DESTRUCTIVE OPPRESSION

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Someone in authority who oppresses poor people is like a driving rain that destroys the crops.

Proverbs 28:3 GNT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever heard of the story of Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu?

Under his Socialist reign which lasted between 1965 and 1989, the following programs had been enacted:

1. Concerned over an aging populace, Ceaușescu implemented restrictions on reproductive freedom through the implementation of Decree 770, a decree which strictly regulated the availability of abortion and contraception. Only women who had four children and were over the age of 45 were allowed access by law. Penalties were also levied against unmarried people and childless couples.

2. In the mid-1980’s, Ceaușescu put economic measures in place that led to the wide scale food rationing even though there was an abundant crop harvest and food production numbers were up. The government sought to export the best food available to pay off national debt and fuel its industrialization efforts while the people found their food accessibility controlled under the guise of rational eating and control over obesity.

3. Food wasn’t the only place where people found their lives impacted by government control. Fuel was also limited with supplies severely cut. Public transportation was ordered to use alternative fuels. Electricity was rationed to the people so it could be diverted to industry instead. Limited consumption was provided to the people who were severely taxed if they went over the allowable limit. Stores were ordered closed by 5:30 to preserve electricity and television was reduced to a single channel only available two hours a day. Gas and heating were also turned off, leading people to turn to either natural gas containers or charcoal stoves, even though they were connected to gas mains. Stores were ordered closed by 5:30 to preserve electricity.

4. In the latter years of the Ceaușescu reign, increased social control was put in place. A phone bugging system was put in place and the number of secret police (referred to as the Securitate) was drastically increased. It was said that as many as one in every three people were acting as informants to the government. Anyone caught speaking against it or the policies it enacted were arrested and tortured, even executed in many instances. As this news escaped the boundaries of Romania, people stopped traveling there with tourism dropping a whopping 75 percent.

These were just a few of the Draconian measures put in place by the Ceaușescu government and serve as an example of destructive oppression, something Solomon wrote in today’s proverb from Proverbs, Chapter 28:

Someone in authority who oppresses poor people is like a driving rain that destroys the crops. Verse 3

The people of Romania suffered under the tyranny of Ceaușescu. Repressed and subjugated under government control, they were being destroyed in many ways by the leaders who were supposed to look after them, like a driving rain destroying crops. Rain is supposed to benefit crops and help them grow but when coupled with strong winds, what was intended to benefit actually harms. Such is what happens when sin enters into the hearts of someone in authority and causes them to do harm to their people.

Of course, you know that this kind of action is completely contradictory to the expectations and will of the Lord. We know this through many words of scripture but maybe none more so than the words of Jesus who clearly indicate that it is the responsibility of all of us to look after and care for one another, especially those in need. Here are His words, words that every person in authority had better remember:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on his left.”

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

Matthew 25:31-46

We all had better be heeding these words of prophecy as to what is ahead. For there will come a day when the King of all kings, Lord of all lords, President of all presidents, and Prime Minister of all prime ministers - the eternal Ruler over all - will come to judge the world and that includes all that were entrusted to lead His people. On that day, all will be held accountable for the things they did in life.

What will be one of the main items of assessment?

It will be the way that any one person treated those considered the least in society, the hungry, the thirsty, the estranged, the naked, the affirmed, and the imprisoned. In other words, those who are in need.

If you showed compassion and caring, striving to make a difference in the lives of those who needed help, then it was if you had done those things to the Savior Jesus Himself. You were like needed rain on a parched crop, providing sustaining resources to keep the plant alive.

Conversely, if you chose to ignore the needs of others, turning a blind eye to see their plight and a deaf ear toward their cries for help, then it is as if you never helped Jesus when He was in need. Such is the case of anyone who oppresses someone who is experiencing difficulty, someone who instead of throwing them a lifeline instead ignores them with no concern for their well being.

It only goes one way or another. We either help those in need or we don’t. There is no middle ground.

As we consider this, keep this in mind. For our Savior Jesus tells us that there are only two possible outcomes to the decisions that we make regarding how we care for the “least of these.”

Take the time to receive Jesus in your heart, caring for others as He did during His ministry here on earth, and you will find yourself on His right, part of the flock of sheep destined for eternal life.

Choose to reject Jesus, living for wickedness and sinfulness vice His righteousness, and you will not see a need to care for those in need. Subsequently, you will join the goats on the left of Jesus and be led away to eternal punishment.

Going back to Ceaușescu, he didn’t have to wait for Jesus to return to face judgment. For the very people he abused rose up against him. The revolution was so decisive that the people put an end to his reign by executing him and his wife in December of 1989. Unwilling to care for the least of those placed in his care, not only he but his wife as well, faced judgment for their actions from the very people he negatively impacted.

This is where destructive oppression leads anyone who chooses to adopt it. Choose to be a part of another’s destruction, to be party to a person’s demise through either intentional neglect (and ignoring a need you know exists without taking action is intentional), and you will find yourself living outside of Jesus and destroyed when it’s all said and done with, either on the day that He returns or sooner.

Yesterday, we prayed for all our nation’s leaders to turn to the Lord for knowledge and discernment so that order and stability would reign supreme. Today’s prayer goes much deeper. For we’re not just talking about stability here. We’re talking about life. For when we value every life as Jesus did, loving and caring for all people as He did, and when we serve Him in such a way, doing as He did and giving Him our all as He gave us His, we can and will find our way to eternal life with Him.

Do unto others as you would do unto Him. That’s the message here. Let’s pray that everyone might receive it and put it into action. Our world would be such a better place if we did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com