United States of America

Just A Thought 01/13/09

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One Four Three

A three word sentence.  If you look at this mathematically 1+4+3= 8.  What can this possibly mean.

I want us to see this not as a problem of arithmetic, but an answer to a lot of human ills.  It is amazing what this three word sentence can do to the hearts of many people, and with time, could be a change with all people, one way or another.

Let’s first of all look at that first word “One”.  There is first of all only YOU.  You by yourself, are a unique being.  You were made in the image of our Creator, whether you believe that or not makes no difference from the truth that you are.   There is no other like you, and when you refer to yourself to someone else you say “I”, and that is what the word “One” stands for.  There is only one you, and no more; and you are the “I” in your life.

The second word “Four” refers to another word; a four letter word.  Now there are many four letter words, some of which are not fit to be spoken or written.  In the United States of America there are different kinds of expression of this four letter word of which I refer to.  “Love” is that four letter word.  Another four letter word which is really behind a lot of the word is “Lust” rather than love.  That is often meant in a man’s heart toward a  woman, rather than genuine love.  Lust takes and gives nothing but pain and harm.  Love that is genuine and true seeks the good and well being of others, and of another.

Parents, your children need to hear you tell them “I love you”, and they need to hear their Mom and Dad say to one another, “I love you”, and not only saying it, but expressing it in many ways.  Kindness to one another.  Even when you are angry with one another refrain from name calling, which leads to bitterness, anger, and long time harm through memories; and can and often does go into the next generation, if not corrected quickly.

Love thinks of the well being of others, and not of the “I”.

The final word we see is “YOU”.  When you are speaking to someone else you refer to them as “You”, or by name.  To myself I refer to the reader here as “YOU”.  I pray that this will make an impact on your life, your family, and all the people who come into your life.

Husbands and wives; there may be some reading here who are on the brink of divorce.  Have you forgotten the words “I love you”?  Have you demonstrated that love by kindness, affection, an act that does not involve sex, nor expect it in return?  Genuine love comes by sacrifice; giving yourself, even at great expense, for the well-being of another.  It is possible to save your home, your marriage, the future of your children, and your very own future with those three words, “I LOVE YOU.”

These three words are very difficult to say, and maybe they should be.  They should never be said with an ulterior motive, selfishly, or without thought.  It should mean that we care, that I am here for you, that whatever you need, and it is in the power of my hand to provide it; it is yours.

Loving others genuinely is sometimes difficult, because “I” am sometimes selfish, self-centered, self-seeking, and we, you and I, can see that in small children if we will see it.  See it in them as they play, and suddenly one says, “Mine!”

The greatest good that could take place in our homes, communities, churches, States, and Countries is to begin telling others, “I love you” with a genuine heart, or merely by showing “I love you” with an act of kindness, when we have not been treated so kindly.  And do so without expecting anything in return.  Do it because you genuinely love.

The greatest love ever shown was when “God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  God loves you.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, with His feet above the earth, His head toward heaven and His arms were outstretched as though saying “I love you, come unto Me”.

Because Jesus lives, I LOVE YOU.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Unclean Hands, Lips – From The Heart

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We have in these verses further explanation of the “washing with unclean hands” issue which the scribes and Pharisees had attacked Jesus and His disciples. It seems that the men were thoroughly offended by Jesus’s remarks, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man”, and His disciples noticed. Does anyone ever give thought to what might “offend” Jesus? Just a thought.

“Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” Matthew 15:12-20 (KJV)

Jesus is the Son of God, the Prophet of God foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18); and not a bit concerned about offending the disgusting arguments of manmade doctrines. He even goes on and tells His disciples that “Every plant not planted by My Father will be uprooted”. He is probably speaking of these foolish doctrines, and He could be speaking of the Pharisees themselves, or maybe both. Doctrines that are false will one day be revealed as being false. The doctrines of men are usually false doctrines which bind men, rather than setting them free, as the doctrines of God do.

This part of the verse which speaks of the “blind leading the blind” somewhat reminds me of the Financial chaos of our nation [USA] and that of the world. One bankrupt nation, asking loan from other nations who are nearing bankruptcy, sounds as though the blind are leading the blind, at least to me. Enough of that. The doctrines of men will fall, and those who follow the doctrines of men; unless they are drawn by the Spirit of God to Jesus; will also fall into the ditch, because; in essence they are blind.

Jeremiah the prophet said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” 17:9 (KJV). We often think that we know what is in our “heart”, and then when we get too assured about it something will happen, and bring us down from our perch. Understand, that when we speak of the “heart” here we are not talking about that blood pump in our chest. The “heart” could also be rendered as our “Innermost being”. It is the seat of our being, our soul and our spirit. It is that within us that is eternal, and that will never die. God/Jesus Christ is the only one who can know our hearts.

Some of the men and women who are in prison for murder, negligent homocide, manslaughter, and some other things, never thought they would be there. They had better plans than spend a good portion of their lives in prison. They were full of themselves, and not God. When you get to thinking, “I know what’s in my heart” you may find yourself in trouble. The only way to know your heart is to know the One who knows your heart, and that is Jesus Christ. Look what Jesus says comes from our hearts – “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…”; these He says, “Defile the man”, and “man” here is generic for all of us; male and female.

We can so easily become carried away by teachings of men which empower us over others, and that is what the Pharisees were trying to do with Jesus. By showing themselves more knowledgeable than Him; by showing themselves more holy than Jesus they thought to prove Him a blasphemer. Since Jesus was who He claims to be, then their words were empty and powerless. They were the words of men and not of God. They were defiled in their hearts, and thus could only give “lip service” to God.

 

How is your heart today?

 

-Tim A. Blankenship

Run Through The Streets…

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The following verse of Jeremiah is a verse which shows the condition of the people of Judah, and the city of Jerusalem in this prophet’s time.  It is really not far from the conditions of our own time, and maybe the same.
“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.” Jeremiah 5:1 (KJV)

The LORD speaking through the prophet gives reason for the approaching judgment which will come upon Jerusalem and the country. God says, “You can run through the streets of the city, and you will not find any man who is righteous in judging, that seeks the truth; and if you could I would pardon the city.” Not one. “There is none righteous; no not one.” (Psalm 14:3; Romans 3:10).

The writer of 2 Chronicles by the Spirit of God wrote, “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect  toward Him.” (16:9). We can look to our hearts content and if one is not to be found it will not be found. The “eyes of the LORD” however knows what He will do. He has One in mind. One who will be faithful. One who will be just and righteous in in dealings, judgments, who will be the Truth Himself. His name is Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God.

Things looked hopeless for Jeremiah and the people of the city of Jerusalem at that time; but there was hope. The LORD God often causes us to take a long look at our own hearts and lives to see that if left up to us, it would be hopeless; however, with the LORD there is promise, and God will always fulfill His promises.

Can we find anyone who is worthy to lead us as a nation out of the financial crisis we are in here in the United States of America? The salvation of the problem we are in is not financial it is spiritual, and until there is repentance from greedy citizens, Senate, Congress, we are actually open to believe anything from a smooth talking, deceptive, candidate who believes he can be the leader who can solve all our problems.

It is a time for repentance. No mere man can deliver us from this, and it is certain that our government cannot successfully bail out bankrupt institutions when our nation is in fact financially bankrupt. We are first of all spiritually bankrupt before God.

Run Through the Streets, and see if you can find anyone who is honest, just, and righteous in their dealings. There are none. It is time for repentance, and turning to our God through His Son Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross of calvary, and His resurrection. He is the only one who is able.

-Tim A. Blankenship

The Summer of 1812

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At a time when some of the States of the Union were considering secession this Nation was being attacked all around. It is usually so even in 2007. When any nation is divided she will fall. Here are the words from, “FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel;

“In the South, while the question of slavery no longer had a place in the front-page news, it had hardly died away. Southerners needed only to look to the Northwest and Indian Territories, where most of the immigrants were settling, see the sort of states that would be formed from them — most of them admitted with constitutions banning slavery. How long would it be before they were overwhelmed, in Senate and House? Right now, one of their own, indeed their champion, was imposing his will on the North — how long before the shoe was on the other foot? Jefferson’s embargo was hurting them, too; countless bales of cotton remained piled on the docks and levees, with no place to send them. Something had to be done…’

‘By the grace of God, literally, the republic stayed together. The nation stumbled on, with Jefferson’s protege, James Madison, now at the helm. But the situation was not improving. On the Continent, Napoleon appeared to be invincible. The Austrians fell to him, and the Spaniards, and the Italians, and now he was turning towards Russia; it appeared he was about to add the Bear to his list of conquests. The greater his success, the greater the threat he posed to the island race to his west. And the greater measures Britain took to protect herself. Now any American ship found on the high seas was likely to be taken and her crew impressed. As A. L. Burt put it:”

“The independence of the United States was being frittered away. The country was losing its self-respect, the most precious possession a nation can have, as it failed to command the respect of the belligerents. More and more the feebleness of the American government’s policy had been teaching these embattled giants of the Old World that they could trample with impugnity upon American rights, American interests, and American feelings.”

Marshall and Manuel take up the narrative again, “Finally, by the Summer of 1812, there had been too many ignominies, too many outrages; it was reported that more than 6,000 American citizens had been kidnapped and forced to serve in the Royal Navy, which had to replace some 2,500 deserters a year and simply refused to curtail impressment. If America was to retain any semblance of honor, she had no further alternative but to fight. Crying ‘Free Trade and Sailor’s Rights’, the War Hawks in Congress won the vote for war seventy-nine to forty-nine, and on June 18, President Madison proclaimed that a state of war existed between Great Britain and the United States. The American cause was summed up by the commander of Western Tennessee Militia:”

“We are going to fight for the re-establishment of our national character, misunderstood and villified at home and abroad; for the protection of our maritime citizens, impressed on board British ships of war and compelled to fight the battles of our enemies against ourselves; to vindicate our right to a free trade, and open the market for the production of our soil, now perishing on our hands because the ‘mistress of the ocean’ forbids us to carry them to any foreign nation. ANDREW JACKSON”

There are times we must fight. One of them is when we have been attacked. Definitely we have been attacked again. From the book FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA pp. 131 & 132 paperback

-Tim A. Blankenship

 

A Crucial Moment in History

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A Crucial Moment in History

In the year 1787 there was very serious debate of the Constitutional Convention. It was not being accomplished, and it seemed all was to no avail.

Peter Marshall and David Manuel write, “At this crucial moment, when there was not a man present who had any real hope of finding and effective solution, it was Ben Franklin who rose to speak. This elder statesman, who was also one of the most prominent physicists of his age, quietly said:”

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence of our favor… And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?’

‘I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘That God governs in the affairs of man.’ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?’

‘We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or conquest.’

‘I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.” From THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY by Peter Marshall, Jr. and David Manuel, pp. 342 & 343 paperback.

O how we need again, to hear the words of this man in the history of our nation. If we are not dependent upon God, our Providence, for the leadership of this nation we will become the laughing stock of the world.

-Tim A. Blankenship

President of Harvard College

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For the next few days I will be posting quotes from the books written by Peter Marshall, and David Manuel on the history of our Nation. The first is from “The Light and the Glory”, and is a quote from a sermon preached by the Reverend Samuel Langdon on May 31, 1775, following the taking of Fort Ticonderoga.

“We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions. The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him. By many the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism.

‘Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time… My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance…

‘If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him. They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land… May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about.

‘May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble… we will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners…” From THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY pp. 277 & 278.

Can we see that this is a message that is pertinent for our day?

-Tim A. Blankenship

A Former President

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Here we are in the week of the year when we celebrate the beginning of our great Nation (USA).  I am blessed to have been born in such a nation.  I would not desire to live anywhere else in the world.  There are some people who speak words that makes me think they despise being an American, a citizen of the United States of America.  One of them is a former President of our nation.

This Friday let’s celebrate our freedom which we have, and remember that true freedom comes from God, and sometimes we must fight to keep some of the freedoms of humanity that we hold dear.  Thank God for our men and women who are sacrificing their time, and lives for us.

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 Many of the people who are patriots of our nation have no clue of the danger that is lurking at our doors. Terrorism is not the real threat to us, it is only a symptom. Illegal immigration is not the real threat to our nation. In writing this I certainly do not mean to sound so negative, or opposed to our nation, but I am really trying to defend us, and get us headed in the right direction.

The real threat to our nation is the idolatry pervading our land. The idolatry of technology, medicine, money/finance, recreation, comfort, convenience, even the idolizing of our children. Globalization is also an idol of many. The people involved in this seems to thing if we could just have one world peace, one world economy, one world religion, then all would be well. That is a farce.

When we have a former President of our Country saying that our nation is evil for its support of Israel then, we have problems, and I for one am glad to call him a “Former President”. The man no longer has a heart for our Country. It seems more that he has his heart set on being a world leader, than a man of God, I once thought him to be. I have never thought Jimmy Carter to have been a good President, but I did see him as a good Christian, he seemed to care for the poor, and our nation, but not any longer. He would give us all over to the hands of Satan.

The following is a quote printed from Baptist Press concerning Jimmy Carter’s comments at a human rights conference in Dublin, Ireland on June 19, 2007;

“The United States and European Union should recognize the terrorist organization Hamas as a legitimate component of the Palestinian government, former President Jimmy Carter said at a human rights conference in Dublin, Ireland, June 19.Hamas, he said, had won free and fair elections in 2006, making the United States’ refusal to aid the Palestinian faction and recognize its right to govern a “criminal” act.Carter said he believes both Western governments and Israel are favoring the rival Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which now only governs the West Bank. Fatah also governed the Gaza Strip until Hamas fighters violently overthrew the party there earlier in June. Hamas, which executed members of the rival party in the street after its victory, had prevailed over the Fatah-controlled security forces in Gaza because of its fighters’ “superior skill and discipline,” Carter said.”

It is despicable, at least to myself, to hear a former leader of the United States of America say such traitorous things. It certainly shows he has no idea of God’s promises to the Nation of Israel. The trouble makers in the Middle East is not Israel, but the Palestinians. Their own proclaimed goal is the extinction of Israel. When will this former leader open his eyes and see the truth? Maybe he has a personal agenda in this. If he thinks he is a “Peacemaker” as in Jesus’s words, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9), he had better rethink that thought. It does not fit with the agenda.

People crying, “Peace, peace”, and there is no peace.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Astonished and Wondered

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For sometime Jeremiah had prophesied that judgment was coming if there was no repentance. Now it was “At the door”, and the priests and the prophets – the false ones – were going to be “Astonished and Wondered” about what was coming on them. They were in darkness. They could not see the wrath and judgment of God. They could not hear the message of God’s Word. They were themselves in the darkness of the people.

“The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, without inhabitant. For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us. ‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD, ‘That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets wonder.” Jeremiah 4:7-9 (NKJV)

The lion here, of course, is reference to Babylon, and that fits because archealogical pictures show the Babylonian symbol of power was a winged lion, at the royal palace, and in the city around it. The lion has been waiting for such an oppportunity to come and invade this proud and idolatrous people. The lion is an animal of stealth. The male, of course works off of fear. In the New Testament we have these words spoken, “…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” (1 Peter 5:8). Nebuchadnezzar was a destroyer of nations, and none could stand against him, even God’s people, due to their idolatry and lack of repentance.

Nebuchadnezzar was coming toward Jerusalem, and he would leave it desolate, laid waste, and without any inhabitant. The people of Jerusalem were thinking that Jeremiah could not be right. “This was, after all, God’s city; with God’s temple, and God’s people. He would not allow it to be overthrown, defeated and left in such a way”. Had not God promised that the kingdom of David was an everlasting kingdom?

False security rest in immoral hearts who are not trusting in the Lord, living as they please, and believe that God cannot judge them because of His promises. Can we not see that He judges His people, His children because of the promises made. True security rest in the morality of a cleansed heart and forgiveness that causes the forgiven to live holy lives for the glory of the LORD. It is not a matter of commandment or law, except that law of God that is written in the heart of the child of God.

Jeremiah calls for their repentance. Time and time again he calls for repentance; “…clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail…” was a call for humility before God, recognizing one’s sinfulness, and need of mercy and grace. Where is the call for repentance for the children of God today. As Christians we claim to be the children of God, people of God, the Bride of Christ, the Church, the Body of Christ; and yet there is little to no lamentation, or mourning, or weeping. There is no sorrow over our sins, little lone the sins of a lost and wicked world.

Some have asked and are asking is God judging America? It seems this question is being asked especially with the overwhelming flooding of our country, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and crop devastation due to such. The answer to the question is YES! It started when we began tolerating sexual immorality. The judgment started with homosexuality becoming an excepted practice. Hear what Paul the apostle says,

“For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural. The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion. And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die —they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.” Romans 1:21-32 (HCSB).

This judgment is due to a departure from the Living God to worship things, self-worship; magnifying the created over the Creator. Because of this God gives them up to their depraved minds, and look at what follows. Men with men, women with women. That is the judgment of God on the United States of America, the world and all who will stand and be advocates for evil. Unless there is a mass repentance, and soon, there is no hope for America to stand as the free nation that it once was. God is sending a foreign power to take us, and it may not be by force, but by a religious power through our democracy. Then, child of God, we will be under the rule of a government that hates Christ, and the true God, and those who follow Him. In truth all the governments of men hate God’s rule, including that government that calls itself “Democracy”. The democracy of the United States is gradually working against all that is holy, godly and righteous and just.

The anger of the LORD never turns away from us. The LORD is angry with the wicked everyday (Psalm 7:11), and yet He is merciful. There are going to be those who will say, “Well this prophecy is for the nation of Israel/Judah. It is not for America and the Church of our Lord Jesus.” They are correct, however, Paul the apostle tells us that these Old Testament writings are for an example for us; “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” 1 Corinthians 10:6 (KJV) and “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11 (KJV). It would be good for you to read all of chapter 10 to get the full extent of what Paul is speaking. We are to learn from the sins of the nation of Israel.

The leaders of the nation would fear greatly the roar of the lion of Babylon. He has a track record of victory, and of being mean, vicious, and quite arrogant. It is the lying priests, and the deceiving prophets – false prophets – who will be Astonished and Wondered by the events of Jeremiah’s  prophecy.  In our day and the USA, there is a great amount of lying and deceitful prophets, and priests, who claim to be of God, but are filled with lying spirits.  God will have His way in all the nations of the world. One day every nation will come before God and give an account of its treatment of the Nation of Israel, and they will also give an account of the way of their hatred toward God. We can rest assured that God will win.

-Tim A. Blankenship

The Curse of Beverage Alcohol

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A SHAMED GLORY

“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!  Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.  For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.” Habakkuk 2:15-17 (KJV).

This whole prophetic message seems to be presented in song. The prophet has been angry because in his way of thinking God is letting evil go, and not doing anything with it. He is firstly upset because he sees the evil of “God’s people”, then when God tells him that punitive judgment is coming for God’s people in the form of the ruthless, evil Babylonian kingdom, he begins questioning God’s wisdom in the matter. I do not know about you, but I see where the prophet is coming from.

There are some who tend to believe that since this is only a song, then the words are not literal, but are allegorical, or poetic imagery. I could see it as an analogy; at least in some of the words that are presented. The definition of “analogy” is, “Inference that if two or more things agree in some respects they will probably agree in others” MIRRIAM/WEBSTER DICTIONARY.

The picture given here is of the Babylonian horde persuading their neighbors to come along and aid them. They woo them with big promises of treasures, wealth, and great popularity with their people, etc. They become “intoxicated” by the thoughts and dreams of the bounty; then when the battles were fought and they head home their help leaves with less than they entered the battles with. Babylon leaders made great promise, then, take all for themselves.

There is still a lesson of the evils of alcoholic beverage here. A woe is pronounced upon the people who purposely sell beverage alcohol, knowing they will buy it, drink it, get drunk, then, not even know what their day or evening was like.

We live in a day when there must be a policy of abstinence from beverage alcohol. For some reason people are enticed by beverage alcohol, even from a young age. It is advertised as the way of getting the pretty girls, the handsome guys, and having a great time. When the party is eventually over they will be left without anything to show for it, except decay and death. It is an evil in our society which has and is poisoning our lives, killing our children, and mothers and fathers. Beverage alcohol has been and is a source of physical abuse between spouses; husbands abusing their wives; wives abusing their husbands, and all due to this poison that kills and does so legally. Both parents when inebriated have been known to abuse their children. We certainly know the numbers of deaths from accidents on the highways due to beverage alcohol. There is cost associated with lost time at work. Costs in health care due to beverage alcohol. Why is it worth having around? Unless of course it is because some profit at the expense of the dead man on the road.

The judgment of God fell on Babylon because of their arrogance, in particular of the king. They had stripped the forest, frightened the wild animals, and all for the sake of taking the lives of men, and for the sake of gain. That dish would be returned upon them and with their own entrails.

ANALOGY? You could say that, but it makes a good point. There are those who argue, and I believe without merit, that the Bible says nothing against the drinking of beverage alcohol. Here are some references. Proverbs 20:1; 23:29:-35; 31:1-9. Then, here is a good illustration of the blessing of God on those who choose to be temperate Jeremiah 35:1-19.

In a culture, such as ours here in the United States of America it seems quite foolish to be defending the use and abuse of beverage alcohol. What is there to guarantee that you will never become drunk? There is only one answer. Do not take a drink of beverage alcohol. Drunkenness can also come about by doing drugs. That too, should not be tolerated by Christian America.

“Well, I only drink a glass of wine with my evening meal”, that would mean you keep it in a closet or some place in your home. You have children seeing you drink. What will guarantee they will not become an alcoholic or drunk? If you do not have the poison in your home, and if they never see you take a drink, they will be less likely to begin the process toward alcoholism and drunkenness.

The message of Habakkuk is a “Woe” to those who put it to their neighbor’s lips, that they might look upon their nakedness. The analogy being; taking advantage of their neighbor for personal gain. The literal rendering is “Don’t sell alcoholic beverage or disperse it in any manner“. God help those who do not follow God’s Word.

I know there are arguments and debate all around these references, but I just trust what the verses say. Unless we want the judgment of the Babylonians on us we who profess Christ as our Savior better begin living a life of temperance. Others are watching you. The best way to avoid becoming an alcoholic is to never take a drink of beverage alcohol. Let us, especially not take part in causing others to become drunken and alcoholic. Let us rather show them the New Wine of Jesus.

-by Tim A. Blankenship