Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.
When Yeshua (Jesus) was describing the societal atmosphere of His return, he said these peculiar words … “Remember Lot’s Wife.” It was a warning … especially to the generation of believers just before His return.
In Genesis 19, we read of God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and specifically of how Lot’s wife turned to look at the destruction and was turned into a pillar of salt. [Genesis 19:26]
She turned around … and the warning to us is … don’t look back!
This past Tuesday, the United States witnessed a historic election, with Donald Trump winning the presidential race by a landslide. He launched his political career with the slogan, “Make America Great Again!”
This powerful slogan, reminding many Americans of the nation’s dramatic decline since their youth, inspired them to vote in hope of witnessing a restoration of former glory. For some, this was a nostalgic longing; for others, a passion for something that seemed almost irretrievably lost. However one recalls or defines it, America’s greatness does seem to be irrevocably fading, and our view is that looking back and longing for its recovery is looking in the wrong direction.
While some call this nation modern “Babylon” or even “Sodom,” what we see is a nation of paradox, full of tremendous blessings and, sadly, real wickedness. But however you view her, we believe it is unwise and even dangerous to look back to America’s past in hope of that kind of restoration. Since the “Days of Noah” are again upon us, we’re not expecting or focused on political solutions but looking toward the Kingdom that is soon coming!
When I worked for the Christian Coalition, I began to realize that the real issues America faces could not be remedied by politics. Political realities simply reflect a nation’s and its people’s internal moral and cultural climate. In their drive for power, most politicians are simply responding to or manipulating the current passions of the populace. Laws can be changed, but they will reflect the mores of the people, shaped by media, music, art, and culture. Those influences reveal a nation’s true soul. While some leaders are morally superior to others and may seem to offer hope, the real problems which plague society are internal and reflect the deeply rooted sin in human nature. The Gospel of Yeshua, the Messiah (Jesus Christ), is the only path and hope for any degree of national restoration. Anyone who has studied revivals can see this.
So nostalgically looking at the past with a view toward political transformation might not turn you into a pillar of salt but may seriously deflect us from the real hope and task of transformation: the Gospel, which points to the coming Kingdom and the coming King. Any reclamation of greatness, individual or national, will depend utterly on the transforming power of the Messiah and the profound inner work of His Holy Spirit.
Let’s not look back as Lot’s wife did toward whatever the “good life” was in Sodom or America; [Luke 9:62]. Any “greatness” that’s worth regaining will come from looking UP, not back! Our calling is to make disciples, anticipating the coming Kingdom where politics will not be “as usual” but everlasting righteousness in the presence of our King Yeshua.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]It never ceases to amaze me how our little girl, Elianna is growing and developing. I remember when she first came into this world, she was so helpless and frail — she couldn’t even move her head without our help. Now, just having turned two, she’s running around and tumbling, jumping, singing and dancing!
This is one of my favorite promises in the Bible — that God turns mourning into dancing! He takes away the anguish of being clothed in sadness and replaces it with gladness. However, notice what God doesn’t do — simply stop your mourning and make it disappear. No, He transforms it…into joy!
You may recall a few months ago we sent out an unspoken prayer request on behalf of the ministry without giving any details. At the time, among many other things going on, we went in for an ultrasound and the doctor told us that he wasn’t able to see a nose bone. He went on to say that this was a likely indication that the baby had Downs Syndrome and strongly suggested we get some tests done. When Rivka politely told him that we wouldn’t need any tests and that even if the baby did have Downs, he is a gift from God and there was no way we would abort him, the doctor was taken aback. He insisted that we would be causing an injustice to allow a baby to be born with a defect such as this. And believe it or not, two other doctors agreed.
As we discussed last week, the word for “sign” in ancient Hebrew is “oht”. It was used in Genesis to designate God’s covenant sign with Noah, (the rainbow). And we see now the same word again, in Exodus, identified with the deliverance of the Jewish people from the tenth plague, when the angel of death passed through all Egypt to strike the firstborn. Anyone under the “sign” of the blood was spared.
We found an interesting story in an old copy of “Our Daily Bread”: In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian — the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores — was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The candidate was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner won over incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes. A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for Republican Committeeman from Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The town’s mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won!
Some of the wealthiest individuals in the United States are real estate developers. They make their money by buying a piece of property that is terribly run down, seemingly useless, without any value to the naked eye and reforming it completely, making it look brand new! These businessmen are not as much interested in what is on the property as they are interested in the land it’s on!
A sailor who was shipwrecked on a desert island was captured by some of the natives of that island. They carried him off on their shoulders to their village, where he was sure he would end up being the main course. But instead, they put a crown on his head and made him king. He was enjoying all the attention he was receiving but was growing a little suspicious. He started making inquiries and discovered that their custom was to crown a stranger king for a year and at the end of that year the crowned king would be sent to a deserted island where he was allowed to starve to death.