"A Ruler you can depend upon will head this government, A Ruler passionate for justice, a Ruler quick to set things right."Isaiah 16:5 (MSG)
While in college, I worked breakfast shift in the kitchen. My friend Claudius, who hailed from Zimbabwe, worked the same shift and we would clean together after breakfast. We talked as we cleaned and the discussion would often turn to politics. Claudius came from a very different experience in Africa and we would talk about the pros and cons of different systems of government. Democracy, Monarchy, and Socialist, we walked through them all in our after-breakfast scrub fests.
There was a lot on which Claudius and I did not agree, but as fellow believers we did come to agreement on a couple of key points. First, every system of human government is ultimately flawed because of our imperfections and sin. Because human beings are self-centered and given to lusts of the eyes, lusts of the flesh and pride, then the power of humans to govern is ultimately corrupted no matter what the system of governing might be. Therefore (and here is the second point on which we agreed), the perfect government is a loving, just, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God sitting on the throne.
Compared to having God Himself on the throne, every other government is just shadows, smoke and mirrors.
Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and blackplastic
6-12We’ve heard—everyone’s heard!—of Moab’s pride,
world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
I have commented on past posts about my lack of tolerance for the arrogant. It seems that over time each person/country/team is humbled in some way. It seems rare that a given entity remains at the top forever. I think that’s good. A strong dose of humility never hurt anyone…self included.