What has been, it is what will be,
And what has been done, it is what will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
10;Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for ages
Which were before us.
11;There is no remembrance of the earlier things,
And of the later things as well, which will occur,
There will be no remembrance of them
Among those who will come later still.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11We are witnessing alliances and powers shifting in our present time. In the past there were Caesars, Ptolemies, Ottomans, Kings in Persia, and Babylon. There have always been rulers and powers. But amid the politics of the day, God the creator of everything has been present, and bringing about his intended end. God has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all – Psalm 103:29. We cannot find out his activity but we know that he will bring about his intended end even though we cannot really put a finger on exactly what and how he is doing things.
"and I saw every work of God, I concluded that one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover." Ecclesiastes 8:17Rulers have always been, and the evidence is that they follow their own selfish ambition, few regarded God. Some Kings of Israel are the only exceptions. Why would we think that there is an exception now? When Paul was here, Caesar was in power. He recognized Caesar, and even made an appeal to him – as a Roman citizen – Acts 25:11. Yet he remained focused on the gospel of the kingdom. So should we.
Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome fell. World empires did fall, world empires are falling, and world empires will fall. Nobody saved these empires and nobody will save them now and nobody will save them in the future. There is nothing new under the sun. I see no reason to believe any ruler will save a declining empire. Actually, I do expect rulers to hasten the decline of their empires. The Kingdom of God is separate from the kingdoms of this world and the politics of the day. If you are a believer. Are you thinking for yourself or being told what you should think? Have you confused politics for the faith of Christ? There is such a thing as bias, see a media bias chart here.
If you do not know God, who created everything, perhaps the problem is with you and not with him. He does not have a communication problem. If he created people who can speak, hear, and reason. Why would he have a communication problem? He can speak, think, and reason. If I can’t hear him, if I don’t know him, is it because he does not want to be heard or known? Or is the problem with me? Is it possible that I do not care? That I do not want to know him? I believe these are important questions and that one has to ask themself these. We innovate and create things for a reason, the thing created is important to whoever created it. If one is not able to get past this reality, then there’s nothing that can be done to assist them.
The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky shows his handiwork. Day unto day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19: 1-3. Creation testifies “someone made me”. It is self-evident that a painting is proof that there is a painter. In the same way, we did not make ourselves. Psalm 100:3. The world and things in the world have been created by God, he has created people. So we have proof of the existence of a creator by creation. If a God does exist, then what does he want with you? You could say, good for him, he exists so what? Well, nobody creates things for no purpose, yet he created you.
Since there is a God, what kind of God is he? Is he the god of pagan Greek philosophy who cannot be affected by anything he has created, an absolute monarch that dictates whatsoever comes to pass? I believe this is just an intelligent way of describing a piece of rock with no relational skills. Or is it the God who has appeared to several people in the past and related to them as if they are persons. Not overwhelming them with his glory in a way that would coerce any to believe “Oh this is definitely God we better fall in line”! One that came in human form and lived among us for some time and was rejected and killed by his own? A God that sorrows and delights just like us! A God who does not show off his great power. Love .. does not brag, is not arrogant. God is love. Someone may testify to you that this is the case, but it is different when you know it and it’s not a theory but transformative truth. If you do not seek, you will not find. If you are apathetic or lazy, you are apathetic and lazy to your own destruction. Because the truth matters. Truth points to reality while lies bind one to non-reality – fantasy. If you live in fantasy, you will in the end still have to face reality, but then it will be too late for it to matter.