This week’s major news has been about Hurricane Melissa and its destructive path through the Atlantic basin. Its path was a little unusual path because instead of hitting Jamaica from the East, it overtook the island from the southwest side.
No major hurricane had ever struck the south southwest side before. Because of this the area of landfall was not prepared for or accustomed to the devastating rains and winds.
Just as unusual was the storm’s rapid intensification and then moving at such a slow pace while dropping flooding rains. The storm broke the record as one of the strongest to ever hit the island:
- Powerful winds
- Bariatric pressure
- Storm surge
Hurricanes typically follow a normal path in the Atlantic before they curve off into deeper waters or make landfall. With advanced technology, scientists and weather forecasters try to predict the path and intensity of the storms, but ultimately, hurricanes are unpredictable by mankind.
However, God’s people know and believe that God controls all things, including the weather (Job 37:6, Amos 4:7, Matthew 5:45). We may not always understand God’s ways, but we know that He knows best (Job 11:7-9, Isaiah 55:8-9). It is both prideful and arrogant to think that we understand and know God’s ways or know better than He does.
What Are Ways
Ways and paths are an important part of life. If you are a nature freak like me, you understand the importance of following a path or the way others have taken. Ways and paths are known courses for traveling safely.
Way is defined as, “A means of passage from one place to another or a process one uses to accomplish something.” Ways can be physical, mental, or spiritual. They can also be good or bad depending on who or what we are following.
That is why the Bible has a lot to say about ways or paths (Proverbs 14:12, Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 2:9). God’s people are called to follow a different way or path of this fallen world (Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 7:13-14).
The way or path we follow determines who we are serving. God set His people apart from this fallen kingdom to live and act a different way from it (Leviticus 19:2, Hebrews 12:1). We are commanded to not live or be like this world (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Philippians 2:15, Colossians 3:2) The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education about God’s ways being different from this world’s ways.
Dereḵ
The prophet Moses tells us after the fall, mankind stopped following the ways of God and listened to their corrupt hearts and flesh (Genesis 6:4-5).
Our hearts and flesh lead us away from God and His perfect ways (Psalm 37:23, Proverbs 3:5-6; 16:9; 19:21; 21:2, Jeremiah 17:9). God’s people must turn from their selfish ways and the pleasures of this life to the ways of God.
One of the Hebrew words for way in the Old Testament is dereḵ, and it can also mean “Path, road, journey, or manner,” depending on the context it is used in.
During and after the Exodus from Egypt, God’s people often rebelled against God and disobeyed Him (Exodus 32:1-35, Numbers 14:1-45, Deuteronomy 9:7-29). What should have taken only 11 days to travel took God’s people 40 years. They chose a harsh path.
That is why God gave His people the 10 Commandments to help them know and follow God’s ways through the prophet Moses (Exodus 24:12-18):
I am the Lord thy god, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
2) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5) Honor thy father and thy mother.
6) Thou shalt not murder.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8) Thou shalt not steal.
9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10) Thou shalt not covet anything that belongs to thy neighbor.
By the end of the Old Testament, Israel had pretty much stopped following God and His commands. They ignored the prophets God sent to them to get them to repent of their evil ways (Jeremiah 31:18-21, Ezekiel 44:6-8, Malachi 3:6-7).
When Jesus began his earthly ministry, He declared He was the Way back to God (John 14:6). Jesus is the only way to reverse the actions of the first Adam and get mankind back on the right path.
Our Lord shared that God’s ways are not like this world or His people (Matthew 5:14-16, John 15:18-19, 18:36). He rebuked the religious leaders for following the ways of the devil instead of God (Matthew 13:38, John 8:44).
Our Rabbi taught His Disciples about the two paths in life and which one to take (Matthew 7:13-14). The narrow road is hard and not popular; the broad road is easy, and the majority follow it.
He then goes on to warn about false prophets and disciples who deceive God’s people into following the narrow path. He warns us to pay attention to their fruit (Matthew 7 15-22)
Donald Trump
In other big news this week, President Trump expressed his desire to run for a third term, despite our Constitution and laws forbidding it. It didn’t take long for the conservative speaker to warn him that, legally, there is no path for President Trump to run for a third term.
Despite what the president and his followers may want, our government has put safeguards in place to keep America from going back to the way of being controlled by power-hungry tyrants the colonists broke free from.
Our Constitution, like God’s laws, is a guide to help protect us from the evil within all of us, not just one political party. Evil is a human problem, not political (Genesis 6:5, Matthew 15:19):
- Greedy
- Deceptive
- Vengeful
- Uncompassionate
God’s People Are Called to Follow His Ways in the path He chooses, Not the ways of this corrupt world that looks out for its own self-interests and temporary greatness. It is becoming clearer that the current GOP is just as evil as the Democrats they rail against. They continue to follow a president who does the opposite of what their King they claim to believe in and follow.
In just a few days, SNAP benefits will run out for nearly 42 million Americans in need, just before the holidays. President Trump refuses to use the contingency fund Congress set up for desperate situations like this to keep SNAP benefits going out, despite using it during the longest Government shutdown in history during his first term.
Too many have let a false patriotism and loyalties to a political party usurp their devotion and love for God and His Kingdom. Jesus made it clear that His followers cannot straddle the fence and have it both ways (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13, John 14:6).
If we belong to God, we must follow the ways of Jesus, not the world: love thy neighbor, care for the least of these, care for the foreigners among us. When wee disobey and do the opposite, we are going the wrong dereḵ!
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