MRM: Polycarp- behind the movie

Director – Joe Henline
Executive Producer – Jerry Henline
Scriptwriter – Jerica Henline
Polycarp – Garry Nation
Anna – Eliya Hurt
Germanicus – Rusty Martin

The story of Polycarp the martyr is one of obscure, but profound identity. Polycarp was a student under the apostle John and one of the first martyrs of the early Christian church. He was a brilliant man of faith who devoted his life to teaching others about Christ and copying the works of John to be distributed in the regions of Rome. Because his name is never mentioned in the Bible, most people overlook his importance, or his existence. But Polycarp has one of the most incredible testimonies of the early Christians.

Now, this review is going to be slightly different than the others because I want you to watch the movie; I don’t want to spoil it for you. If you know anything about the life of Polycarp, then this movie will simply bring that to life. However, if you know very little about the man, or nothing at all, this movie could very well be life-changing for you.

So, rather than babble about the history, the biblical significance, and the worldview even, I’d like to introduce to you some of the people who brought history to life.

The man behind the movie:

Joe Henline. Joe is a young, eccentric, Christian filmmaker from Cincinnati, OH. He is one of the youngest directors that I’ve ever heard of, being only a few years older than myself, yet he does an inconceivably fabulous job in this, his first feature. I had the opportunity to talk with Joe and his sister Jerica (the script writer of “Polycarp”) about the film and what effects it has had upon their lives. Not simply asking about the film itself, but really getting down to the reasons behind the making of it.

When I asked Joe why he first became a filmmaker, he had this to say:

“It wasn’t an overnight decision as much as it was like being led up a long staircase. If I’d been given the big picture all at once, I might have been too intimidated to continue. But, my heart has definitely been driven from the start by how impactful media is to humans in our culture. One of the most efficient ways to communicate with someone is through imagery and story.”

–Joe Henline

The real drive of the film is, in part, Joe Henline’s motivation to tell a culture effective story that will impact lives. Henline Productions is not in the filmmaking business to make entertainment for the sake of entertainment. There is a desire to produce wholesome and life-changing films behind this man and this company.

The woman with a story:

Jerica Henline. I’ve heard nothing but praises for Ms. Henline’s script of “Polycarp”, but I wanted to learn more about the concept. Seeking to uncover the reason behind their specific choice in the story for this film, I asked Jerica how she and Joe came by it. She explained how their father, Jerry Henline (executive producer of “Polycarp”), had been reading articles written by a pastor friend of his on early church Christians, and how those articles were the inspiration for the story.

“One day my dad asked me to read the articles, mentioning that they might be good story ideas for future film projects… I was immediately drawn to the story of Polycarp and more specifically Germanicus.”

–Jerica Henline

She went on to explain about discovering how little know the historical figure Polycarp was to her generation. This became confirmation of the need for this film, to bring history to life and tell a story of true faith. As if the history of Polycarp was not powerful enough, the script for this story brings a level of realism that is nothing less than stunning. This script made random names on the pages of a history book come to life.  

The man behind the man:

My path then led me to interview the man behind the character of Polycarp: Garry Nation. I’m a writer, it’s not my job, but it is a full-time passion of mine. So, I wanted to find out more than just what kind of actor he was, I wanted to know why he became an actor and discover his passion.

“Early in my sophomore year of college, I answered God’s call to the ministry of His Word. Music and drama were always an aspect of that ministry- still are, in fact.”

—Garry Nation

God opened the doors for his acting from there. Now, Garry doesn’t consider himself a Method actor, but still went to great lengths to study this obscure figure known as Polycarp.

“I never thought that playing a role would have as much impact on me as a person and as a Christian as this role has had. I knew who Polycarp was when I took the role; I had read the two paragraphs you’ll find on him in any Christian history textbook…

I wanted to get behind the script, so I did my own study of Polycarp and his writings. He is said to have written several letters to different churches, but the only one that has survived is his epistle to the Philippian church. I did my own translation from Greek because I wanted to get the feel for the way he thought and the dictation he used…”

—Garry Nation

The study he went to for this character shows in Nation’s portrayal. Many people have said that he was Polycarp in every way. The depth of story endeared this character to Nation, who described his relationship with the character as being so close that, “It was as easy and comfortable to slip in and out of character as to slip in and out of costume.”. And truly his portrayal was profoundly inspiring.

The cast and crew that made it possible:

Whenever multiple homeschooled, young, Christian filmmakers get together, there will be craziness. The Henlines did a laudable job of amassing their team for this film. From the supporting cast to the art department, production was meticulous and superb. Speaking of, here is a perspective of the art department from one of the support cast: Andrew Hurt, a centurion of Rome.

“We had a stellar team, both in wardrobe and art! They did an amazing amount of research and paid attention detail. The leaf mail shirt that I wore was hand made by the wardrobe people, link by link! With that kind of quality, it made our job as actors to immerse ourselves into the time era a lot easier…

One thing that I thought was really neat that the art department did, was getting real papyrus scrolls and plants for the actors to work with; then they took the time to write on the scrolls in a foreign language!”

–Andrew Hurt

It’s evident that good was not good enough for these people and for this movie. Nothing but the absolute best they could give to this movie and to God was even considered. Because of that faithfulness, and integrity, God has blessed this company, these people, and this film with tremendous success. It was also clear that they had fun while doing it. I asked four people what the funniest moment on set was, and I received four different answers. 

Every person I spoke with about this film described it as being one of the spiritual high points of their lives. Andrew Hurt described the atmosphere in this way: “We had film and Christ as common ground”. Garry Nation commented, “Everyone seemed to be swept up into something much bigger than making a movie.”, and Jerica Henline called it, “A turning point”, in her personal walk with the Lord. This film changes the lives of everyone it touches in a positive way, from the filmmakers to the viewers. I highly recommend you watch it. I believe it will impact your life like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

The Pre-Civil War America

America before the Civil War, or the War Between the States by the descendants of the Confederate party, was a country of two opinions.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States of America. Except, when he was elected the states could only loosely be called united. After the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the majority of the United States held to the tradition of their mother country: England; both allowing and promoting slavery at large, particularly among the wealthy and prominent. 

Over the course of nearly a century the once united states of America had become two political states; both holding to uncompromising convictions about the freedom and rights of men. By the time “Honest Abe” enters history these differences of morals became a division of the union.

Abe Lincoln’s presidency sparked the beginnings of a four-year war, which began in 1861 and ended with the capture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis in 1865. The pre-Civil War United States, were anything but united. A difference of opinion on a single issue had dramatic effects upon this country and instigated a war that cost the lives of over 625,000 soldiers. 

Before the Civil War, slavery was as far reaching as the home of Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson; the writer of these words:

 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

–Thomas Jefferson (excerpt from the Declaration of Independence)

Even Jefferson, who penned what are possibly the most powerful words against slavery, had himself over 600 slaves. Regardless of his treatment of them, this goes to show how far slavery reached before the Civil War. 

It only began then, and grew exponentially during the Antebellum Period. Antebellum was a time between the War of 1812 and the Civil War; it was a time of specific growth in the cotton franchise of the southern states and the industrial manufacturing and modernization of the northern states nearly half again as populated as the south. During the later years of the Antebellum Period, somewhere around 1840, the rise of the abolitionists began. Almost as long as there has been slavery, there have been abolitionists. But only when they began to put actions behind their ideals did the movement become a wedge between two peoples. 

The Confederates would not give up their slaves because their economy was centered around slavery. The Union would not give in to slavery because of their morality, the integrity of the nation, and their conviction that all life has worth and rights. Like James Madison wrote, “…among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”. Liberty, that’s what the abolitionists wanted. Liberty for all men. 

The current state of American politics is a mock-up of our pre-disaster country. There exist two different opinions which have split our country into two political states: republican and democrat. Contrary to their titles, neither one is a party. We are a country divided. Moral conviction now holds no place in politics, and politics no longer hold a place in polite conversation. 

“We forgot we were Americans. Suddenly we were democrats and republicans.” 

–Caleb Allen

Democrats seem fixed upon bringing a moral collapse of our nation’s religious economy to rival the financial downfall of the Great Depression. Republicans seem to care about the capitalistic welfare of this 1st world country, but focus more upon tearing down the democratic party than working along with it to better the situation of our country. 

We are in a pre-Civil War country, on the brink of a devastating divide that could ruin or heal us. Unlike those ascribing to the apocalyptic demise and then, like Phoenix, resurrection of this country to renewed glory and vigor, I believe any division would be the end of this great nation.

Democracy has become socialist liberalism. Republic has become self-righteous, conservative capitalism. Neither side will admit that the other holds any manner of value. Both are susceptible to corruption and have been thus corrupted. We have forgotten that we are Americans. Suddenly we have become democrats and republicans: shells of idealistic cultures and banner holders for the coming communism of the Antichrist and his revolution. We have paved the road for a destruction to fall upon us like there has never been seen in this country. A Civil war between Hell and earth.

Where there is no vision, the people perish. When there is no longer a right choice, a good choice, or even a shadow of a godly choice, we must turn away from our reliance upon man and government for salvation. Jesus is the only incorruptible, unchanging one. It is to Him we should run and cling; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail. We are on the brink of an uncivil war. It’s time we started acting like we cared about the fate of this nation and its people and stopped this inner warfare, this segregation of opinions to once again unite as American citizens, blessed to tread the soil of the greatest nation on earth!

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

To Follow Christ To The Desert Place

When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me.

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

–Matthew 14: 13-20

The phrase “desert place” means a place of desolation, dry and barren place, or in some cases, empty pasture land for sheep to graze in.

What’s the first thing that you think of when I say desert? Well, I can tell you what it’s not. The first thing that pops into your head isn’t a tropical rain-forest with waterfalls and greenery. When I say desert, your mind will automatically go to a place with which it associates that word: a dry, dirty, dusty and barren wasteland. That’s what a desert is to us. A desert is a place that no one would want to go to without a very good reason.

Go back and read the first two verses of this passage again. Jesus goes off into a desert place, a barren place, a wasteland with no food and no civilization. These people, these multitudes who have seen His power and witnessed the miracles, follow Him even to this desert place; forsaking themselves because it is late in the evening and there is no food around. Many of these people have come many miles from their own homes, and are sacrificing their sleep, their time, and their livelihoods to follow Christ to a desert place.

It’s interesting to note that after the repeated use of the phrase “desert place”, Jesus commands the people to sit on the grass. In the traditional sense, we think of a desert as a place that would most likely have no grass at all. But, if this desert place is pasture land, it is conceivable that many shepherd and their flocks were there for Jesus’s teaching and witness to the miracle. It must have been reminiscent of the night when Jesus was born. Jesus always had a special place for the meek, the lowly, the shepherd and simple fishermen.

But, notice that when you follow Christ He provides for your needs. So, it is fitting that this miracle of provision takes place in a pasture, where the Good Shepherd can both hammer into His disciples, and display for His sheep that He will provide for His own. The food is nice, and the miracle is necessary, but the point is to show His people His power of provision. He takes care of His own.

If you follow Christ, He will not desert you in the desert place. “He maketh me ton lie down in green pastures” means so much more when we see it lived out here. He restores their souls and bodies with the physical and spiritual food that He alone can give. That’s just who He is. I hope you began to look at this passage a little differently. I know I did.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Human Sponges

If I should speak, then let it be of the grave that is greater than all my sin; of when justice was served and mercy wins; of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in. O, to tell you my story is to tell of Him.

–-Big Daddy Weave

Psalm 119. Now, I’m not going to copy and paste the whole passage into this post, but this is important to note: with the exception of verses 90, 122, and 132 every verse mentions the law, word, way, statutes, commandments, testimonies, or precepts of God. My point is that there are 176 verses in this chapter; it is the longest chapter in the Bible. With 176 verses to play with, David used only 7 expository words to describe God’s Holy Word. Why those words? Why so often? 

David was so filled with the Spirit of God and a desire to be completely engrossed and saturated with God’s words, His commandments, statutes, testimonies, words, precepts, way, and law that all the flowed from Him was just that.

What you are filled with is what will flow from you. By David’s example, we learn that if we are completely soaked with the Word, it will flow from us in everything we say and do: like a sponge, (there’s where the title comes into play).

Sponges start out dry and cracked before they come in contact with water. Really, they are useless for cleaning; if you try to clean with them they will shred or break. Without the water, the sponge has no purpose, no meaning.

But once a sponge is filled with water and the water flows through it, it makes thing clean. Even when a sponge is emptied of its contents, it is still moist and ready to soak up more. 

Like sponges, humans are dry and useless without Christ who is the living water. But, once they’re filled, and are saturated and soaked in the words of God, He can then use them to clean up a dirty world. Notice that I did not say that without Christ we are worthless. Every human life has intrinsic value. Every sinner has a savior and every saint has a service. 

You know what a full sponge does when you drop it on the floor or throw it against a hard surface? It splashes water everywhere around it. As Christians we are sponges to be dripping with the Word of God. Never let yourself become dry. Be filled with the Spirit and the Word of God, so that when you hit the wall, Christ will explode from you.

Rejoice when you are crushed, for the more you pressurize a sponge, the more water will seep from it. If all that is within you is Christ, when you are put under pressure, He will be all that comes out of you. I’ll tell you right now, it is hard to be mad while quoting a Bible verse, or praising God. The Scriptures say that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and that in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy. 

We are sponges. Are we dry and useless, or are we filled with the water of life? 

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

The Creator

 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

–Genesis 1:1

Before there was time there was God. In the beginning, at the point where things became existent, God already was. It doesn’t say: “In the beginning God came into being and created the heaven and the earth.”. God already was.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

–Genesis 1:2

Basically, the verse is saying that everything that was, was not; and when God created, He inhabited His creation. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters before the waters were yet formed into rivers, oceans, and seas.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

–Genesis 1:3 

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”. The first words we ever read that God spoke are about light. Because before life even existed, He knew what we would need most: physically and spiritually. Let there be light is the greatest hope and promise to mankind, and it was given before we existed. 

And God saw the light, that it was
good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

–Genesis 1:4 

Darkness was there before light, we just couldn’t see it yet. Darkness is always there and will always be until we get to heaven. But, God did not call the darkness good. Neither did He call it evil? What is darkness? Darkness is the great choice, it is not evil, but can conceal the evil of mankind. Light is good and in it can no evil hide. Darkness is a choice.

Choose light.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Where’s Waldo

  DaVinci’s “The Last Supper”, is a depiction of the disciples and Jesus in the upper room before Jesus was crucified. This painting is one of the most famous and most recognized pieces in the world and especially in Christian realms.
But, with no knowledge of the thought DaVinci devoted to the painting and his purpose for each individual person, it is difficult to determine the identity of anyone in the room other than Christ. Well, Judas was a liar and a thief, he gave over Christ to be murdered, which was the same as killing Jesus himself.

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

–Romans 3:15

So, we looked at the feet, and the man standing on the far left is seemingly the only one not wearing sandals. But, that alone didn’t set him apart enough to be Judas.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

–Proverbs 6:16-17

So, we looked at the hands. Now here, there is lot going on, but one man in particular stuck out because he held a knife that looked as if it would stab the man behind him. However, it looks accidental, and there is no real reason to suspect him of being Judas.  

The question remained: where’s Waldo- er, Judas? Which one of the characters in the painting could be Him? Well, what’s the one distinction that Judas has in the Bible? What was his job among the disciples?

For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

–John 13:29

This clinched it. Judas was in charge of the money bag, and the only man with a money bag is on the left side, two seats from Jesus. This is Judas Iscariot.

Now, it’s a fun game to see who can find Judas… It was a fun time. But, when we spend all our time looking for Judas the betrayer, we miss the fact that Jesus the Savior is right there in the middle. He is the reason for the painting and the focal point of it. Don’t get so wrapped up in scavenger hunts for Waldo that you miss Christ right in front of you, in the center of it all.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist 

Ahab the Godless

Ahab, husband of Jezebel, King of Israel, wicked in the sight of The Lord. Ahab was a slayer of prophets, a builder of high places, who married to a pagan woman that brought her gods and idols to Israel. Ahab ruled during the time of Elijah, the prophet of God, and was in constant strife with Elijah. But, what many people don’t know about Ahab, is the full extent of his evil. My analysis of Ahab starts now.

Ahab ruled in Israel during the time that Asa, the the king of Judah, ruled. Ahab was the son of Omri, (another wicked king), and ruled Israel for 22 years.

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

–1 Kings 16:30-33

That opening sentence should hit hard. Asa was the third king of Judah, and Ahab are was the seventh king of Israel in the times, the scripture says that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. Thus, Ahab was the most despicable king Israel had ever seen.
What did he do that was so evil… Well the Bible says: as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebay, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.

Here we see two great sins of intentionality: the sin of deliberately bringing idols and pagan gods to Israel by marrying a Phonecian woman–the Phonecians were notorious enemies of God’s people. As I’ve mentioned before, Tyre/Tyrus, was a Phonecian city and known as God’s hated city.–, and also that he turned away from God and worshipped Baal. The reason I say that they were intentional sins and deliberate is because of the first line of verse 31: as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam. It was nothing to Ahab to follow in the steps of his evil ancestor. And, as if that was not a concern of his, with the goal of bringing evil into Israel, he married the daughter of a tribe of Israel’s enemies for the purpose of stirring up God’s wrath and bringing godlessness to Israel.

Ahab wasn’t oblivious to what he was doing, he was intentionally trying to destroy the legacy, “God’s chosen people”, that was a part of Israel. But, not only was he a wicked king, and a terrible person, Ahab was a baby. Read how he handles Naboth’s rejection in this next passage.

And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. And 

Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

–1 Kings 21:1-6

So, Naboth’s won’t sell him the vineyard of his fathers, what does Ahab do? He goes home and pouts, laying around the house, refusing to look at anyone or eat amything. The king of Israel! He is pouting on his bed over a vintage that he couldn’t have. This is rediculous. Is this the legacy he wants to leave? But it wasn’t just Naboth, when Ahab took reign he slew the prophets of God by the hundreds. Not because they were physically dangerous to him, and not because they were a danger to Israel, but because what they said made him feel bad. He didn’t like hearing their message of repentance because it hurt his feelings. So, he killed them. The king of Israel!

With such a legacy, such a man must come to some great destruction, right? Wrong. Jezebel, his queen contrived to get Ahab the vineyard by getting rid of Naboth. When Ahab heard what she had done, he rent his clothes and wept before the Lord. God saw this repentance and promised to spare Ahab the wrath of his reign and place it upon his son instead. Wow! What a legacy to leave behind… Ahab was such a terrible man and a terrible father, that he would stir up God’s wrath, and then not take the force of it, but hand it down to his son to receive. That is the legacy of a coward and a snake. 

Many times we read of future kings of Israel and they are referenced as doing sominthing evil, “as Ahab had done.“, and his name is still in infamy to this day. The Godless king of Israel.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Good King, Bad Father

There is a long line of kings in the genealogy of Judah and Israel’s rulers back in history. Unfortunately, like it always was with the wayward children of Israel, as went the people, so went the king; and vise-versa. There is a certain trend of good to bad kings, primarily the kings of Judah, it was “like father, unlike son”. Many good kings had evil sons, and many evil kings had good sons.

Here is a chronological list of the days of the kings and a chart showing whether they were good kings or evil.  

Disclaimer:

Not all on this list were kings of Judah. Athaliah is the first and only queen of Judah on the list, ruling when her son was murdered. Athaliah was succeeded by her Grandson when she, herself was murdered.

As you can see, there is a trend of back and forth, long stints of good and evil leadership. You may notice that many of these king’s years of reign overlap. Being that most of these coregencies were of a father and son, it was not uncommon for the son to take a portion of his father’s authority prior to becoming king as a training and mentorship for him; almost like a test drive for ruling a kingdom. I would’ve shown a chart of the kings of Israel also, however, the majority of those kings were evil and it wouldn’t emphasize my point.

The fathers in the list above trusted their sons with the kingdoms before the kingdoms belonged solely to them. And, it wasn’t as if the men on this list were all bad kings, but they were bad men. What I want to talk about today is how your priorities determine your legacy. What will you do to impact those you encounter? What will people think of your life when it is over? What will people say of you who know you now? If you asked your closest friends to describe you in ten words, what do you think they’d be? What would you like them to be? What kind of legacy are you living?

Those are deep questions, but they all relate to how we live our lives even now, and how we will live them in the future. Speaking of lives and legacy, here is a chart showing the length of reign of the kings of Judah.  

Now, to start this off, Rehoboam is the son of Solomon. His brother, Jeroboam and he split the nation of Israel into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Rehoboam did not start out as an evil king, indeed he was a good king, but a terrible man and a terrible father. The first three years of his reign, the bible says that “they walked in the ways of David and Solomon.” They, meaning the children of Judah and Benjamin: the kingdom of Judah. However, Rehoboam was a great king; he built cities and fortified them, made Judah strong against invasion… But he became too powerful and began to trust earthly power over supernatural power. 

And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
—2 Chronicles 12:1

Not only was he comfortable and secure, he felt he could defend himself against God’s anger. Not only did Rehoboam forsake God’s law, the Bible says all Israel, (meaning the tribes of Benjamin and Judah), with him. How’s that for legacy? But, Rehoboam had many wives and many more concubines. He had 88 children, 28 sons and 60 daughters, he could not help but neglect them. With so many children, and a newly forming kingdom to build and run, he probably had little time for them. It says that he loved Maachah, his wife above the others and her child he chose to rule. Now, it doesn’t say that her child, Abijah, he loved or favored, only his mother, we can derive that he cared little for his children as they provided him no fleshly pleasure.

Rehoboam lived the legacy of becoming the first wretched king of Judah. Not a bad king, but a bad father. His priority was his kingdom and his job as king. His son, Abijah, went on to be another evil king; a good king, mind you, but an evil one. He followed in his father’s footsteps and married many wives bearing many children. He was a warrior king and his children were, no doubt, neglected often as he waged war against Jeroboam, his uncle. But, through some mysterious design of God, one of his sons discovered a new way to rule. Asa, the son of Abijah was a Godly king, in the beginning of his reign, the Scripture says, “the land was quiet ten years.”. Well, Asa reigned for 41 years and was both a good man and good king, and we see the evidence of that in his son Jehoshaphat.

Good Father, Good King:

I could detail the lives and reigns of every King on that list, but the prevailing theme is: good father, good son. For 107 years, from Joash to Jotham, good fathers left their sons good legacies, and Judah was a righteous kingdom. Not because they were good kings, but because they were good men, their priority was raising their families to love and serve God; and through their sons, that legacy lives on. 

With the exception of Joash, who was murdered, and Josiah, who was killed in battle, every good king–whether their son followed after their legacy or no–, shared a coregency with his son. The welfare and protection of the kingdom was a family affair. The collective time of reign for all of the good kings of Judah, including the time of coregency, is 265 years. 

Bad King, Bad Father: 

There is also a span of time where we have successive evil kings, but the legacy we see with evil kings is a short lived reign that ends in destruction. Passed down from father to son they have now ceased from being good kings yet bad fathers and are now no longer good fathers, nor good kings. The rut into which they had run the kingdom is one that they cannot climb out of. God became fed up with the kingdom of Judah consistently reverting back to its old evils over and over again, to the point where he forsook them. In fact, with the exception of Jehoiachin, no son of an evil King co-ruled during the time of his father. It wasn’t a family thing for these kings, the kingdom came first and family came second or did not place at all. The collective time of reign for all the evil kings of Israel is 133 years.

A bad man makes a bad father, a bad father makes a bad king, perhaps not he himself, but his actions shape his son. What the king’s son becomes is the king he created. Legacy. 

The life of one person affects so many others, and in the case of a king, affects a kingdom for countless generations to come. The decision of Rehoboam influenced the decision of every king to follow him. In a way, the degradation and eventual fall of Judah can be laid for blame at his feet. His legacy was a broken family, which led to a broken and forgotten people, dissolved into a world of names and places. History has forgotten the kingdom of Judah, but God has not… It shall live as a terror and example to generations to follow. Legacy, what will your be?

In posts to come I may detail the lives and legacies of some of kings of Judah, but for now, I’ll leave you with the thought: how you live is what you leave. Your priorities will always shape your legacy.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

The Devil Made Me Do It

The oldest lie in scripture, the oldest lie in all of history, is the lie “The Devil made me do it”. First things first, Eve was in the garden and the serpent told her to eat of the fruit, she said that God told them no, and so the serpent gives his lame deception. Well, Eve had never encountered deception and didn’t know how to handle it, yet, she knew responsibilty and respect, and disobeyed anyway. 

Alright, so we’re caught up. What stands out in this story that causes us to think the Eve may have been more at fault than the serpent? Wait a minute-, did I just say that the serpent wasn’t at fault? Yes, the serpent was more innocent than Eve, or rather, they were equally guilty, as both played a part in this sin.

Here are the facts: the serpent(Satan) tempted Eve by offering her a fruit from the plant God had outlawed, Eve took it and ate it.

It seems to be straight forward, the Devil made her do it, right? Wrong. Let’s take this back to The Book.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

—Genesis 3:6

What, in this passage implies that Eve knew what she was doing? What would give me reason to blame this on her?

The Bible says, quote- “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit...“- unquote. Do you know what that says to me? It says that Eve tempted herself. Eve convinced herself by sense, (the fruit was useful), by her senses, (the fruit was appealing), and by sensibility, (the fruit was alluring), so she took it. Sure, Satan opened the door, but Eve’s own heart betrayed her, telling her to eat the fruit.

Nowhere in this scene do we see any reference to Eve wondering why God told her not to eat of the fruit. The Scriptures don’t say that “Eve looked upon the fruit and remembered the words of God telling her not to eat of it”, it doesn’t say that “Eve thought about what she was doing”. The Bible says, (paraphrase), that every part of Eve convinced her to forget God and follow her heart.

The Devil didn’t make her do it. The Devil didn’t make the tree, or Eve, or the fruit. The Devil cannot make anything, he can only disrupt what God makes. Eve made Eve sin, the Devil just helped.

Now, Eve got special attention because she was the first lady, so I don’t want to hear you say, “the Devil made me do it”. Let me tell you, the Devil has bigger fish to fry than to make you steal a comic book or cheat on a math test. 

Be realistic, you made yourself do it. That’s one of the consequences of a free will. If we would start taking responsibility for our actions, we’d be a much more mature people…and they wonder why humanity is getting dumber and dumber as centuries pass, we’re crediting our actions on others, namely Satan, but also God, and avoiding both censure and punishment, as well as praise and reward. How can we grow if we do not own our actions. Take responsibility for yourself, and give credit, even if it’s bad credit, where credit’s due.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Jesus Wept

It’s a fantasy of mine, and I cannot validate it in any biblical way, but I like think that one of the reasons Jesus wept was that He loved Lazarus, and didn’t want to bring him back to such a fallen world. Think about it, the man had to die twice! Lazarus is one of the few human beings to ever die twice. He had already gotten death out of the way, he would soon be with the Father in paradise after Jesus completed His work on earth; now he has to live and die again! If I was Lazarus, I’d be weeping too. I can just hear him saying, “I love my sisters, but I’m about to enter Heaven and be with my Creator, I don’t want to go back.”.

It might have been a hard thing for Jesus to bring someone back who was almost home forever. But, on the other hand… Why would Jesus raise any person to life at all? Does anyone deserve a second chance at life? And why did he revive those from death that He did, and His disciples did after Him? Was there something special about those people that they received another chance to decide eternity having already lived it?

His disciples… think about that. After Jesus died, arose, and ascended into Heaven, those who died would enter eternity in Heaven or Hell. When Jesus’s disciples raised the dead, those people were brought back from eternity and given a second chance to live. But why those people? I’ve begun to study history of every human brought back from the dead and what they did afterwards… It’s difficult to find information about these people, for they did no great deeds by worldly standards, but I’m certain they made a difference for Christ.

Out of all of the people who died, why these? If God raised these certain few to life for His glory, they must have had something miraculous to do for Him. He could’ve raised anyone. Why did He raise them? Who deserves a second chance at life? No one does. Who deserves a single chance at life? No one does, it is only by His grace we live, and His grace continually saves us: from ourselves and from death.

Why did He weep? Yes. Because all that matters is that He wept. If God wanted us to know why, the Bible would’ve said so. But, it didn’t, so we see Christ’s humanity in His ability to feel, and that is all the passage wanted us to clearly know. So, let Him raise you from the dead daily, and ask Him why He weeps. I like to think that He weeps not because we are dead, but that He has to raise us so often when we fall. He hates to see us disobey and fall into the snares of the devil. We die, and He weeps o’r our souls as He raises us to life daily to live for Him anew and again.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist