There is nothing new under the sun!
3,000 year old wisdom still applies today
Recent Headlines
“The West’s worst drought in 1,200 years!” “Monkey Pox patients advised to have sex with their clothes on” “Naked man dances atop patrol car, shatters rear window” “Has human progress peaked?” “Rabbi says ‘my religion makes me pro-abortion”.
A recent Gallup poll notes the declining belief in God in the USA. However, the new low shows 81% still believe in God, which surprised me! I thought it was much lower!
There are two Bible books of philosophy – Ecclesiastes & Proverbs – most of both attributed to Solomon, third king of united Israel.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 has wisdom for evaluating our world today. Read it!
Do you think these are “the worst of times”?
In a recent (June 5th) essay on the great evil that is despair, I noted that today despair1 is ubiquitous in our country, in our culture and even among some in my own family, friends, neighbors and coworkers.
As we observe our government through the lens of the major media, social media and whatever source of “news” we have available (little of which can be trusted), we see that our President obviously suffers from some sort of dementia (common among people of his age).
We see that his administration is composed of people who seem to be out of touch with reality2 and incompetent as well.
That malaise3 and incompetence seems to extend down to our state, county and local governments.
In all forms of media and communication, anyone prominent in our society who publicly disagrees with the present cultural narratives favored by these “elites” faces loss of reputation and possible loss of employment or even more dire retribution
Our healthcare system is now run by radical leftists who use the system for political purposes with little regard for the actual health of the public. Administrators have contributed to the power grab of the government bureaucracy.
They have demonstrated that our trusted personal doctors and care providers will go along with whatever the national healthcare system demands rather than seeking the best for their patients.
Our government is striving for ever-increasing power and control; the minions in our bureaucracies are writing laws (disguised as “regulations”) that allow spying on any individual and that are designed to extract more and more wealth from the “common” people.
The Bible always puts things in context
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV84)
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV 1900)
As we have stated countless times in other essays, “Human nature never changes”. That statement should always be paired with “unless a human being turns to God and allows God’s laws and teaching to change his or her nature”.
From the beginning, we human beings have rejected the sovereignty of God. Our behavior demonstrates that for many people, their only guideposts to life are their own selfish and craven desires.
From the beginning, even the ancient people of history seem to have lived by the Woodstock generation’s motto: “If it feels good, do it! If you did it and it felt good, do it again!”
There is nothing new under the sun!
Yes my friends and subscribers, today’s despair is the result of a majority of our leaders and influencers advocating living without acknowledgement of God and the civil and religious “rules” developed and practiced over thousands of years to enhance the quality of life for all.
Unfortunately, many of the citizens of our culture agree with or at least do not resist living by the “new” rules that are basically whatever rules are advocated by those leaders and influencers.
However, it has always been so – from the beginning.
In the legend of the Garden of Eden, the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” tasted good so Eve not only ate it but gave it to her man who ate it as well even knowing it was forbidden by the Creator.
After God extracted the children of Israel from their Egyptian slavery, gave them the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, helped them defeat their enemies, they rejected God as their ruler and demanded a king so they could be like their pagan neighbors.
Biblical history records Israel becoming fat and wealthy under three kings – after Saul, David and Solomon wound up ruling the lands from the “river of Egypt” to the Euphrates River (just as God promised Abraham) – the last of those kings devolved into debauchery and idolatry and caused the division into two kingdoms.
After that division, you can read for yourself4 that few of the kings of Judah and no king of Israel (the northern 10 tribes) ever “retired” as king. They were all murdered by their successors who also murdered their entire families (women and children) to insure that succession.
Secular history records the tragic tales of all the kingdoms, empires etc. of the earth having similar tales since the beginning of that history.
Today’s Culture
A people becomes powerful, fat, happy and safe and immediately begins to deteriorate as various factions strive to achieve power and dominance and control the lives of their “common” people.
This is what has happened to our country.
For almost 150 years, the USA had avoided the plague of government based upon the “reasoning” of man and mostly followed the guidelines set out by the founding “fathers” of a limited government and the “rule of law”.
But, like all the others, we may be headed for destruction.
Click here to read my essay on how this plague on our culture came to be.
Is this phenomenon unique to the USA?
There is nothing new under the sun!
So how do we in the USA avoid the fate of all those kingdoms, empires and nations that developed with much promise but only lasted a century or two before dissolving into chaos?
The Biblical lesson of Ninevah, Assyria
We can learn from the book from the prophet Jonah how one nation, Assyria, saved itself from destruction [Jonah 3:1–10].
Basically, a strong leader appeared who understood the oncoming danger. He first tried to set himself right with God and – after he got the attention of the population – he then proclaimed:
Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Jonah 3:8 (NIV84)
Applying that lesson for the the USA today
I suggest these steps:
- First of all, like the king of Ninevah, get our own, personal lives in order and call upon our Heavenly Father to forgive us of our sins including our inaction over the past many years and strive to follow God’s ways to the best of our ability.
2. Reach out to our family, friends and neighbors with kindness and consideration and where opportunity presents itself, urge them to set themselves right with God and pass the message if appropriate.
3. Whether or not you believe the last election (November 2020) was stolen by some combination of electronic balloting or just stuffing illegal ballots into the mix, we need to insure that in any future election, the political office seekers who receive a majority of legal voters vote for are the ones elected.
4. God’s people need to turn out en masse in November 2022 so that no matter how much cheating is done (there’s always some), the people chosen by legal ballots are elected to public offices.
5. God’s people need to examine the actual records of those running for office and – while none of them will be perfect and few can even be called “good” – carefully choose those who, if not obviously good people, are at least not antagonistic to Christianity and the principles upon which this country was founded.
6. After the election is over, carefully watch what those office holders do and if they stray into dangerous territory and do not do what they promised to do, let them know we are watching and clearly see them waffling on their promises and that we will recall them if necessary or at least vote them out when their terms are over.
7. Pray continually for God’s help in preserving our nation which has given its “common” men and women more freedom and liberty and wealth that any other nation in history.
Are you ready to do these things for your family, friends and neighbors? Are you ready to do these things for your children and grandchildren and other descendants you may have?
If you’re onboard with these things, click the “like” button and/or comment on this essay or send me an e-mail.
1 Despair: “the complete loss or absence of hope”
2 How else can we explain their ability to ignore truth recognized for several thousand years and obvious by simple physical examination that human beings have only two sexes – male and female? How else can they ignore that closing petroleum pipelines and quashing new oil production leads to increased energy costs which leads to higher prices and inflation?
3 Malaise: “a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify.” First public reference to a condition of “malaise” was from a speech by then President Jimmy Carter
4 I & II Samuel; I & II Kings; I & II Chronicles
