Only Temporary

“I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” (Ps 37:35-36 AV)

 This has been the case for as long as mankind has been on the earth.  We fret and allow the adversary to cause us anxiety and fear over something that will not be permanent.  David has seen kingdoms larger than his rise and fall.  He has seen his father-in-law’s kingdom chase him all over the countryside, yet one battle was all it took to take him down.  The comparison with a bay tree is very enlightening.  The bay tree is a tree that grows in its own natural soil.  It is not a transplant.  If it is transplanted, it will not survive.  What a picture of all the kingdoms that have risen and fallen.  They spread themselves beyond their borders.  There may be a success for a time, but it will eventually die and return to its original beginnings.  What a picture of every offensive force that has ever taken territory.  It is one of those truths that are timeless.  Why?   “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” (Ac 17:26 AV)  The LORD determines in His eternal plan were and when nations and kingdoms rise.  As much as they might think they can control their own destinies, the Bible would differ.

No matter what the world wants to sell, the saint should not buy.  We should not be anxious about the battles we perceive God is losing.  He is losing nothing.  The bay tree reminds me of a tree that used to grow in the front yard of my previous house.  The locals call it a water maple.  This maple tree often grows in areas that have plenty of groundwater.  They grow fast.  The problem with the water maple is the roots are shallow.  They have to be to get the water they need to grow as fast as they do.  The thing is, with the water maple, it grows so fast it cannot sustain itself.  The base of the tree and main branches often cannot contain the weight of new growth.  New growth also saps moisture from its support branches and trunk.  Eventually, the tree collapses under its own weight.  Every year I had to take my chainsaw out to the front yard and cut up main branches that had fallen off.  It made for an endless supply of firewood.  But within just a few years, the tree fell over.  Roots and all.  It grew fast and tried to sustain rapid growth.  It simply could not.  This is what happens with the wicked powers that be.  They cannot sustain their own success.  Eventually, they collapse and recede back from whence they came.

This aggression is not limited to physical force.  This temporary aggression does not necessarily mean a wicked power takes territory.  The aggression can also be philosophical, spiritual, cultural, or any other aggression against God’s sovereignty.  It simply will not stand.  Every year about this time, The Exodus with Charlton Heston is easily found on broadcast or paid TV.  The thought that the movie portrays is God’s deliverance for a people to liberty.  Although that is a major consequence of their deliverance from bondage, it is not the most pressing reason for their liberty.  They had voluntarily given up their habitation and bounds which the LORD destined for them when Jacob took his family down to Egypt for bread.  Over time, they were enslaved by the Egyptians.  When freed, they were led to the land originally given to them by God to Abraham.  The land of promise.  They had lost their borders.  God restored them more than once.  The latest was the great regathering following the 1948 agreement to re-establish Israel as a nation.  The point is, we can take encouragement that the forces that be may think they are taking ground that will never be surrendered, but the LORD is greater than them all.  What the powers that be never take into consideration is the imminent return of Jesus Christ.  He is returning and all things will revert back to where they should be.