“My son, forget not my law; but let thine -heart- keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Let not —mercy and truth— forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”
- Proverbs 3:1–4 (AV)
“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me,
‘Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. —Get wisdom, get understanding: —- forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the —-principal thing; —-therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. “
- Proverbs 4:1-7
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We embark this week on a new series of study ... and as you may have guessed already... we will be studying the book of Proverbs!
Why this book ... you may ask! If you have been following along with us, for the last several weeks we have been discussing “Practical Christianity” - where we have tried as best as we could, to “bottom-line” what is required of a Christian, and what he/she is entitled to expect in return —— in this life, and in the one to come!
Net Net : Once having been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, this worldly walk is designed to slowly transform our immortal soul’s character to that of Christ/God Himself .... because that is our destiny ... to serve with Him in His Kingdom as His children!
This process is not hard - resolve to follow after Grace ( mercy, charity, love ) and Truth ( avoid lying, or believing lies ) - taking it one day at a time. Follow your conscience, and keep getting the Word into your mind and heart! In fact, you can see that this “bottom line” is echoed by Solomon himself in our first text!
Simple though this walk is, it is impossible for us to do in our own strength. It is why we need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who sheds Gods grace “through” us, and who is the one that guides us into ALL truth.... and He is the one that is able to make us WISE to be able to apply discernment and insight and knowledge to help us deal with the issues of Life on a daily basis!
As a prelude to our study, let us show you what we mean, with a very down to earth example. Red vs Blue... i.e.... the differences in Republican & Democratic party values —- can there be a middle ground? We say yes....! Surprised.... ? Let us show you! This will be a long read... but we guess you have time to read till all the votes are counted ? !!!
Some background before we begin ---- who do you think was responsible for ENFORCING the 10 Commandments God gave Moses, or indeed, the Mosaic Law ... for the children of Israel? ...... think about it ....
The king? There wasn’t a king in Israel while they were in the wilderness, nor was there one during the times of the Judges ( Samson, Gideon etc ). Pharisees and Sadducees ? Those came AFTER the Babylonian captivity, and these guys were religious rulers, not political /government enforcers. The Levites then? No... the focus of the Levites was to interpret the Law, help the people with their offerings, and serve in the temple!
The surprising answer ---- Each Israelite was PERSONALLY accountable to follow the Law, and if he/she broke it - they were to go to the temple and offer trespass and sin offerings THEMSELVES, AIDED by the priests. “My son, forget not my law; but let thine -heart- keep my commandments:”
We are —individually accountable— to God for our actions! God gave us the Law, then expected us to “self-police”.... if we didn’t... God Himself would heap the consequences on us - through the curse, by cutting off the souls from their inheritance etc. It was to avoid these consequences that the trespass offerings were there ... to make atonement for individual and corporate sin.
The Lord did NOT have a police force enforce His Law, it was upto the individual to keep it. Any punishment the police could enforce would be insignificant, compared to the LORD's punishment of the individual that broke these laws!
With this as a backdrop, let us look at the attempts by both parties to legislate AND enforce their policies which we will summarize as follows:
A---- Republican- Capitalistic focus, small government, fiscal conservatism, anti-abortion, anti-lgbt, pro-israel, hard on immigration.
B--- Democrat- Less capitalistic-more emphasis on social issues ( they are -not- true socialists ), advocate more govt engagement, willing to tax higher earning entities to fund social programs ( aka tax-and-spend ), pro-choice, pro-lgbt ( aka “progressive” ), and while not anti-israel, less willing to give them a free pass on every issue, soft on immigration.
This is obviously a very high level view, but hope it is enough to paint the differences with a very broad brush! In fact, we are reasonably certain that it is these differences in policies that may have persuaded you to pick one party or the other yourself...
1. Pro Life / Pro Choice - Can a Christian be both?
A Republican ( i daresay even most Democrats) would/should be horrified at the prospect of his/her tax dollars going to pay for murdering innocent infants.... but lets back up a bit here. What is the real issue?
Its obvious --- The Law -- thou shalt not commit Adultery -- is being broken willy-nilly by Republican/Democrat/Unaffiliated alike... and this is the consequence... unwanted pregnancies and abortions (breaking another Law... Thou shalt not murder).
Would any political party sign up to banning (and enforcing a legal ban on) Adultery itself? ( Including teenage sex -- daughters are commanded not to play the harlot in their fathers house in the Law).Well ... sad to say... no party that did that would stay in power in this country and that law has no hope of passing...
If we acknowledge we cannot do that ... we can address the unwanted pregnancy problem in other ways... Education on abstinence in schools, contraception, embryo extraction and freezing/transplant into surrogates, support to help the person carry the child to term (e.g. Compassion Pregnancy Centers do this today), better foster/adoption facilities to help the newborn infant find a place in life. These are the choices that we are Pro for.... and they are definitely Pro Life!
It is easy to say to an unwed mother, have the baby, but not as easy to help to her to have it safely, or to help raise it, or put it up for adoption once done. Why?
All of the above cost money.
It is cheaper just to outlaw abortion and let the fear of getting pregnant and having to deal with unlicensed / off the book clinics reduce the number of abortions that happen in the country.
After all, aren't these pregnancies the consequence of loose living -- why should the State/taxpayer ENABLE licentious living by offering these safety nets? Why should we let fathers evade their parental responsibilities? ....
Answer: If we are not willing to outlaw Adultery, we have to make provision for allowing it.
If you want to save lives, a multi-pronged approach involving education, contraception, garnishment of wages (from Dad & Mom) to pay for pregnancy and child support, for medical procedures that save the life of the embryo, and post natal care and support is the solution. These are laws that Republicans and Democrats can both work towards and are Pro Life & Pro Choice!
God tells us His Law, it is up to the individual to follow it. We cannot legislate and enforce these laws .... that is destined for failure. It is only education and persuasion, and prayers that will bring a change! We should follow God's model in letting people have Free Will, but being accountable for the consequences!
2. Support for Israel.
We don't want to re-quote the scripture that is trotted out every time this issue is brought up... you are probably familiar with it --- "I will bless those who bless you ...etc. etc. ".
The United States should indeed stand for the rights of the children of Israel... blessing them that live amongst us here for starters... blessing them by witnessing to the truth of the Gospel!
When it comes to the Nation-State of Israel, yes, we should support them against those that would seek their destruction and annhilation... absolutely.... but ... if we are good friends to them, we should also call them out on policies that they have that are in clear violation of human rights and international law. We are -not- to join the witch-hunt against them in the United Nations, but work with Israel to see how to bring peace to the area.
What if the state of Israel were to change its name to Palestine, and become a state that harbors both Palestinians and Jews, two Abrahamic religions living side by side as brothers? Giving Palestinians full and equal citizenship with Jews in a united "Palestine". That is a dream ?, and we are being extreme to make the point...
Support for Israel is a banner that rallies evangelical and Jewish support to the party that professes it, and that is how we see it being used... as a tool to gain votes.
BTW --- if evangelicals are thinking that by supporting Israel, they will build the last temple and usher in the 2nd coming of Christ --- we have some sobering news for you. Building the temple at the wrong time AND in the wrong place ( Temple Mount ) will only HELP Satans agenda of not having that final temple be built... because he knows that will signal the end of his reign! He has prevented it for millennia, and missing the point now, will set us back for another thousand years or more!
We should be blessing Israel by being true friends to them -- which means pointing out the good and the bad... not being a rubber stamp to their political policies.
3. Socialism vs. Capitalism. // Tax and Spend // Small vs Big Govt.
America is a capitalist republic. It will never be anything else. The cries of socialism are political rhetoric and theater, again, designed to win the votes of those that just want to see the world in two colors... black or white. It is not that simple.
What are the so called "socialist policies"? Eliminating tax loopholes for wealthy individuals and large corporations? Providing free healthcare to all? Providing free education upto college level and beyond for our youth? Providing wage parity amongst men and women? Revamping the minimum wage so that those of us working two or three jobs don't have to, anymore? Providing better education in our schools?
We have the tools and the wherewithal to do this as a country -- unfortunately we have to deal with two things:
a. The Corporations.
These are the entities which live Quarter/Quarter and will sacrifice people and resources on the altar of Profit.
It is these corporations that have "outsourced" American jobs --- to bring down product prices...? No... to make them cheaper so that they can have higher profit!
These same Corporations have invaded the political system to ensure that tax laws and tax shelters are in place to help them safeguard their Profits, and pay little to no Tax.
And these corporations are now the ones that OWN your politicians (regardless of stripe). Its why health care costs are out of control. Its why Prescription drugs cost more in the US than anywhere else in the world. Its a RACKET people!!!!
b. Defence Spending.
This is a sacred cow - we must keep our Nation safe! We must continuously pour trillions of dollars into a military-industrial machine that provides jobs, yes, but reaps huge profits on arms development and sales. A portion of this budget would solve our deficit problem immediately! Yet no one looks at it.... why?
Again, its the corporations that have bought your politicians. Its the lack of oversight on military spending that has blown billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that Congress was not aware of. (The DOD is trying to fix this --- via DOD Directive 5205.07, updated Feb 4/2020 -- look it up -- it brings "Special Access Projects" under tighter congressional control )
When we send our soldiers off to fight for us.. we salute their bravery and service. We want them to be equipped with the best of tools and methods to accomplish their mission. We celebrate with pride and bunting, our patriotic holidays.
Yet, when our soldiers come home --- they have to deal with red-tape, poorly funded and managed VA programs etc. Where is the love and support now?
A and B together take up so much of our budget that could go to helping every man, woman and child in this country not worry about their next meal, their doctor visit, their school fees, clothing and shelter. Fixing this is not a socialist issue... that word is the red herring that is being dragged across the trail to deflect peoples attention from the true cancers that are taking your money/tax dollars and laughing in your face!
John McCain (R), and Russ Feingold (D) worked together across party lines to pass a law on Campaign Finance Reform in 2002. The political lobbies gutted it in "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission." in 2010. See what we are talking about?
The Bible in the Old Testament was very much "NO GOVERNMENT" in the times of the Judges. The Law, and the individual conscience were all that were in place. The people of Israel needed no king or formal army, as it was God who would fight their battles for them if they kept the law.
Yet, the Bible was also "socialist" in that it provided for the upkeep of the poor ( by specific laws relating to keeping a portion of the harvest for them) , AND having equal laws for rich and poor (e.g. a FLAT tithe tax).
If the Republicans are the party of Fiscal Conservatism, and the Democrats the party of social tax-and-spend , we see a happy medium where both can come together to balance the budget AND provide social equity to all in this country.
4. Immigration.
It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of children that have been estranged from their parents and are facing the prospect of never being united with them. Of people being put in cages, in poor conditions. You can argue that they broke the law by entering the country illegally --- yes -- that is true --- but that is no reason to treat them inhumanely!
Build walls, build strict controls for allowing immigrants into the country --- that is all fine... but go the Bible and see what it says about treating those that are strangers and aliens in the land of Israel. We guarantee that you will be surprised.... in fact here is one quote to remember...
"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt." - Exodus 23:9
Go back to your country, we don't want your kind here, America is for Americans.... how does that line up with the scripture above -- bearing in mind that most Americans are not NATIVE to this country, but owe their presence here to their ancestors that immigrated from Europe.
We were all once immigrants, and we should be sympathetic to those that have:
a. Entered our borders legally.
b. Are children of those that have entered our borders legally.
c. Are/were minor children of those that have entered our borders illegally.
Prevent illegal immigration by all means, but providing a path to citizenship to those that have made it here should not be the huge problem it seems to be for the Right.
5. LGBT
These people have sinned against God, not you. They have broken His Laws, He will punish them if He so desires, and Forgive them if He so desires. (Back to our theme of who polices the Law?).
Treat them as you would want to be treated. With dignity, and respect as human beings. Their lives are difficult enough without the hate, and LGBT'ism is not contagious --- like a virus, nor can it be "cured" physically. There has to be a spiritual awakening in the person, and you cannot get to them if you hate them.
6. Racism. Every Human is made in God's image. All have the same DNA inherited from Adam. Enough said.
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We apologize for the length of this post. You may even sense the anger in us at the hypocrisy, and greed of those in power, and the foolishness of the discourse in the public media on these issues.
We need the voices of rationality, grace, and truth in these conversations... not pandering to "bases". Our leaders must be held accountable to govern and help the people with their problems, not just seeking power to line their pockets. That is what we, the people, must enforce --- not with anger, hate, vitriol, name-calling... but with a relentless focus on the ideals of the Founders, our Constitution, and the Laws of the Land.
We pray the Lord gives us practical wisdom in our study of the words given to one of His wisest children!
Hallelujah!