Indiana Jones made a movie about it once... where is the Ark of God?
I was watching Digging For The Truth on the History Channel once, and they had an episode of where the ark might be. One of the plausible sounding guesses was that it was in Ethiopia. Some people think that somehow it got over there because King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had a relationship of some sort... or so some believe.
The Ethiopian theory is based on the belief that the last known reference to the ark in the Bible was from King Solomon's day.
I guess whoever came up with that little bit of research failed to read the entire Bible.
While I was reading II Chronicles 35 today, I ran into verse 3: "Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel."
So evidently, the location of the ark was known in King Josiah's day, and he sent it to one of the houses which Solomon built. I would guess he would put it in a house in Judah? And not in Ethiopia, even if Solomon built a house there. Josiah followed the Lord, and I would find it hard to believe that Josiah would send something that important away from his country during his lifetime. He also had no reason to believe that the ark would have been taken by enemies.
He died fairly suddenly in battle.
His sons did evil in the sight of the Lord. One of them was carted away to Egypt, Nebudchadnezzar carried away another king and also took some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon.
II Chronicles 36:18 says that all the articles of the house of God, great and small, ended up being carried away to Babylon.
Perhaps somebody had foresight in the days of the final evil kings, and hid the ark away... or perhaps the ark ended up going to Babylon. But the Bible says one thing: it didn't leave Israel in the time of Solomon.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Revival Challenge Day 13
Hello!
I was thinking this morning as I woke up... what could revival mean to this country? I suppose most Christians generally think of it as a good thing... and it is. But... the road to revival might not always be sunshine and roses.
I mentioned the Fulton Street Revival on Challenge Day 1. Lots of people got saved, people got rid of the ungodly trash in their lives, and the crime rate went down. Great! BUT... to get there, there was a stock market crash. When things look down for a people, that's often when people turn their hearts to God.
I think that's true in most people's lives. Like Hezekiah in II Chronicles. Today I read chapters 32-34. Many of us who have read the Bible a few times know that Hezekiah was about ready to die, then he prayed that he wouldn't die, and God let him live another 15 years. During those years, he was full of pride and didn't serve God the way that he was supposed to.
I noticed today, that his son Manasseh was an evil king, for the most part. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, which meant that he was born while Hezekiah was in those 15 years that he spent in pride, not following the Lord. So all he saw of his father's life were the bad things, and not the years and years of good that he did before that, repairing the temple and the like.
Manasseh was an evil king for most of his life... but in II Chronicles 33:12, after Assyria took the country and he was in bondage, he humbled himself. So for the last few years of his life he was good.
Manasseh's son Amon probably saw the evil that his father did for most of his life, and he was an evil king. He didn't repent, and only reigned 2 years. He had a young son named Josiah, who was 8.
Josiah saw the evil that his father Amon did, for all 8 years of his life, but he was 6 years old when his grandpa Manasseh died. Manasseh had repented in his latter years, so during the 6 years that Josiah was alive before his grandpa died, he probably saw his grandfather doing good.
But before Manasseh repented... he was taken away into captivity by the Assyrians.
What good is it if our country gains the whole world, but loses it's own soul? The riches that God has to offer us in the next life are better than the riches that we can find in our toys, the clothes, the food, and all the wonderful things that we find down here. I know I'm saved, and if you're praying for revival along with me you probably are too, but we live with people that aren't saved, and some of them are probably people we care about.
I was thinking this morning as I woke up... what could revival mean to this country? I suppose most Christians generally think of it as a good thing... and it is. But... the road to revival might not always be sunshine and roses.
I mentioned the Fulton Street Revival on Challenge Day 1. Lots of people got saved, people got rid of the ungodly trash in their lives, and the crime rate went down. Great! BUT... to get there, there was a stock market crash. When things look down for a people, that's often when people turn their hearts to God.
I think that's true in most people's lives. Like Hezekiah in II Chronicles. Today I read chapters 32-34. Many of us who have read the Bible a few times know that Hezekiah was about ready to die, then he prayed that he wouldn't die, and God let him live another 15 years. During those years, he was full of pride and didn't serve God the way that he was supposed to.
I noticed today, that his son Manasseh was an evil king, for the most part. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, which meant that he was born while Hezekiah was in those 15 years that he spent in pride, not following the Lord. So all he saw of his father's life were the bad things, and not the years and years of good that he did before that, repairing the temple and the like.
Manasseh was an evil king for most of his life... but in II Chronicles 33:12, after Assyria took the country and he was in bondage, he humbled himself. So for the last few years of his life he was good.
Manasseh's son Amon probably saw the evil that his father did for most of his life, and he was an evil king. He didn't repent, and only reigned 2 years. He had a young son named Josiah, who was 8.
Josiah saw the evil that his father Amon did, for all 8 years of his life, but he was 6 years old when his grandpa Manasseh died. Manasseh had repented in his latter years, so during the 6 years that Josiah was alive before his grandpa died, he probably saw his grandfather doing good.
But before Manasseh repented... he was taken away into captivity by the Assyrians.
What good is it if our country gains the whole world, but loses it's own soul? The riches that God has to offer us in the next life are better than the riches that we can find in our toys, the clothes, the food, and all the wonderful things that we find down here. I know I'm saved, and if you're praying for revival along with me you probably are too, but we live with people that aren't saved, and some of them are probably people we care about.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Adventures In History: 2 Kings 17 (part 4) - The End
This is the final part to my 2 Kings 17 story. Here are the other parts:
When we last left Israel and America, the people were worshiping idols and making God angry. There were some preachers out there warning them to repent, but most refused. They liked their idols too much.
As for Israel...
~ 2 Kings 17:16-17
The Israelites made a couple golden calves and worshiped them. They served a foreign God, Baal. They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire. What does that mean anyway?
Baal was a false god that supposedly granted benefits, but he had a dark side to him. He required human sacrifices. In times of trouble or plague, human victims, usually the first born child, was burnt alive, known euphemistically as "passing through the fire." Another god that required burnt human sacrifices was Molech, who was often portrayed as a bull.
The Israelites started getting involved in witchcraft and sorcery, which God had declared to be an abomination (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). They started to worship the stars, called the "host of heaven". Asherah that they worshipped took the form of tree trunks. So they were worshiping cows, trees, and stars. They forgot their creator, and instead worshiped the creation. (If you are interested in more information on Baal, Asherah, host of heaven, etc., please see the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, an excellent resource for learning more.
These Israelites sound really out there, don't you think? Of course us enlightened Americans are nothing like that, right?
We last left the Americans in the late 1960s. Teenagers were rebelling against authority, taking drugs, and worshiping rock stars. Here I must note that Revelation 9:21 says that the people of the tribulation did not repent of their sorceries... which in the Greek is the word "pharmakeia", which can also be translated into drugs. 1 Samuel 15:23 states "for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." As far as God is concerned, these people might as well have been practicing witchcraft.
One of the rock star idols of the time, The Rolling Stones, performed a concert at Altamont speedway near San Francisco, where the Hell's Angels, who were hired as security guards, murdered one of the concert goers during their song "Sympathy For The Devil."
In 1973, the Supreme Court made the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Since then, around 48.5 million babies have been killed. A small percentage may have been performed to save the life of the mother. Many, however, were killed because they were inconvenient. Some were killed because the mother thought that she was wiser than God, and could not give the child a good life (and would not consider adoption). Some were killed because the child was believed to be born deformed, or sick, or with other defects, and the parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they knew better than God and that the child did not deserve to live. Some, I'm sure, were killed for other reasons... in almost every case, the people deciding to undergo the abortion decided that they knew better than God, who created the life. In other words, the children were sacrificed to the gods of convenience, or wisdom, or some other false god. We're not so different from the Israelites after all, are we?
The environmental movement started gaining momentum around this time. The first Earth Day was in April 1970. While being good stewards of the Earth is wise... and since God created the Earth we should be responsible with it... but many have gone overboard in it's protection. In 2006, Sea World had to stop running their fireworks displays because a small amount of contaminants would end up in Mission Bay, and they needed to get a discharge permit as a result. Another belief that seems to be catching on is that the Earth is overpopulated and people need to start having fewer children (never mind that God considers children to be a blessing... oh, and the 1 child policy works so well in China). Another idea catching on is that people are no more important than animals (doesn't the Bible say that we are worth many sparrows?). Nevertheless, you can destroy an unborn baby, but don't you dare destroy a bald eagle's egg (unless you want a hefty fine and a jail sentence).
Then you have groups like PETA, who believe that we shouldn't eat animals or wear leather. They claim their own form of morality but they are willing to tempt people to lust (with all their naked campaigns like the running of the nudes), and occasionally even commit blasphemy with anti-God campaigns like their ad with a picture of a pig and the slogan "He Died For Your Sins."
In a way, we are doing exactly what the Israelites did. They worshiped the creation rather than the creator, and so are many of us. We don't burn our children, but we are willing to rip off our preborn children's tiny limbs with a vacuum or burn them in saline solution.
The final chapter of the American story has not been written yet. However, the Israeli's story in 2 Kings 17 does have an ending:
~ 2 Kings 17:23b
Israel, who had seen miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea and the fall of the walls of Jericho, were carried away captive into Assyria. What will happen to us?
When we last left Israel and America, the people were worshiping idols and making God angry. There were some preachers out there warning them to repent, but most refused. They liked their idols too much.
As for Israel...
And they left all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made molten images, two calves, for themselves. And they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they used divination and incantations, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.
The Israelites made a couple golden calves and worshiped them. They served a foreign God, Baal. They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire. What does that mean anyway?
Baal was a false god that supposedly granted benefits, but he had a dark side to him. He required human sacrifices. In times of trouble or plague, human victims, usually the first born child, was burnt alive, known euphemistically as "passing through the fire." Another god that required burnt human sacrifices was Molech, who was often portrayed as a bull.
The Israelites started getting involved in witchcraft and sorcery, which God had declared to be an abomination (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). They started to worship the stars, called the "host of heaven". Asherah that they worshipped took the form of tree trunks. So they were worshiping cows, trees, and stars. They forgot their creator, and instead worshiped the creation. (If you are interested in more information on Baal, Asherah, host of heaven, etc., please see the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, an excellent resource for learning more.
These Israelites sound really out there, don't you think? Of course us enlightened Americans are nothing like that, right?
We last left the Americans in the late 1960s. Teenagers were rebelling against authority, taking drugs, and worshiping rock stars. Here I must note that Revelation 9:21 says that the people of the tribulation did not repent of their sorceries... which in the Greek is the word "pharmakeia", which can also be translated into drugs. 1 Samuel 15:23 states "for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." As far as God is concerned, these people might as well have been practicing witchcraft.
One of the rock star idols of the time, The Rolling Stones, performed a concert at Altamont speedway near San Francisco, where the Hell's Angels, who were hired as security guards, murdered one of the concert goers during their song "Sympathy For The Devil."
In 1973, the Supreme Court made the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Since then, around 48.5 million babies have been killed. A small percentage may have been performed to save the life of the mother. Many, however, were killed because they were inconvenient. Some were killed because the mother thought that she was wiser than God, and could not give the child a good life (and would not consider adoption). Some were killed because the child was believed to be born deformed, or sick, or with other defects, and the parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they knew better than God and that the child did not deserve to live. Some, I'm sure, were killed for other reasons... in almost every case, the people deciding to undergo the abortion decided that they knew better than God, who created the life. In other words, the children were sacrificed to the gods of convenience, or wisdom, or some other false god. We're not so different from the Israelites after all, are we?
The environmental movement started gaining momentum around this time. The first Earth Day was in April 1970. While being good stewards of the Earth is wise... and since God created the Earth we should be responsible with it... but many have gone overboard in it's protection. In 2006, Sea World had to stop running their fireworks displays because a small amount of contaminants would end up in Mission Bay, and they needed to get a discharge permit as a result. Another belief that seems to be catching on is that the Earth is overpopulated and people need to start having fewer children (never mind that God considers children to be a blessing... oh, and the 1 child policy works so well in China). Another idea catching on is that people are no more important than animals (doesn't the Bible say that we are worth many sparrows?). Nevertheless, you can destroy an unborn baby, but don't you dare destroy a bald eagle's egg (unless you want a hefty fine and a jail sentence).
Then you have groups like PETA, who believe that we shouldn't eat animals or wear leather. They claim their own form of morality but they are willing to tempt people to lust (with all their naked campaigns like the running of the nudes), and occasionally even commit blasphemy with anti-God campaigns like their ad with a picture of a pig and the slogan "He Died For Your Sins."
In a way, we are doing exactly what the Israelites did. They worshiped the creation rather than the creator, and so are many of us. We don't burn our children, but we are willing to rip off our preborn children's tiny limbs with a vacuum or burn them in saline solution.
The final chapter of the American story has not been written yet. However, the Israeli's story in 2 Kings 17 does have an ending:
So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria until this day.
Israel, who had seen miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea and the fall of the walls of Jericho, were carried away captive into Assyria. What will happen to us?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Adventures In History: 2 Kings 17 (part 3) - Angering God
When we last left our historical friends, Israel was beginning to make idols out of wood and stone, and America was beginning to make idols out of money and rock stars.
Tonight:
~ 2 Kings 17:11-14
Israel continued to worship their idols, and God got ANGRY. But he didn't strike them all dead with lightning, or open up the Earth to swallow them up... he waited. He tried to win their hearts and minds back. He sent prophets and preachers who stood out in the marketplaces yelling "Repent! For the end is near!" Okay, they didn't really say that the end was near, but the Israelites were warned and told to repent.
The preachers told the Israelites that they were sinners and they needed to change their wicked ways. They needed to worship the true God, the God who made them and gave them air to breathe and food to eat. But they didn't want to listen. Some of them probably laughed. After all, what do we think when we are walking down the street and we see some guy with a big sandwich board yelling "Repent! For the end is near!"
In America, teenagers by the millions were worshiping the Beatles. God wasn't the most important person in their lives, and Jesus Loves Me wasn't their favorite song. Since God was not #1 any more, the government took prayer out of schools, and there wasn't enough national outcry to get it back. The Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays code, which kept movies clean and free from immorality and blasphemy, was repealed, and there was not enough outcry to make the government reconsider.
Meanwhile, the second generation of teenagers started coming of age. While the teenagers of the 1950s made out at lover's lane and snuck alcohol out of their parents liquor cabinet, their younger siblings of the 60s waged a far greater rebellion. Many followed their idols, the Beatles, and tried drugs and transcendental meditation. They explored other gods.
In San Francisco, the cross streets of Haight and Ashbury turned into a haven for hippies, where drugs and free love reigned. 1967 became known as the "Summer of Love" but unfortunately, it wasn't really all that wonderful. Over 100,000 young people flocked to the city after school got out. Overcrowding, hunger, homelessness, and crime filled the neighborhood. Many young girls who came were taken advantage of.
Americans forgot the admonition in Romans to "let every soul be subject to the higher authorities" during many of their protests of the Vietnam war. They showed their disdain for returning soldiers by spitting on them and cursing them.
America was still a nation of churches, and many people still went to church, the preachers were still preaching, but there were many in rebellion.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of Adventures In History: 2 Kings 17... where we find out what PETA, Planned Parenthood, and a god named Molech have to do with one another. Also, the conclusion to what happens to the Israelites.
Tonight:
And they burned incense in all the high places, like the nations whom Jehovah had removed from before them; and did evil things to provoke Jehovah to anger. For they served the idols, of which Jehovah had said to them, You shall not do this thing. And Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets. But they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers who did not believe in Jehovah their God.
Israel continued to worship their idols, and God got ANGRY. But he didn't strike them all dead with lightning, or open up the Earth to swallow them up... he waited. He tried to win their hearts and minds back. He sent prophets and preachers who stood out in the marketplaces yelling "Repent! For the end is near!" Okay, they didn't really say that the end was near, but the Israelites were warned and told to repent.
The preachers told the Israelites that they were sinners and they needed to change their wicked ways. They needed to worship the true God, the God who made them and gave them air to breathe and food to eat. But they didn't want to listen. Some of them probably laughed. After all, what do we think when we are walking down the street and we see some guy with a big sandwich board yelling "Repent! For the end is near!"
In America, teenagers by the millions were worshiping the Beatles. God wasn't the most important person in their lives, and Jesus Loves Me wasn't their favorite song. Since God was not #1 any more, the government took prayer out of schools, and there wasn't enough national outcry to get it back. The Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays code, which kept movies clean and free from immorality and blasphemy, was repealed, and there was not enough outcry to make the government reconsider.
Meanwhile, the second generation of teenagers started coming of age. While the teenagers of the 1950s made out at lover's lane and snuck alcohol out of their parents liquor cabinet, their younger siblings of the 60s waged a far greater rebellion. Many followed their idols, the Beatles, and tried drugs and transcendental meditation. They explored other gods.
In San Francisco, the cross streets of Haight and Ashbury turned into a haven for hippies, where drugs and free love reigned. 1967 became known as the "Summer of Love" but unfortunately, it wasn't really all that wonderful. Over 100,000 young people flocked to the city after school got out. Overcrowding, hunger, homelessness, and crime filled the neighborhood. Many young girls who came were taken advantage of.
Americans forgot the admonition in Romans to "let every soul be subject to the higher authorities" during many of their protests of the Vietnam war. They showed their disdain for returning soldiers by spitting on them and cursing them.
America was still a nation of churches, and many people still went to church, the preachers were still preaching, but there were many in rebellion.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of Adventures In History: 2 Kings 17... where we find out what PETA, Planned Parenthood, and a god named Molech have to do with one another. Also, the conclusion to what happens to the Israelites.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Adventures In History: 2 Kings 17 (part 1)
Today our pastor gave a sermon on 2 Kings 17 that I thought was quite relevant to what is going on today. I'm not sure if I had noticed the parallels between this particular chapter and our country's history, but he really brought it to life to me.
I think that there's a lot to say on this subject, so I'll be breaking it up into a few pieces. Don't know how many, but that's why this is part 1.
The Israelites were taken away into captivity. They were openly rebelling against God, so God punished them. So how do the Israelites, who saw such mighty wonders as the Red Sea parting, manna falling from Heaven for 40 years, and miraculous battles won, end up in a place where they are so wicked that God has to punish them? And what does that have to do with us?
~ 2 Kings 17:9
The Israelites started with secret sins. Don't we all have those? Maybe some of the guys liked to look at pornographic paintings or visit the local strip show. Maybe it wasn't even that blatant... maybe some of them were lusting after the neighbor down the street. Maybe some of the wives were asking "does this robe make me look fat?" and the husbands told little white lies, thinking that it didn't really matter anyway. Maybe some of the wives started gossiping about how the dashing Levite a couple of houses over sometimes argued with his wife. Perhaps people let anger and bitterness fester.
Whatever happened, the Israelites began to commit sins. They didn't sin openly, just in secret. They didn't think that anybody would ever find out.
Sure, they had seen many miracles (or at least had heard of the miracles from parents and grandparents. But they were humans just like us. Haven't we seen miracles too? Hasn't God blessed our country? We were able to fight off the British and become our own nation. We defeated Hitler in World War II. We are blessed with abundance that many people only dream about. From our country's very beginnings, God protected the Pilgrims by sending the Indians to help them learn how to feed themselves, and he protected Jamestown as well. They sinned despite seeing the hand of God in their country, we have had many of the same advantages and we sin as well.
~ Proverbs 15:3
Sometimes it is easier to pretend that this is not the case. If I'm alone at my computer in the middle of the night, who is going to know what goes on? If I'm alone with my thoughts, who is going to know what I'm thinking? If God doesn't strike us down dead with lightning, maybe what we're doing is okay. Or that may be our rationale.
Our sins do come to light eventually. I'm sure the guys at Enron didn't think that they would ever get in trouble for their deeds. What about the millions of teenagers who engage in premarital sex and... when the girl comes up pregnant, their sins aren't so secret any more.
Our country has always had individuals who have had secret sins. Even the Puritans... they must have put the stocks to use at times, otherwise why would they have had them? In the 1800s you had the Wild West... most of those sins weren't so secret. But I suppose that in those days when the preachers condemned whisky and other forms of hard liquor, little ol' grannys and curious schoolboys alike probably took a swig at times.
If you move forward in time, we can see more secret sins. Some people decided that they didn't want to believe that God created the earth, and they decided to side with the Darwinists and with evolution. Eugenics was a big thing back in the early 1900s. In the 1920s we had the flapper movement, where some people engaged in secret sins like dancing provocatively and using cocaine.
ABC had a "7 Deadly Sins" special last Friday where they talked about vanity. People probably have been vain since long before Narcissus fell in love with himself during Greek times, but certain vain activities that us Americans take part in used to be secret. Like plastic surgery. It used to be something that people didn't like to talk about because they didn't want people to know that they were secretly vain.
However, secret sins usually don't stay secret. Often they come to light while we still live... but even if you take secret sins to the grave with you, God has seen them, and eventually they all will be known. Anybody who knows much about America can realize that dancing provocatively in bars and taking swigs of whiskey are not the controversial secret sins that they once were.
~ Numbers 32:23
Next time on Adventures In History: the continuing story of what happened to the Israelites and their secret sins... and how that relates to America and our country's secret sins.
I think that there's a lot to say on this subject, so I'll be breaking it up into a few pieces. Don't know how many, but that's why this is part 1.
The Israelites were taken away into captivity. They were openly rebelling against God, so God punished them. So how do the Israelites, who saw such mighty wonders as the Red Sea parting, manna falling from Heaven for 40 years, and miraculous battles won, end up in a place where they are so wicked that God has to punish them? And what does that have to do with us?
And the sons of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Jehovah their God. And they built high places in all their cities for themselves, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.
The Israelites started with secret sins. Don't we all have those? Maybe some of the guys liked to look at pornographic paintings or visit the local strip show. Maybe it wasn't even that blatant... maybe some of them were lusting after the neighbor down the street. Maybe some of the wives were asking "does this robe make me look fat?" and the husbands told little white lies, thinking that it didn't really matter anyway. Maybe some of the wives started gossiping about how the dashing Levite a couple of houses over sometimes argued with his wife. Perhaps people let anger and bitterness fester.
Whatever happened, the Israelites began to commit sins. They didn't sin openly, just in secret. They didn't think that anybody would ever find out.
Sure, they had seen many miracles (or at least had heard of the miracles from parents and grandparents. But they were humans just like us. Haven't we seen miracles too? Hasn't God blessed our country? We were able to fight off the British and become our own nation. We defeated Hitler in World War II. We are blessed with abundance that many people only dream about. From our country's very beginnings, God protected the Pilgrims by sending the Indians to help them learn how to feed themselves, and he protected Jamestown as well. They sinned despite seeing the hand of God in their country, we have had many of the same advantages and we sin as well.
The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Sometimes it is easier to pretend that this is not the case. If I'm alone at my computer in the middle of the night, who is going to know what goes on? If I'm alone with my thoughts, who is going to know what I'm thinking? If God doesn't strike us down dead with lightning, maybe what we're doing is okay. Or that may be our rationale.
Our sins do come to light eventually. I'm sure the guys at Enron didn't think that they would ever get in trouble for their deeds. What about the millions of teenagers who engage in premarital sex and... when the girl comes up pregnant, their sins aren't so secret any more.
Our country has always had individuals who have had secret sins. Even the Puritans... they must have put the stocks to use at times, otherwise why would they have had them? In the 1800s you had the Wild West... most of those sins weren't so secret. But I suppose that in those days when the preachers condemned whisky and other forms of hard liquor, little ol' grannys and curious schoolboys alike probably took a swig at times.
If you move forward in time, we can see more secret sins. Some people decided that they didn't want to believe that God created the earth, and they decided to side with the Darwinists and with evolution. Eugenics was a big thing back in the early 1900s. In the 1920s we had the flapper movement, where some people engaged in secret sins like dancing provocatively and using cocaine.
ABC had a "7 Deadly Sins" special last Friday where they talked about vanity. People probably have been vain since long before Narcissus fell in love with himself during Greek times, but certain vain activities that us Americans take part in used to be secret. Like plastic surgery. It used to be something that people didn't like to talk about because they didn't want people to know that they were secretly vain.
However, secret sins usually don't stay secret. Often they come to light while we still live... but even if you take secret sins to the grave with you, God has seen them, and eventually they all will be known. Anybody who knows much about America can realize that dancing provocatively in bars and taking swigs of whiskey are not the controversial secret sins that they once were.
And be sure your sin will find you out.
Next time on Adventures In History: the continuing story of what happened to the Israelites and their secret sins... and how that relates to America and our country's secret sins.
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