right before the Philistines captured him. Laodicea was neither hot nor cold in Revelation 3:14-16.
Cyprian (250 A.D.) wrote, “Let us urgently pray and groan with continual petitions. For know, beloved brethren, that I was not long ago reproached with this also in a vision, that we were sleepy in our prayers,” Epistles of Cyprian Letter 7 ch.5 p.286
7) Believers are still preaching repentance. We need to go out and preach the word, as Paul admonishes Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2. It is great to preach about God’s love, but in the Bible, from Jonah and the other prophets through Jesus Christ, and through Revelation, more is preached about people needing to repent than God’s love. Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you.” For every time you have told someone about God’s love, how many times have you told someone to repent? One day the evangelist D.L. Moody because he had not shared the gospel with anyone that do. So that evening he went outside and just yelled “repent”. A few days later after one of his revivals, a man come up and said he was just going about his way when he heard one word “repent”, and was convicted.
8) Timing of God’s purposes: God raised up Pharaoh to be in a position of power. God destroyed Pharaoh’s army in Exodus 14:23-28, but only in exactly God’s perfect timing.
9) Other factors we are not aware of. So we do not know God’s counsel, but practically speaking today, we need to wonder just how low do things have to sink before God says, “forget about repenting and God’s protection, there is only going to be destruction.” Is our country about to go that far?
Can God’s Limits be Moved?
Yes, they can! God explains how in Ezekiel 33:1-9 in talking about the watchman. Jeremiah 18:1-2 also shows this when God told Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house.
Examples Where People Hit the Limit
Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:17-26
Israelites wandering in Num 14:19-24; Dt 1:21-37
Canaanites (except the Gibeonites) in Joshua’s time
Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16:3-36
Eli’s sons in 1 Samuel 3:12-14; 4:17-18
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11
When People Did Not Reach the Limit
People of Canaan in Abraham’s time Genesis 15:16
Abraham’s lying in Genesis 12:11-13
Joseph’s brothers and “concurrence” in Gen 50:20-21
Job’s three friends Job 42:7
David’s sins with Bathsheba/Uriah in 2 Sam 11:1-17
Solomon’s sins in 1 Kings 11
Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:1-20
Jonah’s “scuba diving lesson” in Jonah 1:17-2:10
Israel in Pharaoh Shishak’s time 2 Chr 12:7-12
Hosea preaching to Ephraim Hosea 11:1-12
Peter’s denial Matthew 26:33-34,26:69-75
Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-6
John Mark leaving them in Acts 18:37-40
Elymas in Acts 13:6-12
How do you tell someone to repent, where they don’t feel bad or offended? We can ask Jeremiah, or any of the prophets about that. Or we can just ask Jesus and John the Baptist how to tell nicely a brood of vipers to repent. The think the answer from all of them would be the same: we don’t care if they feel bad.
Can we see things coming?
Matthew 24:1-32 and Luke 21:8-12,20,28 go into great detail about when the Day of the Lord will come. But then Matthew 24:42-5:13 says we need to be ready because nobody will know according to Matthew 24:36-39 and 24:42-25:13. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says it will be when people are saying there is peace. So we can see the hammer coming, but we can’t see exactly when God will drop the hammer.
(quotes are from the BSB)
When Judgment is coming part 2
How to tell Demonic Actions from God's Discipline
October 26, 2024
Where did they come from?
Satan was originally a covering cherub. Ezekiel 28:14,16
Satan and demons were originally angels who fell from heaven. Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-19; Revelation 12:3-9.
Demons are the devil’s angels. Matthew 25:41
What do they look like?
Satan was a murderer from the beginning. John 8:44
Lucifer was beautiful with great splendor. Ezekiel 28:7,13;
Satan can appear as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14
Satan appeared in a vision as a fiery red dragon. Revelation 12:3
Demons can appear as ministers of righteousness. 2 Corinthians 11:15
Satan appeared as or possess a serpent in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:1-14
What are Demons Like?
Satan is a personal being who stalks and schemes. Job 1:9-11; 2:4; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:11
Satan prowls looking to devour. 1Pt5:8
Some demons are currently bound. Jude 6.
They have enmity toward us. Genesis 3:15
They are lying spirits. 1 Kings 22:19-22
Demons are unclean spirits. Matthew 12:43; Mark 5:13; Luke 4:34-36; 8:28-33; Acts 5:16.
They can be different kinds of demons, such as powers/principalities of darkness. Colossians 1:13.
Satan is very smart, wiser than Daniel. Ezekiel 28:3-4
They are crafty; we are to be aware of the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
Satan is the father of lies. John 8:44; Revelation 12:9
They fight with angels and tempt, harm, deceive, influence, and possess people
They oppose and contend with good angels. Daniel 10:12-13; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7-9
Tempt people (including Jesus) Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 2:2-13; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5b; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:17;
Satan can fill the heart of a believer to lie. Acts 5:3
Take away the seed of the gospel sown in people. Mark 4:15
They bind people. Luke 13:16
They harm people. Mark 9:18-22
Make people sick. Job 2:5-7; Mark 5:22-27
Sow tares instead of wheat. Matthew 13:39
They can torment believers like Paul. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
They have strongholds 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
They work in the weather, fire from heaven, and other people to kill people. Job 1:15-19.
They have some ability to tell the future. Revelation 3:12-5; Acts 16:16-19
Deceive people (staring with Eve). Genesis 3:13b; 1 Kings 22:19-22; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14; Revelation 20:2-3,10
They deceive / delude people. 1 Kings 22:19-22, even the elect. Matthew 24:24
Satan can have lying wonders. Exodus 7:11-12; Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9
They trap people. The devil has snares and schemes. 2 Corinthians 2:11
Satan sought to sift Peter as wheat. Luke 22:31-32
Demons can repossess people. Matthew 12:43-45
Demons can even possess pigs. Mark 5:11-13; Luke 8:31-33
How can Demons do These Things?
Satan and demons cannot disobey God’s decrees. Matthew 12:27-9; Luke 4:34; 10:17-20; John 10:29
Many times they do so by God’s allowance. Job 1:12; 2:6
But only within God’s limits. Job 1:12; 2:6
Sometimes by God’s command. 1 Kings 22:19-22
How are We to Respond to Demons?
We should not be unaware of Satan’s schemes
Recognize that the reason some oppose God’s work is that they can be considered children of the devil. 1 John 5:10; John 8:44; Acts 13:4.
Stand against evil. Ephesians 6:13-17
Flee temptation 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22 and idolatry 1 Corinthians 10:14
By prayer we are to bind Satan and demons in their work. Matthew 12:29; Mark 3:27
Rejoice! One reason given that Christ came was to destroy the devil’s work. 1 John 3:8
Perhaps Satan should flee from us! James 4:7 says to resist the devil and he will flee from you.
How do you tell the Difference between God’s discipline and Demonic Activity
If a person or a people are not following God, sometimes God’s discipline and demonic activity can be the same!
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul rebukes a church for accepting a man who had his father’s wife. Paul tells them to turn that man over to Satan. What is the reason Paul say to do this in 1 Corinthians 5:5?
Don’t be too shocked. The man was turned over to Satan for his own benefit!
We think of Satan and demons as mysterious, almost all-powerful uncontrollable being to flee from. Gut God sees Satan and demons merely as His unwilling servants and tools.
When Judgment is coming part 3
Serving God well under Bad Leaders
November 2, 2024
All of humanity was a fallen nature. We would do well not to trust ourselves to “do what is right in our own eyes” (Judges 21:25f) without being guided by God’s word. But being fallen does not just mean we sin; it also means we are foolish too. There are many venues for bad leaders: government, media, athletes, social influences, and even religious leaders. There are different types of bad leaders, and a bad leader could be multiple types. This part will see various types and examples of bad leaders, and what we should do.
Self-Serving Evil Rulers
The first type of bad ruler cares only for themselves. In Europe in the Middle Ages, many wars were fought over which potential successor to the throne, either by blood or marriage, had the right or best deserved to be the leader. Which person would be the best for the people was a question never asked. Even today, a few elections ago, a voter said that she was voting for Hilary Clinton, and her rationale was “she deserved it.” There was a third grade school teacher who every year, as a class exercise, held an election in her class over who would be the “class president”. Every year the results were the same; the person who won campaigned on free candy for the class, and often for firing the teacher! Perhaps, for many, their wisdom in voting has not progressed much farther than the third grade!
Principled Evil Rulers
These leaders might be even more dangerous. People might respect them more, because they are willing to sacrifice things for themselves for what they perceive as the higher good of the country. But their idea of what is good is all messed up. When the communists took over Mainland China, they had a reputation for NOT being corrupt, unlike the government officials before them.
Another uncompromising leader, prophesied about in Daniel 11:6-32 was the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanius. He insisted that the Jews stop worshipping the One True God and worship the Greek gods. You can read about it in the apocryphal books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. These are not scripture, but they are fairly accurate history, though they have a few mistakes.
When evil is institutionalized, it can become a “stronghold”, where it is difficult to convince society that it is wrong. Examples are slavery of black-Americans, abortion, and LBGT+.
Another form of “principled evil” in leadership is astrology and the occult. In the west those practices originally came from Babylon. By Roman times, they came to the Roman Empire primarily through the city Pergamum in Asia Minor. That is probably why in Revelation 2:13 Jesus says that Pergamum is the place “where Satan has his throne”. Since then others have tried to use the occult. Did you know that even in the white house, Mary Lincoln and Nancy Reagan tried to tell the future using astrology? Hitler relied on astrologers for the last half of World War II. So the British hired a bunch of astrologers; not because the British believed in astrology, but because they wanted to try to figure out what astrologers would be telling Hitler. In 1994, Robert Citron, the treasurer-tax collector of Orange County, California used an astrologer and psychic for interest rate prediction. The result was that Orange County, one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, went bankrupt.
Foolish Followers Enable Foolish Leaders
The simple but excellent TED Talk on why we are attracted to bad leaders, such as Ernest Shackleton vs. Roald Amundsen, is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU06c7f9fzc
A statistics study done of U.S. presidents shows that the presidents were on average taller than average, and the winner of a presidential election was often taller than the loser. Lincoln, Johnson, and Trump were the tallest at 6’4” and 6’3.5” and 6.3”. Clinton was 6’2.5”, George H. Bush was 6’2”. Joe Biden and George W. Bush are only 6’0. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_presidents_and_presidential_candidates_of_the_United_States.
Warren G. Harding liked to chase women, drink, and play poker. He was not particularly smart, and his empty speeches were characterized as “an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea.” But he had a good voice for speaking, was courteous, and very handsome, or as someone said, “Why he even looks like a Senator.” And so he became “President Harding”. Under him was the infamous Teapot Dome scandal, and while president he had an affair while in office. Historians rank him as one of the worst U.S. Presidents, even though he only serve two years (1921-1922) before dying of a stroke. Why did he ever get to be president? – He looked the part. See Malcom Gladwell’s book blink p.72-75 for more.
People might vote for someone just because they look like them, are the same race, or same background. For example, Barak Obama told black men to vote for Harris because she is black. What a poor, racist excuse for a reason! But others would only vote for a white, Hispanic, or Chinese because of their race too. As one voter put it, “they may be scoundrels, but they are our scoundrels!”
Now, knowing this tendency that people have, read 1 Samuel 10:23-24. We can see that since the popular voice of the people wanted a king, God gave them a king that looked very pleasing to them. Of course, what he would do after he settled in to his powerful condition was another question entirely.
In studying why the people of Israel predominantly rebelled against David and went with Absalom, we can look at 2 Samuel 15:1-23. Absalom being young probably looked more dynamic and relatable to young people than elderly King David. Rather Absalom had a long-term, well-thought out, traitorous plan to steal the hearts of the people from David. Why did the people choose Absalom over David? The two answers sound banal: Absalom treated them with respect and politeness, and Absalom claimed he wished he could provide them justice, i.e. decide their way in any legal cases they had. That was all it took!
Rotten, Too-Compromising Christians
Should leaders, or anyone for that matter, compromise? On essential things never. But on non-essential things certainly. In the times of the early church a bad leader was Zephyrinus, Bishop of Rome from 199-217 A.D. (they did not have popes yet.) He and the bishop of Rome after him, Callixtus (217-222 A.D.) were Modalists, not Trinitarians. Callixtus also gave absolution to all who committed adultery. Hippolytus and Caius wrote about this.
The Roman Emperor Philip the Arabian (244-249 A.D.) has been claimed by historians to be the first Christian emperor. Let’s see what you think. Philip worshipped God and stopped all persecution of Christians. But Philip himself also continued to sacrifice to the Roman gods. He ruled until he was betrayed and killed by Decius, who became emperor after him and heavily persecuted Christians.
Later in 897, after Roman Pope Formosus died, his corpse was dug up, put on trial, and convicted of heresy by Pope Stephen VI. All of Formosus’ actions, pronouncements, and ordinations were declared null and void, the three fingers that he would use to pronounce a blessing were cut off.
Uncompromising Leaders
An early controversy was when Easter should be celebrated: the time Christians in the west keep it today, are at the same time as the Jewish Passover. Most early Christians kept it as Christians today, but a number of Christians in Asia Minor, called Quartodecimans, kept it at the same time as the Passover. Victor, bishop of Rome was going to excommunicate them over that. However, Irenaeus of Lyons and others prevailed upon Victor to have a softer response.
Christians who follow believer’s baptism have been martyred by other Christians who were Lutheran, Calvinist, and Roman Catholic.
In Isaiah 3:4-7 we see that one punishment God gave to the Israelites was bad leaders. At some point God threw up his hands, so to speak, and said He was not going to lead the people of Israel because they were not interested in following Him anyway. And a punishment was that potentially good leaders would not be leading them either. God punished them by making sure that they had bad leaders.
Immature or Inexperienced Leaders
In peaceful, independent times, a king reigned to an old age. Consequently his son only became king when he was somewhat older. In contrast to this 2 Chronicles 36:1-11 says that
Jehoiahaz was 23 and reigned only 3 months
Jehoiakim was 25 and reigned 11 years
Jehoiachin was 8 (really 18) and reigned 3.3 months
Zedekiah was 21 and reigned 11 years
Rehoboam, son of Solomon, was a young man when he became king in 1 Kings 12:8 and 2 Chronicles 10:8. When Ahaz became king he was only twenty years old, or twenty-five in the Septuagint. Many of these kings were young because their predecessor was removed from power so soon.
These kings were not so young that they had an older regent to guide the kingdom, but too young to have much experience. The people were not going to follow God, so in Isaiah 3:4 God said he would give them children as leaders.
Apathetic: At Least Try to be a Wise Leader!
Bad rulers have poor planning. Isaiah 3:1-3 says that stockpiles of food, water, and wise leaders will be taken away. This can be a judgment not just against Israel and Judah, but against any nation that has turned against God.
In some kinds of bad government, the leaders might not often cross their mind much about what is best for the public good. When a leader makes what looks like a foolish decision, a good question to ask is: “How does he or she think this is best for the country?” They answer might be: they are not thinking about that. Perhaps they care about, defeating the opposition, staying in power or their own enrichment more. Why would people not complain about this? For many voters, as long as they think that the leader works in their own best interests they do not care about the country either.
In modern times, another reason there are so few leaders is that virtuous people who would make good leaders are discouraged from doing so. Sometimes it is because they see there is no chance of becoming leader without caving in to special interests.
Some Examples that Power Corrupts
Caligula ruled from 37-41 A.D. Before he was assassinated, he had a statue of himself placed in the Temple of Jerusalem, and planned to make his horse a Roman consul. He started out as a fair and wise emperor, and turned into a bloodthirsty, perverted tyrant by the end. He was succeeded by Claudius.
Nero ruled from 37-68 A.D. His father died when he was very young, and his step-father, the wise Emperor Claudius was probably poisoned by Nero’s mother Agrippina the Younger. So at only 16 years old Nero became emperor. Later Nero went on to force his mother to have sex with him, then later had her murdered, along with his step-brother and Nero’s first wife, his step-sister. He did some smart things early in his reign, when guided by his mother and Seneca the Younger, but later seemed to go crazy with brutality. The Roman historian Suetonius says that Nero was thought to have started the great fire of Rome, blaming it all on Christians, to clear out the poor and make way for another building project. Nero had Christians killed in shows, thrown to the lions, and even made human torches out of them.
And do you know what the Apostle Paul said during this time? He wrote Romans 13:1-5, be subject to the authorities over you. And even more amazingly, Paul wrote Romans 13:7 which says to honor the king. I dare say that what Paul wrote (and also chose not to write) about Roman rulers, was a lot more respectful than what Americans say and write about their government officials!
Conclusion
While there have been some good leaders too, the world
has had what is seems is more than its share of rotten ones. Nevertheless,
Christian are still to honor the king (Romans 13:7), pay their taxes (Romans
13:7; Matthew 22:17-21), and obey all laws that are not against God’s laws (Romans
13:1-3). “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2,
BSB)
When Judgment is coming part 4
Do Nations also Reap what they Sow?
Oct. 26, 2024
A person sows what they reap, according to Galatians 6:7-8. But can nations also reap what they sow? Let’s look at examples in the Bible, then in later history in other countries, and finally in America.
Does a Nation Suffer for a Leader’s Sins?
Ezekiel 18 shows that an individual is guilty for their own sin, not their parents’. Likewise their parents’ righteousness does them no good if they are wicked. But what about leaders and nations?
Solomon started off well serving the Lord. Later he had many wives, which Scripture said not to have; they were pagan women who turned his heart away from God and he built many altars to their gods too. So God told Solomon that because of his sin, half the kingdom would be taken away, but because of David it would happen in the time of his son (Rehoboam), not his. (1 Kings 11)
In the Book of Judges the people alternated between following God, and turning aside to paganism and being conquered by others. As Judges 21:25 concludes, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
When Nehemiah prayed his prayer of confession in Nehemiah 1:5-11, he did not pray about his own sin here, but only about the sins of the people of Israel. He saw sins in terms of nations as well as individuals. The people suffered consequences of the sins of their leaders, but when they followed their evil leaders they became guilty too.
In Subsequent History
When the 90K to 200K Goths were fleeing from the Huns in 376 A.D., they asked the Roman Emperor Valens permission to cross the Danube and settle in the Roman Empire. The Romans allowed them, but did not permit them to get food and they were starving. So from 376-382 the Goths fought the Romans, and at the Battle of Adrianople Emperor Valens was killed. In 410 A.A., the wester Goths (Visigoths) sacked the city of Rome itself. If the Romans had treated the Goths better they might have had strong allies to serve in the military instead of enemies.
It is an over-simplification to say that the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire. Cortez did not have enough men to do so. But when Cortez was able to ally with the people the Aztecs fought to get human sacrifices, together they destroyed the Aztecs.
Other examples are:
Venetians before the Fall of Constantinople in 1453
Haitians drive out the French 1791-1804
French Revolution 1789-1799
Japanese atrocities against Chinese in World War II
When We Care to fight for the Oppressed, against Genocide?
Psalm 82:3-4 says we are to defend and deliver the poor and needy.
In 1915-1916, during World War I, from 663K to 1.2M Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in the Armenian Genocide. The U.S. president Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. Ambassador to Constantinople Henry Morgenthau Sr. wanted to stop this, but a war-weary U.S. congress was isolationist and did not want to help anyone. American did raise $110 million (over $1 billion in today’s dollars) in humanitarian aid. One consequence of this genocide was that Hitler was emboldened to exterminate the Jews. He said that when the Armenians were slaughtered the world did not car. A second effect was that Morgenthau’s son, Henry Morgenthau Jr., secretary of treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt, persuaded him to save over 200,000 Jewish refugees from Hitler.
Belgian king Leopold II ruled the Belgian Congo as his personal property (not Belgium’s) from 1885-1908. He became extremely wealthy from the rubber plantations, and 6 to 10 million Congolese were killed. Many more were mutilated or had limbs amputated when their village did to produce its quota of rubber. Litter children were killed or had limbs amputated because of low quota by their parents. Some defended Leopold as not responsible because he never went to the Congo personally, but Belgians booed him at his funeral. However, later many statues were erected to him in Belgium. The Belgians are started to deface these and take them down.
In 1993 around 800,000 people were killed in the Rwanda genocide. To stop them there were only 2600 UN Peacekeepers; too small a force. America contributed none, because despite the U.S. having signed a Treaty to send peacekeepers when genocide was occurring, the Clinton administration said that while there were “signs of genocide” they would not say it was genocide, and thus they were not obligated to help anyone. This was right after “Blackhawk down” in Somalia, and apparently Clinton did not want to intervene anymore. A consequence of this has been war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with some of the same soldiers that slaughtered Rwandans, since 1996 that has resulted in 6 million deaths. Did we care about that?
Right now there is starvation in part of Sudan due to War between rival Muslim groups, one of whom is supported by the United Arab Emirates.
When Some would Rather Fight or Ignore than Care
We are to be peacemakers in Matthew 5:9 and James 3:18. We are to seek peace with all in Hebrews 12:14. Romans 12:18 says that as far as possible, be at peace with all. It does not promise that we can or should have peace with all, but that should be our desire. Here are some examples where there were failures where there could have been peace.
Do you know that the American Revolution might not have happened? King George III of Britain opposed American independence to the end, but, it was Lord North and the English parliament that took the lead in the onerous Stamp Act of 1765 and the duties in 1767 on tea, paper, and other items. The British Empire (including the American colonies) had fought costly world-wide wars with Spain and France, and they needed revenue to pay for it. It was be politically easier for the parliament of people who had representation to tax people who had no representation. American patriots also saw the war was avoidable; they sent a delegation to London to try to get England to address grievances. Most people do not know that later there was a revolution in Canada too, in 1837-1838. However, the British, having learned their lesson in America, sent over leaders to understand the situation, unite the French and English provinces in one colony, and have a satisfactory solution for everyone.
The American Indian Wars have many causes, but in genera the treaty-breaking Americans did not treat Indians as well as the French and Canadians did.
Did you know the Civil War, with its 620K to 750K deaths, might have been avoidable? While Donald Trump was ridiculed for saying that maybe something could have been worked out, he might be right here. The British Empire had a lot of slaves too. Through the efforts of Wilberforce and every slave was freed in Great Britain and all of its colonies peacefully without any fighting. What was the big difference, you ask? Great Britain provided compensation to slave owners. Perhaps many in the United States were more against slavery spreading than they were to copy was Britain had already accomplished in finding an agreement to abolish it.
From 1899-1911, after the Spanish-American War, the United States made The Philippines a colony instead of granting them independence. To do so, 1.4 million Filipinos, about one-sixth of the country, were killed, many by starvation after 126,000 American troops invaded, fought, and burned their crops. Mark Twain wrote about this: “…I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone to conquer, not to redeem… And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the [American] eagle put its talons on any other land.” October 15, 1900, The New York Herald
Did you know that World War II, with its 50-80 million dead, did not need to happen? At the start of the war, Russia was on Germany’s side, coordinating with them in the conquest of Poland. One way to have fewer deaths in a war is not to fight for the wrong side, and then switch sides. But a more important way World War II could have been avoided was by not making the war reparations so harsh on Germany. Great Britain was a very prosperous country before World War I, and they lost much of their wealth fighting. The financial reparations put on Germany after the war, while perhaps just, were so severe, that Germans would vote for anyone, no matter how extreme, that promised to keep them from starvation by refusing to pay any more reparations. A bare majority of Germans supported Hitler at first, and later Hitler killed his opposition.
But once the war did start, Germany was still weak militarily. The allies addressed this is “appeasement”, reasoning that if Hitler just took Czechoslovakia, he would not want anything else. Once the war started, a quick French, British, and American invasion of the Rhineland, while German troops were in Poland, might have ended it.
In 1953, after democratically elected leader Mohammad Mossadeq nationalized western oil interests, American CIA and great Britain organized a coup that deposed him and brought the Shah to power as a dictator. America and great Britan destroyed democracy in this country after it harmed their commercial interested. All seemed to go well, until 1979 when Khomeini came to power.
Did you know many scholars say that the Vietnam War was avoidable, starting with when Truman was president? Max Hastings’s Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy and Geoffrey C. Ward’s The Vietnam War show how. Basically if the Vietnamese fought against the Japanese in World War II they were promised independence after the War. The war ended and instead Vietnam and its valuable rubber plantations were given back to France, including its Michelin tires. Ho Chi Minh originally was favorably disposed to the United States, until the allies went back on their word. Then he turned to the U.S.S.R. and China. If we had kept our word, or even belatedly recognized them by 1964 or so, there would have been no Vietnam War where about 1.35 million people died. See https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2018/09/vietnam-war-epic-tragedy-max-hastings-intimate-history-geoffrey-ward-ken-burns-review#:~:text=Both%20wars%20share%20many%20traits,his%20advisers%20constantly%20pointed%20out. For more info.
In 1971, the U.S. supported a coup against the democratically elected Bolivian president Juan José Torres, who was considered left-leaning. America’s policy of containment included supporting coups in other countries, such as Brazil under Gerald Ford and Argentina, that might be friendly towards the U.S.S.R. too.
But as for American fighting Barbary pirates, in Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, and al Qaeda, and ISIS, well, from America’s perspective we needed to fight those wars.
What About Western Society Today?
America has done some good, unselfish things too:
Threaten to fight if the European countries split up China into colonies around 1899.
Send out many missionaries
Set up the Marshall Plan after World War II
Forgive and help Japan after World War II
President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878 was arbiter after the bloody War of the Triple Alliance where Paraguay lost 70-90% of its male population.
In The United States, Canada, and most of Europe they have or have had the following:
Racism
No religion in school
Abortion: Genocide of our own children
Selling baby body parts
Drugs (fentanyl, methamphetamine, etc.)
Bloody games and violent crime
De facto legalization of mind-destroying drugs
Pornography
LBGQT
Transgender identification and operations
“Liberal Christian” churches that turn their back on God’s commands, especially homosexuality and pre-marital sex.
Uncaring towards others
On the horizon are even more sins.
Euthanasia
Jailed for repeating what the Bible says about homosexuality and abortion.
Arrested of silently praying about abortion (Today in England)
Sex with kids and animals
Do nations reap what they sow. I would suggest that America has not, - at least not yet.
We like to sing “God Bless America”, or in Great Britain “God save the Queen”. But America has turned its back on God, and is no longer a Christian Nation, as Obama said. We have already had “warning shots” of destruction, such as AIDS, hurricane Katrina, 200,000 claimed killed by COVID (perhaps more like 100K to 150K) and other disasters. Do you wonder how long it will be before God destroys America like he had other evil nations destroyed. We need to pray to confess the evil of our nation, preach repentance, and perhaps the people will turn from their wicked ways and avert God’s wrath.
When Judgment is coming part 5
Christian Experience in Persecution
November 1, 2024
General Principles
It can be a challenge to serve God faithfully, without compromise, under evil rulers. Fortunately, we can learn from “our elder siblings”, the martyrs, confessors, and other Christians who have lived before us. But according to World Christian Trends AD 30-AD 2200, p.227,243, there have been about 70 million total Christian martyrs up to 2001, and 46 million of them have been since 1914. There are so many persecutions we almost don’t hear about them anymore. For example, did you know that the Muslim leader of Uganda, Idi Amin, had 300,000 Christians killed?
In general, here is how to think about dealing with situation.
1) In advance, resolve in your heart to glorify God in the difficult situation
2) Pray about what God would want you to do
3) Know that God will give you the words to say
4) Be vigilant. For example, in a Christian church in Uttar Pradesh, India, one night some people through cow bones in the church. Soon after, the police came because they had received a report that Christians were secretly eating beef in the church. They found the cow bones, and then destroyed the church.
5) Don’t compromise on essential things (stand like Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.)
We are going to see what we can learn from our elder siblings and compare what they did with the Bible. In these situations, ask yourself which of the following is operative in the situation.
1) Keep your thoughts hidden, and people can assume what they wish.
2) Don’t let people speak evil of something.
3) Stand against something if asked.
4) Proverbially, it is “a hill to die on”.
Give thought in advance about where you will go along with something you don’t trust is a good idea, or stand your ground.
Christian Tenacity under the Romans
Life was rough for early Christians. Severe persecutions, such as under Decius, aimed to eradicate Christianity. Technically, they were not killed for being Christians, and they were not killed for worshipping the /One True God. After all, the Roman Empire tolerated the Egyptian Religion, the Phrygian, Persian, and Druid religions. They only requirement was that you had to worship the Emperor also. Early Christians would rather die than compromise on that.
However, some Christians saw an out. Some wealthy Christians would bribe a government official to say they were seen sacrificing Others paid someone else, or sent a slave to sacrifice for them. They early church said these were wrong, because it would give the world a testimony that they sacrificed, even though it was a false one.
Not only did they persecute Christians, but they justified that by maligning Christians. Christians were condemned as cannibals. After all, didn’t they eat part of a body and drink blood at the Lord’s Supper? They were accused of committing incest. After all, didn’t they marry spouses who were “brothers or sisters in the Lord”? So don’t think you necessarily will be in a “fair fight”, or be in a fair court.
Christians still obeyed the laws that were not against God’s teaching though. They differentiated between “legal laws” and “illegal laws” which is a play on words in Greek. But when the Romans told them to deliver over all their Christian books, they had to decide which books were scripture (and to be hidden instead of turned over), and other Christian books that could be turned over because they were not worth you losing your life for.
It is OK to be quiet at times. But never stop looking for opportunities to share the gospel, even if they are fewer, like in the early church. Many Christians were from the lower classes or slaves. A number were pedagogues or teachers of children. Many times the parents did not become Christians but the kids did.
Even if you are about to be killed, it is not too late to share about the Lord. Around 250 A.D., when Potamiaena and her mother Marcella were sentenced to death, the Roman soldier Basilides was escorting her to prison and tried to protect her from the mob. Potamiaena said she would forget him after she died. Three days after her death, Basilides saw her in a dream, became a Christian, and later he too was martyred.
Christian Tenacity under Islam
Christians and Jews under Islam was given some protection as “dhimmis” as long as they pay their jizya, a tax on unbelievers. The tax could be high though, at its worst, a quarter of their possessions. Legally, Mohammed said that if a Muslim unjustly killed a dhimmi under Muslim rule, the Muslim’s punishment was only that he would not be able to smell in paradise. It was forbidden to execute a Muslim for killing a non-Muslim. In a court of law, a Muslim woman’s testimony only counts half as much as a Muslim man’s (Bukhari vol.3 book 48 no.826 p.502), and a non-Muslim’s testimony is not to be counted at all. It is hard for a Christian to defend themselves, against sexual assault or theft.
In some persecution, you are permitted certain things, but you are carefully watched to see if you slip up. For example, a Christian working in an office in Kazakhstan made copies of some Christian materials on the office copy machine. He was jailed over that.
Christian Tenacity under the Nazis
What is you are called to be silent as Jews, Gypsies, the mentally retarded and eastern Europeans are killed. Killing the Jews was called the Holocaust, and killing eastern Europeans was called “Lebensraum” in the Mien Kampf, or “breathing room” to empty the land so that German people could expand there.
What if you are called to serve in the military, on the evil side in a war? Or what if, like Italians in Ethiopia, you are called to fight people who were never at war with you, in a pointless war?
The Christians who hid the Jews and helped them escape were lawbreakers and criminals, against the Nazi law. There can come a terrible time where you are sinning if you are NOT a criminal.
Christian Tenacity under Communism
Just prior to communism taking over, many Christians in Mainland China believed that God would rapture them or otherwise spare them from persecution and hard times. It was shocking to find out that this was not the case: great persecution occurred in China, and many pastored were jailed for 10 or 20 years. During the Cultural Revolution, if someone openly declared they were a Christian, they might never be seen again.
I have seen an American church preach patriotism and one conservative Baptist church had an entire service on the Fourth of July that was a flag ceremony. Should a church have these things, - if they are in a Communist country?
You have to watch yourself, but you also have to watch your kids. Once a couple of sons of missionaries on Mainland China were singing the patriotic songs they had to sing in class, but they changed the words to make fun of the songs. The authorities found out about that. They talked with the missionaries, the missionaries made sure their kids did not do that again, and all was OK after that.
In Mainland China there are two kinds of churches. One is the government-approved “Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church, and the other is underground house churches. They have some public non-TSPM churches today, but the government confiscates their land and burns them down. In the TSPM churches, government monitors sit in the congregation, but pastors CAN teach the Bible, except that they cannot teach that people are born with a sin nature, and they cannot teach out of the Book of Revelation. Are those people right to compromise with the government on that? Many Chinese Christians say “no”, and that is why they have the underground church movement.
In some places like North Korea, Christians can have the temptation to feel abandoned. Communist North Korea more or less eradicated Christianity in their country, killing 500 pastors from 1940-1950. In North Korea today, if you see someone who is unpatriotic or even looks suspicious, you can be jailed for not reporting them. Some people were even punished for not looking sad enough when the previous leader died!
Remember that in following God, your spouse, kids, or other family might get hurt. You don’t want that, but are you still willing to follow God, if that is what it might mean?
Other Tenacity in Modern Times
Always be willing to forgive when you stand fast, as Stephen did. Helen “Mama” Luka was a World Evangelism Crusade missionary to the Belgian Congo (later called Zaire) from 1953 to 1973. She was imprisoned, beaten, and raped by Congolese rebels for six months. After she was released, what did she do? She remained a missionary there.
In India, people in one party called Indians “unpatriotic” if they were not Hindu. In the United States a Christian implicitly told Muslims that they certainly could not be patriotic Americans since they are Muslims. Actually, for more liberal Muslims that is NOT true.
Even in the United State, people have had tax audits more frequently if you support certain causes.
Many people today get a real kick out of watching violence, whether it be video games, horror, or war. When those things are considered “cool” they might look for someone to try out violence on.
In some countries, including the city of Houston for a time, pastors were supposed to submit a copy of their sermon to the government to review.
It can be good to try to get in an influential position, such as a teacher or tutor. But be OK that you might lose your job because of your faith.
As far as possible, be at peace with all. (Romans 12:18). Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16) – We might need more wisdom as serpents. Don’t be so trustful of everyone as you might be of Christians.
List of References
Bruce, F.F. (editor) New International Bible Commentary. Zondervan Publishing House, 1979.
Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Baker Book House 1989. (1229 pages)
Gaebelein, Frank E. (editor) The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Zondervan, 1992. (12 volumes, 6,806 pages OT, 3,207 pages NT) (Imagine The NIV Study Bible notes expanded by a factor of 100.)
Keil, C.F. and F. Delitzsch. Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament. 10 volumes William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. reprinted 1976.
MacDonald, William, and edited by Art Farstad. Believer’s Bible Commentary. Thomas Nelson, 1995.
Roberts, Alexander and James Donaldson. Ante-Nicene Fathers. volumes 1-10 Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.
Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament. Victor Books, 1983. (991 pages) Written by the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary.