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What Does The Future Hold?

by Micky Galloway

In Joshua 3:4, the great leader of God’s people was preparing them to cross over the Jordan into the promised land. Yet at this time, Joshua had no knowledge of how this massive group of people was to cross the river. “For the Jordan overfloweth all its banks …” (Joshua 3:4). Believing that God would somehow make it possible, he moved them all, bag and baggage, the seven miles from Shittim to the Jordan. At the end of the third day the people were given instructions. They were to follow the priests bearing the ark of the covenant into the swollen waters of the Jordan. They were told, “When the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.” Indeed, “And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan” (Joshua 3:13, 17). In preparation for this great journey, Joshua told them, Ye have not passed this way before (NKJV Joshua 3:4). God was about to lead them over unfamiliar ground, over a way they had not taken before. It was new territory so without the Lord’s guidance and leadership the people would not know which direction to take.

We live in a very wicked world! Terrorist’s attacks have occurred on American soil. Crime is rampant. Drugs (illegal and prescription) pose serious problems for young and old. Moral standards are crumbling. Homosexuals are demanding acceptance for their “alternate lifestyle.” The home and family are under constant attack. We seem to have forgotten that marriage is between a man and a woman and to be had, in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4). Also that God said, I hate putting away (Malachi 2:16). Furthermore, since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 56 million American babies have been murdered. Society is becoming more secular day by day. Those who believe in God are presented as foolish and of course the influence of the Bible is being excluded more and more. Is it any wonder why the above conditions exist? In any generation we must be reminded, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people.” “The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol, even all the nations that forget God” (Psalms 9:17; Proverbs 14:34).

As the world changes, it has always had an impact on the thinking of God’s people. In Exodus 30, after witnessing the destruction of Egypt and miraculously crossing the Red Sea the people asked Aaron to make for them “gods which shall go before us.” Judges 2:10 after the death of Joshua, the people worshiped idols over and over. In I Samuel 8:20, the people rejected God’s leadership and asked for a king, “that we also may be like all the nations.” Paul warned Timothy that “perilous” or “grievous” times lay ahead (cf. II Timothy 3:14). Paul made it clear that those days could be identified by the fact that men would become “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” He mentioned also that they would become “lovers of money.” These things are not new, but in the midst of such times there are some things we must remember.

We are not the first generation to confront challenges from the world. In Jeremiah’s day he said, “the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:31). The discouraged old prophet lamented what the future held for the people of God, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1). The prophet knew what was coming for these people. Even in New Testament times Paul said of the conditions of the Corinthians, “Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you” (I Corinthians 6:9-11).

In a wicked world Christians shine. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do (men) light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15). The darker the world is around us, the more a light can be seen. Paul commanded, “Do all things without murmurings and questionings: that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14-15). What a difference we could make if we manifest genuine faith and pure lives before a world that is tainted with sin and immersed in darkness!

We must train and prepare our children. If left alone without training and strong family influence, our children will drift and be like the world. In all too many cases, children grow up without knowledge and strong commitment to the truth. They are not taught the difference in the church of our Lord and denominationalism. For that matter, they are not taught about differences in churches of Christ. Unfortunately, they are not taught what it means to be “different” from the world. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children; the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children” (Deuteronomy 4:9-10). This admonition was emphasized over and over again in the law (Deuteronomy 6:6ff; 20ff; Deuteronomy 31:9-13; cf. Exodus 12:24; Joshua 4:20ff). Talk about spiritual things in your homes. Faith cannot be relegated to the church building! And be not deceived, your children will not inherit your faith. It must be genuinely their own.

Don’t overlook the impact of righteousness upon society. Christ said that his followers are the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Salt is a preservative. The presence of righteousness is a benefit to society. Remember, Righteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). If only ten righteous people could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities would have been spared (cf. Genesis 18:23-33). While righteousness has been compared to salt, a preservative, sin has been likened to leaven. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (I Corinthians 5:6). Sin spreads and contaminates. Christians, like salt, can make a difference.

There is reason for faith, hope, and optimism as we look to the future. Sometimes we become discouraged, but remember the gospel is still the power of God to save (Romans 1:16). We have the same tools, the same gospel that was preached in Jerusalem, Corinth, and a host of other wicked places. Among all the technological advances we have, nothing superseded the work of the apostles in first century times. “Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister” (Colossians 1:23).

What does the future hold? As Israel prepared to cross over the Jordan into the promised land, Joshua told them, Ye have not passed this way before (NKJV Joshua 3:4). They did not know what the future held. God was about to lead them over unfamiliar ground. It was new territory to them, but not unfamiliar to God. Let us not become discouraged because we do not know what the future holds, but let us take courage that we know Him who does. Let us boldly and faithfully follow the Lord’s guidance and leadership as He leads us safely home.

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