Just before Joshua died, he gathered
the leaders of the children of Israel together at Shechem. There
he recounted to them their ancestry and heritage from the days of
Terah, Abraham's father, until the present time. He made it quite plain that the
Lord had brought Abraham out of pagan darkness and given him
the land of Canaan. Abraham was merely the recipient
of the Lord's grace and gained nothing except that which was
given to him through the goodness and mercy of the Lord. He continued
this history lesson, bringing them up to the present time,
making sure that they understood that the Lord alone was responsible
for delivering them to the place of blessing which they now occupied,
even to the sending of hornets to drive the heathen tribes out
of their presence. Then he exhorted them to fear
the Lord and walk in His statutes in sincerity and truth, and to
put out of their presence the idols and false gods which they
were prone to embrace. Having done so, he then set before
them a choice. Usually when this passage is
read, the choice which Joshua set before the leaders of Israel
is misrepresented and the lesson is misapplied in order to promote
the free will of men. Most modern day Bible teachers
present what Joshua said as though he is asking them to choose between
the Lord and all of these other gods. Yet he made no such proposition. Rather, he said to them that
if they could take no delight in the one God who had delivered
them from their enemies, then they should choose between the
pagan deities of Abraham's past or the gods of the Amorites in
whose land they currently dwelt. The God of heaven, earth, and
hell is not on the option block, nor is it possible for a man
to choose him out of some lineup of supposed deities. All pagan
deities exist only to ultimately serve the purpose of God. to
cause men to blindly follow their own penchant, to worship gods
of their own choosing, which are in keeping with their corrupt
minds and hearts. It does not matter which of these
gods that men choose, for they are all the same. David prefaced
his description of these false gods with the declaration of
the true God when he said, But our God is in the heavens, he
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. This one true and living
God cannot be approached or chosen by men, and anyone who thinks
that they can choose God is in darkness even now. He is the
High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity. He dwells in the light
to which no man can approach. Except and unless the Lord chooses
to open man's eyes, he will remain in the blindness of his nature,
without God and without hope in this world or that to come.
The Lord Jesus Christ walked among men under one of the most
repressive and unjust governments which the world has seen. Yet
he never spoke one word which would give his followers reason
to fight for or against such a government. He expressed no
allegiance to that government, nor did he speak against its
many wrongs. This nation which we have been
blessed to dwell in, in this time world, has enjoyed much
peace and prosperity, in contrast to many other nations in the
earth. The self-righteous attribute this to our being founded on
Christian principles. Thus they tell us that the conditional
blessings of God are upon us as a result. Yet the reality
is that we enjoy those blessings simply because of the mercies
of God, dispensed to us according to His purpose. Our system of
government is ordained for us just like the government of Cuba
is ordained for them, in order to fulfill the purpose of God
in the earth. Neither of these governments
are godly, regardless of the views which many conservatives
forced upon us with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution
and Bill of Rights in the other. These are wonderful documents
to be sure, but are carnal instruments in the hands of innately corrupt
men and presided over by the basest of them. The government
of Christ exists for one purpose, which is to bring glory to the
one governor of it. The kingdom over which Christ
rules is not one which relies on the consent of the governed,
and exists for the glory of Christ alone. May we be found among
its faithful citizens.