Hi Friend,
Maybe the most frustrating problem that God encountered in dealing with His chosen people was getting them to embrace the gift of freedom. Israel witnessed ten incredible miracles that demonstrated the unassailable truth that God was more powerful than the puffed-up potentate who had enslaved them.
Throughout the rest of the Bible God refers back to this providential intervention as undeniable proof of both His power and His unequaled love for His people.
Pharaoh made their lives miserable. He worked them in the blistering sun, beat them with whips, subjected them to penury and starvation—he even murdered their babies. Yet God chose this abused group, who were powerless to resist Pharaoh, as HIS people, lifting them out of the dungeon of slavery and, in the process, destroying the most powerful empire on earth.
One would think the freed captives would have exclaimed with every ounce of emotion they could muster, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty I’m free at last!” Instead they turned on their human leader, assaulted him with insults and demanded to be returned to slavery where they could eat leeks and garlic.
Moses was human—maybe not that physically impressive. After all, an octogenarian sheep herder with a speech impediment is not as charismatic as a military leader galloping on a stallion in front of a massive army. But how had the people so quickly forgotten the plagues of bloody waters, flies, frogs, death of cattle, thick darkness and the Death Angel who killed all of Egypt’s firstborn?
Their rebellion was against God—not Moses. At the heart of this revolt was a failure to appreciate the blessing of freedom! This unseen spiritual gift could only be given by God—not Moses.
What can we conclude? Freedom is not a universal value! Hard as it is to believe, it’s clear that every human doesn’t want to be free! Only a few people desire liberty more than comfort. And tyrants feed on this dark hole lurking in the heart of slaves.
America is at a dividing point. The fulcrum around which this battle is being fought is the same ancient value that Israel rejected. Shall we be free? If so, we must require that men temper their own lusts. Leeks and garlic are not as important as self-discipline and the inalienable rights of the individual. Self-determination cannot coexist with dependence on government.
If we are facing Israel’s dilemma, we must recognize the choice of values. To reject freedom is not a rejection of a president—it is a rejection of God. As Calvin Coolidge said, “Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.” If we reject the values of God, we will inherit a government with the values of men. Shall all of America become like the burned-out districts of Portland? Or the drug-filled streets and dung covered sidewalks of San Francisco? Or the violent streets of NYC? Or the abandoned neighborhoods of Detroit? Show us your successes and then we will listen to your rhetoric.
For those who believe America had an evil beginning, we should ask, “What nation had a better beginning? Where is this utopian estate that was superior to ours?”
A teacher friend related an ominous anecdote. On the wall of her classroom is a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence. One of her students looked at it with a bit of disdain and asked, “Why’s that up there?” The teacher, a bit taken aback, replied, “Because it’s one of the greatest documents ever written by man!” “Oh!” said the student, a little chagrined.
Both church and state are required to pass on values to the next generation. If the next generation does not adopt our values, it is because we failed to teach them. Others have trod our path before us and the truths they passed on were often learned by bitter experience.
Why does every generation have to learn the lessons of character anew? Well, every generation hasn’t learned them. That’s why there have only been a few free civilizations throughout the 6,000 years of man’s history. Brief periods of the history of Israel, Rome, and now the United States and that part of Western Civilization influenced by our founding fathers.
Professor J. Rufus Fears in his authoritative work on Rome discussed the difficulty of passing on the characteristics of one generation to another.
“The institutions of freedom are very difficult to transfer. The Romans came to understand that freedom is not a universal value: that people over and over again have chosen security, which is what the Roman Empire brought over; the awesome responsibilities of self-government.”
Americans have been given freedom from modern day Pharaohs by the shed blood of brave soldiers. Israel’s battle was fought by God. He destroyed the evil tyrant. God’s dilemma is that you cannot make men free by destroying the tyrant. Slaves will eventually forge their own fetters.
Until next time,
Jim O’Brien