We live in an absolutely insane time. It seems that within the past decade, we have begun a downward spiral in the area of morals. If I had to use one word to describe where we are today, I’d choose the word “confusion”. The word confusion is defined as “impaired orientation with respect to time, place, or a person: a disturbed mental state”. As I looked at this definition, the word that words that stuck out the most to me were “impaired orientation”. This deals with one trying to get on a course, but with great uncertainty. As I thought on this, the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:33 echoed in my head, where he states that YHVH is not the author of confusion. With this in mind, any path taken in uncertainty is not of YHVH.
As I watch the news and see all of the things going on, both globally as well as within our nation, I find myself without words. The word confusion doesn’t even begin to describe where we are as a society. Judges 21:25 describes perfectly where we are today. During that time, there was no king, so everyone basically did was right in their own hearts. Although Torah was the law of the land for the people, the absence of an earthly monarchy was basically a green light for the people to just do whatever. Taking this verse in context, two things are true. One, there must be a set of statutes and ordinances in place that all of the people are governed by, and two, there must be a person in place recognized by all as someone in authority to hold the people accountable for their actions as it relates to these statues and ordinances.
In the absence of rule of law, there is chaos. Everyone has a voice, and as such, everyone feels that their way is right. Proverbs 16:2 says it best, the ways of a man are right in his own eyes. So, what’s the problem with that? Well, it is in human nature to present ourselves as a person of virtue when compared to others. The problem with this is that, no matter what the situation, we will always be right in our own sight, even when we know we are wrong. All problems become the fault of everyone but us. In a society where everyone is right, even when everyone is in disagreement, there can be no harmony. We become divided, and as such, society begins to fall. Yeshua said that a house divided cannot stand.
When you look at the state of our nation now, although we do have someone in place to act as the rule of law, the problem is that rather than enforcing the standard that governs the people, instead, the focus is to try and cater to everyone. This becomes a huge problem when both those who are in the wrong has a voice along with those in the right. And when we begin to amend our rule of law, from generation to generation as our values change, the law that was once set that kept us strong, becomes a set of precepts that now make us weak. Our founding fathers, when establishing this nation, all came together, and thought on every possible issue that we may face, and made rules to cover those areas. Understanding that we as men are flawed by nature, they looked to something greater than themselves to be the foundation of the rule of law for this nation, and that thing was the Word of God. The understood that Torah was divine, in that it came from the very mouth of God. They also understood that in walking in these precepts, the people would walk in the blessings of the Most High, but this would only last for as long as they walked in it.
After a process of time, we gradually came to a place where the word of God was no longer viewed as being divine precepts, and as such, we begin to make changes that reflected our new views. We understood that the Bible is a book that is pro-life. In fact, the killing of babies was highly spoken against, even forbidden. However, as some began to move away from the Bible as the law of the land, the views on life began to change as well. Suddenly, we began to be fine with the killing of babies. We found ways to give unborn children a title that makes this child seem as though it weren’t a life yet since it was still in development. However, the biblical view of this is that life begins at the time of conception, not birth.
Today this is an issue that divides the nation, in that so many people have come to support the act of abortion. It has gotten so bad that people even get violent towards those who oppose it. As time moves on, we find that even the government is in favor of abortion, and even encourages it. Life has become greatly devalued. The laws of the land that were once inspired by the divine hand of God, began to move further and further from the things that He desired from those that would call on Him as God. Even Pastors have come to accept and support the killing of unborn children, which even influenced more people to hold this view, seeing that their pastor supports it. This is just another massive issue that divides the people as a nation. If I were to guess where it all started to go downhill, I’d have to guess it started when we began to allow the state and even the government to remove the Ten Commandments from public life, as well as banning prayer. It was undoubtedly this moment that we began to lose favor with God.
In the absence of a divine standard, everyone began to have a say in what they thought was right. Eventually, the ones with the loudest voices began to be the ones who moved the people in authority to amend laws to favor their views. But it didn’t stop there. The LGBTQ movement birthed a whole new set of voices, and views that were diametrically opposed to everything once emplaced. Whereas there was once a time when same sex relationships were forbidden and frowned upon, those who preferred that lifestyle kept in in the closet, but now it has not only busted out of the closet, but has become so big that every aspect of life now accepts it. Anyone not in favor of it or refuses to embrace and celebrate it are a threat. They are labeled as part of the problem, and their opposing views suddenly put the lives of those in this lifestyle in jeopardy, even they aren’t posing any physical danger to anyone. It is their opposing view that is a threat. Things that the Bible considered to be an abomination are praised and celebrated. Even the children are caught up in this madness.
Men now put on wigs and female clothing and demand to be called women, even though the make-up of a woman begins on a molecular level. Some go as far as having surgeries to become women outwardly, but there are quite a few that won’t go that far, but still want to be accepted as what they see themselves. In the absence of the word of God as the law of the land, we have become so depraved that men dressed as women get their kicks off of drag shows in the presence of minors. We have become a lawless people. The power that was once in place to hold us accountable to a higher standard is now filled with people void of the word of God. As such, the two parties representing opposing views have gotten so extreme that they no longer come together to compromise and find a way that both parties equally gain and equally lose in the deal. In the absence of a divine standard, and a people comprised of views that are polar opposites, the political system is in jeopardy. It is just a matter of time before a fall.
There are so many other things that can be said about where we are as a society, but that would take a lifetime to hit everything. The point of the matter is that, if we intend to remain as a nation, we have got to come back to a place where we live by a set of laws that are no longer amended simply because a few have opposing views. This is the reason that YHVH gave Israel the Torah. He saw how the other nations were so corrupt and depraved in the absence of divine precepts and statutes. He intended His words to be the rule of law, understanding that if the people accepted His rule of law as the standard of living, then the people could live in peace and harmony. Everyone’s views would be based off of His laws, and as such, the people would always be on the same page. However, in order for this to work, the people in authority must first understand these precepts, and after understanding them, govern accordingly. For this reason, after Israel was appointed a king, every king was given a copy of the Torah, to study day and night so that when issues arose among the people, he could judge rightly based off of the word.
If indeed Torah was the glue that connected the people to YHVH, and assured them of blessings for walking in obedience to it, can we really expect the blessing of YHVH to be with us when we walk contrary? The nation can be saved, but not until we come back to the place that the founding fathers were trying to lead us. God’s word is perfect and as such does not require revision from the hands of a flawed people. We need leaders whose convictions are etched in the scriptures, who live their very lives in accordance to the word. A leader must be one who understands that the manner of his rule reflects the direction that the people walk in. For this reason, whenever YHVH sent his prophets, they were always sent to the leaders, not the people being led. As we read the Old Testament, it is filled with stories of the ups and downs of Israel as they struggled to walk in the ways of God. When they walked upright, blessings followed, and when they walked contrary, anti-blessings followed. The stories are written to serve as an example for us to learn from.
As long as we strive to live by an ever changing set of laws and precepts, things will only get worse for us. Although no one desires to drive us into ruin, we have got to realize that establishing a utopia is not in our nature, especially considering that the mouth of God has given us perfect precepts. Do we really think we can create better laws to live by than the holy God that created all things? The foundation we are trying to build for our society is on sinking sand. The storm is coming, and when it hits, the destruction will be awful.
