Issue 842 – Days of Gold – September 2, 2022
Yesterday, Kathy and I took a road trip to Yale, a little more than an hour’s drive away. Yale is located north of Hope, along the Fraser River and is generally considered the entry point to the Fraser Canyon. We went to check out the Yale Historic Site. It’s a great little gold rush era museum and well worth the visit.
Yale has quite the history. At the peak of the gold rush, it was “The largest city east of Chicago and north of San Francisco.” The Fraser Valley War of 1858 was fought in this area. The war between American gold miners, who formed militia groups, and the Nlaka’pamux Indigenous people resulted from tens of thousands of desperate gold miners essentially invading the local area in their quest for riches.
As with many gold rush cities, some miners made money, but the real wealth went to the purveyors of goods and services. The merchants made fortunes. So too, did those who pandered to the baser elements of human nature. Saloons thrived; the museum host told us there were ten saloons on one street alone. Houses of ill repute and soiled doves entertained lonely and desperate miners for an appropriate fee. I can’t even begin to imagine the rate of sexually transmitted diseases. According to one source, Yale has a reputation as being “the wickedest little settlement in British Columbia” and “a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah” of vice, violence and lawlessness.”
Yale was home to more than 15,000 residents at its peak, but according to the highway sign, Yale now boasts 186 people. That’s quite a drop but not uncommon amongst boom towns. Many ceased to exist after the boom bypassed them in search of other treasures.
The change in Yale’s population got me thinking of a city in the Bible.
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
Revelation 18:1-3
A small library could be filled with scholars’ debate about the identity of Babylon the Great. Is it a literal city or a metaphor for a system? Ultimately, I don’t think the identity matters a great deal.
The thing to recognize about this (and similar passages) is God will bring judgment against those who have rebelled against Him and refuse to repent of their evil.
Our Lord God is patient and long-suffering. We can be grateful for that. If all sin had been immediately punished, the human race would have long ago ceased to exist. He endures sin and rebellion for a time until all the elect have come to Him.
Then He will pour out His long stored-up wrath upon a broken and corrupted world.
As believers, we needn’t fear our fate. Yet, many out there have not come to the Lord, and we have a duty to warn them. We are not responsible for the results, God works in individual hearts, but love demands we reach out. We don’t know when the end will be, but we know it will be sudden.
In the interim, we are called to love others and share the gospel’s truth.
How are we doing with that?
Praise God for His mercy.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed.
Kevin.
Gleanings From The Word.
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)
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