| Gleanings From My Readings |
GLEANINGS
The Constitution & the
Bible - Are They Both
Outdated?
by Dr. Glenn Mathews
Bible - Are They Both
Outdated?
by Dr. Glenn Mathews
Some months ago, I wrote an article about “Observations, Opinions and
Rants”. In that article, I stated that, “although there were no rantings in
that article, I listed it, reserving the right to “rant” when I felt the desire
to do so. I suppose that the following is one of those rants.
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BIBLE -
ARE THEY BOTH OUTDATED?
The question is not as bizarre as one would first think. A complete
revision of US history would be required to deny the influence the Bible
had on our founding fathers. That we began as a Christian nation ought
to be evident to anyone who gives even shallow consideration of the
question. Our president has stated that we are no longer a Christian
nation. I hate to say it, but he is correct. We are not really “one nation
under God”. We are not a nation overtly opposed to God, but worse, a
nation that disregards God. We are similar to those of whom the
Apostle Paul spoke in Romans 1 who did not wish to retain God in their
knowledge. The movers and shakers of our country speak piously when
running for office and then, for the most part, govern as though they
were “gods”. Sadly, most of us have lain comatose while our rights and
freedoms are being eroded by big government. Big government results
in, among other things, small (think insignificant, incapable, easily
duped) citizens who become more and more dependent upon “our
Father, which art in Washington”.
Our beloved country has major problems in many areas; economically,
socially, militarily and morally, just to name a few. We grope as the
blind, searching in the wrong places for answers. We have separated
ourselves from any regard for the Word of God. We have aborted
(murdered) more than 50 million babies – all done legally! Only God
knows how many of those 50 million would have grown up to become
pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Christian school teachers, Christian
counselors, - not to mention Physicians, Scientists, military generals,
even perhaps an honest politician – even a godly president or supreme
court judge. If a future researcher does in autopsy on the death of the
USA, he or she will have to conclude it was death by suicide.
How can we expect a building to stand when we have moved it away
from its foundation? To many, for a common citizen to suggest that our
troubles are not primarily horizontal, but vertical (not manward but
Godward) is for that person to be branded uninformed, ignorant, trouble
maker – devoid of real understanding of what the situation is and what
might be the cure. I am no rookie, romancing about what should be.
Neither am I an old uneducated old foggie (though I am 76 and have
over 250 semester hours in 5 universities, both secular and religious). I
am not some wild eyed fanatic wanting to see our nation suffer at the
hand of an offended God.
Conservative theology (and I am surely one who holds to that) tends to
look at politics, economics etc. conservatively. As a lover of history, I
can read and see how our country has, little by little at first, and now –
like a snowball rolling downhill not only increases in size but also in
speed - we are wildly careening on a slope - and we seems to have
neither brakes or steering wheel – and the thought of having a reverse
gear is totally foreign to our national mindset.
Now, having dismounted from the soapbox, I ask this question. Is it
possible that there are sections of the Bible that speak of God’s people,
(the Jews) that could also apply to the USA? I am convinced that the
Bible (and the Constitution) are both relevant to our situation. A
Scripture passage will have a primary interpretation, but that same
passage may have multiple applications. One such passage is in
Jeremiah 5:20-31:
(v20) "Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah,
saying,"
(v21) "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding;
which have eyes, and see not, which have ears, and hear not:"
(v22) "Fear ye not me? Saith the LORD; will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a
perpetual degree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waved thereof
toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they
not pass over it?"
(v23) "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone."
(24) "Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our
God that giveth rain , both the former and the latter, in his season: he
reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."
(v25) "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins
have withholden good things from you."
(v26) "For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he
that setter snares: they set a trap, they catch men."
(v27) "As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
Therefore they are become great, and waxen rich."
(v28) "They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of
the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet
they prosper, and the right of the needy do they not judge."
(v29) "Shall I not visit for these things? Saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
(v30) "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;"
(v31) "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?"
There are several places in those verses that we could say, “that’s just
like us”, but I focus on verse 31. Note: there are 3 declarative
statements and then a question:
1. “The prophets prophecy falsely” – can we really believe our
governmental leaders? I saw a bumper sticker that said “I love my
country, but I fear my government”. That sentiment reflects the
attitude of a large portion of the people, especially those who are God-
fearing. Oh, yes, the government has it’s prophets – some are
commonly known as “spin doctors”. Of course, they would not admit to
being caught in a lie, they say “I misspoke”. A half- truth is a whole lie.
2. “The priests rule by their means”- As one billionaire possible
presidential candidate said of another very rich candidate “He’s not rich
enough to be president”. A middle class person has zero chance of
being elected to a national office. Politics has become a religion….
While I am not a fan of Ann Coulter, her book THE RELIGION OF
LIBERALISM (which was loaned to me by a friend) certainly makes a
strong statement that liberalism is a religion. I would add that conser-
vatism can also be view similarly. The first thing a successful candidate
to Congress does is to begin developing strategy for his/her reelection!
With privileged information and opportunity regarding stocks, they are
able to buy and become rich – very quickly. The very thing that caused
Martha Stewart to serve time in a federal prison is regularly engaged in
by our elected officials without any fear of prosecution. If they are not
rich when they are first elected, they surely have every opportunity to
become rich very quickly. Instead of representing the people who
elected them, they seem to focus on advancing themselves in power and
in wealth.
3. “My people love to have it so”. Can you believe it? This is
worse than the first two indictments. If the people are not satisfied with
the status quo (that’s Latin for the mess we are in), then why do we
keep reelecting the same people year after year? Romans 1 speaks of
people who did not glorify God, were not thankful, were vain in their
imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Although they
thought themselves wise, they became fools. Fools do foolish things.
Does any of that sound contemporary and applicable to our country?
The final part of Jerermiah 5:31 is a question that God, through the
prophet, “what will ye do in the end thereof?” Note: preaching – and
that is what Jeremiah has been doing – requires something of the hear-
ers. In this verse, we would say “What is going to happen to you when
this thing comes to an end?” Or, we would say, “Now, what are you
going to do?” If you know Bible history, you will recall that the people
did not repent. Idolatry (worship of the Sun, of the queen of Heaven),
trusting in alliances with Egypt, while their false prophets preached
“Peace, Peace”, resulted in the people being taken into captivity by the
Babylonians. After that, the national flag of Israel did not fly again for
more than 2,500 years!
I have a question: What will the USA do when God finishes with us?
Do you really imagine that we, as a people, can revolt against God and
escape punishment? It has been said by others, that if God does not
punish America, then he will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah,
for we are as guilty as they of the very same sins that brought
destruction upon them.
So long as we live apart from the truths of the Word of God, the farther
away from democracy we will go. When a nation goes from democracy,
they go down, not up. Life gets worse, not better. God does not need
the United States of America. The USA needs God!
Question: Have we prayed for our country? What else could we do?
Instead of singing
“God Bless America”, we should be repenting and praying “God forgive
America."
GOD HELP US!
Rants”. In that article, I stated that, “although there were no rantings in
that article, I listed it, reserving the right to “rant” when I felt the desire
to do so. I suppose that the following is one of those rants.
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BIBLE -
ARE THEY BOTH OUTDATED?
The question is not as bizarre as one would first think. A complete
revision of US history would be required to deny the influence the Bible
had on our founding fathers. That we began as a Christian nation ought
to be evident to anyone who gives even shallow consideration of the
question. Our president has stated that we are no longer a Christian
nation. I hate to say it, but he is correct. We are not really “one nation
under God”. We are not a nation overtly opposed to God, but worse, a
nation that disregards God. We are similar to those of whom the
Apostle Paul spoke in Romans 1 who did not wish to retain God in their
knowledge. The movers and shakers of our country speak piously when
running for office and then, for the most part, govern as though they
were “gods”. Sadly, most of us have lain comatose while our rights and
freedoms are being eroded by big government. Big government results
in, among other things, small (think insignificant, incapable, easily
duped) citizens who become more and more dependent upon “our
Father, which art in Washington”.
Our beloved country has major problems in many areas; economically,
socially, militarily and morally, just to name a few. We grope as the
blind, searching in the wrong places for answers. We have separated
ourselves from any regard for the Word of God. We have aborted
(murdered) more than 50 million babies – all done legally! Only God
knows how many of those 50 million would have grown up to become
pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Christian school teachers, Christian
counselors, - not to mention Physicians, Scientists, military generals,
even perhaps an honest politician – even a godly president or supreme
court judge. If a future researcher does in autopsy on the death of the
USA, he or she will have to conclude it was death by suicide.
How can we expect a building to stand when we have moved it away
from its foundation? To many, for a common citizen to suggest that our
troubles are not primarily horizontal, but vertical (not manward but
Godward) is for that person to be branded uninformed, ignorant, trouble
maker – devoid of real understanding of what the situation is and what
might be the cure. I am no rookie, romancing about what should be.
Neither am I an old uneducated old foggie (though I am 76 and have
over 250 semester hours in 5 universities, both secular and religious). I
am not some wild eyed fanatic wanting to see our nation suffer at the
hand of an offended God.
Conservative theology (and I am surely one who holds to that) tends to
look at politics, economics etc. conservatively. As a lover of history, I
can read and see how our country has, little by little at first, and now –
like a snowball rolling downhill not only increases in size but also in
speed - we are wildly careening on a slope - and we seems to have
neither brakes or steering wheel – and the thought of having a reverse
gear is totally foreign to our national mindset.
Now, having dismounted from the soapbox, I ask this question. Is it
possible that there are sections of the Bible that speak of God’s people,
(the Jews) that could also apply to the USA? I am convinced that the
Bible (and the Constitution) are both relevant to our situation. A
Scripture passage will have a primary interpretation, but that same
passage may have multiple applications. One such passage is in
Jeremiah 5:20-31:
(v20) "Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah,
saying,"
(v21) "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding;
which have eyes, and see not, which have ears, and hear not:"
(v22) "Fear ye not me? Saith the LORD; will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a
perpetual degree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waved thereof
toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they
not pass over it?"
(v23) "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone."
(24) "Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our
God that giveth rain , both the former and the latter, in his season: he
reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."
(v25) "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins
have withholden good things from you."
(v26) "For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he
that setter snares: they set a trap, they catch men."
(v27) "As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
Therefore they are become great, and waxen rich."
(v28) "They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of
the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet
they prosper, and the right of the needy do they not judge."
(v29) "Shall I not visit for these things? Saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
(v30) "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;"
(v31) "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?"
There are several places in those verses that we could say, “that’s just
like us”, but I focus on verse 31. Note: there are 3 declarative
statements and then a question:
1. “The prophets prophecy falsely” – can we really believe our
governmental leaders? I saw a bumper sticker that said “I love my
country, but I fear my government”. That sentiment reflects the
attitude of a large portion of the people, especially those who are God-
fearing. Oh, yes, the government has it’s prophets – some are
commonly known as “spin doctors”. Of course, they would not admit to
being caught in a lie, they say “I misspoke”. A half- truth is a whole lie.
2. “The priests rule by their means”- As one billionaire possible
presidential candidate said of another very rich candidate “He’s not rich
enough to be president”. A middle class person has zero chance of
being elected to a national office. Politics has become a religion….
While I am not a fan of Ann Coulter, her book THE RELIGION OF
LIBERALISM (which was loaned to me by a friend) certainly makes a
strong statement that liberalism is a religion. I would add that conser-
vatism can also be view similarly. The first thing a successful candidate
to Congress does is to begin developing strategy for his/her reelection!
With privileged information and opportunity regarding stocks, they are
able to buy and become rich – very quickly. The very thing that caused
Martha Stewart to serve time in a federal prison is regularly engaged in
by our elected officials without any fear of prosecution. If they are not
rich when they are first elected, they surely have every opportunity to
become rich very quickly. Instead of representing the people who
elected them, they seem to focus on advancing themselves in power and
in wealth.
3. “My people love to have it so”. Can you believe it? This is
worse than the first two indictments. If the people are not satisfied with
the status quo (that’s Latin for the mess we are in), then why do we
keep reelecting the same people year after year? Romans 1 speaks of
people who did not glorify God, were not thankful, were vain in their
imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Although they
thought themselves wise, they became fools. Fools do foolish things.
Does any of that sound contemporary and applicable to our country?
The final part of Jerermiah 5:31 is a question that God, through the
prophet, “what will ye do in the end thereof?” Note: preaching – and
that is what Jeremiah has been doing – requires something of the hear-
ers. In this verse, we would say “What is going to happen to you when
this thing comes to an end?” Or, we would say, “Now, what are you
going to do?” If you know Bible history, you will recall that the people
did not repent. Idolatry (worship of the Sun, of the queen of Heaven),
trusting in alliances with Egypt, while their false prophets preached
“Peace, Peace”, resulted in the people being taken into captivity by the
Babylonians. After that, the national flag of Israel did not fly again for
more than 2,500 years!
I have a question: What will the USA do when God finishes with us?
Do you really imagine that we, as a people, can revolt against God and
escape punishment? It has been said by others, that if God does not
punish America, then he will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah,
for we are as guilty as they of the very same sins that brought
destruction upon them.
So long as we live apart from the truths of the Word of God, the farther
away from democracy we will go. When a nation goes from democracy,
they go down, not up. Life gets worse, not better. God does not need
the United States of America. The USA needs God!
Question: Have we prayed for our country? What else could we do?
Instead of singing
“God Bless America”, we should be repenting and praying “God forgive
America."
GOD HELP US!
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