Stephen
Terry, Director
Longing
for God in Zion
Commentary
for the March 16, 2024, Sabbath School Lesson
"My soul yearns, even faints, for the
courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84:2
"For
the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by
the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be
liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of
the children of God. We
know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth
right up to the present time." Romans 8:19-22
In my lifetime, the world
population has grown from 2.5 billion to over 8.1 billion.[i]
That is a population increase of 324%. The current population density is fifty-four
people for every square kilometer of land on earth. This does not sound
terribly crowded. But when we consider that only a little over 25% of that land
is arable, and there has been little change in the amount of arable land over
the past decade,[ii] even with a population growth
rate that has decreased to under 1% per year the strain on world food supplies
will only increase. This does not consider food stores destroyed by warfare,
leaving populations to starve in a world that for now has the potential to feed
everyone. Some seem to never have enough though their gluttony is already well
sated. On the other hand, some seem to come into the world only to live a
short, miserable life and die under the bootheels of those whose attitude is "If
you do not submit to me, I will starve you, torture you, destroy everything you
own and every person and thing you love for no other reason than that I have
the power to do so."
We see this never-ending
scenario in so many places on the planet. We see it in the Russian warfare
against Ukraine. We see it in the Israeli warfare against Gaza. We see it in
the civil wars in Ethiopia and Sudan. We see it in the vicious gangsterism in
Haiti. We even see it in the United States in the hearts of those who see no
problem with tearing the country apart to refight the Civil War of almost two
centuries ago. It seems no matter where we turn, there is rot at the core of
everything greedy humanity touches. While some might feel this is nothing more
than social Darwinism, and therefore the natural order of things, it goes
beyond that.
In the first episode of "The Gilded
Age," a Home Box Office network series, the patriarch of the Russell family
informs a competitor he was negotiating with that he will build a railroad line
right next to the other man's line. When asked why he would do that since it
would cost far more to do that than to simply buy the existing line, his
response was "Because I can." When a desire for control and even vengeance outweighs
common sense like that, we end up with situations like the
Ukraine War, where a greedy autocrat like Valdimir Putin is willing to
sacrifice hundreds of thousands of his citizens in a vicious act of vanity. He
may believe he is doing it to secure the future of his people, but for all the
grieving mothers weeping over the graves of their sons or the many wives who have been widowed what is the future for them?
Will they thank him for shedding the blood of their children or spouses? Will
they appreciate that their sons and husbands will no longer be there for them?
I spent a year providing medical support in the useless war in Vietnam. Over
1.25 million total people died on all sides in that conflict. We lost over
58,000 United States servicemen, but as tragic as that is, the Vietnamese
killed one another at a far greater rate, laying almost a million of their
fellow citizens in their graves. Ironically, the same communist regime that so
many Americans died fighting now welcomes American tourists, including Vietnam
veterans, by the thousands.
No one currently needs to starve.
There is enough food for all. No one need die fighting for land. There is still
enough for all. But instead, people are bloodily driven from their land, and
millions flee to refugee camps starving, with many dying on the journey or soon
after arriving because of the evil they have been subjected to. Toddlers and
infants are little more than toothpick figures for lack of nourishment. So much
of the tragedy is of the "Your grandfather killed my grandfather, so now that I
can, I will kill you!" nature. And the bloodshed goes on. It does not seem to
matter. Whether Christian or Jew, Muslim or Hindu, Atheist or Animist, all seem
to succumb to the desire to destroy the enemies of their past. The only thing
that seems capable of stopping the bloodshed and cruelty is the outside
intervention of an irresistible force. Some religions depend upon that and
teach apocalyptic scenarios where a messianic being will return and destroy all
the enemies of their particular faith and promote the
faithful to heavenly bliss.
The book of Revelation seems to
endorse that viewpoint. But sometimes I wonder if God is simply going to be
like the parent who shouts from the next room, "If you kids don't stop
fighting, I am coming in there, and you are going to wish you had!" The Old
Testament supplies metaphors for that understanding. Things got so bad a global
flood became necessary to stop the evil. Things got so bad that Israel was used
to stop the evil being done by the Canaanites. Things got so bad that the
Assyrians had to deal with the Samaritans. Things got so bad that the Babylonians
had to deal with Jerusalem. Several of these examples are regional. But the flood
story is evidence that things can get bad enough that dealing with it becomes
an apocalyptic event.
We complain about God the
genocidal being who wipes everyone out, but the real problem is us. We are so
very skilled at wiping everyone out ourselves. All it takes is one madman to
pull the nuclear trigger and the apocalypse is here. Some despots are already
threatening to do just that. Even though it would cost them as well, like Mr.
Russell in "The Gilded Age," they may do so simply because they can. Unfortunately,
fear produces anger and with everyone living in fear of a nuclear apocalypse,
the global fever can rise to the point that it can become a reality.
When we consider our short life
spans, even if we should live out our years, it all seems so pointless. We are
like a firework that shoots forth for a moment, bursts, and is gone and soon
forgotten. As children, we can hardly wait to become adults when we are free to
enjoy life. Then as adults we take ourselves far too seriously as we fritter
away our strongest and best years toiling for things that, like us, will perish
one day. Whether we lived our lives for anger and vengeance, or we lived them
for love and compassion, either way we will return to dust. Nonetheless, we can
do so with the hope of a resurrection to a better place. All of Creation witnesses
to the existence of that place, for it thrives without the polluting miasma
that we have covered the planet with. It struggles to survive despite such evil
that it might one day see a restoration to Edenic balance.
Some would deny the idea that
nature is anything other than something else to be forced to submit to
totalitarian control. Even on a personal level, many
live with their own yards subjected to a monoculture dedicated to uniformity.
Nothing is allowed to survive that would challenge that hegemony. Nature does
not submit easily so ongoing efforts to eradicate that opposition are endless.
But there are those who understand that Eden is a metaphor for living in
harmony with creation. They realize that every creature, every plant, every season
has its part to play that all might be in balance, and they set their life to
learn that balance. But they are not the majority, and despite their efforts to
save what can be saved, millions of tons of chemicals
are poured into the environment by others with no other purpose than to kill. What
they do not understand is what kills plant and animal life accumulates in the environment kills
them as well. In the end their war against nature is just as futile as humanity's
constant warfare with one another. The cost for both wars is senseless and far
too high.
For those who yearn for something
better, all creation yearns with them. The Bible tells us that day will come.
Our Father will decide enough is enough with all the fighting and abuse and
will end it the only way it can end, returning to the death dealers the hand
they would have dealt to everyone else. Some might complain that he isn't fair
to do so, but then those who will face such an end never really cared about
justice anyway.