The Crisis (Within and Without)

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the October 10, 2015 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 12:8-9, NIV

An online game, “March of Empires,” one of many in the genre allows each player to have a castle and develop technologies, armies and alliances in real time competition with other players. In a “King of the Hill” type battle, players vie with one another to control the “Seat of Power,” a region in the center of the world map. No one is quite sure what will happen once that goal is reached, but the struggle ensues nonetheless. Each alliance may consist of as many as one hundred players who log on at various times from all over the world, and the leader of an alliance is severely challenged to co-ordinate all those players, often speaking several different languages. But the language challenge is not the greatest obstacle to unit cohesion as the players struggle together to achieve various milestones. Many of the players, whether veteran players or wet-behind-the-ears “newbies,” seem to have their own ideas about how to play the game. Even for the most dedicated and experienced leader, the experience is like trying to herd cats.

Some players, whether it is because of language or time zone differences, rarely participate in alliance events. Other players are constantly setting off “brush fires” by indiscriminately attacking friend and foe alike. Still other players are constantly demanding that the more experienced players save them from the results of bad decisions they make. A wise leader soon learns that he or she must work with the willing, often to overcome the problems created by those who are going their own way. He or she must also deal effectively with those who are unable or unwilling to learn from their bad choices. In all of this, there are striking parallels to what God and the children of Israel have experienced down through the several millennia of their relationship. Over and over again, Israel is depicted as “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes.”[i] This is very much like the personalities of cats who deign to come when we call only if it suits them. Apparently, God must have vast patience, for He seems to be the greatest cat herder of them all.

Perhaps such behavior would not be problematic if we saw things the same way God does, for we would naturally follow the correct course, but we often do not. Instead, we may consider our perversity wisdom and take a foolish path.[ii] In the online game, wisdom would be to seek counsel of those who better understand the game and then follow that advice, testing its continued efficacy by the results. The same would seem to apply to our relationship to God. We may seek advice of those more experienced in following the Way.[iii] However, unlike the online game which has no actual manual and relies solely on results, we have a more enduring method to examine the efficacy of the counsel we receive. We may test that advice against the Bible. This, of course, implies that we know what the Bible says, or at least how to find what it says on the matter in question. Old School, we looked up that information in concordances and then examined the context, both literal and historical, to determine what was the correct path to follow. Now we can use powerful online search engines to quickly scan the entire text of the Bible to find what we are looking for. Then we can expand the search to immediate context or the entire chapter. Additionally we can “Google” for key phrases and persons to expand our context into historical and literary references.

But there is still a danger here. We may choose to only search for that information which supports what we believe to be true, or worse, to directly challenge a course we really already know to be right. Our desire to go our own way may be so strong that we may be willingly blind to that which would save us from our error.[iv] The terrible thing about such a course is that it can become multi-generational.

Who does not know the child who has figured out that he or she is smarter than their parents? They eschew advice and pursue a divergent course. But if the parents were in error compared to the previous generation for a similar reason then the next generation may magnify that error as their rebellion takes them even farther astray. Israel’s history shows this tendency as other generations arose after the Exodus that did not know that experience and may have considered it irrelevant to their more “modern” experience. Pressures may have existed for them to conform to the habits and practices of the surrounding cultures. Feeling this to be the correct path, they then brought those practices home to their families and communities. Initially, these may have been seen for the typical teenage rebellion that they were, but over time as the teenagers became adults, those ideas and principles became normalized through widespread acceptance. Then they, in turn, became the old fashioned way that the next generation confronted by going even further astray to challenge what had been the previous rebellion.

With the passing of the generations, rebellion can become institutionalized as something to be pursued for its own sake. It matters little what is right or wrong so much as that the dominant paradigm must be subverted.[v] While this may accomplish breakthroughs in some endeavors, it necessarily supposes that the existing paradigm is in error. This becomes problematic when confronted by One who claims to be the Truth. This powerful claim challenges the validity of the subversion. This is perhaps the very struggle that embroiled Jeremiah and his entire ministry to Israel. He asserted that there was one absolute truth to a nation descended into relativism. This struggle resonates to us today for we fight similar battles.

Is it possible to proclaim truth to a world committed to relativism? The Gospel Commission seems to mandate it.[vi] So what does that look like in that relativistic environment? Jeremiah gives us a clue. His was not an easy path. The book Lamentations reveals that it was a path filled with tears. Although God told Jeremiah that He would make him a brazen wall against his enemies,[vii] the reality was that Jeremiah was abused and tossed into a dungeon to die. Rescued by a faithful servant of God, he nonetheless was kept in the prison pending the fall of the city to the Babylonians.[viii] This imprisonment is comparable to the imprisonment of John the Baptist, who challenged his king similarly with a faithful testimony to the truth. However, unlike John, Jeremiah was not put to death. Naturally, this does raise the question, “Why was Jeremiah rescued from the possibility of death in the cistern, while there was no rescue for John?” There was no apparent promise of protection for John as there was for Jeremiah, but, that reason aside, perhaps this is only a testament to the inscrutable character of God. Of course that attribute comes to God by definition. Inscrutability is the antithesis of any limitation that would make God the personal “god-in-the-box” that some, Christian or not, carry about with them.

Maybe this is why our relationship with God is often reduced to the stark command, “Obey.” In the face of such inscrutability, what are we left with but faith that what God requires is good and that obedience is the only recourse to such good? The only other option might be to deny that goodness and rebel, either actively or passively. Per the Bible, that did happen, in heaven of all places, and the rebellion failed.[ix] When one considers that the rebels were heavenly beings, and they failed, the futility of human rebellion seems apparent. Nonetheless, as Jeremiah discovered, the rebels have an uncanny way of convincing themselves that rebellion is still possible and right. Should we, like Jeremiah, speak truth to power, we may uncover that same spirit, whether that power is secular or religious, within our individual denominations or without.

Should we then remain cloistered within hallowed walls, avoiding contact with the rebels surrounding us, feeling secure in our isolation, or do we venture forth as commissioned and risk the wrath of those committed to that rebellion? If the battle lines were clearly defined, it might make sense to remain behind holy fortifications, but some are not fully committed to rebellion. Some want to escape from the despair of a losing alliance and are eager to find their way to the winning side, if only someone could come and show them the road home. They may be looking for a Jeremiah with the fortitude to give them the strength to break away from the rebel camp. We may be their pathway out



[i] Judges 17:6, 21:25

[ii] Proverbs 12:15

[iii] Acts 9:1-2

[iv] John 9:40-41

[v] “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,” Thomas Kuhn, University of Chicago Press, 1962

[vi] Matthew 28:18-20

[vii] Jeremiah 1:18

[viii] Jeremiah 38:11-13

[ix] Revelation 12:7-12

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this commentary, you might also enjoy this book.

To learn more click on this link.
The God Who Is: Explorations in Deity

 

 

 

This Commentary is a Service of Still Waters Ministry

www.visitstillwaters.com

 

If you wish to receive these weekly commentaries direct to your e-mail inbox for free, simply send an e-mail to:

commentaries-subscribe@visitstillwaters.com

Scripture marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

 

 

 

If you want a paperback copy of the current Sabbath School Bible Study Quarterly, you may purchase one by clicking here and typing the word "quarterly" into the search box.