With financial markets in turmoil and the world in the worst recession since 1929, it makes you wonder whether anyone is in charge. Politicians, try to give the air of being in charge, but it is apparent that they are powerless. Every headline brings a reaction, but they give me the impression of being like England batsmen facing the West Indies pace attack of a former generation. They may be fending off short pitched deliveries and protecting their faces, but they have no plan to build an innings. A few weeks ago Gordon Brown claimed to have saved the world. It's a pity the world did not notice.
The bankers are certainly not in charge. If they were clever they took the money and ran. And they intend to hang on to it. The industrialists are not in charge. Nobody wants to buy their goods and they are laying off workers at an alarming rate. The armed forces are not in charge. Battered and bruised by conflicts for which they have no heart, they just want to come home.
Way back in 539 BC in the land that is modern day Iraq, the rulers were feasting, drinking and revelling, when they were shocked by the sight of a disembodied hand writing on the wall, "You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting." You can read about it in Daniel Chapter 5. It must have been a frightening experience but Belshazzar would have felt safe within the impregnable city of Babylon. How was he to know that Cyrus the Persian possessed sufficient engineering skills to divert the River Euphrates so that he could enter the city along the dry river bed?
Belshazzar that he was in control of events but powerful though he was he was like putty in the hands of history.
Cyrus was a great Persian king (it seems like Iraq and Iran have always been enemies). If you go to the British Museum you can see the Cyrus Cylinder. It was discovered in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in the foundations of the Esagila, the main temple of Babylon, where it had been placed as a foundation deposit. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus (father of Belshazzar) as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus as pleasing to the chief Babylonian god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries.
Among those people returned to their own country were the Jews who had been taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar 70 years previously. The liberation of the Jews had been predicted by the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 44 "who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." and in 45:13 "I will raise up Cyrus [a] in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty.".
It seems astonishing that so far ahead of time Isaiah should name the liberator, but in Ezra chapter 1 the event is reported <
The Bible makes it clear that Cyrus was not working on his own. It reassures us that someone is in charge; someone who has control of the future. We used to sing a hymn:
God holds the key of all unknown,
And I am glad:
If other hands should hold the key,
Or if he truseted it to me,
I might be sad.
What if tomorrow's cares were here
Without its rest?
I'd rather he unlocked the day,
And, as the hours swing open, say,
"My will is best."
It seems to us that we face an uncertain future. Our savings are in jeopardy, our jobs are not safe, our pensions losing their value, our homes at risk. Many are worried about our health. Perhaps we face surgery or chemotherapy. WE may be frightened for our loved ones. Sometimes it seems that no sooner has one worry dissipated than another takes its place. Where can we turn for comfort?
Jesus said this, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
And St Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome who were suffering far more than we are, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Thank you for this reminder.
ReplyDeleteKathy b
That last verse is on of my favorites Dr. Terry.Thank you for encouraging us!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless You!
Deb
www.cllcfriends.com
You write: "The armed forces are not in charge. Battered and bruised by conflicts for which they have no heart, they just want to come home."
ReplyDelete???
I have heard of many who are proud of the things they've accomplished in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Bush administration did not wage war very effectively in the beginning, but finished up well.
As in Vietnam, the Democrats will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Few remember that when the US pulled the bulk of its troops out in 1973, the South Vietnamese army was better trained and better equipped than at any other time in their history.
However, the Democrats cut off all funding for the South Vietnamese army, leading to the defeat of democracy, and the loss of millions of lives.
Of course, the Democrats, who, like children, cannot take responsibility for their mistakes, tried to blame President Nixon. Remember, the war was started under Kennedy and reached its height under Johnson.
Mark my words. The liberals will lose the war in Iraq, the democracy will fail, and the Democrat party will blame Bush for their failure.
BTW, this whole 'crisis' was engineered by George Soros and his band of criminals. It only takes talking the markets up, and then down, to lead to the situation we are in now.
ReplyDeleteEvery couple of generations, the very wealthy want to massively increase their wealth and power. We saw that in the Great Depression of the 1930s (an economy ruined by Roosevelt). Massive fortunes were lost, but made by those manipulating the system.
The same thing is happening here. The Chinese, Japanese, Indians and the oil powers are now poised to buy up most of American businesses, and hold the US as slaves.
The socialist liberals are happy because they 'aren't letting a crisis go to waste' in the words of Obama's top aide. They are attempting to seize power over virtually every aspect of people's lives. This includes free speech, medicine, the imposition of non-elective euthanasia, free abortions done at the mall, ruinous taxation that will drive many into bankruptcy. Islam will become the dominant religion of the planet, like it or not.
This crisis is welcomed by many, Dr. Hamblin. Wake up and think about it.
The enemies of the West are very gleeful these days, and their Judas collaborators are happy as well.
These are not good times for freedom and democracy.