What matters? He shall scorn them

You may be aware of what some call conspiracy theories, such as the prospect of the WHO imposing restrictions on and within sovereign states in the event of another [so-called] pandemic, and the plans of the ‘liberal elite’, the few individuals who have more wealth than many sovereign states, to form a world government. Coco is not suggesting that Coco agrees with those who promote these theories, nor with those who might promote these alternate ideologies, but it does present an interesting prospect. We have seen how the restrictions imposed over the recent three years have provided significant economic opportunities for some but have left others impoverished due to an inability to work. For those who are able to gain in such times a return to them, in a more controlled way through the new institutions which may be established if these theories are correct, would not be something to be shunned, but rather embraced with open arms. But where does that leave those who are not able to benefit? The combination of these two ideas tends towards a dystopia of unparalleled dimensions; or is that really so?

After the death of Solomon, the new king promised his people one thing about which perhaps he would have been wiser to remain silent, but wisdom was not something for which he, unlike his father, was noted. He rejected the advice of his counsellors and made it known that his own ‘little finger shall be thicker than [his] father’s waist’. What did he mean? He intended by it to say that, paraphrasing into contemporary culture: Though taxes under my father were not light, under me they shall be much heavier. Naturally, the people decided that they did not want that king to reign over them. Remarkably it did not lead to an outpouring of blood, though preparations for that had been made, but the consequences of the rebellion were to be felt for many hundreds of years afterwards.

Now what does this mean? Let Coco remind you of a three things, briefly, before putting them together. Solomon means peace. In his day Israel enjoyed peace after the days of David, a man of war. However Solomon was a flawed man and did as the Lord had warned the people kings would do. The yoke on the people was heavy. Secondly, Jesus Christ is the true king of peace, whose yoke is easy. He is not a flawed man. And thirdly, the David of whom we have spoken, wrote a psalm: ‘Why do the nations rage, and the people’s plot in vain? The kings and rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his Christ saying: Let us break their bonds in pieces.

What are the people saying? They want to throw off the bonds of the one who says, my yoke is easy. With what shall that yoke be replaced, if not another yoke? We throw off the bonds of God, which are easy, only to take on the bonds of man, which are hard. We hardly blame the people for rejecting Solomon’s heir when his intention was not to ease the burden that his father had placed on the people, but rather to increase it. There was an injustice about it because it came from a flawed king. Would we not say that they were right when they said of the new king: let us break his bonds in pieces? Men always want to break the bonds that appear to shackle them; did we not mention a few days ago every one wants to be king, everyone does what is right in his own eyes?

But note in David’s words that it was the kings and rulers who led this cry. Who are they in today’s terms if not the sovereign nations and the liberal elite of wealthy individuals aforementioned? They wish to throw off the bonds established by God and replace them with their own rule. If these conspiracy theories have any truth in them then the WHO, the liberal elite, if they rule, what bonds, burdens, will be placed upon ordinary men in order to maintain their positions of new authority? We have only to look at the consequences of the recent lockdowns to gain a glimpse of what may be. Coco commented on the new normal quite a while ago, but will it ever come back? The economic crisis, caused by lack of opportunity to work and a printing of money, may mean that the parties and travel cannot return as they used to be, the new normal becomes an impoverished version of the old normal.

What is the solution? Well, the Lord pronounces his solution in that same psalm: he shall laugh them to scorn. Just as he pronounced his judgement on an earlier attempt to establish a world government and authority in opposition to his when he said: Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. And at Babel man’s attempt to throw off the yoke of God was thwarted, but we now laboured under a new yoke, but that is not today’s topic.

The real solution then is, as we mentioned a few days ago also, not to seek to throw off the yoke of God, but to submit to it. Come to me, the Lord says, my yoke is easy. I am gently and lowly in heart. I shall give you rest. As for the conspiracy theories, and the prospects of world government, or indeed any government, the Lord has set the boundaries of the nations, the extents of their empires and the length of their existence. They cannot overstep the boundaries that he has laid out for them. They rise up, but in their pride they shall fall. He shall laugh them to scorn. Governments come and go, perhaps not on the scale of the lifetime of many individuals (though the Alexandrian and Soviet empires may be exceptions), and shall do so until the everlasting kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed.