The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Micah 3:11,
"Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her
prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord's support
and say, 'Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.'"
In the indictment against Israel, her leaders are excoriated by Micah.
The leaders judged for money, the priests taught for a price and
Israel's prophets told "fortunes" for money. Israel had lost her way.
She had lost her connection with the Lord and long ago forgot the
purpose the Lord had for her as his covenant people.
In short, the folks had no clue as to why they existed. Rudderless,
aimless, without direction, without the lofty goals a life of purpose
from God can provide, Israel sank into a simple existence of simple
gratification. They became a listless people pursuing nothing but what
their own sinful self-absorbed proclivities dictated.
Just like today. Today in our country. Today in our churches. Today in
our schools. Today in the pop-culture that dominates so much of the
conscious existence of so many.
Were I to ask the question, "Why do we exist as a nation here in
America?" I'm afraid the answers would be just as devoid of thought,
vapid and meaningless as Israel might have given. Nobody knows why a
nation exists anymore, and worse yet, no one seems to be asking.
How would you answer that question? Peace and prosperity isn't going
to do it. Jesus asked, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and
how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo,
and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I
came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." Luke
12:49-51. Here is how the Lord put it in Matthew 34-39, "Do not
suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come
to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against
his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law— a man's enemies will be the members of his own
household.'" Here he quotes Micah 7:6. No, peace and prosperity is not
why any nation exists, including the United Sates.
How about "To glorify God"? What a non-answer! Providing empty
religious-sounding phrases without meaningful and thoughtful
reflection hardly satisfies a meaningful and thoughtful question. All
creation glorifies God as his due. After all, God created it all and
therefore all creation reflects the magnificent glory of our Creator's
splendor. The fact that our nation exists brings glory to God, but
that hardly addresses the "why" for which we exist.
May I suggest a thoughtful and provocative comment Paul made at the
Areopagus in Athens as the answer? "He [God] himself gives everyone
life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the
nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out
their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him
and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:25-27.
God made all the nations, he set their times and geographical
locations. He did this so individuals (the "everyone" God has given
life and breath to) "would seek him, and perhaps reach out for him and
find him." In other words, our nation, as all nations, exists to
facilitate the building of God's kingdom for himself. We don't have a
country so we can have churches in it, rather, we have a country to
facilitate God's work in the building of his kingdom. When God's
kingdom is complete (the last soul saved that brings this enterprise
to completion) this age comes to a close, and this purpose will be
completed.
Israel, in Micah's day, had lost all connection with this purpose and
so faced its destruction. God had no further need of Israel at that
time, when they were no longer useful in pursuing his purposes of
building his kingdom. Thankfully for Israel, God was not done with
them, and is not yet done with them today. The same cannot be said for
the many nations that have ceased to exist when they ceased to fulfill
God's purpose of building his kingdom.
Something to think about when considering America's purpose today.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
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respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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