Some of the judgments God pronounced on the Israelites due to their utter disregard for His laws, especially in going after worthless idols made of silver and gold, can be seen as to what happened to various cultures. This not so much because of their going after idols but seeing those in authority creating havoc.
Those in the position of authority unwisely given an 'authority wand' to the unqualified.
Take, for instance Isaiah 3:4-5.
"Boys became officials...children would govern their elders...the young will rise up against the old.."
This same phenomena can be seen in some of the history of China during Mao Zedong's cultural revolution. Teenagers given license to vent rage against mostly innocent people. This was certainly counter-cultural to millennia of Confucius (Kung Fu Tzu) and Mencius (Meng Zi) teachings of respect of elders. As found in the Works of Mencius, as quoted by Samuel Wang and Ethel R. Nelson in their book God and the Ancient Chinese,
"He who loves not his parents,
Yet loves others, is against virtue;
He who respects not his parents,i
Yet respects others, is against courtesy."
Also from the same book where the authors quoted from the Book of Filial Piety, they wrote..
"Parents were to teach their children the importance of implicit obedience. Correct home training was a means of avoiding misery and crimes in society. Children trained to fear Heaven and honor their parents at home, were prepared to practice these principles of truth in society and the world."
American children are taught their "rights" and have been known to sue their parents; taking them to court. A world upside-down!
Granted, truly abused children need recourse. They need to be able to tell responsible adults of what is happening to them that is unjust. But are people becoming more intolerant of others despite how much they talk about tolerance?
Recently I saw a video clip of a young boy, perhaps 7 or 8 years of age who had been spanked by his Mom because he had been playing hooky from school. He called the cops on her. One of the cops put it right, perhaps even putting his own job on the line, when he told the child that if he ever called the cops again for having had correct punishment from his Mom for failure to go to school, that he would come and administer another dose and that his belt was even bigger than the one the Mom had used.
At least the cop had good sense.
Yet we do see that even though authority needs to be respected since God puts these people in position over us. Let it be known that those in authority need to govern compassionately, wisely and justly.
To temper this about how we approach those in authority, read this blog entry about Dare We Question Authority.
Pinpoint Isaiah 3:14-15 and have a read. Are those in authority "standing for the truth"? I'm bringing this to the church setting. Are they rigid legalistic, domineering persons? Just what is "the truth" they are purportedly "standing for"? Where is the love, compassion, gentleness, forgiveness in their stance? Why do the elders and leaders of certain groups of believers in Jesus Christ, want to slander others and take choking control? They make arbitrary decisions and say it is the "congregation's" decision. If any of you are leaders or contemplating a leadership position do examine yourself in the presence of God Himself and let Him shed light on your heart and mind. Is your leadership one He would sanction? Ask your "sheep" you shepherd or hope to shepherd.
No doubt there are the grumblers but find the discerning, godly brother or sister and see what they have to say.
One must examine oneself. Do I insist on controlling others? Making decisions for others that the Holy Spirit should be allowed to do in convicting them? Stand for the truth, yes, but also let the Holy Spirit do His work.
Isaiah 3:18-24 is another prototype of what happened to God's Jewish people during WWII in Hitler's time. Those downtrodden people lost all their worldly goods; often tricked into it or just plain robbed. Was this punishment for them? Not particularly. It was more authority going haywire.
Praise God there were many who helped to preserve many of the Jews even to their own detriment. Think of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister and father. They did this out of love for Jesus and God and His people.
Some years back I also watched a movie called Schindler's List. Herr Schindler 'rescued' many by having Jews come and work in his factories. He often put himself on the line to do so. He did not do all this particularly out of Christian motives, more out of selfish ones so he could continue to earn mega bucks (in the end he did not have many cents to rub together) and to keep himself out of the army. He upheld that he was helping the war effort by producing weaponry in his factories. Yet he is considered a righteous Gentle by the Jewish grateful.
Our Heavenly Father is also talking to us; we who are in positions of authority, and are able to practice "true religion" (Isaiah 58:6-14 and James 1:27). To help those who are oppressed, the fatherless and the widow, etc is what God requires.
Let's not let history repeat itself. May we be careful to NOT debase others under our care. Let's also care for the poor and those unable to speak for themselves as much as we have opportunity.
~ERC 2017~
Originally written April 1995; adapted for blog July 2017
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