By Butch Paugh
January 4, 2025
History has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that mankind, no matter how much they desire to do right, have and will always ultimately fail! The “natural” tendency of man generates a constant and persistent “pull” that no matter how determined he is not to give into his innate desire to do his own will, inevitably over time loses his resolve. (Rom. 7:7-25) Even when the God that created man writes His laws and wills on tablets of stone and eventually even their hearts, they are still totally incapable of understanding the importance of remembering and walking in God’s “rules” for a blessed life.
Scripture and history are replete with accounts of peoples and nations coming out of the “darkness” into the light of God’s truth and then falling further into darkness then from which they first escaped. It’s for certain a fact that man never learns from his repeated mistakes. Even if one generation recognizes their dilemma and moves to correct the situation, and even leaves “written” instructions to their posterity on how not to fall into the snares again, they always do! In this chapter we are going to look at a few examples found in the Bible and throughout history.
If you believe in God and study His precious word, the 1611 KJV Bible, then you should already fully realize and understand how totally incapable mankind is in staying faithful to doing what is right in God’s eyes. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
His people, Israel, had gotten “comfortable” living in Egypt. They grew and multiplied to such an extent that the pharaoh feared they were a threat to his kingdom. So to control them he began to abuse them and put them into absolute bondage. To keep this account brief, even after they were sent a deliverer to rescue them from their bondage in Egypt and even millions started them on their way to the “promised land”, and even after the miracles they all witnessed and even after God himself wrote His laws for them on stone, only two men made it into the Promised Land!
In Joshua chapter 24 after Israel had grown into a “people” again, Joshua told them to decide who they wanted to serve. All the people gave their word that they were going to follow and obey the one true God who had delivered them into the Promised Land. There is no doubt they were totally since in their vow! But according to Judges chapter 2 the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of elders that outlived Joshua, then they turned from Jehovah God to Baalam!
Let’s look at one more example found in the scriptures. You will find it in I Samuel chapter 8. Israel was about to turn from God one more time, and this time He said He would not hear their prayers for deliverance from the new “god” they chose. Up until this time Israel’s “civil” government was basically a theocracy watched over by judges that were “supposed” to govern according to God’s law. When Samuel became too old to carry the load, he made his sons judges over Israel. This only further proves the point that was made at the beginning of this article, man is totally incapable, because of his sin nature, to follow in God’s righteous laws for long. Godly Samuel’s sons forsook God’s laws and the people cried out. And again to even further prove the weakness of mankind instead of seeking God to help remedy the problem, they again forsook Him. Israel went from a golden calf “god” to a “man god”! They rejected God asking and desired to do as the heathen, have a man king reign over them! They wanted an “earthly” security to watch over them from the womb to the tomb. Although they were severely warned as to what it would “cost” them, up to and including their children being used as “cannon fodder” to fight their new king’s wars! They refused to obey Samuel’s warnings and said “Nay: but we will have a king over us”. They had escaped slavery in Egypt to become slaves in their own land”
Of course, we Christians here in America read this passage and proclaim, “What a rebellious, stiff necked, ungrateful and “stupid” bunch of people! We are so smug in our ignorance, (Hos. 4:6-7) that we actually believe that we would and “could” not have such an evil attitude, much less be that stupid!
Here is a simple, true historical fact to all who desire truth. America’s true founders first gathered on her shores in 1620. They were called Pilgrims and Puritans. They too were escaping from a king and “religious” system that hated them. They all were set up much as ancient Israel. They never formed legislators to pass man’s laws to harass and control the people. Their selected leaders met to ensure that God’s laws were observed in their communities. They were not perfect in all their ways either, but overall morality and decency were upheld. Their “real” Christian convictions “governed” in God’s will! The Mayflower Compact and the colonies’ State Charters (Constitution) recognized that only Christians could be elected to office. That ended in 1787in Article Six in the U.S. Constitution.
As America’s morality in accordance with God’s laws slowly faded, so did the people’s liberties. It wasn’t but a couple generations until a once free people decided they wanted a king to take care of them from the “womb to the tomb”. It started under Roosevelt when the people were frightened back into slavery through government “benefits”. First, the one we call “Social Security”. Not God security, man’s social security! (Matt. 6:25-34 / Ps. 68:19 / Ps. 103:2 / Ex. 34:14 / Prov. 23:1-2)
Warnings were given to His people in His Word, and wise men and watchmen He set over America, but we said, “Nay, we will have a king over us!”
A Bird’s-Eye View of the Evolution of Nations by Alexander Tyler
1. From bondage to spiritual faith.
2. From spiritual faith to great courage.
3. From courage to liberty.
4. From liberty to abundance.
5. From abundance to selfishness.
6. From selfishness to complacence.
7. From complacency to apathy.
8. From apathy to dependency.
9. From dependency back to bondage.
Enough said. Choose you this day who you will serve. II Thes. 2:1-12 and Rev. 13:8-18 warns of the what-will-come of those who refuse to accept the truth!
In Christ’s Service,
© 2024 Butch Paugh – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Butch Paugh: ctdm@hotmail.com
