I recently started a new Bible reading plan conceived and promoted by Grant Horner, Associate Professor at The Master’s College in Los Angeles. This plan is based on reading a chapter from ten different lists of varying lengths. The result is a unique combination of readings as you finish each list and start over. I recommend it to you, but the website will explain it better. You can access a pdf of the plan at: http://www.4shared.com/file/84820158/92ad7a9e/professor_grant_horners_bible_reading_system.html
At any rate, I was reading yesterday in Chapter 2 of the Bible books on the list and I was impressed with the similar message contained in the poetry of Psalm 2, Proverbs 2 and Isaiah 2 as it relates to culture and politics:
10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! Psalm 2:10-12
6For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course. Proverbs 2:6-9
Isn’t that what we long for in our leaders?
7Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures …
8Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their fingers have made.
22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
For why should he be esteemed? Isaiah 2:7, 8, 22
Do those words remind you of 21st-century America? Characterized by greed, self-indulgence and finding meaning apart from God, our nation seeks answers from mere men. The clear call of Isaiah, though, is to find guidance from a supernatural Source, the one true Creator Redeemer God. The leaders of men should acknowlege this call as well as the people of God. The Church must take care as God’s ambassadors in our world to seek His ways, power and wisdom while pointing our decaying culture to the same spiritual priority. True, lasting change only comes from the inside out.
There is a great temptation to depend on laws, lawmakers and law-interpreters – the governmental system which is the “work of our hands, that which our fingers have made”. According to the Lord (as He inspired Isaiah to write), that’s the very definition of idolatry.
Rotunda Reflections 
June 4, 2009 at 7:58 pm
First of all, thanks for the plug for the Bible Reading plan. i plan to give it a try.
Your connection between a dependency upon laws, lawmakers, and law-interpreters and idolatry reminds me of the recent world-wide popularity of an American charismatic personality. We humans are so susceptible to esteeming men much higher than God!
Thanks for your blog, i read it daily.
June 4, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Discernment is written all over the first two sets of Scripture – I am “taken back” by the pattern they set.
Thanks, I am getting into the “blog thing”!!
June 5, 2009 at 11:49 am
Brent,
Thanks for the information on the Bible reading plan. I plan to check it out.
Today’s society is constantly bombarded with an agenda that directs us to focus on getting ahead, protecting our turf, be politically correct, and being tolerant. Much prayer is needed in all our lives to help us overcome those who would have us empahsize man’s work rather than the fullfillment of God’s plan. Put me in the “I’m still learning” category!
Keep up your postings…I read each issue.
June 5, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Wow Brent. Good stuff. This is one that I have wrestled with for years. I came to the conclusion that what Christ taught the disciples and what they in turn showed the rest of the world is that you don’t overthrow Rome. We were not instructed to overthrow the government and it’s systems, but rather to obey the laws of the land.
The mission is to get into the hearts of people. You cannot legislate righteousness. You cannot make anybody choose to follow Christ. Nor can you cause anyone to choose morality for that matter. No, we are told to preach the gospel – to show people who Jesus is and why He came. And as in Paul’s day, we strive to see change in our land because their was a change in the hearts of the people living and ruling in the land. As in Paul’s conversation with those who ruled:
“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.”
Paul’s example is a beautiful testament to Christ.
But that land was under the rule of Caesar. So then, where does that leave us? We live in a land that allows us all to partake of the legislative process. So, I believe we, as stewards, do our part in voting for and working towards morality that honors God. And delivering the message of the cross to all people – including those who make and enact our laws – which is the wonderful thing that you are doing!! And praying for the hearts of people to come to Christ, not because we want a pristine place to live in, but rather because we honestly care for the souls of a world dying around us. But knowing also that even if those moralities aren’t accepted by the nation, we still have the goal and obligation of living them out individually. Because we were saved by faith unto good works. And we live out of thankfulness to the One who loves us more than anything.
If the world falls around me into chaos and decay, will I still stand in my faith?? God has promised me that He has me. I am His and it is He that sustains me – not the world.
Peace this day. And thank you for all that you do, Brent.
Tim