- So here's a question.
00:00:00.73\00:00:01.90
What does an
ancient Roman farmer
00:00:01.90\00:00:04.33
have in common with the
central character of this book?
00:00:04.33\00:00:07.64
Well, to find out,
00:00:07.64\00:00:08.90
you're gonna have
to watch today's show.
00:00:08.90\00:00:10.47
Let's get started.
00:00:10.47\00:00:11.64
[twangy introspective music]
00:00:11.64\00:00:15.41
If there's one thing
00:00:32.89\00:00:34.13
the study of political
history should teach us,
00:00:34.13\00:00:36.33
it's that people who
seek power for whatever reason
00:00:36.33\00:00:40.07
probably can't be trusted.
00:00:40.07\00:00:42.27
I mean, it's not as if
they're looking to improve
00:00:42.27\00:00:44.74
your lot in life by
rising through the ranks,
00:00:44.74\00:00:47.98
and it's a rare breed
indeed who actually seeks power
00:00:47.98\00:00:50.68
solely for the
benefit of everybody else.
00:00:50.68\00:00:54.15
What we tend to find
00:00:54.15\00:00:55.65
is that people who unwittingly
become leaders by accident
00:00:55.65\00:00:59.09
or because of
trying circumstances,
00:00:59.09\00:01:01.32
people who never really wanted
the job in the first place,
00:01:01.32\00:01:04.99
well, they often make
better commanders and leaders
00:01:04.99\00:01:07.66
than people who
spend most of their lives
00:01:07.66\00:01:09.23
trying to get there.
00:01:09.23\00:01:11.43
One of the more famous examples
00:01:11.43\00:01:12.83
of this kind of
accidental noble leadership
00:01:12.83\00:01:15.47
comes from an
ancient Roman statesman
00:01:15.47\00:01:17.77
by the name of Cincinnatus,
00:01:17.77\00:01:19.57
the man for whom the
American city of Cincinnati
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is loosely named.
00:01:23.08\00:01:24.68
The city was actually named
00:01:24.68\00:01:26.61
for a group of
continental soldiers
00:01:26.61\00:01:28.25
who created an
organization in 1783
00:01:28.25\00:01:30.89
known as the
Society of the Cincinnati,
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which is plural for Cincinnatus.
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The purpose of the society
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was to celebrate the founding
of the American Republic
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and preserve the memory
00:01:42.16\00:01:43.77
of the people who
fought to make it happen.
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And the name of the
society was quite deliberate.
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They named it after the Roman
military leader and statesman
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Lucius Cincinnatus,
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who was born roughly
500 years before Christ,
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back when Rome
was still a kingdom
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and not a republic or an empire.
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Cincinnatus was
already an older man
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when a tribe known as the Aequi
00:02:06.02\00:02:07.92
began to cause a lot of
trouble for Roman troops.
00:02:07.92\00:02:11.29
And in a panic, the Roman
Senate elected Cincinnatus
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in his absence
to be their dictator
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for the space of six months.
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After the vote, they went
and told him what they'd done,
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hoping of course that he
would agree to the assignment,
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and they found him
out plowing his field.
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Here's how the Roman
historian Livy tells the story,
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and this is one of
the more inspiring stories
00:02:31.75\00:02:34.08
that come from ancient history.
00:02:34.08\00:02:35.45
Here's what Livy said.
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"Now I would solicit
the particular attention
00:02:37.75\00:02:40.22
of those numerous people
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who imagine that money
is everything in this world,
00:02:41.86\00:02:44.46
and that rank and ability
are inseparable from wealth:
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let them observe
that Cincinnatus,
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the one man in whom Rome reposed
all her hope of survival,
00:02:50.57\00:02:54.37
was at that moment
working a little three-acre farm
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west of the Tiber,
just opposite the spot
00:02:57.34\00:03:00.08
where the shipyards are today."
00:03:00.08\00:03:02.08
So this is a
really important guy,
00:03:02.08\00:03:03.88
but at this point in his life,
00:03:03.88\00:03:05.41
he's running what you and
I might call a hobby farm.
00:03:05.41\00:03:08.65
We continue.
00:03:08.65\00:03:10.09
"A mission from the city
found him at work on his land,
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digging a ditch,
maybe, or plowing.
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Greetings were
exchanged and he was asked,
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with a prayer for God's blessing
on himself and his country,
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to put on his toga and
hear the Senate's instructions.
00:03:21.20\00:03:25.23
This naturally surprised him,
00:03:25.23\00:03:26.60
and, asking if all were well,
00:03:26.60\00:03:27.87
he told his wife
Racilia to run to their cottage
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and fetch his toga.
00:03:30.57\00:03:32.27
The toga was brought,
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and wiping the grimy
sweat from his hands and face
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he put it on;
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at once, the envoys
from the city saluted him,
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with
congratulations, as Dictator,
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invited him to enter Rome,
00:03:43.72\00:03:45.39
and informed him of the terrible
danger of Minucius's army."
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It's the story
of an everyday guy
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who answers the call of duty,
00:03:51.39\00:03:53.09
and after he serves his people
and the danger has passed,
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which happened in
just a matter of days,
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he doesn't do what
most people would do.
00:03:58.77\00:04:01.87
He doesn't cling to power.
00:04:01.87\00:04:03.61
Instead, he resigns the
post and goes back to farming.
00:04:03.61\00:04:08.21
That's the reason
the Society of Cincinnati
00:04:08.21\00:04:10.78
named themselves after this guy.
00:04:10.78\00:04:12.88
As far as they were concerned,
00:04:12.88\00:04:14.35
a lot of these soldiers
were leading ordinary lives
00:04:14.35\00:04:16.82
until the call of Duty required
them to fight the British.
00:04:16.82\00:04:20.32
They didn't do it in
order to seek power or fame.
00:04:20.32\00:04:23.36
They did it for the
wellbeing of everybody.
00:04:23.36\00:04:25.66
And when it was over,
00:04:25.66\00:04:27.03
most of them went
back to everyday life.
00:04:27.03\00:04:30.23
It's really an admirable quality
00:04:30.23\00:04:32.23
that was somewhat common
among the Revolutionaries.
00:04:32.23\00:04:35.00
And of course
the most famous man
00:04:35.00\00:04:36.60
to be compared to Cincinnatus
00:04:36.60\00:04:38.57
was their leader,
George Washington.
00:04:38.57\00:04:41.38
As you know, there
were people who pushed him
00:04:41.38\00:04:43.65
to become a permanent
ruler, kind of an American king,
00:04:43.65\00:04:47.48
but he refused and he wanted
to go back to private life.
00:04:47.48\00:04:50.82
It was such an unusual attitude
00:04:50.82\00:04:52.99
that it turned a lot of heads.
00:04:52.99\00:04:54.92
The famous American
painter John Trumbull said,
00:04:54.92\00:04:57.69
"'Tis a conduct so novel,
so inconceivable to people,
00:04:57.69\00:05:00.93
who, far from giving
up powers they possess,
00:05:00.93\00:05:03.50
are willing to convulse
the empire to acquire more."
00:05:03.50\00:05:07.44
Back in the 1780s,
00:05:08.50\00:05:09.74
a lot of people
started to draw comparisons
00:05:09.74\00:05:11.87
between George
Washington and Cincinnatus.
00:05:11.87\00:05:14.74
Just like the ancient statesman,
00:05:14.74\00:05:16.75
Washington had been
called out of retirement
00:05:16.75\00:05:18.88
from his farm at Mount Vernon,
00:05:18.88\00:05:20.75
and when the job was finished,
00:05:20.75\00:05:22.38
he simply resigned
and went back home.
00:05:22.38\00:05:25.79
In an ode to Napoleon Bonaparte,
00:05:25.79\00:05:27.66
the famous poet Lord
Byron called George Washington
00:05:27.66\00:05:30.66
"the Cincinnatus of the west,"
00:05:30.66\00:05:32.96
and it was a comparison
that a lot of people made.
00:05:32.96\00:05:36.56
Today, we still find
a statue of Washington
00:05:36.56\00:05:38.43
in the Virginia State Capitol
00:05:38.43\00:05:40.44
where he's
dressed like a civilian
00:05:40.44\00:05:42.24
and standing beside a plow,
00:05:42.24\00:05:44.54
which is a deliberate comparison
00:05:44.54\00:05:46.37
of Washington and Cincinnatus.
00:05:46.37\00:05:49.18
And I guess the
point I'm making is this:
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the wise use of
power is such a rarity
00:05:52.38\00:05:55.18
that it actually
stuns us when it happens.
00:05:55.18\00:05:58.05
It stands in stark
contrast to expectation,
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where power seekers use people
00:06:00.76\00:06:03.36
to advance their own interests.
00:06:03.36\00:06:05.86
This is a problem
that dates all the way back
00:06:05.86\00:06:07.66
to the beginning
of recorded history,
00:06:07.66\00:06:09.56
as becomes obvious
when you read things
00:06:09.56\00:06:11.63
like "The Epic of Gilgamesh"
or the Book of Genesis.
00:06:11.63\00:06:16.14
"The Epic of Gilgamesh" tells
the story of an arrogant ruler
00:06:16.14\00:06:19.24
from the ancient city of Uruk,
00:06:19.24\00:06:21.51
which is where the name for
the nation of Iraq comes from.
00:06:21.51\00:06:25.55
Gilgamesh was a brutal dictator
00:06:25.55\00:06:27.42
who worked his
people like slaves
00:06:27.42\00:06:29.78
in order to
advance his own power.
00:06:29.78\00:06:32.39
And since the 1970s, we've
had some really bright scholars
00:06:32.39\00:06:37.19
suggest that Gilgamesh was
probably the biblical Nimrod,
00:06:37.19\00:06:41.66
who also founded a
number of notorious cities,
00:06:41.66\00:06:44.73
not the least of which were
places like Nineveh and Babylon,
00:06:44.73\00:06:49.04
headquarters for
the enemies of God.
00:06:49.04\00:06:51.84
Like Gilgamesh, Nimrod
was a power-hungry dictator,
00:06:51.84\00:06:55.11
and he holds the
biblical distinction
00:06:55.11\00:06:57.15
of being one of the
worst men in world history.
00:06:57.15\00:07:00.72
He's really the forerunner
for all the notorious autocrats
00:07:00.72\00:07:04.49
who made everybody's
life completely miserable.
00:07:04.49\00:07:07.62
Not to get too cliche,
00:07:07.62\00:07:08.96
but as Lord Acton famously said,
00:07:08.96\00:07:11.03
"Power tends to corrupt
00:07:11.03\00:07:12.96
and absolute power
corrupts absolutely."
00:07:12.96\00:07:16.36
Political power, it
seems, is one of those things
00:07:17.77\00:07:19.53
that never stops making more
and more demands on its victims
00:07:19.53\00:07:23.37
because you can never feed
your hunger for power enough
00:07:23.37\00:07:26.94
to finally make it quiet.
00:07:26.94\00:07:29.01
"There are three things
that are never satisfied,
00:07:29.01\00:07:31.28
the book of Proverbs says,
00:07:31.28\00:07:32.68
"four never say, 'Enough!'
00:07:32.68\00:07:34.72
The grave, the barren womb,
00:07:34.72\00:07:36.82
the earth that is
not satisfied with water,
00:07:36.82\00:07:39.02
and the fire
never says, 'enough!'"
00:07:39.02\00:07:41.69
Now, not to tinker
with the words of the Bible,
00:07:41.69\00:07:44.03
but I think we
could safely add power
00:07:44.03\00:07:45.96
to that list of things
that is never quite satisfied.
00:07:45.96\00:07:50.03
I'm reminded of Beethoven's
famous third symphony,
00:07:50.03\00:07:53.00
which is usually
called "The Eroica Symphony"
00:07:53.00\00:07:55.74
because it's
dedicated to all heroes.
00:07:55.74\00:07:58.14
What some people don't know
00:07:58.14\00:08:00.58
is that it was originally
written as a tribute to
00:08:00.58\00:08:03.81
Napoleon, because as far
as Beethoven was concerned,
00:08:03.81\00:08:06.55
Napoleon was a liberator
who was setting Europe free
00:08:06.55\00:08:09.32
from the tyranny of monarchs.
00:08:09.32\00:08:11.19
In fact, the original title
for that work was "Bonaparte."
00:08:11.19\00:08:15.82
But then something happened
that changed Beethoven's mind.
00:08:15.82\00:08:19.29
Not long after he
finished this magnificent work,
00:08:19.29\00:08:22.16
one of his students, a man
by the name of Ferdinand Ries,
00:08:22.16\00:08:25.47
suddenly told Beethoven
00:08:25.47\00:08:26.94
that Napoleon had crowned
himself the Emperor of France.
00:08:26.94\00:08:31.34
That is not what
Beethoven anticipated,
00:08:31.34\00:08:33.91
so he completely lost it,
00:08:33.91\00:08:35.84
and according to some
accounts started yelling,
00:08:35.84\00:08:39.35
"So he is no more
than a common mortal!
00:08:39.35\00:08:41.85
No he, too, will tread
underfoot all the rights of man
00:08:41.85\00:08:44.62
and indulge only his ambition;
00:08:44.62\00:08:46.86
now he will thank
himself superior to all men
00:08:46.86\00:08:49.49
and become a tyrant!"
00:08:49.49\00:08:52.03
Beethoven angrily grabbed a pen
00:08:52.03\00:08:53.66
and scribbled out
Napoleon's name on his work,
00:08:53.66\00:08:56.00
and now we simply know
it as "The hero's Symphony,"
00:08:56.00\00:08:59.20
or "The Eroica Symphony."
00:08:59.20\00:09:01.50
There's actually
still a copy in existence
00:09:01.50\00:09:03.74
where you can see
the name Bonaparte
00:09:03.74\00:09:05.14
scribbled out on the cover.
00:09:05.14\00:09:07.71
But you know, I think the
only real surprise in this story
00:09:07.71\00:09:11.01
is the fact that
Beethoven was surprised,
00:09:11.01\00:09:13.78
because let's be honest.
00:09:13.78\00:09:15.35
When in the
history of human government
00:09:15.35\00:09:17.99
hasn't power been a problem?
00:09:17.99\00:09:20.52
I'll be right back after this.
00:09:20.52\00:09:22.32
- [Announcer] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:09:26.16\00:09:28.53
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:09:28.53\00:09:31.90
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:09:31.90\00:09:34.34
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:09:34.34\00:09:37.24
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:37.24\00:09:38.97
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:09:38.97\00:09:41.14
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:09:41.14\00:09:42.74
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:09:42.74\00:09:45.25
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:09:45.25\00:09:48.25
and they're absolutely free.
00:09:48.25\00:09:50.25
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:09:50.25\00:09:52.59
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:09:52.59\00:09:55.42
- Just before the break, I
was talking about Beethoven,
00:09:55.42\00:09:58.03
one of my all-time favorites,
00:09:58.03\00:10:00.00
and it's not just
his music that I love,
00:10:00.00\00:10:02.13
but it's also his attitude
00:10:02.13\00:10:03.57
when it came to the
principles of liberty
00:10:03.57\00:10:05.63
that were coming into fashion
00:10:05.63\00:10:06.87
right around the time
of the French Revolution.
00:10:06.87\00:10:09.54
Beethoven realized
that the French Revolution
00:10:09.54\00:10:12.01
had gone too far, that it
sadly became a reign of terror.
00:10:12.01\00:10:16.78
It actually was
worse than the problem
00:10:16.78\00:10:18.68
it was attempting to address.
00:10:18.68\00:10:20.88
And what Beethoven
hoped was that Napoleon
00:10:20.88\00:10:23.39
would become a
much needed corrective
00:10:23.39\00:10:24.99
to bring back the cause
of liberty to the equation.
00:10:24.99\00:10:28.06
But instead, Napoleon
was just one more tyrant.
00:10:28.06\00:10:32.66
And so it goes over
and over and over again.
00:10:32.66\00:10:36.23
In more recent history, the
Communist Revolution of 1917
00:10:36.23\00:10:40.14
promised to make
life better for the people
00:10:40.14\00:10:42.50
they said were
suffering because of the czars.
00:10:42.50\00:10:46.01
But then the 20th century
made it painfully obvious
00:10:46.01\00:10:48.78
that the communists simply
traded one brand of tyranny
00:10:48.78\00:10:51.15
for something much worse.
00:10:51.15\00:10:53.18
For decades, people struggled
to put food on the table,
00:10:53.18\00:10:56.55
and some were
imprisoned in brutal gulags
00:10:56.55\00:10:58.89
for having the
wrong political opinion.
00:10:58.89\00:11:01.32
And of course, high ranking
members of the Communist Party,
00:11:01.32\00:11:04.56
they lived in luxury,
00:11:04.56\00:11:05.96
basking in the
proceeds of their power.
00:11:05.96\00:11:08.53
Then look at the way
that so many people grasped
00:11:08.53\00:11:10.67
at the supposed
hope being offered
00:11:10.67\00:11:12.43
by the fascists
of Germany and Italy,
00:11:12.43\00:11:14.97
thinking that these
people could offer relief
00:11:14.97\00:11:17.64
from the humiliation and
brutal economic conditions
00:11:17.64\00:11:20.14
that emerged after the
close of the First World War.
00:11:20.14\00:11:23.38
Now let's look at
a very ancient story
00:11:24.58\00:11:27.32
we find in the Old
Testament Book of Judges,
00:11:27.32\00:11:30.05
where a man by
the name of Abimelech
00:11:30.05\00:11:31.92
tries to establish
a kingdom for himself,
00:11:31.92\00:11:34.96
and in order to
get what he wants,
00:11:34.96\00:11:36.52
he slaughters
all of his siblings
00:11:36.52\00:11:38.39
and presumably
his half-siblings.
00:11:38.39\00:11:40.96
And he seems like he
did it ritualistically,
00:11:40.96\00:11:43.80
like human
sacrifice on an altar,
00:11:43.80\00:11:46.07
because the Bible says
he killed 70 of these people
00:11:46.07\00:11:49.80
on one stone.
00:11:49.80\00:11:52.11
But
unfortunately, at least for him,
00:11:52.11\00:11:54.91
he didn't get to a
brother named Jotham,
00:11:54.91\00:11:57.05
who was his youngest relative.
00:11:57.05\00:11:59.21
Now, I find this
really interesting
00:11:59.21\00:12:00.88
because it predates
the official installation
00:12:00.88\00:12:03.59
of an Israelite king named Saul.
00:12:03.59\00:12:05.65
In that story,
00:12:05.65\00:12:07.26
you might remember the
elders of Israel were desperate
00:12:07.26\00:12:10.36
to become like the
Gentile nations around them,
00:12:10.36\00:12:12.89
and when they sensed
that Samuel the prophet
00:12:12.89\00:12:14.93
was nearing the
end of his career,
00:12:14.93\00:12:16.97
they pressed him
to anoint a king.
00:12:16.97\00:12:19.63
You find the
story in 1 Samuel 8,
00:12:19.63\00:12:22.04
where God gives these people
00:12:22.04\00:12:23.37
exactly what
they were asking for,
00:12:23.37\00:12:25.64
but at the same time
he expresses his deep
00:12:25.64\00:12:29.31
dissatisfaction and
warns them that a human king
00:12:29.31\00:12:31.08
is only gonna make life harder.
00:12:31.08\00:12:33.72
According to the original plan,
00:12:33.72\00:12:36.05
what they were supposed to do
00:12:36.05\00:12:37.49
was live in a sort of, I
guess, constitutional republic
00:12:37.49\00:12:40.52
where every individual was
directly responsible to God,
00:12:40.52\00:12:43.69
where they all lived
under a supreme written law,
00:12:43.69\00:12:46.70
which was the Torah or the
first five books of the Bible.
00:12:46.70\00:12:50.60
Now, in the days of Abimelech,
00:12:50.60\00:12:52.47
the national demand for a
king was still in the future.
00:12:52.47\00:12:55.97
So what we have in Judges 9
00:12:55.97\00:12:58.07
is a man who behaves
like Gilgamesh or Nimrod,
00:12:58.07\00:13:01.81
way ahead of the time when
the official kings of Israel
00:13:01.81\00:13:05.31
became a serious problem
00:13:05.31\00:13:06.48
that ultimately
destroyed the nation.
00:13:06.48\00:13:09.62
Abimelech systematically
eliminated all the competition,
00:13:09.62\00:13:12.95
but his
youngest brother, Jotham,
00:13:12.95\00:13:15.26
managed to survive
by going into hiding.
00:13:15.26\00:13:17.66
And Jotham suddenly
reappears on Mount Gerizim,
00:13:18.99\00:13:22.50
which later became the center
of worship for Samaritans,
00:13:22.50\00:13:25.47
a group of foreigners that
were imported by the Assyrians.
00:13:25.47\00:13:29.37
At the peak of this mountain,
Jotham makes a poetic speech,
00:13:29.37\00:13:33.27
and I think I'll just
read the whole thing to you
00:13:33.27\00:13:35.18
because it says an awful lot
00:13:35.18\00:13:36.61
about the nature of human power.
00:13:36.61\00:13:38.68
It reads this way.
00:13:38.68\00:13:40.08
Now when they told Jotham,
00:13:40.08\00:13:41.98
he went and stood
on top of Mount Gerizim
00:13:41.98\00:13:44.15
and lifted his
voice and cried out.
00:13:44.15\00:13:46.35
And he said to them,
00:13:46.35\00:13:47.59
"Listen to me,
you men of Shechem,
00:13:47.59\00:13:49.49
that God may listen to you.
00:13:49.49\00:13:51.69
The trees once went forth
to anoint a king over them.
00:13:51.69\00:13:54.83
And they said to the
olive tree, 'Reign over us!'
00:13:54.83\00:13:57.43
But the olive tree said to them,
00:13:57.43\00:13:58.40
'Should I cease giving my oil,
00:13:58.40\00:14:00.60
with which they
honor God and men,
00:14:00.60\00:14:02.37
and go to sway over trees?'"
00:14:02.37\00:14:04.91
So in other words, the olive
tree has better things to do
00:14:04.91\00:14:07.48
than to become
a political ruler.
00:14:07.48\00:14:09.24
It continues,
00:14:09.24\00:14:10.61
Then the tree
said to the fig tree,
00:14:10.61\00:14:12.45
"You come and reign over us."
00:14:12.45\00:14:14.42
But the fig tree said to them,
00:14:14.42\00:14:15.78
"Should I cease my
sweetness and my good fruit
00:14:15.78\00:14:18.02
and go to sway over trees?"
00:14:18.02\00:14:20.69
So we get the same thing again,
00:14:20.69\00:14:22.39
people with really
meaningful and productive lives
00:14:22.39\00:14:25.03
seldom want political power.
00:14:25.03\00:14:27.86
It continues: Then the
trees said to the vine,
00:14:27.86\00:14:30.37
"You come and reign over us!"
00:14:30.37\00:14:31.90
But the vine said to them,
"Should I cease my new vine,
00:14:31.90\00:14:34.60
which cheers both God and
men, and go to sway over trees?"
00:14:34.60\00:14:38.81
So now we've got three strikes
00:14:38.81\00:14:40.68
and we should expect
a change in the plot,
00:14:40.68\00:14:42.81
and that's what we get.
00:14:42.81\00:14:44.45
Then all the trees
said to the bramble,
00:14:44.45\00:14:46.75
"You come and reign over us!"
00:14:46.75\00:14:48.88
And the bramble
said to the trees,
00:14:48.88\00:14:50.29
"If in truth you
anoint me as king over you,
00:14:50.29\00:14:52.95
then come and take
shelter in my shade;
00:14:52.95\00:14:55.36
but if not, let fire
come out of the bramble
00:14:55.36\00:14:57.39
and devour the
cedars of Lebanon."
00:14:57.39\00:15:00.53
You know, I sometimes
wonder if this parable
00:15:00.53\00:15:03.70
wasn't the
inspiration for that famous song
00:15:03.70\00:15:05.83
written by the
Canadian band Rush,
00:15:05.83\00:15:08.10
where the maple trees
00:15:08.10\00:15:09.34
think they're being
oppressed by the oaks,
00:15:09.34\00:15:11.11
so they seize power and keep
everybody equal, and I quote,
00:15:11.11\00:15:14.94
"by hatchet, axe and saw."
00:15:14.94\00:15:18.08
It's another parable
about the dangers of power.
00:15:18.08\00:15:20.95
And I have to
wonder if these guys
00:15:20.95\00:15:22.58
didn't read the story of Jotham.
00:15:22.58\00:15:24.59
Neil Peart actually said the
song was inspired by a cartoon,
00:15:24.59\00:15:28.16
but still I find
myself wondering.
00:15:28.16\00:15:30.83
In Jotham's story, the
brambles were dangerous
00:15:30.83\00:15:33.13
because brambles
are a fire hazard,
00:15:33.13\00:15:35.53
and if you weren't careful,
00:15:35.53\00:15:36.67
they would burn
everything to the ground
00:15:36.67\00:15:38.33
for the sake of
hanging on to power.
00:15:38.33\00:15:41.70
You know, years ago,
I lived in Simi Valley,
00:15:41.70\00:15:44.94
and because it's a desert,
00:15:44.94\00:15:46.47
we really looked forward
to the few weeks in the spring
00:15:46.47\00:15:48.88
when the hills
would finally turn green.
00:15:48.88\00:15:51.18
The grass and the tumbleweeds
would grow very, very quickly.
00:15:51.18\00:15:54.78
But what that meant
was that later in the year,
00:15:54.78\00:15:57.15
there was a lot of dry
fuel that could spell disaster
00:15:57.15\00:16:00.36
if somebody carelessly
tossed a cigarette butt
00:16:00.36\00:16:02.79
out their window.
00:16:02.79\00:16:04.29
And sure enough, it
seemed like every single fall,
00:16:04.29\00:16:07.20
the valley was
completely choked with smoke
00:16:07.20\00:16:09.76
because of the brutal fires.
00:16:09.76\00:16:12.40
And that's the
imagery that Jotham was using.
00:16:12.40\00:16:14.97
A man seeking political power
00:16:14.97\00:16:16.74
in order to
advance his own interests
00:16:16.74\00:16:19.07
was a dry and dangerous weed,
00:16:19.07\00:16:20.94
capable of
destroying the entire nation.
00:16:20.94\00:16:24.31
The people had pledged
themselves to a power-hungry man
00:16:24.31\00:16:27.45
who was willing to
slaughter his own family
00:16:27.45\00:16:30.22
in the pursuit of his ambition.
00:16:30.22\00:16:32.29
And sure enough,
wouldn't you know it,
00:16:32.29\00:16:34.76
three years later,
they had to kill Abimelech
00:16:34.76\00:16:37.79
to get him off their backs.
00:16:37.79\00:16:39.96
And that's the story of
human beings who seek power.
00:16:39.96\00:16:44.07
Now, to be perfectly fair
to the politicians out there,
00:16:45.50\00:16:48.57
I do know of people
who really did take office
00:16:48.57\00:16:51.01
to serve the public, kind of
like a modern day Cincinnatus.
00:16:51.01\00:16:54.84
But to be honest, I can count
those people on my fingers.
00:16:54.84\00:16:57.98
I mean, I think a
lot of people intend
00:16:57.98\00:17:00.42
to be good public servants,
00:17:00.42\00:17:01.85
but the list of
people who manage to survive
00:17:01.85\00:17:04.19
the corrupting
influences they're exposed to,
00:17:04.19\00:17:07.49
it's not very long.
00:17:07.49\00:17:09.22
It's the whole
story of human government,
00:17:09.22\00:17:11.19
and it's one of the
biggest points the Bible makes.
00:17:11.19\00:17:13.90
Human beings
abandoned the government of God,
00:17:13.90\00:17:17.00
which came with a high degree
of joy and personal autonomy,
00:17:17.00\00:17:20.54
and we adopted
manmade systems of government
00:17:20.54\00:17:22.97
that have let
us down ever since.
00:17:22.97\00:17:25.21
Our history is full of
failed political ideas,
00:17:25.21\00:17:29.34
and I think now
we've come to a point
00:17:29.34\00:17:31.15
where people are beginning
to despair of the possibility
00:17:31.15\00:17:34.02
that we can fix any of this.
00:17:34.02\00:17:35.88
I mean, the political
turmoil of the last few years
00:17:35.88\00:17:38.99
has a lot of people thinking,
00:17:38.99\00:17:40.39
"Look, it doesn't
really matter who we elect.
00:17:40.39\00:17:43.56
It just keeps getting worse."
00:17:43.56\00:17:45.46
And wouldn't you know it?
00:17:45.46\00:17:47.40
That's a really prevalent
theme in the apocalyptic books
00:17:47.40\00:17:51.00
you find in the Bible,
like Daniel or Revelation,
00:17:51.00\00:17:54.07
which tell us that human
kingdoms are one of the problems
00:17:54.07\00:17:57.17
that plague us the most.
00:17:57.17\00:17:59.14
I'll be right back after this.
00:17:59.14\00:18:01.21
- [Announcer] here at
The Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:04.78\00:18:06.28
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:18:06.28\00:18:08.85
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00:18:08.85\00:18:10.32
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00:18:10.32\00:18:13.49
Discovery Mountain
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00:18:13.49\00:18:15.92
for kids of all
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00:18:15.92\00:18:18.29
Your family will enjoy
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00:18:18.29\00:18:21.03
from this small
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With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:18:23.90\00:18:26.37
and fresh content every week,
00:18:26.37\00:18:28.50
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:18:28.50\00:18:31.71
- If there was one lesson
you'd think we would've learned
00:18:35.21\00:18:37.38
over the last
several thousand years,
00:18:37.38\00:18:38.91
it's that asking
powerful governments
00:18:38.91\00:18:40.98
to solve our problems for us,
00:18:40.98\00:18:43.25
well, it almost
always ends in disaster.
00:18:43.25\00:18:45.49
Someone once
suggested we might be better off
00:18:46.69\00:18:48.56
just opening a phone book
00:18:48.56\00:18:49.82
and drafting the
first several hundred people
00:18:49.82\00:18:51.59
to serve as the government
00:18:51.59\00:18:53.09
and put a strict
limit on their term,
00:18:53.09\00:18:55.80
because that would
eliminate power seekers.
00:18:55.80\00:18:59.43
You know, after
the Babylonian exile,
00:18:59.43\00:19:01.34
the children of Israel
had a lot of opportunity
00:19:01.34\00:19:04.04
to experience the
reality of manmade governments
00:19:04.04\00:19:06.81
because all the
way from Nebuchadnezzar
00:19:06.81\00:19:09.11
to the birth of Christ,
00:19:09.11\00:19:10.65
they never again
enjoyed national autonomy,
00:19:10.65\00:19:14.05
at least not
the way it had been.
00:19:14.05\00:19:16.18
They learned the
hard way for centuries
00:19:16.18\00:19:18.29
that when human
beings run this world
00:19:18.29\00:19:20.46
and we cut God
out of the picture,
00:19:20.46\00:19:22.46
it's almost always
going to be a disaster.
00:19:22.46\00:19:26.46
And once you realize
that human government
00:19:26.46\00:19:28.53
is the exact opposite of
what God originally planned,
00:19:28.53\00:19:32.30
it can be tempting
for a lot of people
00:19:32.30\00:19:33.97
to think that we
are now somehow free
00:19:33.97\00:19:36.44
to ignore or defy the
powers that happen to rule us.
00:19:36.44\00:19:40.74
I mean, if it wasn't
God's idea, the thinking goes,
00:19:40.74\00:19:42.91
we can just ignore it.
00:19:42.91\00:19:45.15
But that's a concept that
Paul completely demolishes
00:19:45.15\00:19:47.75
in his letter to the Romans.
00:19:47.75\00:19:49.35
I mean, listen to what he says
00:19:49.35\00:19:50.62
about our duty to
government as Christians
00:19:50.62\00:19:53.09
found in Romans 13.
00:19:53.09\00:19:55.19
He writes, "Let
every soul be subject
00:19:55.19\00:19:58.03
to the governing authorities.
00:19:58.03\00:19:59.79
For there is no
authority except from God,
00:19:59.79\00:20:02.16
and the authorities that
exist are appointed by God.
00:20:02.16\00:20:05.57
Therefore, whoever
resists the authority
00:20:05.57\00:20:07.57
resists the ordinance of God,
00:20:07.57\00:20:09.20
and those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves."
00:20:09.20\00:20:13.48
So here's the hard reality
of our current situation.
00:20:13.48\00:20:17.55
The way we live might not
have been God's original plan,
00:20:17.55\00:20:20.98
but we were the ones who
asked for something different
00:20:20.98\00:20:23.69
and God just gave
us what we asked for.
00:20:23.69\00:20:26.35
And then he
established some guardrails
00:20:26.35\00:20:28.62
around our new
reality, clear rules of conduct,
00:20:28.62\00:20:31.99
and now he expects
us to live in harmony
00:20:31.99\00:20:35.03
with the powers that govern us.
00:20:35.03\00:20:37.20
Resisting a legitimate
government is unbiblical,
00:20:37.20\00:20:40.44
and the only time we're given
permission to defy government
00:20:40.44\00:20:43.81
is when we are asked to violate
God's moral commandments.
00:20:43.81\00:20:47.78
So for example, if I was somehow
required to steal or kill
00:20:47.78\00:20:51.85
on behalf of my
nation, I would have to refuse,
00:20:51.85\00:20:55.08
but that's it, that's
the only latitude we have.
00:20:55.08\00:20:58.49
Outside of that, God expects
us to obey the civil law.
00:20:58.49\00:21:03.16
It even tells us
a few verses later
00:21:03.16\00:21:04.96
that from God's perspective,
tax evasion is wrong.
00:21:04.96\00:21:08.86
He warned the nation of Israel
00:21:08.86\00:21:10.37
that taxes would come
with human government,
00:21:10.37\00:21:12.57
but they went for it anyway,
00:21:12.57\00:21:13.77
so now we're all stuck with it.
00:21:13.77\00:21:16.04
And I guess I'm
talking about this
00:21:16.04\00:21:17.57
because I hear a lot
of so-called Christians
00:21:17.57\00:21:19.54
suggesting civil disobedience
is completely justified
00:21:19.54\00:21:23.41
over any little inconvenience
00:21:23.41\00:21:25.28
that human
government might bring.
00:21:25.28\00:21:28.12
That's not in harmony with
the teachings of the Scriptures.
00:21:28.12\00:21:31.95
The truth is, as a lot
of people are now despairing
00:21:31.95\00:21:35.22
that the government
will ever become good,
00:21:35.22\00:21:38.03
well, the truth is
that the Bible tells us
00:21:38.03\00:21:40.36
that's never going to happen.
00:21:40.36\00:21:42.26
Now, that doesn't mean we
shouldn't try to make life
00:21:42.26\00:21:44.83
better or try to fix
unjust laws because we should,
00:21:44.83\00:21:48.30
but part of living
with the mess we've made
00:21:48.30\00:21:50.97
is, well, living
with the mess we've made,
00:21:50.97\00:21:53.91
but doing our best to
mitigate the human damage.
00:21:53.91\00:21:57.41
So yes, we've got to try
to make people's lives better.
00:21:57.41\00:22:00.68
That much is crystal clear
00:22:00.68\00:22:02.15
in the famous
passage of Matthew 25
00:22:02.15\00:22:04.49
where Jesus
condemned so-called Christians
00:22:04.49\00:22:06.79
who did absolutely nothing
to alleviate human suffering.
00:22:06.79\00:22:11.39
It's really one of
the more sobering passages
00:22:11.39\00:22:13.50
found in the Bible,
00:22:13.50\00:22:14.73
and it comes from the
lips of Jesus himself.
00:22:14.73\00:22:17.10
He says, "When the Son
of Man comes in his glory,
00:22:17.10\00:22:20.64
and all the
holy angels with him,
00:22:20.64\00:22:22.27
then he will sit on
the throne of his glory.
00:22:22.27\00:22:24.87
All the nations will
be gathered before him."
00:22:24.87\00:22:27.91
You'll notice how
the nations of the world
00:22:27.91\00:22:29.78
end up being completely
accountable to Christ.
00:22:29.78\00:22:33.92
"And he will
separate them one from another
00:22:33.92\00:22:36.69
as a shepherd divides
his sheep from the goats.
00:22:36.69\00:22:39.95
And he will set the
sheep on his right hand,
00:22:39.95\00:22:42.22
but the goats on the left.
00:22:42.22\00:22:44.29
Then the King will say
to those on his right hand,
00:22:44.29\00:22:46.56
'Come you blessed of my Father,
00:22:46.56\00:22:48.56
inherit the
kingdom prepared for you
00:22:48.56\00:22:50.63
from the
foundation of the world:
00:22:50.63\00:22:52.80
for I was hungry
and you gave me food;
00:22:52.80\00:22:54.90
I was thirsty and
you gave me drink;
00:22:54.90\00:22:57.11
I was a stranger
and you took me in;
00:22:57.11\00:22:59.44
I was naked and you clothed me;
00:22:59.44\00:23:01.18
I was sick and you visited me;
00:23:01.18\00:23:03.04
I was in prison
and you came to me.'"
00:23:03.04\00:23:05.95
So yeah, we have a duty
to try harder, to do better,
00:23:05.95\00:23:10.19
and to love our neighbors the
way that Christ has loved us.
00:23:10.19\00:23:13.82
But at the same time,
we've got to understand
00:23:13.82\00:23:15.52
we are not going to
fix our worst problems
00:23:15.52\00:23:18.53
by using our ingenuity.
00:23:18.53\00:23:20.70
Human beings are
just far too corruptible
00:23:20.70\00:23:23.47
for that to ever happen.
00:23:23.47\00:23:25.27
I mean, I'd like to think
if I was given unbridled power
00:23:25.27\00:23:28.50
that I would always use it well,
00:23:28.50\00:23:31.41
but I know
myself better than that.
00:23:31.41\00:23:33.61
So do you.
00:23:33.61\00:23:35.01
Very few people can
resist the siren call
00:23:35.01\00:23:37.65
of unchecked power,
00:23:37.65\00:23:39.18
and I've been disappointed in
myself enough over the decades
00:23:39.18\00:23:41.92
to know that I would probably
find it just as tempting
00:23:41.92\00:23:45.15
as anybody else.
00:23:45.15\00:23:47.39
So what's the ultimate solution
00:23:47.39\00:23:49.19
to this mess of
human government we made?
00:23:49.19\00:23:51.79
I'll be right back after this.
00:23:51.79\00:23:53.90
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- So let me ask you this:
00:24:58.19\00:24:59.49
is the human
government just condemned
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to live under one bad
government after the other,
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until we finally manage
to just destroy ourselves?
00:25:03.67\00:25:06.80
Let me show you
something Jesus said
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just prior to that
sheep and goats analogy
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we looked at a moment ago.
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He told his
disciples he fully expected
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the world to get
worse before the end.
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In fact, a lot worse.
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In Matthew 24, he says,
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"For many will come in my
name, saying, 'I am the Christ,'
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and will deceive many.
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And you will hear of
wars and rumors of wars.
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See that you are not troubled;
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for all these
things must come to pass,
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but the end is not yet.
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For nation will
rise against nation,
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and kingdom against kingdom.
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And there will be
famines, pestilences,
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and earthquakes
in various places.
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All these are the
beginning of sorrows."
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Now that word, sorrows,
it's the Greek word odin,
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and it literally
means birth pains.
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So in other words,
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the mess we've made
isn't going to get better.
00:25:52.41\00:25:54.32
In fact, according to Jesus,
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the problems will get
bigger and more frequent
00:25:55.65\00:25:58.25
as we slide into
the end zone of history.
00:25:58.25\00:26:01.12
And when it happens,
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we need to remember we are
reaping exactly what we sowed.
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The only solution, honestly,
would be another Cincinnatus,
00:26:07.36\00:26:10.13
another man who
willingly steps away
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from his enjoyable private
life to come and help us,
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and he does it out of love.
00:26:15.87\00:26:18.04
That's the story of the Bible.
00:26:18.04\00:26:20.98
It's about a God who saw
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that we couldn't
fix the problem we made,
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and so he set aside everything
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to respond to the call of duty.
00:26:26.11\00:26:29.18
The Old Testament prophets
called this man Messiah,
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and they also
called him the Son of Man.
00:26:32.55\00:26:35.56
And today, the Bible
promises that eventually,
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all of the world's
brutally corrupt governments
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are going to be
permanently replaced
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by one that this
Son of Man establishes.
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The Book of
Revelation puts it like this.
00:26:46.13\00:26:49.34
Then the seventh angel sounded:
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And there were loud
voices in heaven, saying,
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"The kingdoms of this world
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have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of his Christ,
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and he shall
reign forever and ever!"
00:26:59.08\00:27:00.92
And the 24 elders who sat
before God on their thrones
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fell on their faces
and worshiped God, saying:
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"We give you
thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
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The One who is and who
was, and who is to come,
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because you have taken
your great power and reigned"
00:27:13.29\00:27:16.60
In other words, you're not wrong
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when you realize
that every new government
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is just as corrupt as the last,
00:27:22.04\00:27:24.01
and the problem is only
getting worse by the day.
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The only solution is to
wipe it out and start over again
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with something new, which
is what God promises to do.
00:27:31.01\00:27:35.12
Listen, I know that
some of you have been told
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this is a book of fairy tales,
00:27:36.79\00:27:39.05
but maybe read it for yourself
because you might be shocked
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at just how accurately
it describes the world
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we currently live in,
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and then it tells us what
God plans to do about that.
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I'm Shawn Boonstra.
Thanks for joining me.
00:27:51.87\00:27:54.10
This has been "Authentic."
00:27:54.10\00:27:56.47
[twangy introspective music]
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