Do you ever feel like the world is completely out of control? You listen to the news and you hear that boats are being captured in national power struggles. You read how people are regularly being kidnapped, tortured and raped in the name of religion.
Most people do not know who Nebuchadnezzar was. He was a king of the ancient Babylon kingdom who reigned during the 6th century BC. One of his contemporaries gives a description of him and his country’s behavior.
“6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. 9 They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. 10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. 11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their God!” Habakkuk 1:6–11 (ESV)
Don’t miss the description, bitter, impetuous, a people who seize, who view justice and sovereignty as stemming from themselves. All of them come to do violence, their faces set in determination. They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress, and build siege ramps to capture it, and then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. Their strength is their God.
Imagine what fear and sorrow we would have if another country or people within our country were able to do that to us? Fortunately, in the United States we have tried hard to prevent that from happening, but many in other countries have failed, and its inhabitants, as you can imagine, live in great fear and sorrow.
We have much to be thankful for, and need to thank God daily. This is especially dear to my heart right now as I’m writing this article on my cell phone from another country. Although I am safe, the country I’m writing from lacks many of the comforts we take for granted, such as good education, clean water, generally safe neighborhoods, and for the most part trusted leaders.
Very few countries that I visit have respect for each other like we do here. Why have we had this? Because we have believed it is important to protect each other from harm and abuse.
This country was built on the principle that we are all created equal because we were created in God’s image, Genesis 1:27. That belief can easily be ignored or taken for granted. And we do not want to be deceived by many of our public figures who think they can treat each other very badly, and expect good to come from it. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor over it in vain.” Rotten behavior breeds contempt for law and for each other. My prayer for all of us is that we would make it our goal to treat all who we meet this week with kindness and respect. It’s a choice to decide. I will make a deliberate decision to be kind and respectful.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Rick Haworth is pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church in Monroe.
