As we prepare to elect a new President of the United States
it is good to remember the sovereignty of God.
Both parties run ads and the talk show hosts pontificate that if we elect
the other guy it will mean the end of the world as we know it and yet, as
Christians, we know that the Lord is in charge of all things, His will is being
done. That does not mean that we should not
participate in the process but it means we should not participate in fear. We, of all people, know that the Lord is in
control of all things. In the midst of
the passage is also the reminder that we are but dust and to dust we shall
return so where is there room for pride and arrogance. Humility should be our clothing.
We know nothing of the person who was beaten and
robbed. Jesus doesn't tell us any
details about him at all, no nationality, nothing. All we know is that he needed someone to be a
neighbor to him. The Law made no distinction
between an Israelite and a foreigner and neither was there to be a distinction
among them in such cases as this. The priest
and the Levite could have done something to help but it is possible that they
both were on their way to Jerusalem to serve at the temple and if they came
into contact with either blood or a dead body they would be disqualified from
that service. They chose to serve in the
temple and the honor that attached to it rather than to serve this man. Only the Samaritan chose the man, and that
was so offensive to the interlocutor that his response to who was the neighbor
was, “The one who showed him mercy.” He couldn’t even bring himself to say,
"The Samaritan." Pride got in
the way.
This part of the vision is particularly
terrifying as it is directed at human beings and not for death but for misery,
five months of utter misery. The shaft
into the abyss is opened, the Lord's angel has the key to open it, and when it
does, it unleashes the power and fury from hell itself of these bizarre
creatures led by their angel (fallen), Apollyon, the Destroyer. What this should tell us is that hatred of
humanity comes not from God but from the true enemy of humanity, satan and his
angels. The desire of this one is make
life an abomination, surely as in the story of Job, whose life was made
detestable in order to entice him to curse the God who gave him life. In all this, God remains in control of all
things, He is the one who sent the angel to open the shaft, but He is not
warring against humanity directly.
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