Where Have all the Good Men Gone?

“Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.”

— Psalm 128:6

“Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.”

— Jeremiah 35:19

Both in America’s churches and society at large, there appears to be a shortage of men. Male workforce participation collapsed in 2020 from 69% down to 66% (if you believe government figures), and has yet to recover. If that seems troubling, just consider that in 1950, the male labor force participation rate was 86%.

Marriage rates have also been on the downswing in the United States, with almost 10 marriages per 1,000 of population in 1990 to only 6 out of 1,000 in 2021:

Anecdotally I hear that the average age of an American pastor is over 55, with many pastors in Reformed circles due to retire in the next decade or so with few qualified candidates ready to fill these pulpits.

Perhaps supply and demand will take care of this issue, considering that the number of weekly church attenders has been declining as well.

If faithful male leadership and family continuation is a blessing from God, as these passages of scripture indicate, then surely a shortage of men indicates the opposite – that God is cursing a nation for disobedience. One chapter later in Jeremiah God says to the apostate king of Judah who had just flouted the warnings of the prophet, Therefore thus saith the LORD of Johoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to reign upon the throne of David[1].”

Jesus said The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest[2].

The feminist social experiment has failed. Without men going into the trades, into STEM fields, into the arts, and into marriages, society will flounder and collapse like a body without a head. The church will face greater and greater temptation to appoint female pastors “because men aren’t stepping up.”

God has promised us that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church[3]. Whatever judgements fall on the nations for forgetting God, there will always be a remnant[4] preserved. We must trust the sufficiency of Scripture to guide us in all areas of life. As the world around us changes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [5]

I'll conclude with some ever-relevant preaching from Voddie Baucham:

Scriptures: [1] Jer 36:30 [2] Luke 10:2 [3] Mat 16:18 [4] Is 1:9 [5] Heb 13:8

He Will Save Us

“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king;

he will save us.”

— Isaiah 33:22

While I’m no longer a Futurist, I do believe God works in certain patterns that we see in Scripture that will also play out in our own lives. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.[1]

An “October Surprise” has come upon us and the media is in an uproar. Yet I myself was not surprised. I am sad for those who have lost their lives or loved ones or who have been taken hostage, but I am not going to allow my emotions to be manipulated by the media.

At the exact moment when so many things that used to trouble me are coming to pass, and things that would have broken me before my conversion are weighing on my shoulders, I find myself able to sing along with David, Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety[2].

The more disturbing life gets, the more me we must put our trust in the Most High God, and find comfort in the scriptures. These are perilous times, but Jesus has already paid the ultimate price for His people. He has not brought generation after generation of believers this far into redemptive history only to fumble the bag now, when our need is so great.

He will save us.

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” — Luke 12:32

Scriptures: [1] Mat 24:6 [2] Ps 4:7-8

The Obedience of the Rechabites

“And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.”

— Jeremiah 35:18-19

The letter of the law reveals the commandment with promise: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.[1]The Spirit of the letter hearkens forward, marveling, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel[2].

Throughout Israel’s history there were found gentile converts to the true religion, who proved their faith to be more sure than the natural-born Israelites. Matthew Henry’s commentary explains that the nomadic Rechabites were most likely Kenites, a nation that was historically friendly to Israel, but not technically of the seed of Abraham (Gen 15:19). Jonadab appears to have been called Jehonadab in 2nd Kings 10, who accompanied Jehu in his purging of Baal worship from Israel. He instructed his children to drink no wine whatsoever, and to live a nomadic life in tents rather than purchase land and build homes and plant gardens. Generations later, his commandments were still obeyed while Judah has apostatized.

Like their spiritual father Abraham and the patriarchs, the Rechabites were pilgrims and strangers in the lands they dwelled in. Their nomadic lifestyle kept them separated from the world, and by forsaking luxurious living (which wine represents in scripture) and material wealth they appear to have been able to escape the apostasy that had taken root in their surrounding society. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart[3].

Contrast this with God’s assessment of Israel: The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, [Israel] rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings….but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me[4].

If we cannot be faithful to our earthly parents, we cannot expect ourselves to be faithful to our Heavenly Father, whose providence gave them to us.

A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my fear[5]?

With God there is dignity in small things. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings[6]. No act of faith will go unnoticed, neither will any act of wickedness. Our last two mites and the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart before God are acceptable to Him. But the key is to first trust the Lord, loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then to love neighbor as oneself[7].

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believed not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? — John 3:12

Scriptures: [1] Ex 20:12 [2] Mat 8:10 [3] Hos 4:11 [4] Jer 35:14 [5] Mal 1:6 [6] Prov 5:21 [7] Mar 12:29-31