From the book Thy Kingdom Comes
Chapter 10. Two Paths
The revenue of the wicked
What is the revenues of the wicked? They are those who covet, buy or sell their brothers and their brothers’ sweat, household and goods. They deliver men into bondage. They exercise authority over men for their own gain and benefit at the expense of their neighbor. They bring tractable men into one purse1 as human resources.
Peter warned us:
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2Pe 2:18.
Many governments promise people liberty but through those offer of benefits they are able to deliver them into the bondage of Egypt. Is their kingdom sanctioned and blessed by God or merely allowed? Are we seeking the Kingdom of God which Jesus said was at hand or have we developed an appetite for the deceitful dainties of Nicolaitan altars2 which God hates? We have been warned from early times to not seek the common purse of Cain, Babylon and Egypt. Wisdom itself cries out but our hearts hear not the words of the wise.
… My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof… Proverbs 1
Could we be so tempted by the promises of man made systems? Are we deceived by false religions that creep into our thinking while we are unaware? How easily are we enslaved and still cling to the belief that we are free? Are we free simply because we use the same names that once were associated with liberty? Should we covet our neighbors’ house and goods through the agency of governments we create?
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45
Herod the Great had promised Menahem, that when the Messiah came he would relinquish a portion of his kingdom containing Jerusalem to the true Anointed king. Herod was tempted by the power of that Hasmonian office and the apathy and avarice of the people. He attempted to kill the Messiah at his birth but failed. That kingdom of Israel, called Judea at that time, had been divided into three parts since Herod’s death. No one king ruled the whole nation and the seat that was to govern Jerusalem remained vacant.
Herod Antipas had been born in Bethlehem. His mother had gone there so that her son would fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah’s birth but he never sat on the throne at Jerusalem. He was a man like his father, torn and confused by his own passion. He knew John, the son of Zachariah, and respected his dedication and devotion to the kingdom. He did not want him executed. Pulled between the idea of sparing John or giving up half of his kingdom the temptation of power bid his heart to forsake justice, and forfeit his soul.
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1Proverbs 1:14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
2See Appendix 4
