Articles
01 Back to the Bible – Introduction
01 Back to the Bible – Introduction
Mike Willis
The cycles of history repeat themselves, as one can observe from reading Biblical history and then comparing it to what he witnesses around him. For example, Israel’s history as a nation begins with a series of miracles that allowed a people who were Egyptian slaves to escape their slavery, receive a Law from the Lord, be sustained while they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and then conquer and settle in the land of Canaan, a land promised to their ancestors by the Lord. Over the next centuries, Israel repeatedly apostatized from faithfulness to their Lord and were delivered from their enemies by a series of leaders called “judges.” Moving forward to the time of the divided kingdom, Israel again and again turned from the Lord and followed the example of their political neighbors in worshiping false gods and idols.
In the years shortly before being taken into Babylonian Captivity, Jeremiah preached to his deaf contemporaries, “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:11-13).
Jeremiah’s complaint was that Israel had forsaken her God to serve “no gods,” the false gods worshiped by their neighbors that do not exist. He compared Israel’s rejection of Jehovah and turning to false gods to forsaking a well that had a continual supply of fresh water to seek water from a dry, broken cistern. A cistern is a hole dug by man to retain water collected from the rains; however, their cistern was broken, so the waters leaked out and left them to starve to death from thirst.
When I look at America’s cultural condition, I feel like Jeremiah. The culture of my youth was a Christian culture. The homes in America were very stable. Divorce and remarriage were uncommon because the laws demanded that one have a cause for the divorce (adultery, abandonment, unwillingness to provide, etc.). Children grew up with both their mother and dad being involved in their lives. The citizens of this culture did not depend upon the state to provide for them. They understood that one had to work for what he ate (2 Thess. 2:10). There were few who were addicted to drugs and alcohol because such conduct was both sinful and, especially, the drugs were illegal. Crime was less common because criminals were arrested, tried, and, when found guilty, punished. Capital punishment for crimes such as murder and rape were rare, but not unheard of. In general, I grew up in a rather stable family and culture.
But, America turned its back on its Christian heritage and literally moved toward “no god,” a transition to a secular society. Since gods do not exist, it does not matter how or if one chooses to worship. The logical conclusion was that, since there is no God, there are no moral absolutes, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (cf. Judg. 17:6). The effect of this rejection of God has spilled blood all over our land. Easy divorce and remarriage, abortion of 63 million unborn children, acceptance of homosexuality, homosexual marriages, and transgendering, poor work ethic, dependency upon the welfare state, increase in crime and light punishment of offenders, etc. The effects of rejection of the worship of Christ and turning to secularism is similar to what Jeremiah observed in his own day: “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:11-13).
It appears that there may be a resurgence of morality occurring in our society. Over the next weeks, this column will have a series of “Back to the Bible” articles to encourage us to go back to the Bible, obey its commandments, and turn away from those leaders (whether religious or political) who would take us deeper into sin and crime. I hope these articles will be of benefit to you and your family and that you will share them with those whom you love.
