‘Throw the bums out!’, an ole, familiar expression,
That's heard in sports or political discussions,
To signify someone’s gross dissatisfaction,
With a team, coach, or one seeking re-election.
That's heard in sports or political discussions,
To signify someone’s gross dissatisfaction,
With a team, coach, or one seeking re-election.
But there is something
I have come to recognize,
As the stories in
The Bible I scrutinize.
The ‘Throw the bums out!’ notion is not
ours, per se!
Let’s take a peek
and see what The Spirit has to say.
First, check below
to clarify who is a ‘bum’.1
Then let’s see how
this might apply to God’s Kingdom.
We see the first
bums were angels who rebelled,
Thus, from God’s
holy Heaven, they were expelled!
Adam and Eve failed
to perform up to expectations.
From Eden, man was
expelled, with angelic interdictions! 2
As sins across the land
mounted to high heaven,
To only 8 souls,
‘flood-saving Grace’ was given.
Of all those Hebrew
slaves who from Egypt were freed,
Many, to the
promised land, Moses could not lead.
Their claims to the land of milk and honey they had to
cede.
They died for their
sin, and the land was given to their seed.
God’s Grace has
grown considerably since then,
And now it has been
extended, FREE, to all men.
From Israel and
Gentiles, He’s seeking …royal regents,
Who will serve forever
as His future …Eden agents.
This life is His ‘Life In the Future Exam’.
It comes with His
is complete internship program.
But about this
program, I note a strange phenomenon,
One that’s led me
to a sad postulation.
Many who into His
program He welcomes,
All too soon seem
to have been …cast out as bums!
On God’s entrance
exam, these folk did not fail!
Thus into His
internship program they did sail.
But as the trials
of life around them did swarm,
Their desire and
love for Him became lukewarm.3
Lukewarmness is a step
on a course,
That often leads to
…outright divorce!
His pleas, ‘Return to Me!’,
they heard, but did not heed.
His patient Grace
to them extended did not lead,
To repentance and
diligence through the program’s end.
Further away from
Him their paths continued to wend.
Then He concluded,
‘I have no other option,
Than to label these folk with My ‘bums’
description!
Away with them, with necks so stiff and
stout!
Angels, go forth and throw all
these bums out!’
4
These folk were
marked. Eventually their lives were spent.
Angels always do
well the jobs to which they are sent.
I pray that you, a
fellow royal regent trainee,
Will not become
like the bums these folk turned out to be!
Friend, God is
continually refining,
The two remnant
groups He is now defining.
Through tests and
trials, He is ever sifting, then sorting,
Internships He’ll
soon be exhorting …or aborting.
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1 The literal meaning of bum is a
lazy or worthless person. This idiom is used metaphorically to refer to members
of a group who are not performing up to expectations, e.g., ineffective
politicians, members of a losing sports team, office teammates, etc. Thus, we
wish to get rid of those worthless members, and replace them with new ones we
hope will do better, or if
necessary, leave their places vacant.
2 So He drove out the man; and He placed
cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which
turned every way, to guard the way to the Tree of Life. (Genesis 3:24)
3 ‘…So then, because you are lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit/spew you out of My mouth.’ (Revelation 3:16)
4 Here is a clear example of God’s ‘Throw the bums out!’ policy and
practice:
…And He called to
the man [angel] clothed with linen,
who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and The Lord said
to him, “Go through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who
sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” To the others [angels] He said, “Go after him through
the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay
old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not
come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So
they began with the elders who were before the temple. Then He
said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!”
And they went out and killed in the city. While they were killing them, I was
left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah,
Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out
Your fury on Jerusalem?” Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of
Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of
bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has
forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ And as for Me also,
My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will
recompense their deeds on their own head.” Just then, the man [angel] clothed
with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said,
“I have done as You commanded me.” (Ezekiel
9:3-11)
