Learning From History

“The Israelites are so stupid!” my husband said, as he closed his Bible earlier this week and laid it on his nightstand. “They just don’t learn.“

My husband had just finished reading 1 and 2 Kings, which he had been chipping away at for a few weeks now. When I asked him to elaborate, he explained to me that when Israel had a King that served the one true God, the country served the one true God too, and was blessed. However, when they had a King that served false gods, the country would also serve the false gods and God would punish them. The Israelites seemed to cycle through periods of worshipping and obedience to the one true God, which in turn secured their freedom, and then would enter periods of worshipping various false gods, which led to their captivity. My husband found it difficult to believe they did not learn from their past.

He also mentioned King Hezekiah and King Josiah were the only two righteous Kings who both served God and tore down the high places. Other Kings had served God but did not tear down the high places. High places in biblical times were hilltops dedicated to the worship of pagan gods. Sometimes these high spots were artificially created mountains called ziggurats. These high places were off limits to the Israelites. However, if a righteous King banned the worship of pagan gods, but did not remove the high places, the Israelites would use them to worship God. Later, the phrase ‘high place’ became a general term for a pagan shrine. A pagan shrine is anything we put before God in importance.

This conversation made me think. Do we live in a country led by a righteous ruler who uses his influence and authority to ensure we obey the one true God? Do we live in a country where the high places are being brought down? In fact, do we even know what our high places are today?

In two weeks, we will have an opportunity to make an impact on these questions. Will the people we choose to become our next President, congressional representatives, senators, etc. be righteous men and women? Will they remove the high places (abortion, homosexuality, materialism to name a few), or will they allow them to remain?

If the Bible was being written today with America as the central nation, would someone reading our history 4000 years later close their book in utter disbelief and comment ‘The Americans are so stupid – they just don’t learn!’?

I pray we will all be in prayer prior to this election and vote in obedience and accordance to God‘s will. History points to the outcome we can expect either way. I hope we have learned from experience that it is best to do it God’s way.