“The gospel message in all its component facts is a clear, definite, confident, authoritative proclamation that Jesus is Lord, and that He gives eternal and abundant life to all who believe…[Yet] we are not merely [His] ambassadors. We are simultaneously soldiers, commissioned to wage war for the defense and dissemination of the truth in the face of countless onslaughts against it.”—John MacArthur, The Truth War1
- NOTE TO READER: What follows is a portion of a manuscript proclaimed on the Lord’s Day—the 16th of January 2022—in protest to the C4 legislation passed in Canada (December 2021). Bill C4 is a unified effort of the Canadian government to silence opposition to so-called “conversion therapy,” in particular, it would appear, the Christian faith and message. Many churches across North America (Canada and United States) spoke in opposition to the contents of the bill now signed into law as a gross overreach of civil power, and an outright attack against the Triune Creator’s design (His will) for humanity. Below you will find the first section, with others coming soon.
INTRODUCTION:
Dear brethren, we live at a tipping point in history. In previous generations, those who came before had their own battles of the faith to fight and now, ours is upon us. We are told in James 1:2 the sort of attitude we are to present as individuals, towards our families, within the body of Christ and to the world at large:
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (NASB).2
The West has seen its foe raise its ugly head, and like the old serpent in the Garden, it strikes a blow at the first (human) covenantal body ordained by God, the family. An assault has been waged on the very doctrine of creation. Specifically, those currently in power are attempting3 to redefine marriage, redefine sexual ethics, redefine what constitutes a family, as well as what makes a male and female person a boy or a girl, a man or a woman. Like the serpent of old those in power are seeking to establish what the knowledge of good and evil look like. This fight is real. And, it may cost us much for a time, but as Paul wrote to Timothy in the 1st century this eventuality will come to pass:
“But they will not make further progress; for their foolishness will be obvious to all, just as was that of Jannes and Jambres” (2Tim 3.9).
Today I want to remind you of what God has done to such foolishness in the past. Later on, in future posts, I will explain what is currently going on here in the West—specifically in Canada but it is fast approaching here in the US, and what our response needs to look like in various venues. But for now let us briefly look at the judgments God has laid out in the past with a sober mind.
Remember…
Question: What is the reaction of God towards a rejection of His authority over His initial design for this earth? Answer: Judgment. This judgment comes in various forms. In the Old Testament, we are given images of fire and water and sword as methods by which God condemns the rebellious inhabitants of the earth.
Judgment by Water
During the days of Noah, it was said that,
“…the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6.5).
Moreover, we are told that during this period of history that,
“…the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth” (Gen 6.11-12).
And the Lord’s reaction to this rebellion? He tells Noah,
“The end of humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of the people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth…Behold, I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish” (Gen 6.13, 17).
Judgment by Fire
During the days of Abraham before its destruction the area of Sodom and Gomorrah, at the southernmost point of the Jordan River was “…well watered everywhere…like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt going to Zoar” (Gen 13.10). And yet at that time, the reader is given a heads up about the underlying reality of the people there:
“Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked sinners against the Lord” (Gen 13.13).
Years later we are told that the Lord explains to Abraham what He is about to do about Sodom and the cities surrounding her. He says,
“The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know” (Gen 18.20-21).
The Lord then sends two representatives (angels disguised as men) into the area as His witnesses (cf. Deut 17.6; 19.15). After entering into the major city on the plain (Sodom) Lot sees the two men (angels) and invites them to come to his home to spend the night. His desire is to protect them from those living there. After some convincing they allow Lot to lead them to his home. However, we are told in Genesis 19:4-5
“Before they lay down [for the night], the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have [sexual] relations with them’” (emphasis added).
Notice how deep the corruption of sin had spread. It was not just the old but likewise the young as well. All ages of men desired to have sexual relations with the two angels in disguise. Men laying with men as one might lay with a woman. What we would refer to in our day and age as, homosexuality.
Lot attempts to bargain with the men of the city but to no avail. Those outside become angry and they say to Lot,
“Get out of the way!” They said, adding, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” (Gen 19.9).
In an effort to have their way they shove at Lot and attempt to break his door down (Gen 19.9b). The angels grab Lot and drag him back into the house, and at the same time,
“…they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway” (Gen 19.11).
So great was the wicked desire of the men—both young and old, small and great—to have their perverted way with, what they perceived to be “fresh meat,” that even after they were struck with blindness, they still attempted to get inside the home of Lot groping for the door until weariness struck them. Such determination to sin was reminiscent of the attitude of the people of Noah’s day.
The angels tell Lot to get all who will come with him ready to go…to flee,
“for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (Gen 19.13).
So Lot and his family were instructed to escape, to run to the mountains (Gen 19.17), to flee from God’s judgment about to be poured out on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other three surrounding cities. But Lot begged for mercy. He did not think it possible to make it all the way to the mountains, and so he asked to be spared in Zoar (*means “small” town). This request was granted (Gen 19.22).
As soon as Lot entered the area of Zoar we are told that God’s judgment fell, as the hammer hits the gavel:
“Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground…Now Abraham got up early in the mourning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the land of the surrounding area; and behold, he saw the smoke of the land like the smoke of a furnace. So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area…” (Gen 19.24-29a).
Judgment by Sword…
The Lord promised Abraham that his children would inherit the land of Canaan (Gen 13.14-15; Josh 23.14) and eventually, beyond (cf. Gen 22.17-18; Matt 5.5; Rom 4.13; even Psa 2.8). The time in history when God would fulfill His promise to Abraham we are told was when the sins of the people of that land (i.e., Canaan) had reached their fill:
“In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Gen 15.16).
Between the chapters of Leviticus 18-20, we are given a list of sins that the people of that land were guilty of in their rebellion against their Maker. Though the sins covered every area of life one of the key abominations that the people of Canaan were guilty of was sexual sin. Everything from adultery (Lev 20.10; cf. Deut 22.22-24), to incest (Lev 18; 8; 20.11-12), to bestiality (Lev 18.23; 20.15-16), to Sodomy/homosexuality (Lev 18.22; 20.13), and even cross dressing4 (Deut 22.5).5
It was for these things, and many more not mentioned that God said through Moses the following warning of remembrance to the children of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God. ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God” (Lev 18.1-4).
“Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these things the nations which I am driving out from you have become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so that land has vomited out its inhabitants. But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and you shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the stranger who resides among you…For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. So you are to keep your commitment to me not to practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you so that you do not defile yourselves with them; I am the Lord your God” (Lev 18.24-26, 29-30).
The judgment of God was executed against the people of Canaan for their rebellious perversion via an executive use of the sword:
“...in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive. Instead, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they will not teach you to do all the same detestable practices of theirs which they have done for their gods, by which you would sin against the Lord your God” (Deut 22.16-18).
What’s the point?
So far I have been driving home one key point. God is very serious about how His creatures created in His image behave. Not only is He concerned about our actions, but the thoughts that drive them as well. This is why such stress is being laid on the judgment portions of history above.
From the very moment that our parents fell in the Garden, we have watched as the encroachment of sin has sought to destroy marriage, the family, and society as a whole. Think of the wedge that sin has driven into the first married couple, and then be reminded of how that sin caused one brother to slay another in cold blood. In every way imaginable mankind since the fall has devised and plotted ways to overthrow the voice of God in our lives; in the way that His creation was intended to function. God expects His creatures to build their lives, family and society in one way, but sinful man devises other plans.
(To be continued…)
ENDNOTES:
1John MacArthur, The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 25.
2All Scripture unless otherwise noted shall be of the New American Standard Bible, 2020 update (NASB).
3I say “attempting” because the battle is far from over, though it must be admitted we have lost much ground in this fight. That a push is still being made by various governing authorities to force this reality upon reveals that they have not, as of yet, won. The war I speak of is not of physical weapons but spiritual; for it is a fight over truth. Who reserves the right to determine truth: God or man? From the Christian standpoint the answer should be a no-brainer.
4Cross-dressing is meant to take on the identity of another gender. It is a ruse either to trick another or because of the confusion, one has, due to unconfessed sin. Rebellion against God distorts reality and the ability to distinguish between what is true versus false—i.e., having a darkened mind.
5This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. If you would like further information and clarity on the types of sexual sins that Israel was warned about that the nations within Canaan committed, then I would suggest that you read through Leviticus 18-20 and look up any references that may be noted in your Bibles.
Kristafal's Musings 