God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. He demonstrated His authority over them in doing so. He blessed them with one son, Isaac. That is all they needed for His purposes. God continued to reveal His plan for Israel through Isaac and his two sons. God chose one of those boys, Jacob to carry on His plan for the nation of Israel. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. From there we can follow the turbulent history of this great nation. They were great when they trusted in God. They floundered and became subjects of other nations when they continued to defy God. Their success was dependent upon God and He did not bless them when they chose to reject Him.
After the exile, Israel was brought back to their land, but they never enjoyed the glory days of king David, again. They still do not have that today. They have been under foreign control for hundreds of years. Even now, while they have been given back part of their land and been “allowed” to be declared a sovereign nation, they are still subject to harassment by foreign nations who want to tell them how to function. Israel has not had a God-fearing ruler since they came back into their land. In fact, Israel is rather hostile to God and the truth.
In the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel was under Roman rule. They remained that way until the fall of the Roman Empire. While they were under that Empire, the Pharisees and their friends, learned how to play a political game with the Romans. The Pharisees despised the Romans, but they put up with them because they had no choice. They decided to make friends of the Roman government, rather than with God. They worked their way into favour with the Roman government. They could practice their religion quite freely because it was a false religion. The Romans did not care what the Jews were doing as long as they did not overstep their bounds. The Pharisees were careful to stick within the parameters set up by the Roman government. The end result of this ungodly alliance, was that the secular Jews had no Godly impact upon Rome.
Jesus Christ did not play the game of the Pharisees and they hated Him for it. After Jesus’ ascension, the hatred carried on for anyone who would declare faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles and others were persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Saviour. The secular Jews got along quite well with the Romans.
Fast forward to our time. We have at least two state churches in Canada: the Catholic and the United. Under them are many other lesser state churches like the Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Mennonites, liberal Baptists, etc. These religious groups have had quite a lot of freedom in the midst of the wicked governments of Canada. They have done so because they have followed the same pattern that the Pharisees did. They learned how to find favour with the government and take advantage of government “blessings” like charitable status. Those churches that take charitable status have benefited greatly financially through this.
A few years back we had a farmer visit our church. His first question was whether we were a registered charity. He stayed for the service and left and never came back. It was year end and he wanted to find a place to off load some of his excess wealth and get a tax break for doing so.
The many churches that have chosen to submit to the government as their god and have taken charitable status, have subjected themselves to speaking only what the government approves of. They are silent on the “whole counsel of God”.
This week I was again told that we need to take Canada back through the political realm. We need to vote the current government out and replace them with what has been coined “the common sense” government. The common sense government still protects the murder of unborn children and the sodomite agenda and also the foolish climate change hoax. They also supported the Wuhan virus debacle.
We can see how the ungodly Jews lost all influence with the government due to their rejection of God. We can see how may Jews still support wicked governments and now when they need some protection against the anti-semitism that is increasing, there is no help from the government they supported. God shows us that it is foolish to compromise with the ungodly. It is wise to be a friend of God.
Abraham was called a friend of God. Abraham was not without his sins. However, as a friend of God, he could learn how to walk more faithfully with God. His life impacted future generations. Even though the majority of Jews are blind today, they still look to the time of king David as the glory days for the nation. They do not look to the time of Saul or Solomon or any other king for that. They fail to understand what the difference was then, but they like to read about the respect that other nations developed for king David and for the nation of Israel in those days.
King Solomon squandered the blessings that his father had been granted by God. King Solomon did not understand the importance of walking in the fear of the Lord.
It seems that most professing Christians today do not understand the importance of walking in the fear of the Lord either. Most still assume there is a benefit to tip toe around ungodly governments and even supporting them, when the governments only care about gaining power and keeping power.
God is the One Who cares about the soul and the family and the well being of people. Those who are His children need to stand firmly on His side. We need to proclaim His name and His power and strength. He alone is the hope of man. God’s people are called upon to stand up for the truth. We are commanded to “contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” Material wealth and friends in high places are not necessarily a blessing from the Lord. Walking in His will and knowing His peace in the heart in spite of spiritual and physical attacks is the way of God’s blessings.
We are in danger of making the Word of God of none effect due to our deliberate miss-appropriation of It for our own “safety”. Yet we are not safe. Can you see this?
Pastor Bartel