Why Are You Boring Me With History? I Thought This Was a Bible Study.
How we got to where we are today in America’s churches
Today’s Verse and Thought
“Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.”(Deuteronomy 32:7-8).
Digging into the past
Recently I began to question why the church is in the state it’s in. What happened to the Billy Graham fervor of the past? Why is Andy Stanley “unhitching from the Old Testament? Why are so many “Christians” accepting sinful lifestyles as normal, or turning to New Age Occultism? Why do we seem so unaware of the true state of our faith? I began reading about preceding events that slowly over time - like a frog in the boiling pot - have influenced where we are today.
If we know where we have been, it helps to understand where we are now, and where we’re going in the future.
Last week we looked at Horace Mann, the Father of Public Education in America, and how his belief in a universal civic religion, as well as his admiration for communism, influenced early American education. Mann stripped Biblical teaching out of the educational system in favor of a humanistic approach, and the church gladly handed over the responsibility of education in favor of concentrating on an hour a week to teach Sunday School Bible lessons.
This week we will look at other transformational events from the past and how modern Christianity has been impacted by them in our continuing pursuit of understanding how we got to where we are today in America’s churches.
Let’s face it, high school history was boring
When I was in high school, I had to take several history classes. One teacher was a football coach and preferred showing football films as opposed to teaching history. He may have been good at football, but he was lousy at teaching. Basically we were assigned a chapter a week from our textbook, and on Fridays we had a test. The test usually consisted of rote names, events, and dates that we had to match up. It was information that was memorized for the test on Friday, and quickly forgotten on Saturday.
History seemed so boring, I couldn’t understand why we had to study it. I liked the action in the football films better. Who cared that someone sailed the ocean blue in 1492…or was it 1692? I can’t remember; I just know it rhymed.
I actually loved history, I just didn’t know it yet. But our family trips planted a seed
Growing up, our family travelled each summer to various places around the country. We packed up the camper and hit the road for several weeks each year. We visited museums, galleries, and many free tourist sites along the way. It was about the journey, and not a particular destination. Whenever there was one of those roadside historical markers, my dad pulled over; we all hopped out of the camper; and he read aloud about the event it commemorated.
This first-hand view of places like the Old Oregon Trail, Civil War sites, New Orleans historical district, and exploring WWII navy battleships in San Diego harbor was a better education than anything I gained from a textbook. Those days are solidly anchored in my mind.
I was also influenced by the Baptist church we attended. In the late 60s, early 70s, many Christians wanted to visit the Holy Lands and see all the places that Jesus walked, reliving first-century history, including exploration of archeological digs.
Hearing about Israel’s rich ancient history, inspired a longing in me to know more, but it would be years before the spark took hold; life and kids happened and my interests were placed on the back-burner.
Today I love history
I’ve learned the value of looking back and seeing the stories that have shaped and informed our modern life. History isn’t boring or useless. In fact, NOT knowing history is one of Satan’s greatest tricks.
The dark realm is literally hell-bent on destroying the evidence from the past by changing names, redrawing boundaries, destroying records, altering facts, changing word definitions, demolishing statues, and hiding bones.
It’s like a criminal throwing a body into the river; the body is missing, but we have no way of knowing what happened or why. After a while, it just becomes a legend that was never resolved - like the Titans of mythology.
Satan doesn’t want us to look at what happened in the past, because, let’s face it, he has a limited number of tricks. All he can do is mimic, steal, kill, obfuscate, and destroy. Satan NEVER had an original idea, and he doesn’t have the ability to actually create anything from nothing. He can only take what belongs to God and pervert it.
We are without excuse
Today I’m privileged to have access to rich histories, thousands of photos, videos, and archeological finds that “prove” Biblical stories, and I don’t even have to leave home to enjoy the discoveries. I can learn about archeology and history from past times, all from the comfort of a couch.
Biblical archeology today is an exciting, often paradigm shifting study of human history. As we read about ancient Israel (Bible study below), we also have archeological evidence that supports the truth of our faith.
For instance, learning about historical prophetic events that have already come to pass - just as it was prophesied in Scripture - gives us a solid reason to believe that the unfulfilled prophecies will happen too.
“By one count, about 27 percent of the Bible is predictive (Payne, J. B., The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, Baker Pub. Group, 1980, p. 675). This means that, when written, over one fourth of the Bible—more than one in four verses—was prophetic. Professor and theologian J. Barton Payne lists 1,817 prophecies in the Bible (ibid., p. 674). The consistent relation of prophecy in the Bible is staggering; on top of that is the amazing accuracy of those detailed prophecies.
At least one half of all biblical predictions have already been fulfilled precisely as God had declared.Because of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling these prophecies, we can be assured that He will fulfill the rest of the prophecies in Scripture without fault (see Numbers 23:19).” (source).
Do you realize that we are the only ones who know the whole story of humanity from beginning to end? Who needs to read a horoscope every day? That’s just a shiny occult distraction for weak minds.
Dr. Ken Johnson, a scholar who has extensively studied ancient Hebrew states that, “out of the dust the old ones speak.” If you want to know your future, study the past.
“And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper,”(Isaiah 29:4).
Tomorrow we will look at two past events that rocked modern Christianity…
Today’s Question
Bible Study
“Sacred space is a place where God is encountered in a special or direct way, by virtue of which the very place becomes holy and set apart from ordinary space. It is a point of reference to which people return, either physically or in memory. Some sacred places are the site of once-only encounters with God, while others are places of perpetual visitation.” (source).
Sacred space is a foundational concept all through the historical events in Scripture
Solomon had reigned in Israel for four years when he was ready to build the first temple. In the prior years, many preparations had to be made to get everything ready for construction. During his father’s lifetime, King David already began securing materials for the temple. He knew that young Solomon needed help undertaking such an enormous civic project, one that David was passionate about. He desired to build it himself, but his years of warring disqualified him of the task of creating sacred space. God chose Solomon, David’s son, instead. Solomon began building the temple in 966 BC.
“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.”(2 chronicles 3:1-2).
The temple had great significance to the people of Israel
They saw the temple as a permanent sacred space where God dwelled. In the past generations, in the time of the Patriarchs, there wasn’t any specific place where people “met” with God until the exile from Egypt when the people constructed a tabernacle; a traveling tent of sacred space where God met the High Priest.
In the generations prior, certain locales seemed to be where God visited, but didn’t stay. These were considered sacred places such as mountains, rocks, trees, and other natural elements. This is why the people in the past marked the spots. They wanted to be able to go back to these places as they saw them as portals of spiritual connections.
Abraham first encountered God as he “passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.”(Genesis 12:6). And again in Genesis 18:1-4 when the Lord appeared by the oaks of Mamre.
“And the LORD appeared to [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. . . . he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.”
We even see Abraham plant a tree before he called on the name of the Lord:“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God,”(Genesis 21:33).
Trees seemed to be especially important to the people as places of spiritual significance. Of course, humans were first created to live in a garden, so it may harken back to that time.
Eden had many trees, including the trees of “the knowledge of good and evil,” and the “tree of life.” Trees held spiritual significance in the Garden, and that relationship remained long after the Fall. Even in modernity trees are sometimes considered sacred places (even though God’s spirit isn’t in them).
“…trees are often regarded with a certain religious awe as the habitation of spirits. Isolated terebinths receive much veneration.”(source).
Many times when the Lord appeared in antiquity, there were natural elements attached to His appearing. And after these encounters, people would often build altars and preform a sacrifice to God.
The Hebrews wandered the land; went into captivity 400 years; and finally came back to the land after the wilderness wanderings, to take possession of their permanent home, the Promised Land. It seemed appropriate, then, to build a permanent meeting place with God. The land of Israel would now have a place where God met with men.
In 1960 BC Abram was born
God divided the nations and assigned them to the pagan “gods” the people desired to worship. After destroying the earth and saving Noah, the people once again turned to spiritual beings that defied God and seduced the people into worshipping them instead.
God gave them what they desired. But Satan didn’t win by capturing all of humanity. He chose Abram as the progenitor of a people that belonged to Him - the Most High God.
For the next 1000 years, God developed Israel, the nation that was promised to Abram/Abraham to become great people group. All during these years, God’s angel randomly showed up in various places to meet with his people.
Once Israel went through centuries of growth and change, God finally settled them in the land that he promised. It was here that Solomon would build the temple. That location was Mount Moriah, the sacred space where Abraham offered his son Isaac to God.
To be continued…
Verses to Explore
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, “We will not walk in it”’ (Jeremiah 6:16).
“And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.”(Ezekiel 2:7).
Today’s Prayer
Father, I pray today that you help us see the influences in our society that impact how we relate to you. I ask that you give us a heart of wisdom as we look into the past in order to have a better understanding of what is happening today. Fill our hearts and minds with your Spirit and lead us to discover the amazing truth in your Word. I pray for all of us today Father that you give us hope, health, and provide for all in need. We look to you as our shepherd. We are your little sheep. We are the children who love you and represent you on the earth. I pray we never misrepresent your Word. Amen. All glory and praise are yours Lord.❤️