1984 (Bent)

 

“1984” written by George Orwell in Nineteen Forty Nine is one of the great novels ever written. I actually read it in 1984 and it's one of the reasons why I wanted to learn to be a better writer. The whole book is really good if you have not read it, I highly recommend it. There is a quote in it that says, “The people will not revolt, they will not look up from their screens long enough to notice what is happening.” C. S. Lewis portrayed fallen man as “Bent” that is, he is constantly looking down and therefore, can’t get life right. The fact that the world is filled with “smartphones” has given us all a sense of narrowness and focused on social media, and other things, rather than communicating with family or friends without looking up. The smartphone hasn't alone done this, as Orwell was referencing TVs, but the notion is the same. We will not look away long enough to notice anything else, but what we want.

When Moses had gone up to meet with The Lord at Mount Sinai and was getting the Ten Commandments along with other laws, Aaron was left with the people down the mountain. In Exodus Thirty Two it says, 

“And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE.” (ESV‬‬) 

From Satan, who rebelled against The Lord to try to overthrow Him and was cast out of heaven, to Adam and Eve who ate the forbidden fruit, to the Israelites who whined and complained until exiled, and the Jews of Jesus' time seeking to kill Him, and up to today, we as humans always found a way to reject and not notice The Lord. Moses had gone down the mountain to see what was going on and we read in Exodus, Thirty-Two, Nineteen Thru Twenty-Four, 

"So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

The Israelites who had stayed down the mountain because they were afraid of The Lord earlier decided to press Aaron to make them gods similar to the ones that they had come to know in Egypt. Instead of seeing the glory of The Lord and realizing the miracles The Lord had shown them to be released from Bondage, they chose to keep their hearts and minds in Egypt, which is always a picture of sin in the bible. The thing that we also miss many times is that Moses, being angered, threw the tablets that had The Lord's writing and laws on them, breaking them. Sin has a way to not only mess our lives up but also impacts those around us, to the point that it makes us do foolish things with the things of The Lord. Aaron, being the priest that was supposed to be leading the people in true worship, allowed the lure of sin and the "shiny" man-made things to be looking down at the idol, rather than up to The Lord. It also shouldn't surprise us later in the Bible that the sons of Aaron present strange fire that angers The Lord, and though the bible never says what the strange fire was, we do know that it was not pleasing to The Lord. 

The sins we allow as parents, or as "priests" of The Lord, within our families or in our houses of worship, quickly can turn them into houses of idol worship. Where we don’t know the harm, or we ignore it altogether. You can look at all the churches and people out there today that have compromised, watered down, or just flat out quit teaching the Word. America more so than any other nation, although most of the world reminds me of what Judges Twenty-One, Twenty-Five says,

“In those days, there was no king in Israel. EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYE.” (ESV) (Emphasis Added)

It’s so easy to be “Bent” down at church, at a conference, a during so called "worship," but not humbled to the Lord. It’s easy to stand at sporting events, concerts, or rallies for social events, but how we constantly change what we stand for and or root for. People for all time and for whatever their hearts believe will stand or "bow" to them, ultimately for what we want and never notice that slowly but surely the God who died and rose for us is being taken away, not LITERALLY, because The Lord can't be taken away, and yet people won’t revolt and defend, their faith, let alone The Lord,! 

Now Orwell is referring to government and how Socialism and Communism will slowly take away our rights and life, and we will all become robots, and we see that happening slowly here in America. I think it speaks of the loss of love and obedience to The Lord, similar to the Israelites partying at the fire while the idol formed and how many churches are similar in their robotic worship. Atheists are succeeding in making people believe that The Lord is dead, because the people claiming to be "godly," can't even defend the Word, let alone allow our lives to reflect The Lord we claim to follow. 

I refuse to be one of the crowd and fall inline with the “Gold calf” makers and prove my God exists. He is everywhere and has shown His invisible attributes for all man and in all times, Paul Writes this in Romans One Twenty, 

" “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (ESV)

When people are “bent” and “stiff-necked” there is not enough proof in the world for them to see, to understand, and they will continue to walk in their own ways. So my question is, will you look up and humble yourself under the love and grace of The Lord? Humble thyself in the sight of The Lord and He will lift you up!” Jose Barajas