Cleaning day, and mother finds it difficult to watch little Mary, playing outside, and do her work upstairs, so she gives strict instructions that under no circumstances is Mary to leave the front of the house. Then, with her mind at rest, she goes about her work until a quick glance out of the front window shows a completely empty street. No Mary. A frantic half hour later Mary saunters down the street with a taffy in her mouth, talking to the small boy next door. Questions by her mother elicit the information that “Tommy was going to the candy store and said it was all right for me to go along.” Echoes of Eden?
This tendency of man to do what is forbidden came to the front on a national scale during the “Prohibition” era, when it was illegal to make or sell intoxicating liquors. People who, under normal circumstances, would have no interest in liquor, made a hobby out of proving that they could get around the law; and drinking, on a national scale, reached a new high. People drank anything containing alcohol: flavoring, hair tonic, varnish, etc., and many died as a result. But even this made no appreciable difference.
Currently, we have the controversial topic of Bible reading in the public schools. While it was a law of the land that at least ten verses from the Bible should be read every morning, no one paid any attention. The reading might be good or poor, but the students listened apathetically, or not at all. Now that Bible reading is forbidden by law, the schools are finding all kinds of ways to get around the ruling. Some schools have included the Bible as a book to be studied as literature; others have made it part of their history courses, and more people are learning about the Bible than ever before.
It is quite evident, therefore, that people are not naturally law-abiding, and that human nature does not change over the centuries. A child does not have to be taught to blame someone else when caught in a disobedient act. Grown-ups are no better. It takes very little provocation to strip the thin veneer of Civilization from man and get down to basic reactions. Since man is continually trying to flout authority, it follows that sometimes he gets caught. What happens then ? Excuses! In Eden, Adam placed the blame on Eve. “The woman that thou gayest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.” When Saul was told to kill all the Amalekites, including the animals, and he brought back the best of the sheep, he told Samuel that the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord, and that the rest they had utterly destroyed. Judged from a human standpoint, Saul may have acted wisely, but when our own judgment conflicts with God’s commandments, there can be only one choice, implicit obedience. Saul learned this lesson the hard way. We can imagine his dismay at the words of Samuel: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1st Samuel 15: 22, 23).
Retribution is not always so promptly meted out. God has given us a free will and we can obey or disobey Him as we choose, but we cannot ignore His commands safely, nor can we blame anyone else for our sins. Adam blamed Eve; Saul blamed “the people”; theological teaching provides a “devil,” and he is supposed to be responsible for tempting people to sin. It is a comfortable belief, and people cling tenaciously to it. It helps shift the burden of sin from man himself to an ever-living tempter, who causes all the evil in the world. This conflicts with the Word of God which explains: “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of His Own Lust, and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1: 14, 15). Here God puts the blame squarely where it belongs, on the sinner himself. As the great Creator of all things, “He knoweth our frame.” In the beautiful words of Psalm 139: 1, 2: “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
The modern way of getting away with as much as possible, and, when caught, paying a clever lawyer to get out of trouble can not be used here. When we stand before the judgment seat to answer for the things done during our lives, it will not be a super-natural, horned devil who will be on trial, but we ourselves. It will do no good to try to place the blame on someone else, to say, “everybody does it,” or to say it is an error. No clever lawyer or array of witnesses will influence the decision. If we would hear the coveted words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” there is only one thing to do, read the Word of God, become familiar with the requirements for salvation as outlined therein, and then do them to the best of our ability. There is forgiveness for the sinner who fails because of the weakness of the flesh, if he comes to God in the right frame of mind and asks for it, endeavoring at the same time to do better; but for the man who compares himself with other men and thinks he is no worse, the end will be eternal death. The virgins without oil in their lamps were not given the opportunity to go out and get some at the last minute. Let us, therefore, work while it is called today. The night cometh when no man can work.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One