LET’S TALK PEACE

Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote!

If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history. We are a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon.

Are we unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are.

Terrorist believe you can defeat America in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America. Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracking polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Terrorists believe that a steady stream of grizzly photos for 24-hour-news -stations is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there.

It is said that America’s W.W.II generation is its ‘greatest generation.’ But my greatest fear is that it will become known as America’s ‘last generation.’ Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice.

Too many citizens today mistake ‘living in America’ as ‘being an American.’ But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set of values and responsibilities.

When  Government fears people there is Freedom!

Genesis 47:13-27 

(The Message, Eugene Peterson)

The time eventually came when there was no food anywhere. The famine was very bad. Egypt and Canaan alike were devastated by the famine. [14] Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan to pay for the distribution of food. He banked the money in Pharaoh’s palace. [15] When the money from Egypt and Canaan had run out, the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Food! Give us food! Are you going to watch us die right in front of you? The money is all gone.”

[16] Joseph said, “Bring your livestock. I’ll trade you food for livestock since your money’s run out.” [17] So they brought Joseph their livestock. He traded them food for their horses, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. He got them through that year in exchange for all their livestock.

[18] When that year was over, the next year rolled around and they were back, saying, “Master, it’s no secret to you that we’re broke: our money’s gone and we’ve traded you all our livestock. We’ve nothing left to barter with but our bodies and our farms. [19] What use are our bodies and our land if we stand here and starve to death right in front of you? Trade us food for our bodies and our land. We’ll be slaves to Pharaoh and give up our land—all we ask is seed for survival, just enough to live on and keep the farms alive.”

[20] So Joseph bought up all the farms in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land—the famine was that bad. That’s how Pharaoh ended up owning all the land [21] and the people ended up slaves; Joseph reduced the people to slavery from one end of Egypt to the other.

[22] Joseph made an exception for the priests. He didn’t buy their land because they received a fixed salary from Pharaoh and were able to live off of that salary. So they didn’t need to sell their land.

[23] Joseph then announced to the people: “Here’s how things stand: I’ve bought you and your land for Pharaoh. In exchange I’m giving you seed so you can plant the ground. [24] When the crops are harvested, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and keep four-fifths for yourselves, for seed for yourselves and your families—you’re going to be able to feed your children!”

[25] They said, “You’ve saved our lives! Master, we’re grateful and glad to be slaves to Pharaoh.”

[26] Joseph decreed a land law in Egypt that is still in effect, A Fifth Goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ lands were not owned by Pharaoh.

[27] And so Israel settled down in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property and flourished. They became a large company of people.

Economic hard times fell upon Egypt. The people turned to the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had built.

The people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.

When they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock - their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey - to barter for grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through the end of that year.

But the famine wasn’t over, was it?

So the next year, the people came before Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own lives.

“There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh.”

So they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh’s government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for grain.

What is the Biblical Lesson

Turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider in hard times only leads to slavery?

That’s the only reason government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?

Examine the passage closely!

“Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.”

God provided for His people, just as He always has! They didn’t end up giving all their possessions to the government, no, it says they gained possessions!

Is government once again asking us to share our wealth? Are we being asked to give and money and let government determine how it is distributed?

Does the government want to control healthcare, just as it has taken control of education, and ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then government decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind.

Is our destiny under the present circumstance any different than the people of Egypt four thousand years ago ? Will we become slaves to the government and slaves to our leaders ?

Is what government doing now is any different from what Pharaoh’s government did then> Will it will end the same.

Is government the “Messiah,”? A Savior? Didn’t the Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh”?

Let us Pray!

Lord, we know that You are worthy to be served. We rely on You. We rely on You alone.

The government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will be.

In the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, he warned the people of what a ruler would do.

“And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

Has our day  come?

We must choose God or Government.

Lord, we pray for America.
We pray for revival.
We pray for deliverance from those who would be our masters.

Give us hearts to seek You.
Give us hands to serve You.
Protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh’s government.

In God we Trust!