Recycled Misery (8 of 66)
Series: Route 66: A Road Trip Through the Bible
Tony Thomas
Judges
Alex Fraser Tyler was professor of History at Edinburgh University when he wrote, in 1801:
''A democracy is a temporary form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. Consequently, democracies collapse ... which is almost always followed by a dictatorship.''
Tyler points out that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations followed similar fates and repetitive cycles, commonly known as the Tyler Cycle and Fatal Sequence.
Here's the cycle:
1. From bondage to faith;
2. From faith to courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance; (listen for erosion)
5. From abundance to selfishness;
6. From selfishness to complacency;
7. From complacency to dependency;
8. From dependency back again to bondage.
It starts and stops with bondage because it rotates on the axis of depravity!
The implications of Tyler's observations for America are obvious. But, the book of Judges is not about the United States of America. It is a book that discloses Israel's history after the leadership of Moses and Joshua.
For 430 long years, Israel lived in bondage to Egypt. They longed for a deliverer who would set them free. So God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egyptian bondage into the freedom of the Promised Land. In Canaan they enjoyed the abundance of the land.
But time doesn't stand still, memories are short and left to their own devices without leadership ... Israel became complacent about God. It wasn't long until they embraced the bondage of foreign gods.
Unfortunately, that's the story of Judges. We're in a series called Route 66, a Roadtrip Thru the Bible. We're reading one b ...
Series: Route 66: A Road Trip Through the Bible
Tony Thomas
Judges
Alex Fraser Tyler was professor of History at Edinburgh University when he wrote, in 1801:
''A democracy is a temporary form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. Consequently, democracies collapse ... which is almost always followed by a dictatorship.''
Tyler points out that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations followed similar fates and repetitive cycles, commonly known as the Tyler Cycle and Fatal Sequence.
Here's the cycle:
1. From bondage to faith;
2. From faith to courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance; (listen for erosion)
5. From abundance to selfishness;
6. From selfishness to complacency;
7. From complacency to dependency;
8. From dependency back again to bondage.
It starts and stops with bondage because it rotates on the axis of depravity!
The implications of Tyler's observations for America are obvious. But, the book of Judges is not about the United States of America. It is a book that discloses Israel's history after the leadership of Moses and Joshua.
For 430 long years, Israel lived in bondage to Egypt. They longed for a deliverer who would set them free. So God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egyptian bondage into the freedom of the Promised Land. In Canaan they enjoyed the abundance of the land.
But time doesn't stand still, memories are short and left to their own devices without leadership ... Israel became complacent about God. It wasn't long until they embraced the bondage of foreign gods.
Unfortunately, that's the story of Judges. We're in a series called Route 66, a Roadtrip Thru the Bible. We're reading one b ...
There are 16183 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
