ON Sunday we looked at the Prophet Joel. We looked at him telling Israel to return to the Lord, and rediscover worship, because the land was starving to the point that there was literally no grain or wine. And Joel confronts the leaders of the nation, for they have gone astray. For one thing the OT teaches us, over and over, is that God is just, and God will intervene.
Which brings me to a commentary or the population decline in this world. I’ve taken this graph from one of the mainstream discussions on this sisue.
Now, the article talks about how the proportion of those in productive years will decrease (to around 40$ of the population, the old will increase, and the old old will become greater. It does not talk about solutions — but notes that you need a certain number of adults to make things, to run an economy. The old can (and should) work — but if you have a smaller population buying things that young people need, then the economy will stop the virtuous cycle of the older people funding the younger people through the family producting years (the retired person gave their money to the bank at 3% interest which was loaned to families at 6%. That bought the family house off the oldsters (who moved into flats) and was boring, stable, and sustainable).
But Deuteronomy says that obedience of the law leads to prosperity and life, and disobedience leads to death.
11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
We are also given the story of Zaccheus, How he was confronted by GOd, and then gave half his money away, and recompensed those he had wronged. And in that repentance lay life. Now, this is not a 1:1 event: there are plenty of Godly women who have problems with their husbands, and men who are dropped like hotcakes. ANd there are many who are unemployed. But most of the time we do this ourselves.
You see, women have forgotten their prime directive. And have men. T Hat is to raise the next Godly generation. Instead we are enthralled by our jobs, our fantasies, our gameboys, and our cupcakes. Instead of being fit, thin and fertile as… we are contraception, fat, unfit, and suffering from PCOS or ED, depending on gender.
Don’t do that.
- Get fit and stay fit.
- Cut your food proportions down. And yes, I struggle with this.
- Pray. Seek Godly advice.
- Don’t watch the news (it makes you depressed, and it is now propaganda) or the gossip channels (which will make you covetous — or not). There is some good TV and movies.
- Cleave to your church, and cleave to the disciplines of the word and prayer. If you are struggling. increase teh frequency of attending services: the Anglicans and Catholics are mandated to have the office daily in every church, so join them.
- And recall that children are a blessing. You have them but for a season, and then they should move into their own lives of service, as men and women of God.
We need to discipline ourselves. To cleave to the Law of God. To do justice. To model care for our spouses, and for our children, and for ourselves. And then, the odds are that we will have more children, that we will be prosperous and grow, and that the progressives, like weeds in a compost heap, will die.
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