Join us as we unfold striking accounts from biblical history, including the narrative of Israel in Egypt and historical illustrations of justice meted out by God. We delve into the harrowing tales of Nazi atrocities and the genocide commanded by Pharaoh, examining how justice serves as a cornerstone of divine judgment. Through stories of retribution, from the biblical Ahab and Jezebel to modern historical events, we reflect on divine justice’s chilling but necessary role in maintaining moral equilibrium, emphasizing God’s dual pursuit of justice and loving kindness.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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Have you ever heard of the Wicked Bible? No, I’m not making a joke. Back in the early days of printing with movable type, someone made a mistake in setting the type of the seventh commandment. It was in the year 1632, and even the proofreader missed it. And so out came a Bible that reads, quote, thou shalt commit adultery, end quote. And as ridiculous as it sounds, I’ve got a legitimate question. Why not? Why should all the commandments be negative? Thou shalt not. Why not have some positive commandments? Thou shalt steal. Thou shalt commit adultery. Thou shalt bear false witness against thy neighbor. Now, there’s a reason why that sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous. But you know, there is some confusion around the origins of divine law. There are those who argue for the abolition of divine law, but for that to be possible, the law itself must be arbitrary. In other words, God could just as easily have said, thou shalt steal, as to say, thou shalt not steal. but he didn’t do it. Now, I’ll guess that you intuitively know that that’s not right, that God didn’t say, thou shalt not steal, when he could just as easily have said, thou shalt steal. God said, and I think all of us understand this, thou shalt not steal because it is intrinsically wrong, and it’s intrinsically wrong because it’s harmful. Now, what does that tell you about the nature of God? Why do you tell your children to stay out of the street? Because you don’t want them to have any fun? Because you want them to lose their ball? No, you tell them to stay out of the street because you care what happens to them. Do you discipline your children for going into the street? If you do, is it because you don’t like your children and you want to hurt them? No, you discipline them because you love them and you don’t want them to get seriously hurt. Your command to your children not to play in the street is of a peace with God’s commandment regarding boundaries. When those commandments are broken, there are several things that can happen. You can chastise your children, or they can suffer consequences by being turned into roadkill by a cement truck, or nothing may happen, and the kid gets the idea that there’s really no reason not to play in the street, and his life will become increasingly dangerous. And he will conclude that other rules can be broken as well because rules are just rules that somebody made up. They don’t have any rationale behind them. And so it doesn’t matter whether I keep the rules. And the risks to his life increase incrementally. And sooner or later, better or worse, it will rise up and bite him. Now I’m not talking about child rearing here. What I’m talking about are the laws of God, all of which are given to us for the same reason you give rules to your children. They are for our good. God’s laws are a revelation of the difference between right and wrong, of the difference between what makes life work and what makes it fall apart. And this is an important part of knowing God. If you go through life thinking that God is unfair, that God is arbitrary, that he just decides things on a whim, then you obviously don’t know God. And that brings me back to the words that God gave himself to Jeremiah. It’s in Jeremiah 9, verse 24. Let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. So, God can be known and God can be understood. And there are three primary things that God wants us to know and to understand about him, that he exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. I’ve already talked a lot about loving kindness. Now it’s time to talk about judgment and righteousness. Consider one of the greatest crimes of man, genocide. Not long ago, I heard an eyewitness tell the story of a Jewish woman pleading for the life of her child to an officer of the German SS. She was crying. Tears were running down her face. She offered her own life. She begged him to spare her child. She was holding and kissing the hand of this SS officer, begging for the life of her child. He just laughed, took her baby by the feet, and dashed its skull against the pavement. What shall we say about this man? Is it fair to say that he is evil? Was his behavior wrong? Now, how can you allow such a crime to go unpunished? The Nazis committed great crimes against humanity. They were evil to the core, and they led Germany to complete destruction. Well, what do you do with this? Romans 12, Paul wrote to the Romans and said, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place to wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So we’re not to avenge ourselves personally, but God says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And that little short passage should make the blood run cold. God believes in justice, and vengeance is the central value of justice. When I come back after this short message, I’ll explain what that means.
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God didn’t make man evil, so why is there so much evil in the world? For a free introductory program in the series titled Origins of Evil, write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44.
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A long time ago, the sons of a man named Jacob migrated from Palestine down to Egypt in a time of great famine. They were treated well at first, and the reason was one of them, named Joseph, had been down ahead of time and had led Egypt through a period of terrible famine. And as a consequence, he had a great reputation, was very much admired by the leadership of Egypt, and for generations they were treated extremely well. And they were a prolific people. They had babies on top of babies, and before long they outnumbered the Egyptians in the course of time. That became a problem. You’ll find the story in the first chapter of the book of Exodus. The children of Israel, it says in verse 7, were fruitful, increased abundantly, and multiplied, and they got strong, and the land was filled with them. And there rose up a new king over Egypt that never knew Joseph and had no awareness of him, didn’t think anything of him. And he said to his people, look, the children of Israel are more and they’re stronger than we are. They’re stronger because they were doing a lot of labor that the Egyptians didn’t want to do. So let’s get smart. Lest they multiply and it come to pass, if we ever get into a war, they’re liable to join with our enemies and fight against us. And we have no way of knowing where that will go. So they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and Ramses. What this means essentially is they made the Israelites slaves. They went from workmen and agricultural people into the absolute bond servants of Pharaoh. But a funny thing happened. The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. You know, I suppose there’s something natural involved in this, because the more they afflicted them in the daytime, when they went home, they sought comfort. They, in fact, grew closer to their wives and closer to their families, and the result was more kids. And consequently, they became an even greater problem to the Egyptians. And so they made them to serve with rigor. They made their lives bitter with hard bondage and mortar and brick and every kind of service in the field. All the service wherein they made them serve was with rigor. It was 24-7. It was up in the morning. The first thing you could see, you go to work until you work until you can’t work at night. And they did it seven days a week. It didn’t help. Meanwhile, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, and he told them, when you do the office of a midwife to a Hebrew woman, and you see them on their birthing stool, if the child being born is a boy, you should kill him. If it’s a daughter, save him alive. Now, what a thing to tell a midwife. They didn’t do it. They absolutely would not do it. They were afraid of God more than they were of Pharaoh. So they saved the men and children alive. And the king of Egypt called them in and said, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? How come you’re saving all these men and children? And the midwives, well, they lied. They said, well, the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They’re lively. And they’re delivered before we ever get to them, and we can’t kill all those children. And God dealt well with the midwives. Isn’t that interesting? They made a decision to defy Pharaoh, in which they took their lives in their hands. You have to understand that. And they saved these children alive. And when challenged on it, they lied, and God still dealt well with them. And the people multiplied, and they got even stronger. And finally, Pharaoh charged all his people. If you ever mark your Bible, you might want to underline that expression, all his people. Saying, every son that is born to the Israelites, you shall cast into the river. Every daughter you shall save alive. Now in the modern world, we call that genocide. The foul murder of every male child born to the Israelites in this troublesome time. It’s important for you to know this. All the Egyptian people were involved in this crime. There’s no way to know how many thousands of little babies were taken by the heels and thrown to the crocodiles in the Nile. And it was done not just by Egyptian soldiers, not just by Pharaoh’s officers. He told all his people to commit this crime. And so all the Egyptians were guilty of genocide. Now here’s an important question. How could God allow such a heinous crime, a crime, one of the worst crimes ever committed, not just by Pharaoh, but all his people? How could God allow such a crime to stand? How could he allow the Egyptian people to get off by saying, well, we were just following Pharaoh’s orders? By now everyone knows the story of the Exodus. And I can, in my mind’s eye, see Charlton Heston as Moses standing on the banks of the Nile in front of Pharaoh and telling him that the whole river was going to turn into blood. And he sticks the tip of his rod in the river, and the river begins to turn red and goes right on out to the other bank, turning into blood. And as they’re pouring water from a vessel into something to drink, The water turns to blood as they pour it. Everyone’s seen that. Chances are you’ve seen that movie and maybe the new animated version of it as well. I wonder how many people tumble to the fact that the Nile is where all those little babies were thrown, drowned, eaten by crocs. God gave these bloody people blood to drink because it was justice. And in the end, he took the life of the firstborn in every family in Egypt. Not every male baby, like the Egyptians had taken them. Only the firstborn. And now you see what I mean when I say that God, knowing God, involves knowing that he not only is a God of loving kindness, he is also a God of justice. You know, my mind has to come back to that German SS officer who took the baby by the heels and slammed its little head against the pavement. and compare it to what happened in Egypt with the death of the firstborn children of Israel. God only knows how complicit the German people were in the crimes of the Nazis. Some of them knew. Some of them didn’t. All of them probably knew more than they wanted to know. But God gave the German people over to utter destruction in return. God only knows how many people died in the firebombing of Dresden. God only knows how many people died in that whole terrible war. Estimates range from 35 to 60 million people died in World War II. And we weep bitter tears over 57,000 or so who died in Vietnam. Can I remind you? World War II. At least 35 million people died on all sides. Maybe as many as 60 million. At Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States was not merely avenging the blood of Pearl Harbor. They were avenging that and the rape of Nanking and Japanese atrocities all over China and all over the rest of the Far East. God cannot, as a God of justice, allow these kinds of atrocities to go unpunished. Remember what he says. Let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness. Yes, but also judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight. If no justice is ever taken, then one act of man is as good as any other. If there is no justice, if no one is ever called to account, if the books are never balanced, then how can we say that it’s wrong to murder? How can we say it’s wrong to steal, to enslave other people, if one act of man is as good as any other? The writer of Hebrews put it this way, we know him that has said, vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Well, we started out with the assumption that we wanted to know God, didn’t we? We talked a lot about God’s loving kindness. We know he will let man off the hook if there is any way to do it. We know that when he was headed down to Sodom and Gomorrah, he was willing for Abraham to talk him down from the destruction of the city to where he would have saved it if he could have only found ten righteous people in the city. We know. That when Jonah came marching into Nineveh, when he preached, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. We know that the repentance of the Ninevites actually saved their city, and that God really didn’t want to do it, even though Jonah apparently did. We know these things. God is willing to let you off the hook if he can find a way to let you off. But unless there is a hook, there is no justice. Stay with me through this break, and I’ll tell you a story about getting off the hook.
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For a free copy of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only. And request the program titled, Knowing God, Number 3. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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Once upon a time, there was a king named Ahab. And hard by his palace, there was a truly fine vineyard on a really good piece of property. It was fertile, produced beautiful grapes, nice vines. And every morning, King Ahab would look out his window at that and wish he had it. The vineyard was owned by a man named Naboth, so Ahab made him an offer. He offered to buy it. He’d give him another vineyard, give him a field, give him whatever he wanted. Naboth turned it down. because it was a family inheritance. It had been his family for generations. It had a value to him far above money. It was priceless. He didn’t need the money. He said, no thanks, king. I don’t want to sell it. Well, Ahab was, to say the least, spoiled. He went back to his bed, went to bed, wouldn’t eat, turned his face to the wall, just wouldn’t have anything to do with anybody. He was pouting over the loss of this, and he couldn’t buy this property that he wanted. To make a long story short, His wife, Jezebel, arranged the judicial murder of this man so they could steal his vineyard, and she bought it and gave it to him. The rich and the powerful must have their way, no matter who suffers in the process. Well, this crime stunk to high heaven, and everybody had seen it. Everybody knew what went on, and everybody knew why it went on. So he sent a prophet down to Ahab with a message. You’ll find the story in 1 Kings 21, verse 16. When Ahab heard Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard to take possession of it. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the prophet and said, you get down there and you meet him. Now, Elijah is a singular man. He’s a man who is described in the Bible as wearing leather and having a big beard. He apparently is the kind of guy that if he was around today would probably ride into town on a Harley Davidson. He was a rough man, a man of very few words. And God said, you go down there and meet Ahab. He’s in Samaria. He’s in the vineyard of Naboth. He’s gone down there to possess it. And this is what I want you to tell him. Thus saith the Lord. Have you killed and taken possession? Thus saith the Lord, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood, even yours. And so Elijah came down to Ahab, and he looked up at him. He said, Have you found me, O mine enemy? And Elijah answered, I have found you. because you have sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and I will take away your posterity, and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall and him that is shut up and left in Israel. Now, I really believe that God chose Elijah to go talk to Ahab when he could have chosen some other prophet because he wanted the roughest, toughest, meanest, and worst-looking prophet he could send down to meet this man. The prophet had to be apt to fit the man. He said, I’m going to make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. I’m going to make your house like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. And what he means by this, I’ve wiped these people out, and I’m going to wipe you out. For the provocation with you have provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also the Lord said, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dies of Ahab, and he’s talking about Ahab’s son. He that dies of Ahab in the city, the dogs will eat. And him that dies in the field, the fowls of the air shall eat. And this is really, really a tough prophecy. He means none of you people, not your wife, not your sons, not your daughters, nobody in your family is going to have an honorable burial. They’ll be left to the birds and the dogs. And then there is this footnote to it. But there was none like Ahab, who did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. You need to understand this. There were no good kings in Israel. Throughout their, what, 200, 220-year history, there was not one king that the Bible registers as being a good man. Ahab was the worst of a bad lot. and deserved every word that Elijah spoke against him. But a funny thing happened. When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, he put sackcloth on his flesh, he fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly. You know, this is a man who previous, whenever he walked around the palace, there was clattering, there were arms, there were swords clashing, there were doors opening and slamming before him. Everywhere he went, people were proclaiming the way ahead of him. None of that anymore. Now you could see this man creeping around the palace barefoot, and nobody knew when he was coming and when he was going. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, Look at that. Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days. I will do it in the days of his Son. Now, you know, you really need to think about that. Because I don’t know what kind of evil there has been in your life. I don’t know what kind of things you may think you have done that are bad that maybe God can’t forgive. But here is a man. We have God’s testimony. He’s the worst. But when he humbled himself… and prayed, and fasted, and turned to God, God says, look at that. I will not bring the evil in his days. What if Ahab’s sons had repented, and fasted, and humbled themselves also? Well, God would not have brought the evil in their days either. And maybe after a few generations of children that followed God, the curse could have passed from Ahab’s house completely. But it didn’t, because it didn’t hold. In the process of time, Ahab was finally killed in battle. The story of it is told in 1 Kings 22, beginning along about verse 34, where a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and it smote Ahab between the joints of the harness. He actually had some kind of an armor, but there was a crease in it, and he just went right straight through that crease and killed him, or actually wounded him, and he said to his driver, “‘Turn away. Get me out of here. I’m wounded.'” And the battle increased of that day, and the king was held up in his chariot against the Syrians, but he was bleeding all the time. And he died at even, and the blood ran out of his wound into the midst of the chariot as he bled to death. So he died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. And one washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed his armor so the dogs could lick the blood. according to the word of the Lord which he spoke. It all came true. What about Jezebel, though? Well, in the process of time, God appointed a man named Jehu to be king over Israel. He was given a commission in the process to deal with Jezebel. God told him, Go to Jezreel, find this woman, and deal with her. You’ll find the story in 2 Kings 9. When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. She painted her face, tied her head, and looked out a window. And as Jehu entered the gate, she leaned out the window and said, Had Zimri peace who slew his master? Talking about the fact that just like Zimri had slain his previous king, so Jehu had done the same. He lifted up his face to the window and said, Who’s on my side? Who? And they looked out at him two or three of the palace eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down on the upper story. And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. And he rode right over her, treading her under the feet of his horse. And when he came in, he ate and drank, had a meal. He says, go out and find this cursed woman and bury her. After all, she’s a king’s daughter. And when they went to bury her, they couldn’t find any more of her than the skull of and the feet and the palms of her hands. And he came back and told him. He said, Well, that’s what Elijah said. In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel. So they will never be able to say, they’ll walk up to a grave and say, Oh, this is Jezebel. They can’t say that, for she was not buried in any place. It’s chilling a little bit, isn’t it? But justice tends to be chilling to evil men and evil women. And that brings us once again back to God’s words to Jeremiah. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. Until next time, I am Ronald Dart, and you were born to win.
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The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1-877-7000. 888-BIBLE-44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
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