Friday, May 3, 2024

Psalm 2:1-3 (War Against God)

Psalm 2:1-3
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against His anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

It is a period of civil unrest. Creation rebels against Creator. Even though people see that their Creator is real, they "suppress the truth by their wickedness," (Romans 1:18-19). They "neither glorify Him as God nor give thanks to Him," letting their hearts turn to the side of darkness (Romans 1:21). In opposition, they raise their own name (Genesis 11:1-9), promote hand-made idols (Exodus 32:1-8), and challenge the Almighty (1 Kings 18:21-24). Their efforts are futile, yet the nations continue to conspire and rage (Psalm 2:1). The world's most powerful leaders band together with one unattainable goal: To "break God's chains and throw off His shackles,” (Psalm 2:3). They do not understand that God's "cords of human kindness," are "ties of love," (Hosea 11:4). God does not want any of His creation to perish (2 Peter 3:9). He continues to speak a saving message to them (Matthew 28:16-20, Revelation 14:6-7), so that He may restore peace and freedom to His galaxy.

"Stop," one of my readers could say. "Let's enhance this argument, and see what it really is. It comes from a culture of Christianity. It is raising false accusations against billions of intelligent human beings, and it will not phase or stun any of them. Its reasoning comes from only one book, but the words of the many outweigh the words of the few. It sees the heavens as a place where an angry and jealous deity lives. But to an enlightened and scientific age, the skies above are much more. They are space, a vast frontier. This is the real enterprise of humanity: To explore strange and unfamiliar ideas. To seek out new ways of improving civilization. To boldly go where no religion has taken us before!"
As a believer, the world may try to take your life
and your land (Revelation 13:5-7), and want to
destroy you for where you stand (1 Peter 4:4).
But do not despair, because in God you
are free (John 8:36), and no one can take you
away from Him (Deuteronomy 31:6).
While this counter-statement is hypothetically written (and in some ways hyperbolically written), it is based on claims from atheism and similar beliefs. These groups would respond to the question, "Why do you reject God?" with the easy answer, "There is no God to reject." They can say belief in God only appears in a few cultural perspectives, so it is a primitive notion. Some people bring up the logical claim that if such a powerful creator does exist, then they would not tolerate any opposition. They would make their existence obvious. How can there be an all powerful God who is so easy to ignore?

Now, these questions are answered in Scripture, but people could ignore this. This is because these answers come from the Bible (a book about a God in whom they do not believe). Based on this, it may be beneficial to examine this scenario outside of Scripture. In looking at the claim, "No obvious creator could possibly be rejected," the implication is that such an event could not occur in real life. The claim states that there could never be an obvious creator who was reasoned away from their creation. If such an event did occur, though, then it could make the earth's war against God appear much more plausible. So, in this instance, let us look at a historical example where a well-known creator was rejected.
George Lucas on the set of his most famous film.
In the year 1973 in Mill Valley, California, George Lucas wrote "The Journal of the Whills part I." This story went through several changes, until in 1976 it became the shooting script for, "The Star Wars." Lucas says in an interview that the reason he created the film is because he thought the world needed "something more positive." Lucas says in a further interview, "Rather than do some angry, socially relevant film…I realized there was another relevance that is even more important — dreams and fantasies, getting children to believe there is more to life than garbage and killing." Lucas' film, officially titled Star Wars, released in theaters on May 25th 1977. It received critical acclaim and audiences' adoration. Few people expected it to be a success, including those who helped make the film. Actor Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo, originally thought Lucas' story was poorly written. Ford remarks, "I told George: 'You can't say that stuff. You can only type it.' But I was wrong. [The film] worked." So, Lucas' Star Wars was a hit, resulting in the creation of two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983). At that time George Lucas was known as the visionary behind Star Wars.
People gather to see George Lucas' creation.
After creating these successful films, George Lucas received a fanbase. One of these fans refers to Lucas as a "god, the great creator." In 1994, this creator began to write another film trilogy. Around this time, Lucas also experimented with new digital effects to "restore, enhance and add" to his previous Star Wars films to create the "Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition" (1997). The majority of fans did not like Lucas' "Special Edition". One fan remarks, "The changes [to the original films] are dramatic. I'm trying to think of something where the changes are that dramatic and caused some debate. Oh yeah! The Bible." Moving on from the "Special Edition," Lucas continued working on his new trilogy and its first film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999). The film's previews were well admired, with one fan stating, "I think god must be ashamed as a creator, once he saw this and realized he hasn't made something this good." On May 19, 1999, the film was released to mixed reviews and fan backlash. Many people claimed Lucas' latest film lost sight of what was great about Star Wars. Based on Lucas' words, though, his new trilogy had maintained his original goal of creating fun "adventures in far-off lands." Still, his fans no longer saw him as the worthy creator of what they loved. George Lucas was now seens as a foolish destroyer.
There is a similarity to how people discredit 
George Lucas as Star Wars' creator, and how 
they discredit God as their creator.
By this time, many people (who either liked or did not like Star Wars) questioned if George Lucas was Star Wars' true creator. One group argued that Lucas did not make a great film in 1977, and that "Star Wars was saved in the edit," no thanks to Lucas. Others have pretended that Lucas did not create any movies after his original trilogy, claiming there are only three films in Lucas' Star Wars saga. Some fans have fantasized that Lucas "died on the Van Wyck expressway in a fiery car crash in 1989," before he could release his next trilogy. On and on, the world has come up with ways to not have to acknowledge Lucas as Star Wars' rightful creator. One fan says this is because, "People want the authors of their texts to be dead, and to have complete control over [the author's creation], and [the author] not to tell the people what to do with it anymore." So, George Lucas was widely rejected as Star Wars' creator, even though his authorship can be clearly seen in the movies' credits.
Eventually, George Lucas gave away Star Wars
to people who did not create it, and they made
films nowhere near as successful as Lucas'.
In light of this, perhaps the world should
be more thankful that God has
not relinquished control
of His creation.
People are capable of rejecting an obvious creator. Someone with enough determination and disgust could reason away any individual. It took a couple decades for George Lucas' fans to turn against him. It could certainly take a couple centuries for people to turn against God. That is a similarity in how these two were treated, but the comparison must stop there. If this analogy were stretched any further, George Lucas and his films would snap when placed before God's majesty and His awesome works.
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
- Chris Tomlin
God exists, but many still believe they are able to disprove Him. This is one way that the nations war against Him. No matter how hard they work, though, no one will be able to remove God. He will always be the world's creator and sustainer (Colossians 1:17). He will always be the earth's only hope (Psalm 33:20-22). He will always be the one "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty," (Revelation 1:8). The world might think they can take Him down. They can claim He is dead, and say He didn't make the earth or them. They can continue their war, but God will not be impressed. It is written, "the One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at" those who dare to fight Him (Psalm 2:4). To the rulers of the nations, God "terrifies them in His wrath, saying, 'I have installed My King on Zion, My holy mountain,” (Psalm 2:5-6). This King is Jesus Christ (Luke 9:35), and God says His annointed King will break His opposition "with a rod of iron; He will dash them to pieces like pottery,” (Psalm 2:9). This is how their battle will end. Yet, God is merciful, "forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin," (Exodus 34:7). He offers everyone a peace treaty, so they can avoid destruction. He says to those who will hear Him, as it is written in Psalm 2 from verses 10 to 12:

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate His rule with trembling.
Kiss His Son, or He will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for His wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

God is real. He is speaking through His creation (Psalm 19:1-4). He is calling everyone to lay down their arms or be annihilated, so "see to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks," (Hebrews 12:25). Come to God, because under His command no one needs to "train for war anymore," (Isaiah 2:4). Those who follow Jesus are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). They have nothing to fear while their Creator is with them (Isaiah 41:10), and the Lord will be with them, always (Joshua 1:9).
For a long time, since creation began, the earth
has engaged in war against God (James 4:4).
Do not take part in the earth's war. Join the
winning side, and become more than a
conqueror through Him who
loves you, (Romans 8:37).
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