Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: June 25, 2009 - 9926 - Title: History tells us dependency on government leads to slavery (840)

My son-in-law Phil and I visit occasionally as we sit and watch our gardens grow. We review many subjects but one recurring subject is about the impact the current economic downturn is having on family and friends.   

As bishop of our local congregation he sees first hand the devastation the current economy has created among members of the congregation. ‘It’s devastating,” he says, “watching as the weeks come and go with little hope of finding gainful employment.” But he is grateful for the generosity of those who give so much to help those in need and see that no one goes hungry.

            But during one recent-garden-watching session we discussed the redirection away from those principles of liberty the Founders founded America upon in 1776 and 1787. These are changes being perpetuated by elected leaders in Washington, of both parties, and have been going on for many years. Now, as the proverb goes, ‘the chickens are coming home to roost.’

We wondered aloud if the voters really understood what they had done in voting for ‘change.’ Did we know we would be getting what to some seems to be radical ‘change,’ change that seems to be rejecting those Godly principles America was founded on to principles that historically have led the people into slavery with government control by the few and a loss of liberty for the masses.

            We discussed how this has happened in modern-day North Korea, Iran and several other nations where the leaders have led their people into both physical and spiritual slavery. Those of us old enough remember how Hitler led his people into World War II, a war that totally destroyed a proud people and nation. Other examples discussed included Japan who conquered and enslaved the entire Pacific basin; how Stalin destroyed Russia and sent dissenters to Siberia to work on starvation diets and die, and how Mao killed millions and became China’s god for nearly 50 years. Restoring liberty to those who were led astray by promises from power hungry leaders has cost the lives of millions.

            The scriptures also provide examples of how pride and the rejection of God from the lives of the people also led nations to total destruction. Thomas Paine used a powerful biblical example in his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense. This example helped awaken the Colonists and stirred the American Revolution.

            Paine told how Moses, led by the God of Israel (Jefferson’s “Creator and Supreme Judge of the World”) provided them with “God’s Laws,” the laws leading to eternal life and laws governing their relationships with one another. But their faith was weak and soon some wanted to return to the ‘flesh pots’ of Egypt. Those ‘perfect laws of liberty’ (James 1:22) were used by the Israelites to “self-govern” themselves for 230 years before going to Samuel wanting Jehovah to give them a king. Jehovah warned them of what would happen if they chose a king over Him. But they persisted. Then Jehovah gave them Saul and removed his protective hand. The Israelites soon became “like those other nations” that were ruled over by a king.

            Following Solomon’s death the twelve tribes divided – ten went to Damascus, two to Jerusalem. In 150 years the ten tribes lost all semblance of their former glory and became so corrupt that the Lord allowed them to be taken captive and sold into slavery – then finally scattered and dispersed. The other two tribes were later dispersed and as the scriptures say, became a hiss and by-word for centuries. But sixty years ago this tribe, anciently known as Judah, has re-emerged as the nation of Israel, a nation that continues to struggle against great odds just to survive. Yet this story clearly indicates, at least to me, that God is not dead but is actively fulfilling prophesy by gathering his people once again, beginning with the tribe of Judah.

            Phil and I then discussed the writings of the Founding Fathers. Their recorded words strongly imply that America, as a fledging new nation, was literally raised up by God, even as was ancient Israel, to be “a land of the free and home of the brave.” But John Adams warned us that our freedoms depend on us protecting them when he said: “we (the Founders) are giving you a republic if you can keep it.”

Is modern America following those ancient Israelites who “wanted a king” or a government to do everything for them? The price for America’s apathy and moral decadence could be equal to; perhaps worse then what happened to the ancient Israelites. That wasn’t a pretty event, as history tells us.

Growing numbers of Americans fear that if America ‘fully ripens,’ totally reject the ‘Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,’ and our Constitution, there will be a heavy price to pay – a loss of liberty, followed by governmental enslavement. And as Phil said while watching our garden grow and as Glen Beck said in his new book, Common Sense, “If ‘we the people’ allow this to happen this won’t be pretty either.”