In 1997, I was invigorated. My girls were growing, and I loved being a mom. As my education  broadened, I confronted new dilemmas. The contradictions within our churches weighed  heavily upon my heart. I had inherited the Reformers’ heretical thirst for truth and was dissatisfied  with the official party line. The Reformation fractured the Roman Empire’s iron claw politically, but not the people’s religious complacency.

For the most part, people flocked to their own (usually ethnic) culture to understand  God.  Soon, these beliefs were also challenged. As the Roman Empire’s grip cleaved in two, so did people’s belief in God. Would both God and man fade like grass? Each sect, to a lesser degree, repeated the Church’s status quo defined by its Reformers. They were comfortable with their Catholic–less freedom, accepting strife and division amongst religious denominations. I was too idealistic to accept or be comfortable with a complacent God of strife.

Despite its misery, we naturally avoid anything that challenges the status quo, no matter how oppressive life becomes. We are comfortable being objects at rest, who remain at rest. A Laodicean spirit of indifference dominates our churches (Rev 3:15–17). We’ve obtained our political freedom to seek God over the past 250 years, yet we stopped where the Reformers left off.

Ignored are Scriptures’ promises of universal peace and unity for a continued pursuit of truth.  Forgotten are the prophecies of a Day wherein people look to Abraham, to Sarah, and to Israel’s God for truth (Isa 51:2). Neglected are the prophets’ pleas for each of us to create a new heart within us: a heart and a spirit capable of turning every nation’s swords into ploughshares (Mic 4:3; Isa 2:4–5). We are content with our own little corner of freedom from religion.

As I’ve studied, I’ve become increasingly aware that I’ve unintentionally deemed much of the Old Testament prophecy unnecessary. History divulged that many prophecies were fulfilled before Israel’s fall to Assyria in 717 BCE and Judah’s fall to Babylon in 587 BCE.

I was blown away by the 50+ texts that prophesy of Israel’s latter end (cf. Lev 26:44–45; Deut 30:1–9; Ezek 36:22–30). I observed that God’s written word did not foretell of destruction, but of the salvation of this latter-day generation who finally broke the endless cycle of sin’s misery. From Genesis to Zechariah, Scripture foretells Israel’s latter-day descendants in the end times collectively seeking God, understanding truth, and turning from evil. The written word tells us that this generation will find Him “when we search for Him with all our heart” (Deut 4:28–29; 13:3; 30:1–10; Prov 8:17; Isa 51:1–7; Jer 29:11–14; Ezek 18:31–32; Hos 5:15– 6:3; Amos 5:4). I wondered if this latter-day generation would finally accept Paul’s challenge to prove all things.

The prophet Jeremiah refers to this era, telling us that we will no longer need to teach every man his brother saying, Know the Lord, because they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord. (Jer 31:34)

Jeremiah foretells humanity’s universal understanding of truth. I wondered how this latter generation discovered this amazing unity. Was it simply through God’s spirit? Could there be a tangible method that enables a universal knowledge of God? What if we right now, today, could seek and find this path? Would it lead to the earth “being full of the knowledge of God” (Isa 11:9)? What if the first step in fulfilling Jeremiah’s vision was as simple as a dialog that proved all things?

The absurd assault on basic common sense arose quickly—within two generations. Our religious institutions became complicit, accepting funding in exchange for harmful agendas. Conflicting ideas within our denominations encouraged moral relativism. We lacked firm standards to anchor our beliefs. No firm truth allows us to consider one action universally right and correct, and its opposite action universally wrong. We have become so lost in our own individual religions that we now call good evil, and evil good (Isa 5:20).

Disillusioned, without any firm standard to enable the beliefs we should hold, believers became focused, almost obsessed with the afterlife. We have forgotten about “this life” that God has allotted us. Do we shirk our responsibility? Indeed, we have allowed our religious and political systems to fall into the hands of despots of rotten, lawless men who exploit and fleece the flock.

Yet, we wonder why God has not returned. Should He ignore our request to no longer be united under Him? Having slid so deep into misery, we find the antidote too remote. It is not expedient. Do we desire the way that enabled our grandparents to trust in Him? If God’s ways are too onerous why make a fuss? Manmade truths are at an impasse. We are losing our civility. Fractured unity is turning into oppression: class against class, brother against brother, will everyone become an enemy? Can we afford this manmade lawlessness?

Without God’s Divine revelation, we remain silently asleep. We are born to grow. We mature into the flower of life, then pass on. What future will we leave for our children? Do we desire them to inherit our misery? How far from God will too big to fail lead our children? As an unanchored society, life is consumed by uncertainty. It does not matter whether we acknowledge our departure from natural law or deny it. Secret or known, the consequence of our policy remains, no matter how we decry it.

They are asleep. In the morning they are grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes, and, in the evening, it is cut down, and withers. For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath we are troubled. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. (Ps 90:5–8)

In this psalm, Moses understands that division and hardship occur as a natural consequence to our rejecting God. We grow no stronger than blades of grass. We can be easily torn and wither away. Nothing lasts. All is inflationary, bloated, and meaningless. It is not our lords that hold us down, but our own iniquities. The beliefs that govern our actions have darkened in our sleep. How do we reverse this constant struggle? How do we triumph over misery to

live productively? Is all vanity (Eccl 1:2)? How can our lives succeed so that we may live in prosperity? How do we regain the power of our voice? When will silence no longer be the song of the majority?

AWAKENING TO STRENGTH AND UNITY

Being our own gods does not work out so well without One God to unite our hearts and ways. Throughout history, manmade states do lead to tyranny. How do we break this endless Tytler cycle of oppression, so we are not stuck in its depression? Our perception has been based upon misdirection. Our concession allows our misery without a Divine Code of Law to protect our rights. What if our silence we no longer allow? Would it heal the hate? Could it unite manmade enemies, transforming them into truest friends? Sympathy is of no avail! It is time for too big to fail. Enough of these corporate lords, when One God does reign Supreme! What if one common bond would unite and awaken us from this miserable night? Can we start afresh? Can God’s written, timeless Code of Law pierce through manmade lies that deceive? It is time to awaken the giant.

To reject the law is to praise the wicked; to obey the Law is to fight them (Prov 28:4)