Author: John Holbrook Jr

What Is Wrong With This Picture (of the Promised Land)?

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #124 posted May 19, 2021, edited June 3, 2021.

1 – THE RIVER OF EGYPT

The above map shows the boundaries of the land which God promised to the Israelites in perpetuity as extending from the Euphrates River in the north to the Nile River in the south. The map is in error. The Promised Land extends from the Euphrates River in the north to the River of Egypt[1] (also called the Brook of Egypt) in the south. The latter name refers to the Wadi El Arish, which was the northern boundary of Egypt for millennia. The Promised Land does not include the Sinai Peninsula and the territory between the Red Sea and the Nile River.

2 – SOME COMMENTS ON THE RIVER OF EGYPT

You will see from the comments below that this border between Canaan and Egypt played an important role in the histories of both the Egyptians and the Hebrews..

2A – The Crossing by Abraham

After Terah died in Haran circa 1894 BC, Abraham traveled south and crossed the Euphrates River, thereby leaving Mesopotamia and entering Canaan.  Later in that year or the next, Abraham traveled south and crossed the River of Egypt, thereby leaving Canaan and entering Egypt, where he visited the pharaoh Cheops=Khufu=Osirophus=Sufi I (1901-1880 BC), the first king of the 4th Dynasty of Egypt.

2B – The Location of Avaris

After 34 years of rule by the 13th Dynasty pharaohs Ramesse (1498-1469 BC) and Concharis (1469-1464 BC), the Middle Kingdom of Egypt was ended by a catastrophe that cause first the Ten Plagues of Egypt and then the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. The Hebrews fled across the top of the Bitter Lakes and then down the southwestern coast of the Sinai Peninsula to Pi-Ha-Kiroth, the western landfall of the Strait of Tiran. There, God first parted the waters of the strait, thereby allowing the Hebrews to crossover into Midian (the westernmost point of Saudi Arabia which forms the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba), and then closed the waters of the strait, thereby drowning Pharaoh Concharis and his army.

Meanwhile, the catastrophe unsettled the Hyksos=Amalekites in Arabia, who traveled south into Midian, where they met the Hebrews traveling north. After an inconclusive battle at Rephidim, they separated, with the Hebrews continuing north to the southern foot of Jabal Al Lawz =Mount Sinai, and the Hyksos=Amalekites continuing south into Egypt, which they occupied for the next four centuries (1464-1041 BC). At some point, they built a fortress at the northern border of Egypt, which was called Avaris. Following Velikovsky,[2] I believe that Avaris was located at El Arish, where the River of Egypt empties into the Mediterranean Sea, and from which they exercised control of the Nile Delta and sent raiding parties into Canaan.

The last of the Hyksos=Amalekite kings was Agag=Apepi=Apophis=Ogyges, who ruled for 61 years (1102-1041 BC). In 1058 BC, another catastrophe probably caused the Flood of Ogyges in Egypt, which created unsettled conditions in the land that probably led to two events. (1)  In 1052 BC, descendents of Ramesse and Concharis retook the throne in Thebes, ruling it for the next 11 years (1052-1041 BC). The first was Senakhtenre Ta’o I=Queen Tetyshery (1052-1050 BC); the second was Sequenenre Ta’o II=Queen Ahhotep (1050-1048 BC), and the third was Prince Kamose (1048-1041 BC). (2) Probably at the same time, Agag fled from Thebes to Avaris, from which he intended to strengthen his control over lower Canaan and the Nile Delta.

Circa 1041 BC, the Israelites and the Egyptians entered into an alliance to put an end to the Hyksos=Amalekite dominance of the region. The Hebrews were led by Samuel, who judged Israel from 1073 to 1030 BC, and Saul, who was anointed to be king c.1048 BC, but was subordinate to Samuel until the latter’s death in 1030 BC. The Egyptians were led by Prince Ahmose, who was the younger brother of Kamose. They laid siege to Avaris, overwhelmed it, slaughtered its inhabitants, and then razed it to the ground. After the victory, Prince Ahmose succeeded his brother on the Theban throne and founded a new dynasty. In 1030 BC, Samuel died, and Saul reigned for 2 years (1030-1028 BC) as King of Israel without Samuel. Thus, the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1041-812 BC) and the United Kingdom of Israel (1030-948 BC) rose to power and prominence simultaneously at the end of the 2nd Millennium BC.

2C – The Location of the Mariannu Garrison

Following Velikovsky,[3] I believe that Egypt’s Dynasty 30=20 lasted 19 years (381-362 BC). Its first pharaoh was Nectanbo=Ramses III, who reigned for 18 years (381-363 BC). During his reign, there were three wars:

1-War between Egypt & Libya lasted 3 years (381-379 BC) – When Libyans invaded Egypt, the Egyptians were helped by Athenian mercenaries, who had been hired by Achoris, and by some Persians (the Pereset) who were garrisoned at a fortress on Egypt’s western frontier.

2-War between Egypt & Persia (the Pereset) lasted 3 years (379-376 BC) – As soon as danger on the western front ceased, Nectanbo I=Ramses III revolted against Persia. When a Persian force approached Egypt, the Egyptians were helped by Athenian mercenaries under the command of Admiral Chabrias, who defeated the Persians. When Persia complained to Athens, the Greeks replaced Chabrias with General Iphicrates, who was ordered to assist the Persians.

3-War between Egypt & a Persian-Athenian Alliance lasted 2 years (376-374 BC); a Persian-Greek force under the joint command of Pharnabazus (Persian) and Iphicrates (Greek) assembled at Amor in Syria, but the two generals could not agree on how to proceed. Meanwhile, a Greek naval force assembled at Akko and sailed for the Nile Delta. It attacked Pelusium (a fortress at the northernmost point of the seven mouths of the Nile; probably modern day Port Said), but it was repelled. It next attacked the fortress at Mendesium and invested it. Meanwhile, the Egyptians moved an Israeli garrison (the Mariannu) from Jeb-Elephantine to Zahi, a fortress somewhere on the coast east of Pelusium (possibly about 20 miles away, but more likely 90 miles away, at El Arish, which would have been the logical place to intercept a Persian force moving southward through Canaan). With a hostile force between it and the main army, and with the Nile beginning to overflow, the Greek fleet set sail for home and the war ended – a victory for Nectanbo I=Ramses III.

In 363 BC, Necatnbo=Ramses III was succeeded by Tachos I=Ramses IV, who ruled for 1 year (363-362 BC).

© 2021 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] See the fourth expression of the 2nd Abrahamic Covenant re the Land (Genesis 15:18-21).

[2] See Velikovsky, Immanuel, Ages in Chaos, Doubleday, New York, 1952. The above dates, however, are mine.

[3] See Velikovsky, Immanuel, Peoples of the Sea, Doubleday, New York, 1977. The above dates, however, are mine.

 

 

 

 

 

Gender Choice – A Dangerous Delusion

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #123 posted May 2, 2021, edited 2022-11-23.

1. Preamble

Another pathogen has entered American culture with the rise of the Transgender or Gender Choice movement (I prefer and will use the latter name because it better reveals the critical flaw at the movement’s core). The proponents of Gender Choice claim that a person’s gender is a matter of choice. They argue that gender is not a biological fact, but rather a mental construct, and they demand that a person be free to change his or her gender at will. They also argue that society’s traditional recognition of only two genders, male and female, is solely the result of cultural conditioning, and that a person should be free to choose other alternatives. Although I cannot imagine what these alternative might look like, I am certain that they will be grotesque.

This pathogen has already ruined many lives and is destined to ruin countless more. It needs to be exposed, repudiated, and eradicated as quickly as possible.

2. Gender Reality

The binary reality of human gender has been evident to Mankind since God presented Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden roughly 6,000 years ago, As late as the end of the 20th century, any two-year-old knew the difference between boys and girls. Now, a mere twenty years later, even many educated adults do not [1] – alas, not a healthy sign for the future of the human race. They completely ignore the testimony of our Creator, our Science, our Senses, and our Common Sense.

● Our Creator declares in his Word, the Bible, “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Here, our Creator clearly tells us that there are only two genders, male and female.

● Our Science – in this case, microbiology – reveals that each organism’s genome or DNA provides the information for its development from a single zygote (fertilized ovum) to a living and breathing creature. The human genome consist of 23 pairs of chromosomes, of which one pair determines a person’s sex and sexual development. Two “x” chromosomes produce a female. One “x” chromosome and one “y” chromosome produce a male. Each creature’s genome is unique. It is carried in every cell of its body and remains immutable throughout his or her life. It cannot be changed.[2] Here, our Science clearly tells us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Our Senses detect that each baby is born with either male or female genitalia, which can be see with our eyes and touched with our hands. Here, our Senses clearly tell us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Our Common Sense tells us that nearly all living species are divided into two genders, male and female. As we move through life, we encounter representatives of other species that differ in many characteristic – form, size, weight, strength, color, abilities, etc., but they all share one fundamental characteristic: all species are divided into two genders: male and female. Moreover, we quickly perceive the reason for two genders: they are necessary for reproduction. When a male ejects his sperm into a female and the sperm merges with an egg in her uterus, a new member of the species is conceived. After a period of gestation, it leaves the mother’s womb and emerges into the world as a male or female infant. None of the foregoing is rocket-science. It is a common occurrence. It is obvious to everybody. It is known by everybody. Here, our simple Common Sense tell us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Regarding the foregoing, I must note an exception. In very rare cases, genetically abnormal children are born with both male and female sexual characteristic. They are called hermaphrodites or mixed-sex babies, of which there are two types: (1) Sometimes, two eggs are present, with one egg being fertilized by a female or X chromosome and the other being fertilized by a male or Y chromosome. Usually this leads to fraternal twins of different sexes, but occasionally the two eggs fuse and produce a mixed-sex baby. (2) Sometimes during cell-division, a sperm’s sex-determining region moves from the Y chromosome to the X chromosome, where it remains and produces a mixed-sex baby. In both cases, I believe that medical attention and therapy are appropriate; they have actually become quite sophisticated and successful. Again, however, I regard the use of medical therapies on genetically normal children to be, not just inappropriate, but pernicious. That is not the type of treatment which they need.

3. Gender Fantasy

To deny gender reality is to engage in and promote gender fantasy, which will have many pernicious consequences. Reader, please think carefully about some of the certain consequences of this fantasy. Four of the most obvious are the following:

● The acceptance of Gender Choice will further erode our society’s already tenuous grasp on reality. When people are continually indoctrinated in false doctrines,[3] they lose their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, which is a good definition of insanity. Again alas, America shows many signs of going insane. Tens of millions of Americans are adopting false doctrines that have not worked in the past, are not working in the present, and will not work in the future, and then they are demanding that others affirm these doctrines under threat of fine and imprisonment. This phenomenon can only be categorized as a symptoms of madness and indicates, whether or not we acknowledge the fact, that we are collectively headed for a mental breakdown. No person or community can ignore reality for very long and survive.

● The person who acts on Gender Choice will not only be confused about the most fundamental and important distinction in his or her life, but will actually be harmed by it. A person’s gender is not skin deep. It permeates his or her body, mind, and spirit. Males and females have different physical, mental, and emotional characteristics, and I suspect different spiritual characteristics as well. They have been designed by God to complement one another, to delight in one another, and, within the confines of a life-long, heterosexual marriage, to produce and raise children together. As boys and girls are developing from infancy to maturity, they should be guided by their parents, grandparents, older siblings, aunts and uncles, teachers, doctors, and pastors to adopt the attitudes, desires, and behavior that are appropriate to their sex, thereby instilling in them the desire to become the man or woman whom God intended them to be. If they show signs of gender confusion, however, they should not be encouraged to adopt the attitudes, desires, and behavior of the opposite sex. Rather, they should be discouraged from doing so and given special attention and guidance in this regard.

● If society accepts the claims of biological males that they are females trapped in male bodies, the latter will be given ready access to female bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers, which will certainly result in soaring cases of sexual abuse. Men, is this what you want for your wives? Women, is this what you want for yourselves? Parents, is this what you want for your daughters? If it is, you need to recognize that you are willingly putting women and girls in harm’s way, which is not a loving thing to do, but rather a vicious thing to do.

● Also, if society accepts the claims of biological males that they are females trapped in male bodies, the latter will be allowed to compete in and dominate every level of female sports that require strength and endurance – not just sports in schools and colleges, but professional sports and international competitions like the Olympic Games, the European Games, the Pan-American Games, etc. Consider the lure of prize money in such events as the four major tennis tournaments – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open – where the average purse for a female winner was over $3 million in 2019. To men who cannot beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, the lure of Gender Change will be irresistible.

 4. Christians

Brothers and sisters, you may dismiss Gender Choice as a foolish fad, but you must not stand aside passively, just shaking your head, while this devastating psychological and physical assault on young people is underway and growing. I beg you to do the following:

● First, recognize the sheer evil of Gender Choice, because the lives of many young people are at stake. Already many of them have been ruined by (a) misguided acceptance of opposite-sex behavior by a parent, (b) sex-change propaganda in school and elsewhere that renders them uncomfortable with their biological sex, (c) inoculation with hormones of the opposite sex, thereby frustrating their bodies’ ability to develop normally, particularly during puberty, and (d) mutilation of their genitalia by surgeons, thereby leaving them scarred for life.

● Second, resolve to do something about Gender Choice, because others are in harm’s way and need your help. Proverbs 24 warns, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work” (ESV)? Edmund Burke reduced the biblical warning to the following admonition: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” [4] Let us gird up our loins and enter the fray.

● Third, you must actually do something to stop Gender Choice. Speak up. Confront the parents, teachers, and doctors who are encouraging and enabling young people in this dangerous delusion. You may find that some of them are merely misguided and have not considered the downside of what they are doing. They may be open to persuasion. You will also encounter others of them who know exactly what they are doing and are determined to keep doing it, no matter what we say. Confront them. Expose them. Make it difficult, if not impossible for them to keep doing what they are doing. In addition, write your representatives in federal, state, and municipal governments and insist that they enact and enforce laws that put a stop to Gender Choice.

● Most important, if you encounter young people who are confused about their gender, show them what Christian love, compassion, and friendship look like. If they are boys, talk to them about what it is like to be a man, husband, and father in this world. If they are girls, talk to them about what it is like to be a woman, wife, and mother in this world. Be truthful. Describe the full experience that awaits them, including its joys and sorrows its satisfactions and difficulties, and its victories and defeats. Assure them, however, that God has designed them for these roles in life and will give them all the assistance they need to flourish in them. Men, do not be afraid to talk to the girls. Women, do not be afraid to talk to the boys. After over sixty years of marriage, I love, respect, and admire my wife and can talk as much about her experience as I can about my own. Also, do not be afraid to talk about mistakes. None of us is perfect. We are all sinners. We all make mistakes, but we learn from our mistakes and can help others avoid them. Above all keep in mind that the goals here are to connect with these youngsters and to give them an accurate picture of reality – not fantasy.

● Lastly, pray to God that he will give you the all the wisdom, courage, sensitivity, and strength – the knights of old might say might and main[5] – that you require to do all of the above. I will pray to God that he hears your prayers.

 © 2021 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] That one of them currently occupies the White House is stunning.

[2] Since Jennifer Douglas’s invention of a method for dicing and splicing DNA strands, microbiologists have started tinkering with the human genome in the hope of “improving” it. Because they do not believe that God exists, they are unaware that they are trespassing on God’s territory. I anticipate that the results of their efforts will be negative, if not catastrophic.

[3] Some false doctrines that immediately come to mind are atheism, biological evolutionism, geological uniformitarianism, socialism, communism, systemic racism, and climate change attributed to human behavior.

[4] In a letter addressed to Thomas Mercer.

[5] A wonderful, Old English phrase that I learned from reading books about the chivalric days of yore, when men like King Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, El Cid, and Walter Scott’s fictional Ivanhoe rode to the aid of the weak and vulnerable.

Climate Change Wrath

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #122, posted February 22, 2021, edited March 10, 2021.

Yesterday, in the right hand column of its front page, the New York Times (NYT) attributed the unusual weather which our country is experiencing to “Climate Change Wrath.” [1] I have never met Climate Change, and I certainly did not know that he gets angry and visits his wrath on people. I do, however, know someone who controls Earth’s weather and uses it to visit his wrath on sinful people and sinful nations. His name is GOD – the Almighty God who spoke Universe into existence[2] and sustains it with the power of his Word.[3]

In my blog of September 25, 2020 entitled “Climate Change – its reality and cure,” I explained that the Bible indicates the extent to which God controls Earth’s weather. The latter is not determined by Mankind or Mankind’s devices which emit carbon monoxide and other gases that some scientists claim affects our weather. Recently, Bryan Fischer made the same point in a post in The Stand.[4] Using verses from the Bible’s Book of Job more gracefully than I did, he wrote:

As God makes clear to Job, He has total control of the sun, the wind, sea levels, and precipitation. He’s the one who “commands the morning” by causing the sun to rise (Job 38:12). He knows “where the east wind is scattered upon the earth” (Job 38:24). He’s the one who “shuts in the sea with doors” (Job 38:8), “prescribes limits for it” (Job 38:10), and says to it, “Thus far you shall you come, and no farther” (Job 38:11). He’s the one who enters the “storehouses of the snow” and “the storehouses of the hail” (Job 38:22), “brings rain on a land where no man is” (38:26), and “gives birth to the frost of heaven” (Job 38:29).

In my blog, I also identified the types of human behavior which invite God’s wrath. At the top of my list is abortion, the killing of unborn babies, who are the most vulnerable and defenseless of God’s creatures.

Interestingly, just below its article on “Climate Change Wrath,” the NYT positioned another article entitled “Lack of Birth Control Deepens Women’s Burden in Venezuela,” which describes the unavailability of birth control medications and devices that either prevent or terminate pregnancies. The lack of birth control measures is due to the collapse of Venezuela’s economy[5] under its socialist regime. As a result, Venezuela’s women are increasingly resorting to illegal abortions to terminate their pregnancies.

There we have it. Albeit inadvertently, I am sure, the NYT placed (a) the cause of Earth’s unusual and unruly weather, someone’s WRATH, and (b) one of the causes of that wrath, someone’s SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS, adjacent to one another, on the same page and in the same column on that page.

Seeing the connection between the destruction that is being visited on us and the death that we are visiting on our unborn children is essential if we hope to avoid further harm from the weather, which is but a tool in the hands of an Almighty God who rewards people who honor him and his commandments and punishes people who dishonor him and disobey his commandments.

© 2021 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] The by-line following the headline, “Storms Exposing a Nation Primed for Catastrophe,” New York Times, Sunday, February 21, 2021.

[2] Genesis 1:1-31.

[3] Hebrews 1:3.

[4] Fischer, Bryan, “Environmentalists Don’t Have a Climate Problem – They Have a God Problem,” The Stand, American Family Association, February 18, 2021.

[5] In 1950, Venezuela was the fourth richest-per-capita nation in the world.

Dorothy Sayers’ The Mind of the Maker

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog D121 posted December 31, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

A – My Experience with Creation

Being an architect by profession, I have some familiarity with the creative process where buildings are concerned. There are three phases or steps involved in creating a building.

First, an architect and his engineers develop the design and specifications for the building – e.g. a high-rise office building in lower Manhattan. They need to think through every aspect of the occupants needs, the city’s building and zoning codes, the constraints of nature, the buildings’ aesthetic impact on its occupants inside and its neighbors and passers-by outside, etc.

Second, a builder or contractor constructs the building in accordance with the architect and engineers’ drawings and specifications. He needs to order tens of thousands of specially fabricated materials from steel beams to door knobs, arrange for their delivery according to a tight schedule, and then put them together in their proper order in the structure.

Third, a local utility – Con Edison in this case – energizes the building by attaching it to its electric power grid, on which the operation of its elevators, air blowers, water pumps, lights, etc. will depend.

Thus, after becoming a Christian and beginning to reflect on Universe as a creation, I knew three things immediately:

Someone had designed and scripted Universe before it was made and set in motion.

Someone had (a) created the materials from which Universe was made (they were not available to assemble) and then (b) formed them into Universe as we perceive it today..

Someone had energized Universe and given life to its flora and fauna.

The identity of “someone” in each one of these cases was not immediately obvious.

B – The Creeds

Among the documents that I studied early in my Christian life were the creeds of the church. The Apostle’s Creed was composed by the Christians in Rome in the late second century AD. The Creed of Nicaea, was composed by the first ecumenical council in 325 AD to address the Arian controversy. It was expanded and revised in 381 AD to include a section on the Holy Spirit. It is now known now as the Nicene Creed. Among all the creeds, it is the most widely accepted today. The Chalcedonian Creed was composed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD to define the dual nature of Christ as being both divine and human. The Athanasian Creed was composed in 500 AD to address, among other things, the equality among the three persons of the Trinity.

Briefly, the creeds describe the Godhead as consisting of three, equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Father is described (a) by the Apostle’s Creed as “…the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, (b) by the Nicene Creed as “…the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,” and (c) by the Athanasian Creed as “incomprehensible,” “eternal,” “almighty,” “Lord,” and “uncreated,…made of none, neither created nor begotten.”

The Son is described (a) by the Apostle’s Creed as “…, (b) by the Nicene Creed as “… (c) by the Athanasian Creed as “incomprehensible,” “eternal,” “almighty,” “Lord,” and “uncreated,…of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.”

The Holy Spirit is described (a) by the Apostle’s Creed as nothing more than “the Holy Ghost,“ (b) by the Nicene Creed as “…the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets,” and (c) by the Athanasian Creed as “incomprehensible,” “eternal,” “almighty,” “Lord,” and “uncreated,…of the Father and of the Son,; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding,”

C – Comment on the Creeds

Although all of the creeds were meant to convey the fundamentals of the Christian faith in clear and simple terms, the above descriptions have often baffled even the most faithful and fervent of Christ’s followers. What is obvious from them is that the Godhead consists of three, equal persons who together are a unity that is incomprehensible, eternal, almighty, and uncreated. Also obvious from the Nicene Creed is that the Holy Spirit is the “Giver of Life.” Not so obvious are the meanings of “begotten” and “proceeding,” which have been debated for centuries. In the case of “begotten,” I have some thoughts, but no conclusions. In the case of “proceeding,” I believe that what is being described here is “deferring to the originator.” In creating Universe, which means “everything,” I believe that the creeds indicate that (1) the Father produced the immaterial concept for the creation, (2) the Son voluntarily accepted the concept and produced its embodiment in physical reality, and (3) the Holy Spirit voluntarily accepted the concept and its embodiment and infused the latter and its creatures with energy and life respectively.

D – Dorothy Sayers

Soon after I became a Christian in 1980, I read a very interesting book by Dorothy Sayers, who was – and still is – a famous, British playwright and author – particularly of detective stories.

The book, The Mind of the Maker (1941), addresses the subject of the similarity between the portrayal of the triune Godhead in the ancient creeds of the Christian Church and the tri-partite nature of the human creator.

D1 – Sayer’s Creation

Sayers observes that every creation possesses a tri-partite nature:

The Idea (DS) or Concept (JH), which she also describes as the vision of the thing to be created.[1] This concept requires a person with a mind that can imagine.

The Energy (DS) or Construction (JH), which she describes as the energy or the work of translating the immaterial concept into a material reality, which might also be called its embodiment or incarnation. This construction requires a person with (a) a mind to understand the concept and to plan the construction and (b) metaphorical hands – i.e. the ability – to do the work of acquiring and assembling the necessary materials.[2]

The Power (DS) or Capacitation (JH),[3] which she describes as the empowering of (a) the construction to affect others and (b) others to be effected by the construction. This response requires a person with a mind to comprehend the creation and to respond to it with appreciation, distaste, joy, sorrow, enlightenment, befuddlement, etc. As soon as someone does respond it, the construction possesses an independent life of its own, entirely separate from its creator.

Sayers also observes that in a successful creation, the Idea (concept), the Energy (construction), and the Power (capacitation) are in balance. In an unsuccessful creation, however, at least one these components fails the other two, thereby leaving the whole out of balance.

D2 – Sayers’ Creator

Sayers then maintains that the three persons of the Godhead can be identified with the three components of a creation and further argues that, when the Scriptures speak of God creating Mankind in his image, they are indicating that the primary similarity between God and a human is being a creative person who makes things, and that God’s creation of Universe is a model for how humans create anything.

Sayers identifies the Father of the creeds as the person who produced/produces the idea(s) for Universe. He is the metaphorical mind behind Universe, which is easy to understand.

Sayers identifies the Son of the creeds’ as the person who produced/produces the energy or activity in the making and sustaining of Universe in accordance with the Father’s idea(s) or will. He is the metaphorical body behind Universe, which is less easy to understand, but still clear.

Sayers identifies the Holy Spirit of the creeds as the person who produced/produces the power of Universe – i.e. the effect which Universe has on its Creator and creatures – which is somewhat difficult to understand. (I will return to this point later).

E – My View of Universe and its Creator

As the years passed and as I gave more thought to all of the foregoing, I realized that Sayers should have used the Scriptures as her point of departure for identifying the nature of the Godhead, not the Creeds. Not only are the Scriptures much more informative than the creeds, but they are also more reliable. The Scriptures are God-breathed, whereas the creeds are man-breathed.

E1 – The Biblical God

Since the Creator preceded his creation, I will discuss him first.

The Scriptures indicate clearly that the Godhead exists in three distinct persons,[4] whom I call God-the-Father, God-the-Son, and God-the-Holy Spirit,[5] all of whom are divine, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnicompetent, to name a few of their attributes. They are most easily understood by what they have done and do.

God-the-Father is the creative mind of God who conceived Universe. He is the Divine Architect who designed Universe and the Divine Author who wrote its story.[6] He determined everything that would exist in Universe and everything that would happen in Universe, from its first day to its last day. Thus the Scriptures report him saying, “…I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”[7] Together his design and his script make up the Decrees of God that are contained in the book which he holds in his right hand as he sits on his throne in heaven.[8]

God-the-Son is the creative body of god [9] who actualizes Universe. He is the Divine Builder who constructs Universe according to the Father’s plans,[10] the Divine Sustainer, who holds all things together by the power of His Word,[11] the Divine Director who ensures that Universe’s drama follows the Father’s script,[12] and the Divine Redeemer, who repairs and restores Universe’s brokenness.[13] Although He is co-equal with God-the-Father, He voluntarily defers to him in all things – i.e. He proceeds from the Father.[14] He is “the Lamb as it had been slain,” who is worthy to take the book out of God-the-Father’s right hand, open the book, and implement the Decrees of God.[15]

God-the-Holy Spirit is the creative spirit of God who quickens Universe and its creatures. He is the Divine Energizer who sets Universe in motion and the Divine Giver of Life who vitalizes its flora and animates its fauna.[16] Although he is co-equal with God-the-Father and God-the-Son, he voluntarily defers to them in all things – i.e. he proceeds from the Father and the Son.[17] He is “the Seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” by God-the-Father and God-the-Son.[18] The foregoing goes far beyond Sayers’ “Power” (or capacitation).

The Scriptures are unclear concerning the precise division of responsibility between the Son and the Spirit. It appears, however, that the Son’s role is primary, “…for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,…all things were created by him, and for him.[19] The Son did the forming or constructing [step 1] and the Spirit imparted energy and life to the Son’s formations or constructions [step 2] after the Son called for them. Example 1: “…darkness was upon the face of the deep [step 1]. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters [step 2]. And God said, Let there be light [the calling]: and there was light [energy].” [20] Example 2: “…the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground [step 1], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [step 2]; and man became a living soul.” [21] The Scriptures are clear, however, that the Son always follows the Father’s design and script exactly; He said, “… I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me.” [22] Presumably, the Spirit would say the same about both Father and Son.

E2 – The Biblical Drama

In explaining her view of a creation, Sayers often uses the nature of a drama to describe a creation’s tri-part nature. First, a drama originates as an idea in its author’s mind, which he then turns into a script with accompanying instructions regarding its stage settings and its’ actors’ demeanor and behavior. Second, a drama is put on the stage by a combined effort on the part of a producer and a director, who rent a theater, select, and train the members of its cast, and attract an audience through advertising and word-of-mouth. Third, the drama is given power and meaning through the response of (a) its audience when it is performed on stage, (b) its readers when it becomes available in print, and (c) its students when it is discussed in school and college classrooms by teachers and student.

As I reflected further on all the foregoing, I realized that the Bible actually describes the creation and production of a cosmic drama which exhibits a familiar plot: the story of a good guy and a bad guy struggling for possession of a beautiful girl, who finds both of them attractive and flirts with both of them without realizing (1) the loving intent of the good guy, who allows Himself to be sacrificed in order to free His future bride from bondage, and (2) the malevolent intent of the bad guy, the master of deceit and despoilation, who works assiduously (a) to hold people in bondage and (b) to lure back into bondage those who have been set free by the protagonist.

In the case of the Biblical drama:

God-the-Father (a) designed the theater in which it would be staged and (b) wrote its script.

God-the-Son (a) built, sustains, and manages the theater, (b) produces and directs the drama, and (c) plays the role of the drama’s protagonist.

God-the-Holy Spirit (a) energized and energizes the theater, (b) gives life and delivers cues to members of the drama’s cast, and (c) capacitates the audience to see and be motivated by what is happening in the drama..

Satan, the most powerful of God’s creatures, plays the role of the drama’ antagonist.

The Redeemed – i.e. all the men, women, and children who acknowledge God-the-Son as their Savior and LORD – play the role of the beautiful girl, the Bride of Christ, whom God the Father is forming and will present to his Son at the Wedding of the Lamb at the culmination of history. They will be eternally welcome in God’s presence (Heaven).

The Lost, all the men, women, and children who failed to acknowledge God-the-Son as their Savior and LORD, play the role of extras. They will be eternally banned from God’s presence (Hell).

F – My Debt to Dorothy Sayers

Although I ended up differing from Sayers regarding the nature of the Trinity – mostly with respect to role of the Holy Spirit, The Mind of the Maker got me thinking seriously about the Trinity and the roles that God-the-Father, God-the-Son, and God-the-Holy Spirit play within it. In addition, her use of the drama to explain what she means by the Idea, the Energy, and the Power got me on the way to realizing that the Biblical story is actually a cosmic drama in which God-the-Father, God-the-Son, God-the-Holy Spirit, Satan, the Redeemed, and the Lost play obvious and important roles.

Thank you Dorothy. I look forward to meeting you in the New Jerusalem.

 

© 2020 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] The architect conceives of a building before he develops drawings and specifications for its construction. A playwright conceives of a drama before he develops a script and specifications for its stage-setting.

[2] In the case of Universe, an omnipotent God spoke it into existence, unleashing the power (energy) necessary to form all the material (matter) in Universe. (E =mc2 where E = energy, M = matter, and C = the speed of light). The amount of power necessary to accomplish this act of creation is unimaginable.

[3] Biologists use the term capacitation to refer to “…the penultimate step in the maturation of mammalian spermatozoa” in which they are rendered “competent to fertilize an oocyte.” I use the term here in a far more general sense of enabling or giving someone or something the power to do something. In this case, I am writing about empowering (a) the construction to affect others and (b) others to respond to – or be effected by the construction.

[4] 1 John 5:7. A person is non-verbal. No matter how many words one uses to describe or attempt to define a person, something will be left out. A person is self-conscious, cognizant of his own existence and the existence of others who are self-conscious, able to sense (see, hear, feel, taste, and smell), able to think (reason), able to experience emotions (love and hate, joy and sorrow, excitement and ennui, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, etc.), but there is more to a person than all the foregoing. A person is real; the foregoing constitutes an abstraction or construct in someone’s mind – not the thing itself. This same distinction must be maintained in science: the redness of Mars is real; its reduction to particular wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation is an abstraction or construct in someone’s mind.

[5] I do so to emphasize the divinity of each of them.

[6] 1 Corinthians 8:6.

[7] KJV Isaiah 46:9-10.

[8] Revelation 5:1.

[9] God-the-Son is the only person of the Trinity with corporeality. God-the-Father is invisible and intangible. In John 6:46, Jesus states that no man has seen the Father, only Jesus Himself. God-the-Spirit is also invisible and intangible. His presence is indicated by its effects, such as the “hovering” over the primordial waters (Genesis 1:2), the “wind” which comes from and goes to who knows where (John 3:8), the “dove” which descended on Jesus during His baptism (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32-33), and the “tongues of fire” which descended on Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:3).  He, however, is not identified with these corporeal phenomena.

[10] John 1:3, John 1:10 John 8:28-29, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 1:10, Revelation 3:14, & Revelation 4:11.

[11] Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3.

[12] John 8:28-29.

[13] Revelation 21:5.

[14] The language here concerning God-the-Son’s deference to God-the-Father is modeled on the language in John 15:26 concerning God-the-Spirit’s deference to God-the-Father.

[15] Revelation 5:2-9.

[16] Genesis 2:7.

[17] John 15:26.

[18] Revelation 5:6.

[19] KJV Colossians 1:16.

[20] KJV Genesis 1:2-3.

[21] KJV Genesis 2:7.

[22] KJV John 8:28; also, Hebrews 10:7.

Predestination vs Free Will

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #118 posted September 2, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

Can divine ordination and individual free will be reconciled?

The Holy Scriptures indicate that God the Father designed Universe and wrote its script before God-the-Son spoke it into existence and God-the-Holy Spirit energized it and gave life to its flora and fauna. That means that God preordained every aspect of and every happening in Universe before he created it.

Yet we humans believe that we have free will – that is, that we are free to choose what to think, say, or do.

The apparent contradiction between the two observations above disappears with the realization that the human story is a drama which has been authored by God-the-Father and is being produced and directed by God-the-Son with the help of God-the-Holy Spirit.

Let’s compare God’s drama of Creation and Shakespeare’s drama of Othello, which share a number of features.

In God’s drama, God-the-Son, Israel’s Messiah, is the protagonist, Satan is the antagonist, and Messiah’s Bride is the point of contention between them. Satan is evil and trying to drive a wedge between the future husband and wife and thereby spoil or even prevent their planned marriage. Within this story, everyone possesses free will. Yet the drama is unfolding exactly according to God-the-Father’s script.

In Shakespeare’s drama, Othello is the protagonist, Iago is the antagonist, and Othello’s bride Desdemona is the point of contention between them. Iago is trying to drive a wedge between husband and wife and spoil their existing marriage. Within this story, everyone possesses free will. Yet the drama is unfolding exactly according to Shakespeare’s script.

There are two major reasons why so many Christians have trouble with predestination.

First, they read Biblical passages like “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall be saved” (John 3:16) and “…God is love” (KJV 1 John 4:7), and they believe that God loves everybody. In doing so, they ignore the depth of God’s anger over and hatred toward sin and sinners, which is expressed in Biblical passages such as the following: “…you [God] hate all sinners” (KJV Psalms 5:5), “…God is angry with the wicked every day” (KJV Psalms 7:11) “…the wicked and him that loveth violence, his [God’s] soul hateth” (KJV Psalms 11:5), and “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (KJV Psalms 34:16). God is both perfect love and perfect judgment, which requires perfect justice – something that only he can provide. Thus God himself became a man, Jesus of Nazareth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross at Golgotha to satisfy for all time the intersection between these two divine attributes – perfect love and perfect judgment.

Second, in reading 2 Peter 3:9, they ignore its context and thus misunderstand what it is all about. It says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (KJV). Here Peter is writing to steadfast believers who have been complaining that the Lord had promised to return soon, but had not yet done so. Peter is pointing out to them that many people whose name are written in the Father’s Book of Life have not yet come into the Kingdom (that was over 1,900 years ago). Jesus will not return until all persons whom the Father has predestined to repent of their sins and accept Israel’s Messiah as their Lord and Savior have done so, for God is not willing that any of them perish. According to the drama’s script, none of them will perish.[1]

The lesson here is that we Christians must keep a nuanced view of the world in accordance with everything that the Bible actually says about it.

© 2020 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] See article by  Moreno Dal Bello – http://godsonlygospel.com/booklets/not_willing_that_any_should_perish.htm

 

We need to stop disparaging our public officials

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #117 posted August 25, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

On October 15, 1950, President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur met on Wake Island to discuss the Korean War. When General MacArthur treated President Truman with disrespect, the president severely rebuked the general and then said, ‘I don’t care what you think of Harry S. Truman, but don’t you ever again show disrespect for the President of the United States.’ Here, Mr. Truman demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of giving people in authority the respect due their office. Moreover, he had the support of Holy Scripture:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but from God; the powers that be are ordained by God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and those who resist shall receive for themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Therefore ye must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. (KJ21 Romans 13:1-7)

This principle was drilled into me while I was on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. I and every other marine were required by custom to salute our superior officers and address them as “sir” whether or not we thought that they personally deserved it. We did so willingly because we understood that, when we did so, we ensured that our Corps could function as a fraternal unit – i.e. a band of brothers. We would overcome adversity together.

When someone disrespects, let alone vilifies, a public official – particularly the occupant of the highest office in the land – he is hurting our country because he is impeding the official’s attempt to govern as best he can. In addition, he is sowing seeds of disunity and hatred that will soon bear evil fruit. If he does not like the way the official governs, he should cast his vote for someone else at the next election.

Unfortunately, our two most recent presidents have set poor examples in this respect.

President Donald Trump regularly attaches nicknames to his adversaries, like Rocket Man or Pocahontas. These nicknames ridicule their subjects, and they are all the more deadly because they are funny and stick like glue. Alas, whenever I see one of them on TV, I remember the person’s nickname and chuckle.

In a nationally broadcast speech on August 20, 2020, former president Barack Obama made the following comment regarding his successor, a sitting president. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously, that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did. For close to four years now, he has shown no interest in putting in the work.”  The irony of this particular comment is that Mr. Obama has spent the last four years working tirelessly to make it as impossible for Mr. Trump to do his job as possible.

These public displays of disrespect for a public official are exactly the kind of behavior for which President Truman rebuked General MacArthur, and which I identified in my blog last week, Veto Voting, as the 8th criterion that dissuades me from voting for a candidate for public office, particularly the office of the President of the United States.

One of the hallmarks of honorable men and women is the ability to control their tongues. All of us are tempted to lash out at others on a regular basis, but the Holy Scripture warns:

… we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a great fire, a world of unrighteousness” (ESV James 3:2-6).

If we wish to leave our country in the hands of honorable men and women, we must show our children and grandchildren how to behave honorably. We must bridle our tongues and give public officials the honor and respect which are due them.

© 2020 John Holbrook Jr.
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Veto Voting

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #116 posted August 14, 2020; edited March 10, 2021.

“Veto Voting” is my term for voting against candidates who are running for public office – not for them.

Last week, I pointed out that, for over a century, our nation has been turning away from God and increasingly disregarding his commandments. Not surprisingly, it is now suffering from troubles of every kind (many of which are mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:15-67) to the point where I see it falling apart in plain sight. Nonetheless, the majority of us seem blind to what is going on – particularly elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, who have been diluting our laws and law-enforcement to the point that nearly anything goes. Worse, we have begun calling evil good and good evil, which can only earn us more woes.[i]

For the last forty years, I have recognized that, if our nation is going to survive, we must turn away from our wicked ways and start honoring God and obeying his commandments. Unfortunately, during this period, I have experienced increasing difficulty finding candidates for public office of whom I can approve wholeheartedly, and I have not voted in favor of a candidate in many decades. Rather, I have voted against the least desirable candidates. Thus, my criteria for voting are formulated as negatives.

Regardless of how impressive a candidate for public office seems, he or she will not dissuade me from any of the following, which I regard as plain common sense:

First, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legalizing – abortion. If he or she does not know that every baby in a woman’s womb is a unique human being[ii] from conception onward, and thus that abortion is murder, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.[iii]

Second, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing, let alone legalizing same-sex marriage. If he or she does not know (a) that God made humans male and female to complement one another and fit together physically, mentally, and spiritually, (b) that God instituted marriage as a sacred rite in which a man and a woman commit themselves before God, relatives, and friends to maintain a loving and life-long relationship, and (c) that God established the family as the social unit within which the married couple can, while delighting and supporting one another, procreate, raise, educate, and train children to become God-fearing, responsible, and productive adults, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Third, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing, let alone legalizing parenting by same-sex couples. If he or she does not know that children need the love, attention, and mentoring of both a father and a mother in order to grow into normal, masculine men and normal, feminine women, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Fourth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legalizing – sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman. As I have indicated above, God has roundly condemned such behavior. If he or she does not know that these activities are (a) detrimental to individuals, families, and communities and (b) represent an open invitation to God to pour out his wrath on the society that permits them,[iv] he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Fifth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of penalizing individuals, businesses, or institutions that refuse to deal with those who break God’s laws – e.g. providing health-insurance coverage for abortions, making pastries for or catering at same-sex weddings, treating biological boys or men as females, or meeting any other demands of the enforcers of “political correctness.” If he or she does not know that such punishment is an egregious miscarriage of justice, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Sixth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legitimizing illegal aliens – i.e. anyone who enters or is brought into the country by others without formal permission from immigration officials who are acting in accordance with federal immigration laws.[v] If he or she does not know that a nation cannot exist without secure borders, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Seventh, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of judicial activism – i.e. the practice whereby judges ignore the plain meaning of a law’s text and the obvious intentions of the law-makers who enacted it, and then interpret the laws of the land – in particular the U.S. Constitution – as he or she pleases – e.g. the Supreme Court’s astounding discovery of a hitherto unnoticed “penumbra” in our constitution that grants women the right to kill their own children.[vi] If he or she does not know that “interpreting law” is equivalent to “creating law,” which is the prerogative of the legislature alone, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Eighth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who engages in or encourages others to engage in disrespecting and maligning the occupants of public office at federal, state, and municipal levels – thereby frustrating their ability to govern. If he or she does not know that citizens of this country must always draw a sharp distinction between a public office and the person who holds it, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

The foregoing criteria are not comprehensive, but they address the issues that are most responsible for the conflicts that are tearing our country apart. Thus, they are sufficient for determining the least qualified candidates for senior offices in federal, state, and municipal elections. I urge you to join me in veto-voting to ensure that such candidates lose.

© 2020 John Holbrook Jr.
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[i] Isaiah 5:20.

[ii] There are no duplicate entities in Universe. Entities may share a common concept or design, which is an abstraction and only exists in the minds of thinking beings, but entities cannot share a common substance, which is concrete and occupies a unique position in the space-time continuum that is Universe. Thus, no two inorganic objects, such as drops of water, grains of sand, or snowflakes, are exactly alike, and no two organic objects (creatures), such as animals, birds, fish, humans, insects, etc., are exactly alike. The real world which we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is unique in every aspect. Thus, the space-time position in Universe that I entered at my conception and will leave at my death will never be replicated – in the past, in the present, or in the future. Only God and I know what it is like. That is why only God, who is my creator and sustainer, can also be my ultimate judge.

[iii] See Genesis 1:27; Job 31:15; Psalms 8:5-7, 22:10, 127:3-5, & 139:13-16; Isaiah 49:15; and Jeremiah 1:5.

[iv] See Leviticus 18:24-28; Romans 1:32; 1 Corinthians 6:9; and Ephesians 5:6-12. People who possess sinful sexual desires often try to justify their giving in to those desires by claiming that the Bible was written thousands of years ago, and that the men who wrote it were archaic, patriarchal, intolerant, etc. They should pay attention to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:17-19.

[v] If a person is willing to break the law in order to enter our country, he or she will not be loath to break our laws after getting here.

[vi] The Roe vs. Wade ruling astonished even some pro-abortionists among the legal fraternity, and it has been responsible for the slaughter of well over 70 million, helpless infants by a variety of gruesome methods. They have been scalded with saline solution, dismembered with scalpels, and beheaded with vacuum suction. Even worse, their remains have not been given a respectful burial, but instead have been sold by the abortionists to manufacturers of medicines and beauty lotions. The entire process must create an unholy stench which reaches up to high Heaven and demands vengeance from our Creator, who has a soft-spot in his heart for little children – Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me…” (KJ21 Mark 10:14).

Decline of a Nation

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #115 posted August 7, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

Whether you believe it or not, (a) God exists,[i] (b) God created Universe and exercises sovereignty over his creation and his creatures,[ii] and (c) God hates sin[iii] and punishes sinful nations in this life[iv] and sinful individuals in both this life[v] and the next life – specifically on the “day of judgment.” [vi]

You are undoubtedly familiar with God’s rules for individuals, the Ten Commandments, which can be found in Exodus 20:1-17. I summarize them as follows:

01 – You shall not put any god or person above God himself.

02 – You shall not make and worship idols.

03 – You shall not use God’s name disrespectfully, as well as engage in blasphemy, obscenities, and profanity.

04 – You shall not neglect to keep the sabbath holy.

05 – You shall not dishonor and neglect your parents,

06 – You shall not murder others, including babies in their mothers’ wombs.

07 – You shall not engage in forbidden sexual behavior, such as adultery, bestiality, bisexualism, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, pedophilia, and transgenderism.

08 – You shall not steal.

09 – You shall not bear false-witness against others.

10 – You shall not covet your neighbors’ possessions or spouses.

Regarding nations, the Bible indicates that God “…made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (ESV Acts 17:26). Moreover, God instituted national governments to maintain order by creating and enforcing laws which prohibit behavior that he has identified as evil-doing, such as the ten commandments above. In fact, the Bible indicates that God intends governmental officials to be terrors to law-breakers who engage in such behavior.[vii] In addition, the Bible indicates that, if a nation starts allowing – let alone legalizing – behavior which God’s statutes proscribe, he ceases blessing it and starts cursing it (see Deuteronomy 28:15-67) .

What would a nation under God’s curses look like? Well, I have lived long enough so that my early years fell in the 1940s and 1950s and my twilight years are falling in the 2020s. From my perspective, I would say that such a nation would look like the United States today, which my parents’ generation would not recognize. Here is what I see happening:

Built environments are becoming increasingly inhuman as city planners work assiduously to replace local, friendly small-town neighborhoods with uniform, blocks of urban sprawl by allowing and even encouraging developers to tear down small, attractive, brick and stone buildings containing intimate, mom-and-pop shops and restaurants that have been there for generations and to erect large, glass & steel, apartment and office towers containing impersonal, corporate banking, fast-food, and retail outlets that can be found everywhere in the world.

Cultural decadence is becoming ubiquitous, (a) with architecture, dance, drama, drawing, literature, music, painting, and sculpture become increasingly decadent, dissonant, ugly, & unsettling, (b) with journalism replacing factual reporting with character assassination, fake news, & propaganda, and (c) with schools replacing education with social engineering, as well as inculcating in their students disrespect for the religion of their parents and the founders of our country, which holds that our Creator decides what is right and wrong, and respect for atheistic humanism, which holds that Mankind should decide what is right and wrong for himself.

Economic distress is increasing, (a) with the value of our currency plummeting, thereby causing price inflation, loss of savings, and increase in individual, corporate, & governmental debt, (b) with speculation in financial instruments replacing investment in productive enterprises, (c) with corporate raiders dismantling companies, selling off their assets, debasing the quality of their products, laying off their employees, increasing their debt to the maximum, siphoning off their cash, selling their stock, and then walking away from the crippled enterprises, whose quick decline and demise are inevitable, (d) with company owners and executives moving jobs overseas, reducing domestic operations to a minimum, and eliminating local tax payments and employment, which leads to the impoverishment of entire communities, (e) with massive increases in unemployment, and (f) with incentives to work disappearing as government transfers ever more money from productive citizens to welfare dependents.

Governmental dysfunction is increasing, (a) with federal, state, and municipal politicians enriching themselves with public funds, (b) with out-of-control spending at every level of government, (c) with burning, looting, & rioting in our streets, (d) with foreign immigrants being admitted who neither speak English nor have any experience with democratic republicanism and may even hate our country, (d) with tolerance of wide-spread theft by foreign agents of the nation’s intellectual capital in both the arts and the sciences, (e) with continuous involvement in costly and unwinnable foreign wars, and finally (d) with an ongoing invasion of foreign immigrants, many of whom are terrorists, and (e) with the rising threat of outright attack by enemy military forces using cyber and missile warfare.

Natural calamities are increasing in number and severity, such as air & water pollution, drought & crop-failure, earthquakes, grass & forest fires, insect & vermin infestations, ocean, river, & stream flooding, rain, snow, ice, & wind storms that devastate the land and destroy real property, and pestilences that strike at both humans and animals.

Infrastructure failures are increasing, such as bridges falling down, dams and water mains springing leaks, roads and highways crumbling, power-plants becoming obsolete, trains jumping their tracks, and tunnels imploding.

Social pathologies are proliferating, (a) with people alone and in groups exhibiting incivility, hostility, hatred, intolerance, & self-righteousness, (b) with criminals engaging in assault, battery, bribery, fraud, extortion, maiming, murder, & theft, (c) with addicts succumbing to alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, etc., and (d) with families collapsing under the impact of feminism, gender confusion, same-sex marriage, sexual immorality, and substance abuse.

For over a century, our nation has been turning away from God and increasingly disregarding his commandments Not surprisingly, it is now suffering from troubles of every kind (many of which are mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:15-67 to the point where I see it falling apart in plain sight. Nonetheless, the majority of us seem blind to what is going on – particularly elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, who have been diluting our laws and law-enforcement to the point that nearly anything goes. Worse, we have begun calling evil good and good evil, which can only earn us more woes.[viii]

Fellow Americans, we need to wake up! There is still time to reverse course, and the following verse tells us how to do so: : “…if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sins, and will heal their land” (KJ21 2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to become God’s people again, honoring him, obeying his commandments. and asking for his mercy, which is “abundant in loving-kindness to all who call upon [him]” (Psalm 86:5).

© 2020 John Holbrook Jr.
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[i] God exists in a tri-unity that consists of three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).

[ii] God-the-Father designed Universe and wrote Universe’s script; God-the-Son made Universe and manages Universe in struct accordance with the Father’s instructions; and God-the-Holy Spirit energized Universe and breathes life into Universe’s flora and fauna

[iii] Deuteronomy 25:16, Psalms 7:11-13, 45:7.

[iv] Deuteronomy 28.

[v] Leviticus 26:14-30,

[vi] 2 Peter 2:9, 3:7, Revelation 14:10-11..

[vii] Romans 13:7.

[viii] Isaiah 5:20.