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Are we living in the end times? Is Armageddon upon us? If God’s two witnesses came proclaiming the message that we were in the final seven years of our present day world, would anyone listen?

Are Christians being given the full message of the Gospel? Or are the Clergy choosing to keep some information to itself? Is the church in a huge cover up because they are so involved with building bigger churches and directing more people to their television ministries? Has money become the bottom line and teaching people how to hear from God the last thing on their agenda?

I am an author of a Christian book. In my endeavor to spread God’s message I naturally felt that my market should be directed to the churches. So I began by mailing a picture of my book cover and information on how to purchase my book to the surrounding churches in my state. Months passed and hundreds of mailings were sent out. The majority of the churches would not post my information on their bulletin boards.

I was shocked and I questioned why they wouldn’t give their church members access to this book. Maybe it was because I was a woman? Or could it be because I had been an upholster for the past thirty-two years. Of course it could be because I had no theologian education. As I questioned their lack of interest many biblical stories came to my mind.

Amos was a farmer, David a shepherd, Peter a fisherman, Paul a tent maker, yet they were all called by God. Jesus was a carpenter and He was the very Son of God and the Savior of the world. It seemed that according to the Bible I didn’t need any credentials, just a calling from God.

If this is the case then why weren’t the churches allowing their congregations the knowledge that my book existed? Here is the letter I mailed out to the churches:

Dear Church Leader,
I wanted to personally invite you and your congregation to read this book, It answers in detail the reason for our present day life experiences, using my life as an illustration. We want all churches from all religious backgrounds to post the cover and how to purchase this book on their bulletin boards.

So many Christians are depressed and they play the blame game when something bad happens to them in their life. They are worried and upset over the unbelief of some of their family members. They are concerned about raising their children in a world filled with chaos. Christians want to know why they have cancer or why their child died in Iraq. This book answers all of these questions using my life and biblical truths.

This book is filled with encouragements and answers to the hard questions we face in life. Families will be brought together, parents will understand their teenagers, and it will teach us not to judge. This book eliminates the debates over homosexuality, divorce, and abortion. It is clear and easy to understand; it will break down the barriers of misunderstanding and reveals a truth that is being hidden.

This book will help your leaders and teachers be better councilors and deliver messages that are more effective to the congregation. It will draw more people into your church so God can meet the needs of the church less people. The words in this book will explode into revelation that will ignite a fire in the hearts of all mature Christians who need the right ingredients in order to meet the needs of their unchurched family members and friends.

Then a letter came and I was excited. A chief under-shepherd of a large church was kind enough to answer my questions. He gave seven reason why he wasn’t going to let anyone know about my book. Here’s what he wrote:

1. I don’t know what message your presenting.

2. You seem to place ‘my life’ first and biblical truths’ second, in terms of sources for truth.

3. I’m always suspicious when someone tells me they’ve found ‘hidden truth’.

4. I’m also suspicious when someone tells me that a book (other than the Bible) will draw people, make messages better, or explode into revelation.

5. I don’t know your denominational affiliation. Are you Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Moonie, 7th Day Adventist?

6. I’m leery of people who say “GOD TALKED TO ME”, because those words often precede words that contradict scripture.

7. I’m also hesitant because you’ve mentioned the issue of homosexuality, but give little indication of where you stand.

He concluded his letter with these final words. “In short I can’t recommend a book that I don’t know. Hope this has been helpful.”

Why are Christian people not being given the resources that are available so they can make up their own mind? Are the pastors afraid of new teachings? Or are all Christian lay people incapable of making good decisions, so the pastor’s need to keep their congregations in the dark?

Maybe we live in the dark ages where the Priest did all of their sermons and scripture readings in Latin, because they didn’t want the ordinary, uneducated people to understand “The Words of God”. This way the people had to believe what they said was the proper way to serve and worship God.

“And ye, O peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that ye do not forfeit this favor by electing to the position of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God.” —John Calvin

“Political slavery ensues when the public sleep.” —John Dickinson, 1732-1808

At this critical time in the history of the United States, as the nation has selected a new president, there is passivity, indifference and unconcern among pastors and the Christian Church. As one prominent church leader, John MacArthur, recently said, “I wouldn’t spend five seconds thinking about the fall 2008 election.” This mindset is antithetical to the scriptures and historical theology. It reveals a perverted view of church and state that consigns the secular world to a realm outside the influence of the Christian community. By inversion, this myopia views the spiritual as the only sphere wherein God’s will is accomplished. The modern church has become a microbe fortress with virtually no voices to call the nation to repentance. There is a somnambulence of spirit and mind that has overtaken the church world. We are insulated within a micro-world and have consigned the society in which we live to irrelevance. The vacuum of non-involvement with the secular world by Christians is immense. One 20th Century theologian diagnoses the passivity of the modern church, “In the early church there were persons called ‘Anchorites’ who went off into the desert, separating themselves from all social contacts and living solely for God. From that early movement, monasticism was born. In our time, we see a somewhat similar response among some evangelical protestants. They believe that the Christian community should be so separated from the secular sphere that individual Christians should not go into politics or vote in elections, that they should withdraw from the culture, live in distinct communities, have Christian friends exclusively, work for Christian companies, or in general, have nothing to do with this world. It is a way of saying that the authority of the state is illegitimate.” (James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, p. 691). The institution of civil government is not illegitimate, it is ordained by God to restrain evil and show forth His glory. In the words of John Murray, “…when the civil magistrate trespasses the limits of his authority, it is incumbent upon the church to expose and condemn such a violation of his authority.” (The Relation of Church and State, p. 253).

The Anchorites of the Middle Ages lived in stone cells approximately 12 x 12 with a small aperture cut through the wall to view the world outside. They devoted their entire life to academic and scholastic study, while repudiating a world they felt was irretrievably lost. Their influence on society was as effectual as an ant on a crumb of bread. The present day Anchorites confidently assume that their weekly or weakly sermon will counter the encroaching darkness that is encircling their religious sphere like a hurricane enveloping a small island. Behind a bluster of verbiage they vainly believe their words are holding back the night. The lacuna of pro-test-ant voices from the matrix of the Christian church has allowed the virulent hatred of theism to capture the agora of ideas. Mere exposition is anemic without confronting a degenerating culture. Apologetics confined to an ecclesiastic cell is cowardice not Biblical courage. The words of a Nineteenth Century Reformation Scholar and theologian, Abraham Kuyper, are disturbing to our comfortable isolation: “There is no doubt then that Christianity is imperiled by great and serious dangers. Two life systems are wrestling with one another, in mortal combat. Modernism is bound to build a world of its own from the data of the natural man, and to construct man himself from the data of nature; while, on the other hand, all those who reverently bend the knee to Christ and worship Him as the Son of the Living God, and God, Himself, are bent upon saving the ‘Christian Heritage.’ This is the struggle in Europe, this is the struggle in America, and this also is the struggle for principles in which my own country is engaged, and in which I myself have been spending all my energy for nearly 40 years. In this struggle, apologetics have advanced us not one single step. Apologetics invariably begun by abandoning the assailed breastwork, in order to entrench themselves cowardly in a raveline [3 sided fortress] behind it. If the battle is to be fought with honor and with a hope of victory, then principle must be arrayed against principle; then it must be felt that in Modernism the vast energy of an all-embracing life system assails us, then also it must be understood that we have to take our stand in a life system of equally comprehensive and far-reaching power.” (Abraham Kuyper, Stone Foundation Lectures: Lectures on Calvinism, 1895, p. 3). A one-dimensional perspective of the church is ecclesiastical suicide. It leaves civil government out of the purview of church authority and God’s sovereign will. “…it was always understood that both church and state were responsible to God in whose wisdom each had been established. They were two independent servants of one master. Although neither was permitted to rule the other, each was to remind the other of its God-appointed duties and recall it to upright, godly conduct if it should stray. Today, however, the doctrine of the separation of church and state is taken, primarily by church people to mean that the church is irrevelant to the state–though the state increasingly brings its secular philosophy to bear on the church. Thus, Christians withdraw from politics, neglect even to inform themselves of national and international issues. And, as a result, the articulation of spirital or moral principles is eliminated from debates on national and international policy. The state becomes its own god with its chief operating principle being pragmatism.” (James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, p. 665). When the church is anemic, civil government by default becomes the guardian of the people. Government becomes the foci of trust and hope.

“Wherefore no man can doubt that civil authority is, in the sight of God, not only sacred and lawful, but the most sacred, and by far the most honorable, of all stations in mortal life.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Ch. 20, Sect. 4).

The philosopher and theologian, John Calvin, who designed the secular and ecclesiastical constitution of Geneva in 1540, believed that no walls should separate the influence of the believer from the secular sphere. His doctrine of church/state relations is eye-opening. “All we wish to be understood at present is, that it is perfect barbarism to think of exterminating it [civil government], its use among men being not less than that of bread and water, light and air, while its dignity is much more excellent. Its object is not merely, like those things, to enable men to breathe, eat, drink, and be warmed (though it certainly includes all these, while it enables them to live together); this, I say, is not its only object, but it is, that no idolatry, no blasphemy against the name of God, no calumnies against His truth, nor other offenses to religion, break out and be disseminated among the people; that the public quiet be not disturbed, that every man’s property be kept secure, that men may carry on innocent commerce with each other, that honesty and modesty be cultivated; in short, that a public form of religion may exist among Christians, and humanity among men. Let no one be surprised that I know attribute the task of constituting religion aright to human polity, though I seem above to have placed it beyond the will of man, since I know more than formally allow men at pleasure to enact laws concerning religion and the worship of God, when I approve of civil order which is directed to this end.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Ch. 20, Sect. 3). Calvin valued civil government as having more worth than food to the body and air to breathe. He even calls the state the “religious polity” which is a system of divinely-ordained human government, established by God to glorify Himself and restrain the rebellious nature of man. To him, the state was to reflect from the matrix of the church, a recognition of God as Sovereign Creator and acknowledgement and worship that is due Him. Calvin invested the state with power to restrain idolatry and blasphemy against God. He was in no way apolitical. This is a far cry from pastors and Christians who say that the government is not worth our time and effort to change, amend or restrain. The religious life is not active in the whole of our being, but in a fraction, confined to feelings or the volition. A partial influence of character now obscures the full impact of a redeemed life. Religion and its authority is being excluded, “…from the domain of public life; henceforth the inner chamber, the cell for prayer, and the secrecy of the heart should be its exclusive dwelling place.” “And the result is that, in many different ways, religion, once the central force of human life, is now placed alongside of it; and, far from the thriving of the world, is understood to hide itself in a distant and almost private retreat.” (Abraham Kuyper, 1895, The Stone Foundation Lectures p. 40). The church shadowboxes phantoms of their own devisings. Conferences are held to attack straw men of antiquity, and rededicate their habitually rededicated lives, while the judicial and legislative organs of the nation are increasingly hostile to the name of God. The time consumed on such minutiae is irrational. Little sermons, pridefully delivered as textually sequential, are as far-reaching as the tip of one’s nose. Rhetorical fluff has replaced the Word of God that existentially confronts all of life.

“America is the only country ever founded on a creed.” (G. K. Chesterton)

The philosophic and theological inflence of the Reformation not only established churches but created nations from the central teaching of God’s sovereign will and call. No individual would hold allegiance to any foreign despot that restrained the worship of God, for God alone was the Ruler of heaven and earth. The matrix of constitutional principles came from an understanding of God’s sovereign nature. “The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right, for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequalled. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man.” (G. K. Chesterton, What I Saw in America, 1922). The individual has dignity and worth not deriving from civil law, but solely from God’s hands, as made in His image and likeness. “…Calvinism has captured and guaranteed to us our constitutional civil rights; and that simultaneously with this there went out from Western Europe that mighty movement which promoted the revival of science and art, open new avenues to commerce and trade, beautify domestic and social life, exalted the middle classes to positions of honor, cause philanthropy to abound, and more than all this, elevated, purified, and enobled moral life by Puritanic seriousness;…”. The Reformation, “Created a church order, which became the preformation of state confederation, it proved to be the guardian angel of science; it emancipated art; it propagated a political scheme, which gave birth to constitutional government, both in Europe and America.” (Abraham Kuyper, p. 29, 155). There are some evangelicals, MacArthur and his followers, who view the American Revolution as illegitimate. Their perspective values the authority of colonial England as the God-honored government of the land. They reject the Reformation foundation of the American constitution and diminish the value of our democratic state, as decreed by God for the enobling of man and the propagation of the Gospel. This ahistorical view rejects our religious heritage and fosters a myopic mindset that perceives no interrelation between the church and state. Such a view of our history is quite simply troglodytic. “America had been founded primarily for religious purposes…” “The Pilgrim Fathers had come to America precisely because England had become immoral and irreligious. They had built the ‘City on the Hill.’ Again, their descendants had opted for independence and liberty because they felt their subjugation was itself immoral and irreligious and opposed to the Providential plan. There is no question that the Declaration of Independence was, to those who signed it, a religious as well as a secular act, and that the Revolutionary War had the approbation of divine providence. They had won it with God’s blessing and, afterwards, they drew up their framework of government with God’s blessing,…” (Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, p. 204). The constitutional framers understood that their work was Divinely ordained and empowered by the God of heaven.

What would Calvin have thought or said, living in 21st Century America, where a candidate, and now president of the United States, was accorded titles of divinity? By all that we know of him, he certainly would have spoken out in anger with authority. Just recently, a U.S. House of Representative, Jesse Jackson, Jr., said that an additional book should be added to the Bible, describing the ascendancy of the greatest redemptive figure of Western history. He would call it the Book of Obama. “The single most extraordinary event in American history, even a redemptive act of divine revelation. The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.” (from Politico, June 5, 2008, article by Josephine Hearn, “Black Lawmakers Emotional About Obama’s Success”). Barack Obama has been accorded the title of “The Messiah” by the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, has declared that he (Obama) has entranced our youth and that the day of messiah has arrived. In Obama’s own words, upon receiving the nomination for President of the Democratic Party, “Tonight the tides will slow and the earth will heal.” The New Testament portrays Jesus’ death and resurrection as the only redemptive hope of humanity but Obama says of himself and his followers, “We are the hope of the future; the answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided; that we cannot come together; that we cannot remake this world as it should be. Because we know what we have seen and what we believe–that what began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be ignored; that will not be deterred; that will ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, and make this time different from all the rest.” (Barack Obama, Speech in 2/5/08). With unbridled hubris, he declares, “I am confident that we can create a kingdom right here on earth.” (Barack Obama, October 8, 2007 speech). We have no need for political rulers but men and women of truth who will endure rejection and umbrage to support the unborn, maintain the historic definition of marriage, support Israel as a sovereign state without further territorial concessions and maintain the economic value of the individual, the incentive to achieve. The rhetoric from Barack Obama and his adoring throng come from a matrix of unbridled pride and arrogance unprecedented in American political history. We have heard cult voices utilize such language in the past but they were relegated to the lunacy of mindless extremism. But Obama seduces an entire generation with political/cultic language that is more reminiscent of an illusionary god-complex. In ancient Rome when a conquering general returned to the city with his army and the spoils of war, the whole population would greet him with praise and acclaimation. But running behind the general’s chariot would be a man who would whisper in his ear, “You are not a god, you are mortal.” The church needs to remind Obama that he is not the messiah, he is only a sinful mortal. To perceive of John Calvin’s view of state authority is to understand that he would have opposed and exposed such blasphemy against God.

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7)

“And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ but they said, ‘We will not listen.’” (Jeremiah 6:17)

“At every stage of her existence the Church is in need of watchmen who will guard the flock from all that would destroy it.” (E. J. Young, Book of Isaiah, Vol. 3, p. 470)

As ancient sentinels were stationed on the walls of a city to alert the inhabitants of approaching danger, especially at night, so the prophets of Israel were to sound a tocsin voice to the nation of Israel of impending calamity. The prophets of Israel were the heart of God in human flesh. They encountered every aspect of life in reference to God. The prophets diagnosed the spiritual, cultural, social, economic, political and military condition of the nation from the perspective of eternity. Their voices knew no bounds of influence and repercussion. Nothing was outside the authoritative domain of the prophetic voice. From kings to pauper, all would come to know the mind of God through the enflamed heart of the prophet. Their message embraced the totality of Israel’s life and history. Their voice captured the present from the transcendence of eternity. The prophets mindset encompassed the world, not just a sliver of religious activity. “The prophet is not only a prophet. He is also a poet, preacher, patriot, social critic, moralist.” “The prophet was an individual who said, ‘No’ to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness and syncretism.” “The prophet faces a coalition of callousness and established authority and undertakes to stop a mighty stream with mere words. Had the purpose been to express great ideas, prophecy would have had to be acclaimed as a triumph. Yet the purpose of prophecy is to conquer callousness, to change the inner man as well as to revolutionize history.” (Abraham Heschel, The Prophets, p. VIII, XIII, p. 16-17). The prophets left no avenue of society untouched by the revelation of God. Their voice hit the solar plexus of society with warning and redemption. No aspect of life was sacrosanct from their fiery confrontation. “By his very claim, his was the voice of supreme authority. He not only rivalled the decisions of the king and the counsel of the priest, he defied and even condemned their words and deeds.” (Abraham Heschel, p. 260). The lack of authoritative voices that speak power to power, truth to lie, clarity to obfuscation, is sorely felt in a nation inebriated by the rhetoric of self-exaltation.

Jesus gave a warning in Matthew 10:16 to his disciples, to be alert of impending danger on the horizon, in the midst of a hostile world. “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.” The phrase “shrewd as serpents” and “innocent as doves” is found in the Midrash on Cant. 2:14. Israel is described as “harmless as the dove”, towards God, and “shrewd as serpents” toward the Gentile nations. The serpent has a sensory system that can detect approaching prey or predator by ground vibrations. They can detect motion more than 100 feet away. The believer is to be cognizant of what is on the horizon. We are not to be overtaken by events. When Israel failed to be prudently prescient, they paid a high price as a nation. The epithelium of the church has placed the believer in a state of vulnerability to the encroaching dangers of the culture.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matt. 5:13). There was a common expression among the rabbis in the time of Jesus that the Torah was the “salt of the earth.” “For as the world could not do without salt, neither could it do without the Torah.” (Soferim 15.8). The Torah was believed to have a preservative effect upon the world. The world would rot in an accelerated rate without the retarding affect of the Word of God. But Jesus does something amazing in this passage, He transfers the meaning of Torah to the Galilean disciples, a band of weak, incompetent, unschooled men, despised by the educated of Jerusalem. Jesus says that the Word in and through them would restrain the spoliation of the world. No teacher in the history of Israel has ever made such a declaration. Our presence in word and deed, is to be a preservative in the midst of a dying age. Our lives are to penetrated every realm, retarding corruption. Our influence is to glorify God and affect this world. May we see the glory of God once again shine from sea to sea as at our nation’s birth. Our presence in the midst of this age retards the accelerated spoliation of a dying world.

The need to pray currently for our nation is incumbent upon all of God’s people. A united confluence to seek the will of God is the only restraint to the encroaching darkness over the land. There are thousands of believers across America that are grieved and are being awakened by God for the future of this nation. Only dependence on the Sovereign God can redirect the present course that embraces progressively an autocratic view of life. At signal moments in our past, God has drawn his people in concerted prayer. “Wherefore, although it is true that while we are listless or insensible to our wretchedness, he waits and watches for us, and sometimes even assists us unasked; it is very much for our interests to be constantly supplicating Him; first, that our heart always be enflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving, and serving Him, while we accustom ourselves to have recourse to Him as a sacred anchor. In every necessity; secondly, that no desire, no longing whatever, of which we are ashamed to make Him the witness, may enter our minds, while we learn to place all our wishes in His sight, and thus pour out our heart before Him.” “It is very absurd, therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending that the Divine Providence, which is always watching over the government of the universe, is in vain importune by our supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord Himself declares, ‘He is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.’ (Ps. 145:18).” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Ch. 20, Sect. 3). God is the Sovereign Lord of all the nations and He has ordained that His will be accomplished in a unique way through the weakness of our intercession.

The church is losing its spiritual and moral ground to the kingdoms of this world. Yet in their conceited illusion the evangelical anchorites justify such societal degradation as a sign that the end of the age is imminent. This is the ultimate escape from responsibility to our children and their children’s generation. “Religious living is not only a private concern. Our own life is a movement in the symphony of ages. We are taught to pray as well as to live in the first person plural.” “All generations are present as it were, in every moment.” (Abraham Heschel, A Philosophy of Judaism, p. 422-423). The Christian cannot shut himself up in his church and abandon the world to its fate. A concatenation of generations have falsely assumed that the consummation of the age was within their lifetime. “…Occupy [Gk. "pragmateuomai", daily affairs of life, commerce, judicial functions] till I come.” (Luke 19:13). “Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord doeth come.” (Matt. 24:42). Jesus commands constant vigilance regarding the believer’s interaction with society.

“…humanity glorifies God by subduing the earth by words and by work. Tragically, the pious abandon culture to the non-pious. They foolishly argue: ‘Why polish brass on a sinking ship?’ One polishes brass to glorify the ship’s Maker, who will not allow His ship to sink. In other words, the ‘purpose-driven life’ aims among others things to produce a godly culture.” (Bruce Waltke, Old Testament Theology, p. 221).

For too many in the church, the canard has been embraced, “Why polish the brass on a sinking ship?” The answer to that sophomoric question is, God is the Captain of the ship and He has not forsaken it. Yes, the ship of state is listing, but we are called to be a restraint and empowerment toward a God-honoring government. We are at a crisis in American history and only the Sovereign God can restrain a movement that is dishonoring to Him at its very core. If we are silent and passive, we will suffer the consequences with the rest of the nation under God’s chastening hand. Though millions have cried out for a leader after their own heart, as Israel of old, the consequences of God giving Israel an alter-ego, Saul, for a leader was grievous. “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness unto their soul.” (Psalms 106:15). We must pray and seek God to take us out of the small confinement that we are in. We must see Him as the Sovereign Lord of heaven and the nations of the earth. Only God bearing His holy arm can restrain the arrogance and the supercilious movement that is capturing the imagination and seducing millions of Americans.

The systems of dependence are rapidly diminishing in stature and reliance. The promise of constant economic expansion is now being seen to have been illusory and myopic. The stratum of an economic and material foundation of life is being shaken by the seismic changes that call our entire capitalistic system into question. It is as if we as a nation are being sequestered into a cul-de-sac of despair. In this time of the death of America’s golden calves may we be granted the grace of God to be quickened by His spirit to breathe again the breath of eternity in the midst of the death throes of a dying age. “A sense of contact with the ultimate dawns upon most people when their self-reliance is swept away by violent misery.” (Abraham Heschel, A Philosophy of Judaism, p. 422).

Why does marriage fail and Woman dominate over Man?

Romans 5:12 says that sin entered through one man. This ‘man’ mentioned in the bible is not a general term referring to mankind but specifically to a particular man. Sin entered through one man and that is Adam. God made Adam the head over all things in the Garden of Eden as we look back at the bible in Genesis 2. Adam was also given the responsibility of works and Adam was commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All things were perfect and beautiful until sin entered the world through Adam. This explains why things do not go well with businesses, family relationships, careers and even within the nations. Sin has stained everything that God created which was originally beautiful and perfect.

As the head, Adam has a responsibility and authority over Eve. But he failed in that as a husband to protect and to guide her. When we read further in Genesis 3:6, Adam was with Eve when she was tempted by the devil to take and eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He heard and saw the devil tempted her but he did not stop her. When Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin has not entered the world yet as far as God is concerned. Reason being, Adam has not sinned yet. He has not eaten of the fruit. He is the head and authority that God has placed over the Garden of Eden and Eve.

1 Timothy 2:13-14 tells us why God held Adam accountable. Adam was formed first before Eve. He was given the revelation by God that when he ate of the fruit, he would die. Adam knew the consequences of eating the fruit. He knew that what the serpent told Eve were lies. Yet in knowing all these, Adam did nothing to neither protect his wife from the devil nor stop her from taking the fruit. As husbands, if we do not cover and protect our wives, they will fall away and try to fight for their own rights and survival. They will fight for themselves.Example of Tamar in the Bible who Fights for her Rights

Let take a look at Judah, his sons and his daughter-in-law. Genesis 38 tells us of Judah taking a wife for himself and they had three sons – Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah also took a wife for his first son, Er, called Tamar. But Er was a wicked man and the Bible tells us that God killed him. In the Jewish tradition, if the wife of the first son does not bear him any children, the second son in the line is to marry her. And the first child born in the second marriage will bear the name of the elder brother and to carry on his line. In Latin, this is called “Levirate Marriage” where “Levir” means husband’s brother.

When Er was killed by God, Judah asked Onan to marry Tamar in order to carry on the line of Er. Onan knew all these and he knew that the family inheritance will go to his brother’s child. He did not obey Judah’s instruction. He wanted sexual pleasure with Tarmar yet didn’t want to give her any baby. He wanted the family inheritance totally for himself as well. God was displeased with Onan’s actions. Onan was killed by God, too. The next son left in line is Shelah. Shelad was too young then to marry Tamar. Judah, after lost two sons, became fearful that Tamar was a jinx. So, he sent her away to her father’s house and promised her that Shelah would marry her when he came of age. But Judah didn’t plan to fulfil his words (Genesis 38:11).

Maturity doesn’t come with age, it comes with the acceptance of responsibility. Judah, being an old man, was totally irresponsible. Tamar waited for Judah to fulfil his words. She saw Shelah grew up and yet was not given to her. When the husband does not give to the wife what she wants that is rightfully hers, she will go and get it her way. Genesis 38:13-14 tells us that Tamar decided to take matter into her own hands. She took off her widow’s garments, covered herself and dressed up like a harlot. She placed herself on the road to Timnah. Timnah, in those days, were equivalent to the modern day Las Vegas, a place where men go to find pleasure for themselves with prostitutes.

Here was Tamar, a woman from a good family background and an obedient woman, was willing to offer her body immorally as a prostitute. What caused her to degrade herself? The reason was given in Genesis 38:14. What was due to Tamar as promised, was not given to her. When a husband does not fulfil his marriage vow to his wife, she will go her own way to meet her needs that her husband does not give her.

Judah, on his way to Timnah, saw the veiled Tamar. He thought she was a harlot. Judah wanted to have sex with her. This was a woman of great virtue and integrity, yet she reduced herself to prostitution to get what she deserved, because of three men who failed her. Tamar knew that Judah was not going to keep his word so she asked for a pledge until he sent his payment. Here, Tamar resorted to manipulation. Judah, like all men, was living for the passion of the moment. He gave his signet, cord and staff that represented him and authority to a “prostitute” in return for a moment of pleasure. God in his sovereign plan has a far greater plan than family life for in the lineage of Judah came Jesus. In Tamar’s change of behaviour, we saw how women can become cunning and manipulative as a result of men who failed them.

The greatest ironic of the entire story in Genesis 38 is we saw Judah keeping his promise to a prostitute instead of to his own family member, his daughter-in-law. The same situation happens today. We saw men who do not provide for their wives and family but they were willing to throw away their money to their mistresses and lovers. Subsequently, Judah received news that his daughter-in-law was immoral and became pregnant. Judah became angry and wanted to burn her alive as a punishment.

Tamar asked her father-in-law to find the man whom the pledge belonged to and found the culprit responsible for her pregnancy. Could you imagine how shock everyone was in the room when they saw the signet, cord and staff? Judah, having saw the pledged items, began to realise the reason behind Tamar’s actions. Genesis 28:26 tells us that Judah realised his failure to keep his promise and decided to take responsibility for his actions.Conclusion

God has a far greater plan despite our failures. Years later, Jesus came through the line of Judah. The most important point in the story is that Judah repented. He did what Tamar wanted of him, and that is to be responsible. Tamar didn’t expect her man to be perfect but to be responsible to their words and to fulfil their duties. As husbands, we have a duty to God and our wives, to fulfil our marriage vows to love, protect and provide for them. Women, today become dominating, demanding, and marriage fails, when men fail to take up their responsibility and role as a man, husband and head of the family. You may be a male by birth but you can choose to be a man by choice!

Where do these ten values come from?

These ten values come from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17 as mentioned earlier. Let make reference back to the ten values against the Ten Commandments.Exodus 20:1-171. Exodus 20:1-3

Love the Lord thy God = the values of Loyalty2. Exodus 20:4-6

Worship no other gods = the values of Commitment3. Exodus 20:7

Not to take God’s name in vain = the values of Respect

Not to be presumptuous, proper honour4. Exodus 20:8, 10-11

Honour the Sabbath day = the values of Accountability

The seventh day is the day that God has set aside for rest. It is during the Sabbath that you worship God, be connected back to God, reports to Him the events of the weeks and the things to come, and to hear from God what you should do in the coming six days.5. Exodus 20:9

Six Days you shall labour and do all your work = the values of Hard Works6. Exodus 20:12

Honours your father and mother = the values of Family7. Exodus 20:13

Not to commit murder = the values of Love

This refers not to physical death alone but also hatred and bitterness in your heart when you harbour on unforgiveness. You can commit murder towards a person in your mind with evil thoughts, emotions and words.8. Exodus 20:14

Not to commit adultery = the values of Faithfulness

We have to guard our minds. Adultery needs not start with the physical. It starts with the mind and the roving eyes.9. Exodus 20:15-16

Not to steal nor bear false witness = the values of Integrity/ Truthfulness10. Exodus 20:17

Not to covet your neighbour’s possessions = the values of Generosity

The Ten Commandments are not the Ruler of Measurement or Standards. If you look at it like a ruler, then you are like the ruler. It will be used to measure whether you are fit enough to qualify against the standards set. But if you look at the spirit of the Ten Commandments, it is the very thing that will last for eternity.

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4. Values of Accountability (Connectedness)

Accountability also means connecting to the person whom you report to. There are many times you give a person an assignment to do. This person can become so busy with the work that he forgets to go back to the person to report the status and what he had done. It is important to stay connected with the person who assigned you the work. Reason is simple. The more you work on the project, you may have great ideas but these ideas may not be what the boss wanted. This lack of regular communication and update with the boss can result in misunderstanding between the boss and you as well as frustrations where you may feel that your works and efforts are not appreciated. It is important to stay connected to the boss.

John 15:5 clearly illustrates the importance of staying connected. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The branch can not be detached from the vine, otherwise it cannot bear fruits. Without the vine, the branch has no life. It is dead. Staying connected is very important. Christians who think they are saved and do not need to go to church, be part of a cell group or attend regular bible-study, will not be fruitful in their lives. These are Christians puff up with knowledge but not fruitful.5. Values of Family (Balance)

In the midst of all your hard works and ministry, do not neglect your family. You cannot glorify God if you neglect your family even in the name of ministry. If your family does not love you nor honour you because you neglect them, this is not God’s intentions. We got to live a balance life. 1 Timothy 3:1-13 tells us of the quality of a man in authority and in verse 5, it says that if a man fails his duty as a husband and father, he will not be able to take care of the church of God. This applies to anyone in authority whether in church, in business or in a place of authority. It is said that the strength of a man is not seen in the width of his shoulders but the width of his arms. Neither is the strength of a man in the amount of hair on his chest but the heart behind the hairs. You may be a male by birth but you can be a man by choice.6. Values of Love (Forgiveness/ Mercy/ Grace)

You cannot build anything on hatred, condemnation, anger and judgemental spirit. If God shows no mercy when you sin, would you be here today? No, you will not be. We are here today because of the love of God. When we fall, we fall into the arms of God. It is the constant unfailing love of God that gives you a sense of security. It is out of love that we are able to build things that last. Out of the sense of love, we know we are still loved by God no matter what mistakes we make and when we repent. Matthew 12:20 says that “a bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory.” It is the love of Jesus that holds us to God. We cannot allow unforgiveness, hatred and bitterness to rule in our hearts and in the church. But love.1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – (NKJV) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.

Let me share a true story with you about love being long suffering, patient and kind.Susan fell ill and became blind due to a misdiagnosis. From a powerful to a powerless person, she became very depressed and frustrated. Mark, her husband, was an air force officer. He knew that he has to do something to help his wife to stand up again. After rested for a period, he suggested to his wife to continue working and he offered to drive his wife to work everyday. For 2 weeks, Mark faithfully drove his wife to work and home. Susan was reluctant but she went along with Mark’s suggestion. However, after two weeks of ferrying, it became very tiring and Mark was worn out. Deciding that this is not the best solution, Mark felt that his wife has to learn how to take the bus to work everyday. When he told Susan that she has to learn to take the bus to work, Susan got very angry. Susan felt that Mark was giving up and abandoning her to face her blindness alone. He was tired of sending and bringing her to work. The worst nightmare was the thought of Mark not loving her anymore. But Mark assured her and told her that he would go with her on the bus until she was ready to go on her own. Mark did just that until Susan was able to board the bus and alight on her own.One day, Susan was going to work as usual on her own. That day, the bus driver told her that she was one blessed lady. Susan did not understand what the bus driver meant by that statement. She asked him to explain. The bus driver told her that everyday for the past weeks, there was a fine looking man in uniform who never failed to watch her get up the bus and he would be at the bus stop to watch her get down the bus. Each time, as she walked away into the office building, he would blow her a kiss and saluted to her before he went on his way. Susan, with tears welling up in her eyes, began to realise the deep love of her husband although she was blind.

Paul said that without love, he was nothing. A church, a family, and an organization must be built on love. They can fail but they can try again. It doesn’t matter whether you are poor or rich; the one thing you can give is love.

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