This Present Darkness

Micah 7:1-6

ABC News on September 9, 2015 gave this report; Christopher Ervin, 22, and Cameron Ervin,17, were arrested and each charged with aggravated assault and arson, after their mother and her husband were found bleeding and badly beaten up Saturday in the family house in Snellville, Georgia, according to police.

Christopher Ervin in a second-floor bathroom and Cameron Ervin was arrested as he left the garage, according to a police report, which also noted that Cameron Ervin allegedly told an officer, "I tried to kill my parents. Who does that?"

These are not poor kids from the hood they are from an up-scale neighborhood in the Atlanta-area.  The neighbors said they were good boys, and who knows what darkness was in their hearts to guide them into killing the parents for the insurance money.  This is the kind of darkness Micah is talking about in chapter 7:1-6, where society had deteriorated and he found no fruit of his ministry.  He found no one who sought God, no one who was righteous, the moral fabric of the society was no where to be found and it had degenerated to what is reported in verses 2-6; “The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net.
Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.  The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.  Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.”

A high school friend Mike Mosel told me last year, Bobby, you do not have to be a Christian to know it’s getting real dark in this nation.  Well the report of these two boys living in what many in this country only dream of, wanted more, and working for it was not part of the plan, that path takes too long, so they were just going to kill and then burn down the house, what a plan, only a devil from hell would put such thoughts in a human mind.  Jesus calls the devil many names, and one is the thief who came to kill, steal and destroy, it can be found in John 10:10.

What should one who is a follower of Jesus Christ do in this present darkness?  I believe the answer is found in Jesus’ words recorded in the gospel according to Matthew chapter 5:14,“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Do you recall Jesus telling us; “You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  God did not call us to fix the world, but to show the love of Christ to all people.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice