Representing God
God’s intention for Israel is clearly spelled out in scripture. The nation of Israel was not created by God for its own sake. It was to be a living representation of a group of people living in harmony with it’s Creator. (Deuteronomy 28:9). Through observing the conduct of Israel, other nations roundabout would have the opportunity to acknowledge Israel’s God.
We are well aware of the rest of the story. Israel rejected its obligations to God. And in so doing, lost its identity. Modern day Israel staggers around in the dark without any clear direction or purpose. However, the rejection of God has consequences among the other nations.
Samuel Huntington was a little ahead of his time when he published, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order in 1997. He wrote:
“We are witnessing ‘the end of the progressive era’ dominated by Western ideologies and are moving into an era in which multiple and diverse civilizations will interact, compete, coexist, and accommodate each other” (page 95).
We can read this statement in more biblical terms:
“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower” (Deuteronomy 28:43).
Huntington predicted what we are facing today – the decline of the West. He wasn’t so much predicting it as noting the certainty of where the trend of decline would lead.
“The age of Western dominance will be over. In the meantime, the fading of the West and the rise of other power centers is promoting the global processes of indigenization and the resurgence of non-Western cultures” (page 91).
“At these times they [other civilizations] also were contemptuous of the cultural inferiority, institutional backwardness, corruption and decadence of the West” (page 95).
Having lost their identity, Israel has degenerated into corruption and decadence. A very bad example that other nations want no part of.
“That revival is not a rejection of modernity, it is a rejection of the West and of the secular, relativistic, degenerate culture associated with the West. It is a rejection of what has been termed the ‘Westoxification’ of non-Western societies. It is a declaration of cultural independence from the West, a proud statement that: ‘We will be modern, but we won’t be like you’” (page 101).
This is quite a statement in light of God’s original intent for Israel. Huntington further maintains that,
“In times of rapid social change established identities dissolve, the self is redefined, and new identities are created” (page 97).
Intellectuals in the West have been busy laying the groundwork for those new identities for a long time. The established identities based on morality have been dissolved. They are being replaced by liberal interpretations of sexual identity and relativity in regard to law.
Christ raised up His Church to replace the role of the failed Israel. A spiritual entity to engage the world with an example of people who can live by the law of God and demonstrate what the God family looks like.
We have been called to establish a new identity. The old identity created in this godless world is to be replaced with a newness of life. A spiritual identity. The Church is the body of Christ and is to reflect the spiritual values of its head – Christ.
In this task we must not let the strong currents of the West’s demise distract us from the task at hand.
“So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them” (Deuteronomy 28:14).
There has never been a better time for the people of God to represent Him to this world.
Brian Orchard
