An allegory of where sin has taken us…
There once was a mighty kingdom. Compared to other kingdoms of the world, it was not very old, but it had flourished greatly and had become the leader of all the other kingdoms.
Its lands were very fertile and it produced far greater crops than its citizens could eat. So, food was abundant.It had the greatest scientists and technicians who invented unbelievable machines that provided much luxury for its people… machines that made it possible for just one farmer to cultivate as much land as one hundred farmers in other kingdoms and produce even bigger crops…
The machines were able to mysteriously bring entertainment from around the world into every home…machines that gave people the ability to travel great distances with comfort and amazing speed…and incredibly powerful thinking machines that could solve the most difficult problems in mere seconds.
All of this was possible because the kingdom believed in educating its people. The laws of the land provided twelve years of free education to all its children and had established the greatest universities that could be found anywhere in the world for those desiring advanced studies.
Consequently, the kingdom led the world in science, arts, and social studies. And such educational opportunities provided the best doctors and medicine that could be found on the planet so its people lived long, productive lives. It was a mighty kingdom!
The people of the kingdom were hard workers who believed that a person could achieve great goals in life if he was diligent in his work and committed to his dreams.This made the kingdom’s industry and commerce very great and so far-reaching that other whole kingdoms relied upon its riches and the entire world depended on its generosities. It was a mighty kingdom!
The kingdom’s armies were very powerful and the wars that it had won against its enemies garnered the fear and respect of all the world. Patriotism was taught to its citizens from an early ageand the great legacies left by its Founding Fathers were honored and revered. So, its people were proud of their accomplishments and were willing to fight those who would attempt to destroy the good in this great kingdom. For it was a mighty kingdom!
As kingdoms go, it had from the time it was founded, operated on principles that were fair and honest and gave every citizen equal opportunity. Generally, the people were compassionate and wanted the best for the poor, the disabled, and the disadvantaged.
So, many programs were established to help those who could not help themselves, to give them food, shelter, and a sense of dignity. The rules of the kingdom cared for everyone and this thinking made it a mighty kingdom!
And perhaps the greatest characteristic of this kingdom could be summed in just one word… FREEDOM. Every citizen enjoyed the freedom to have a say in who would be the leaders. Every citizen enjoyed the freedom to pursue their education as far as they desired and to accumulate land and houses and wealth to the fullest of their abilities and ambitions.
Every citizen had the freedom to speak openly and publically about what they believed without fear of reprisal from the kingdom leaders. And perhaps the greatest freedom was that every citizen could worship their God in the way that they thought was best as long as it did not infringe upon the freedoms of others. This truly made it a mighty kingdom!
Of all the things that made this a mighty kingdom, there was one thing that was fundamental to its greatness. For you see, you cannot have a mighty kingdom without a mighty king. And even though this kingdom had many great mortal “kings” through the years, everyone knew that there was a “King of kings” that really controlled the kingdom. Over the Little King (who was just a man), there was the Great King who had real control over all the earth.
Everyone knew that even though they had many mighty leaders, there was One Who was Almighty. And they daily pledged their allegiance to Him to be ONE NATION UNDER GOD. Willingly and intentionally they bowed to the Great One Who led them and made them mighty.
Above all the daily busyness of the kingdom, everyone knew that high above their kingdom sat One on His throne Who had blessed them in every way to make them a mighty kingdom. Their Great King was God!
But one beautiful day as people worked and sang, and reveled in all that their great King had given them, a very subtle and cunning enemy snuck into their midst. With great caution, he carefully searched for his victim… the one through whom he would culminate his plan to destroy the kingdom and discredit the King.
He could have moved into the life of a poor man, because it would have beeneasy and no one would have noticed. He could have invaded the heart of a wealthy man because great wealth always leaves one vulnerable to his deceptions. He might have even found a place in the heart of one of the great leaders.
This would truly have been an achievement because then through that leader, he could have influenced many more to follow his rebellion. But none of these were what he was looking for. No. For this plan of deception and destruction to work, he had to be very specific in choosing the one in whom he would plant the initial seed of rebellion.
So, ever so slyly, he moved from person to person, looking for the perfect victim… carefully observing them… looking them over… studying each one’s personality and background until he finally found just the perfect person to use in his plan.
He chose a young boy from a broken family because he knew that strong family values would instill a character of honesty and fairness that would be difficult to overcome.
Not only that, but this boy came from an ethnically mixed parentage. This would give him the support of the minority race and yet, draw upon the empathy of the majority race since he was not fully from the minority bloodline.
Among the “unknowns” in the kingdom, he was perhaps the MOST unknown. He was a nobody, but the enemy knew this would give him time to mold the boy into the kind of man he wanted without the kingdom citizens noticing it. So, he set to work instilling in the boy from an early age the lies and evil thinking that he would use to one day destroy the kingdom.
He put him in a parochial school that promoted great devotion to its anti-god theology. As misguided as the school/religion was, it provided the only stability in his life when his father abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to the bizarre influences of an unstable mother.
Although the boy would surely become a vital part in deluding the whole kingdom, the enemy was not naïve enough to put the success of his entire plan on the shoulders of just one person. No, not by any means!
For with the help of his many subordinates working all over the kingdom, he had already infiltrated the hearts of many other people who would contribute to his ultimate goal. In fact, the list of those used in his plan was very extensive. It included teachers, politicians, entertainers, judges, and a wide variety of other kingdom citizens.
But the basic process used in each person was the same.
1. As much as possible, take away all godly influence of others in the kingdom and provide weak parental support at an early age. This will make them more self-reliant.
2. Abuse them verbally and physically to give them a strong desire for something “better” in life (material wealth and power).
3. Put them in contact with other victims who can mentor and encourage their humanistic values so they can work together to develop common goals.
4. Above everything else, at all cost, remove every mention of God and His Word from them unless it is in mockery or ridicule of the Almighty. This will give them a rock-hard heart that will block God from intervening in their life and help them to stay on their chosen path of destruction.
All over the kingdom, the seeds of rebellion were planted and nurtured until a whole generation lost its principles of hard work, sacrifice, and honesty. They rejected authority in every form and reveled in everything that fed the appetite of their flesh. They were released to pursue their sinful lifestyle by parents who were more concerned about wealth and power than a devotion to spiritual things. And gradually, they lost their reliance upon their Great King.
The enemy had known for many years that a major victory would be won if he could control the court of the land’s highest judges because they made rules that the whole kingdom were forced to follow.With meticulous care, he groomed each one that would hold that high office. He gradually instilled in each one’s heart that favorite lie that he had used for centuries to lead people away from God… that Man’s ways and wisdom are greater than God’s ways and wisdom. Once that was accepted, any sinful decision was possible!
In this spiritual decline, one day someone complained that having references to God in school was offensive. The materialistic parents and the rebellious youth did not want to be troubled with it, so every mention of God and the reading of His Word was removed from the public schools. This greatly multiplied the enemy’s abilities.
Soon, another generation followed that had no moral standard. This manifested itself in many ways, but none as tragic as the decision to start sacrificing children to a satanic god… the god of convenience.This was the most egregiously wicked thing that the once great kingdom had ever allowed
For their Great King had made it clear in His Word that this was an abominable act done only by pagan kingdoms. He had given them many examples of how He had destroyed such kingdoms for child sacrifice, but they did not read His Word and did not submit to His authority.
In these days, the enemy celebrated with exceedingly greatglee his accomplishments in leading the kingdom away from the One Who had blessed them and made them great. But his plan was not yet complete. His “chosen one” was yet to rise to power.
The ones who were chosen to point the people to their Great King and encourage obedience to Him, fell victim to the same materialistic ways as the others who had been deceived by the enemy. They redirected their messages to a “make-believe king” who only wanted to bless his rebellious children with great wealth and prosperity. This idolatrous worship found great acceptance and soon replaced the worship of the true God in most of the kingdom.
Eventually all of the enemy’s pawns were in place. He had judges, professors, entertainers, news commentators, politicians, and others established all over the kingdom. He had his “chosen one” sitting in the highest political office. He had his judges sitting in the highest court. He had built a ground swell of demented, screaming, perverted, minions in the kingdom. It was time for the final assault on the Great King Who had made the once mighty kingdom.
The high court judges decided to redefine God’s definition of marriage into a relationship that He plainly calls an abomination. The mindless masses jumped and screamed with glee and waved their flags and hugged and kissed one another at this “historic” decision to legalize their sinful rebellion.
The Little King applauded the judges’ decision and lit his house in colors of celebration. And in Heaven (where the Great King sits upon His throne), a tear rolled down the cheek of the One Who had blessed the kingdom and made it great.
When one recognizes that the family unit is the basic building block for a strong and healthy society, it is easy to understand why God puts so much importance on it. And when a people shakes their collective fist in His face, daring to destroy that which He has established for their own good, they have crossed the final line of rebellion. Then, the Great King, because He is perfectly righteous in all of His ways, must judge His own people.
It was a great victory for the enemy. He knew he had achieved that which would force the Great King to destroy the kingdom He had loved so much. From that day on, the rebellion exploded into every aspect of life in the kingdom.
Soon, righteousness could not be found and the citizens cried out for more grotesque filth, so purity could no longer be found. A deep, thick spiritual darkness settled on the land and the light of love that once brightened the kingdom was forever gone.
There once was a mighty kingdom… but SIN destroyed it.