Classic KJV - Proverbs 28:15

Consider the millions of Ukranians slaughtered by Stalin, the six million Jews butchered in the Nazi Holocaust, or the forty-million Chinese exterminted in Mao Tse-Tung’s “Great Leap Forward.” For all our vanity about human progress, the 20th centruy was one mass grave. The 21st century may not be much better. The poor and powerless are easy prey for a wicked ruler. Poor nations are more vulnerable than prosperous ones. They need kind and strong rulers.

Government Control

Governments control their citizens through taxation, restrictions on private property, and media control. If the people in a country are impoverished, they are more vulnerable to mistreatment by the government. One way a state intimidates its citizens is by keeping them “living hand-to-mouth,” like the “bread lines” at state grocery stores in the Soviet Union. Big Government milks its citizens dry. Many rulers deliberately impoverish the people, because they cherish their own power more than the general prosperity of the country.

Terrorists in Power

Being ruled by a wicked tyrant is as bad as landing defenseless in a jungle of savage beasts. So praying for our public authorities is important. Christians are instructed: “First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Certainly a tranquil and quiet life is much to be preferred to the terror of living under an insatiable tyrant.

USSR—A Bear

Ironically, the symbol of the former Soviet Union was a bear. In 1932, its truly inhuman dictator, Joseph Stalin, forced the collectivization of Ukraine’s highly productive, privately-owned farms into state-owned plantations. In the process, to fund his Five Year Plan for industrialization, he stole virtually all of Ukraine’s legendary wheat harvests, starving millions. Then when the starving peasants gathered at the crossroads, desperate for food, they were machine-gunned by Red Army soldiers.

Engineered Famine

The cost of this “Worker’s Paradise” was papered-over by the Western media, wined and dined by Stalin and seduced by his progressive “modernization” plans. So this mass-starvation, the Holodomor is nowhere near as well well-known as the Nazi’s Jewish Holocaust during World War II, but may have been larger. The number of dead, starving in the winter snow, is estimated from 4-to-10 million—including my wife’s grandmother. This rushing bear was a Russian bear! But, I prefer the ESV translation, a charging bear.

 A Champion of the Weak

It is interesting to note that the youthful shepherd, David, killed both a lion and a bear when these two predators attacked his flock of sheep. Most shepherds would not have risked their lives and safety for the sake of a single sheep. David foreshadowed a greater Shepherd.

Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend

Jesus did not abuse power; He was kind to the poor. He told His disciples,

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:25-28

Rather than acting like a despot, overpowering His followers, Jesus served them. With great humility, He gave of His own resources to meet their needs. This was illustrated powerfully when He washed the disciples’ feet, even the feet of Judas, who would betray Him (John 13:3-8).

Jesus knew he’d been given authority over everything by His Father. He had nothing to prove. He was not insecure. As the Creator of the Universe, Jesus chooses—here and now—to give rather than to take. But make no mistake: When Jesus returns to Earth, He will not come only as the Sacrificial Lamb, but also as a Conquering Lion. He will judge the whole world, bringing joy and salvation to some, but terror and agony to others (Matthew 25:31-46).