IRRELEVANCE OF HISTORY

In all of secular history, whether of Rome, Greece or whatever, we hear only of the kings and counselors of the earth. The little man is lost and nameless. Only in the Bible do we read of shepherds, nomads, housewives and their names and doings.
When the God of heaven and earth came to our planet, shepherds were told about it, while the king was bypassed. In Matthew 13 and 24 and elsewhere Jesus foretold events which would transpire through future millenium to a group of peasants.
Four thousand years ago mighty Pharaoh ruled the world. In a mud walled shack lay a dying man, talking to his twelve sons. They smelled of the stable and the field. They were shepherds and cattlemen. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. It was also an abomination for the Egyptians to eat with these men. They were the untouchables.
As Jacob blesses his sons, he tells them that God has decreed that out of this family one would come who would rule the world in a reign which would never cease. The mighty of the earth paid not the slightest attention to whatever was being said in this hut. They in turn were completely ignored by God as He laid out His plan for the future.
Let me give an example from Egypt. In February of 1987,my wife Lillian and I were at a graduation ceremony at the Lillian Thrasher Orphanage in Asyut, Egypt, about 300 miles south of Cairo. This ceremony followed a training session for people involved in one of our Bible Studies; held in a church on the orphanage grounds.
In 1910 Lillian Thrasher read in Acts 7:34: “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt”. Feeling that God was speaking to her, she went to Egypt as a missionary. Shortly after arriving she visited the dying mother of a tiny baby girl. She took the baby to her home. This was the beginning of her work with orphans. Today there is a well run orphanage on twelve acres of land, with about 600 orphans. Many of those who had been orphans, and brought up in this home are now influential in church or state.
A few days later we saw the pyramids at a place called Sakhara. These pyramids were crumpling, which surprised me. I had not known that any of the pyramids were being destroyed by time. There were two things which greatly impressed me while in Egypt. First, while at the orphanage in Asyut I saw the phrase: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be passed; only what’s done for Christ will last”. I thought of the fact that in 1910 Lillian Thrasher obeyed God’s call to go to Egypt. To some it must have seemed that she was throwing her life away. But her life has been a blessing to many. Most of these orphans came from a nominal Christian background. Over 3,000 had been won to Christ by the time we were there and many more since then, even after Lillian Thrasher’s death. Though not a wealthy woman, thousands have been fed and clothed by her, and because of her many will live forever.
Four thousand years ago, one of the Pharaohs lavished the wealth and knowledge of an empire on himself. He lived in luxury. For his death he built a pyramid that was to last forever. He built a tomb under this pyramid which was 90 feet below ground level and filled it with gold and precious things to supply him in the after life. As long as his body was undisturbed he would live comfortably in the realm of the dead. Therefore it must last forever. But long ago thieves ransacked the tomb, stole everything in it and tossed the body of Pharaoh out into the desert. The thieves destroyed his body and time destroyed his pyramid.
From Lillian Thrasher, though a poor woman, flowed material help to many and eternal help to thousands. Ancient Pharaoh, although the wealthiest on earth, drew the wealth of the rich and the meager resources of the poor to himself. Everything he has done has been destroyed by the hand of time.
“For whosoever will save his life will lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it”.