Time to revisit Narnia. In that wonderous land where Aslan roared, animals talked. Not all of them, those from adjacent lands were…well…animals. And not all animals in Narnia bowed their knee to the Great Lion, either.
In book four (Prince Caspian), sisters Lucy and Susan are speaking with one another. Lucy begins:
“Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su.” “What’s that?” “Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?” “We’ve got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia,” said the practical Susan, “without imagining things like that.”
We do not need to imagine. All we need do is open our eyes. Men are acting like animals.
In Deuteronomy 23, Moses is ticking through miscellaneous laws preparing the people before entering the Promised Land. The Canaanites worshiped their false gods by incorporating sex in their religious rites. Forbidding Israel of such abomination, God called the women workers at Canaan’s temples prostitutes and the male workers dogs (Deuteronomy 23:17-18).
Interesting word to describe their cult homosexuals. Men acting like a dog.
Sadly, a growing number of our neighbors are sleeping outside. Their bathroom is anywhere and everywhere. Hygiene is not a priority. On our church street, I sometimes see them rummaging through garbage left by the last squatter. Sounds like a dog’s life.
Sadly, for decades biblical sexual norms have been disappearing. Live together, sex together, and do so with whomever. Sounds like some embarrassing dogs I have been around. When they want, out in the open, and with male or female. And perhaps too candid and specific, even with a leg.
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, he tells the allegorical story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. It does not work so well.
In our world, we are watching culture rebel against their Heavenly Father, hoping to create a society where they can be equal, free, and happy. Nothing of the sort is happening. Instead, we are watching man’s further demise.
In their rebellion, saying they want equality, but instead they are fragmenting. In their rebellion, saying they want freedom, but instead are they are creating bondage. In their rebellion, saying they want joy, but instead they are becoming numb.
In Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar thinks and acts as if he was God. In dramatic fashion, God drives the arrogant king to be “with the beasts of the field…and made to eat grass like an ox” (Daniel 4:32). He lived as such until, in his words, I “lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever” (Daniel 4:34).
It is a zoo out there. It is a giant dog kennel.
May we, the ones who know the Most High God, live as the free men and women He has made us to be—full of joy and compassion. And may our neighbors and culture see it, realizing a dog’s life is not all it is cracked up to be.
Pastor Rich Hamlin
May 13, 2021