The Good Scriptwriter writes good and evil into the plot

Did you ever wonder why book authors and script writers use conflict in their stories? Why?
Why is it that our most memorable books and movies have conflict, and antagonists? Why not just have "good guys"? Why create the "bad guys" or employ them in your story? Why do we love stories of good overcoming evil so much?

 

 

Basically, the function of an antagonist is to give the hero someone or something to overcome. A victory is not a victory without there being some form of struggle where the hero overcomes evil.
 
God is the Creator, and the master author. He is the genius scriptwriter, holy, just and wise beyond our understanding. And he has created two general kinds of vessels -

1) vessels of honour and

2) vessels of dishonour,

All vessels are created by God for His sovereign use.

 

2 Timothy 2:20 English Standard Version (ESV)Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

 

God uses all kinds of rulers and all manners of vessels. He writes both protagonists and antagonists into His story (history).

In the book of Habakkuk, we see that there is a distinction made between the concept of establishing a government and the concept of approving that same government. God set up this vessel of dishonour known as the Chaldean government. He does not approve of wicked governments, but He will sometimes use them to establish right thinking in His own people. God established the Chaldean government as a chastisement to disobedient Judah. Judah had been rebellious for years and refused to listen to God's gentle warnings to repent. So as a result, after years of being ignored and betrayed, God brought temporary discipline to His children.

Habakkuk 1:12 ESV (God establishes the Chaldeans as a reproof)

12 Are you not from everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

Yet God, in His uncompromising and pure holiness immediately pronounces woe on that same Chaldean government in the next chapter.

Habakkuk 2:6-10

Woe to the Chaldeans

6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!”

7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise,

and those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoil for them.

8 Because you have plundered many nations,

all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,

for the blood of man and violence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,

to set his nest on high,

to be safe from the reach of harm!

10 You have devised shame for your house

by cutting off many peoples;

you have forfeited your life.

 

How about division of The ten Northern Tribes from the 2 Southern Tribes? How did the wicked man Jeroboam break away from the southern kingdom of Judah and become king of the Ten Northern Tribes? God tells us in His Word:

1 Kings 11:31 ESV

And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes

God is absolutely sovereign over all peoples and nations. It is our place to pray for the leaders, to stand for righteousness in Jesus Christ, to act and do good, to vote, and to pray for the Heavenly Father's will to be done. He is righteous and His nature cannot mix with wickedness. Yet He ordains these rulers, vessels of dishonour for temporary use... so that we can learn to be OVERCOMERS. Jesus is the Hero of His Story (history) and the main protagonist. And those who follow Jesus follow Him in His role as protagonist. Now we can be protagonists through Christ. Anyone who repents of their sins and evil ways and calls on Christ for forgiveness will be saved by Christ's pure, undeserved grace. It's not just governments which fall into evil... ALL humans have fallen into evil. All of us desperately need the Saviour, Jesus Christ. He can wash you clean in His blood today, if you call on Him.

So God places all the different kinds vessels in nations for strategic reasons. There are a variety reasons such as judgement, or to stir His people out of spiritual complacency and indifference, or to bless obedience, etc. History shows that persecution actually stimulates the growth of the church. Look at the church in early pagan Rome. It exploded in growth despite being a relatively new establishment with few supporters at the start. The emperors persecuted it intensely. Those Roman officials were placed there by God. God placed them there, and then removed them again. 2 Timothy 2:20 tells us some vessels are made for honourable use, and some have been made for dishonourable use. Keep in mind, God is the potter, we are the clay. He is sovereign and just.

AND YET ... if any person will repent, and purge themselves of evil ways, they too can become a vessel of honour for God. God uses ALL the vessels in the house, in His holy and perfect and just plan. The blood of Jesus can cleanse any person, any ruler, anyone with genuine repentance, and love for God. 

 

Jesus is the protagonist and Hero, and He has already defeated the enemy, satan, by dying and rising again from the dead! (Heb 2:14)

 

God bless you!

Pastor Curtis