When we mention Biblical Law, more than just an expanded Covenant of Noah, it includes all the assumptions of the heart-led way, all of the mysticism and communion with Creation — it’s all part of the same package. You cannot obey Biblical Law without embracing the mystical heart-led approach to thinking and acting.
Thus, you cannot have any part of the various dreams of a better world and a better life in this world without that whole package. Granted, our basic understanding does include an assessment based on increments of embracing the full package: Fundamental to mysticism is that there is no rote perfection in human activity. Holiness is a desire and commitment, not a performance. We are not holding forth a harsh law of rules; God is a Person and the fundamental nature of Creation is personal commitment exemplified in ANE feudalism. This is God’s revelation of His personal character; it’s the very nature of reality itself. It’s flexible and contextual for the individual, but without that essence of truth, we should never be surprised that things are not going well in this world.
Don’t subscribe to any theories of a good life outside of that revelation. Nothing any person or group of people dream up is worth a damn if it doesn’t start from God’s revelation. All the glittering hopes of mankind are bullshit, utterly lacking in virtue of any kind. The hardest thing we do in pursuit of the heart-led way is shredding and shedding all the incubated values and moral assumptions with which we are born and raised. There may well be glimpses of glory here and there in hidden corners of various human traditions, but nobody has gotten it right for at least the past 2000 years. It’s all fundamentally wrong.
The proof is in the final result; if God allows any nation or culture to be conquered by another, it’s because those conquered were doing something fundamentally wrong. His Law has always consistently come with noteworthy miraculous protections for those who cling to Him in personal commitment. There will surely be some hassles and testing of faith, but no nation ever died, no culture was ever eclipsed or buried in the sands of history, unless the people failed some essential feudal obligation to Biblical Law. Indeed, the record of revelation indicates God is quite patient and tolerant of mistakes and misunderstandings far beyond any human measure.
So while you may well offer conditional loyalty to your nation and people and culture, without some essential commitment to the revelation of God in that thing, you know it’s doomed. You cannot allow yourself to cling to it. There are countless moral systems in this world, but none of them measure up to genuine moral truth. The definition of shalom includes far more than mere symptoms of prosperity, safety and stability. Those are just earthly manifestations; shalom is a sense of peace with God, of conforming to His divine moral character with a boundless personal desire and commitment. It always brings a sense of peace and order with Creation. To the degree that is missing from your human environment, to that degree your world is under the wrath of God.
That He still grants moments of great beauty and peace and joy that transport us beyond this world does not change this fundamental truth. The existence of such high mountains of bliss are proof in themselves that we have not yet returned to Eden, because Eden is like that at its worst. It would wear out your flesh with such overpowering sweetness that you would have to shed your mortal existence to bear it. All the best and brightest of this world, even in moral truth and holiness, are a taste of the Otherworld to come. Whatever bliss you find here is a reminder that it’s so much better without the Curse of the Fall.
Even under that curse, this world could be so much better, but it requires Biblical Law to make the most of it. It requires the whole package. It’s fine when you discern in your context that this one thing here, or that one there, reflects moral truth in your heart. Go ahead and put some energy into sponsoring those things, but do so as they reflect truth, not so as to get bogged down in the crap that comes with it. Seek from God some way to make that distinction so others can know. How you do that is inherent in your personal divine calling, but you simply cannot be silent when you see such things. Observe the measure of worldly protocols that are appropriate to your faith. Wait for those teachable moments, but never let it rest in silence that there is a long way to go.
Do not become so entangled in the context that you cannot bail out when it all starts coming apart. Nothing in this world is any more than a useful tool for His glory.
