The Watchman's Diary

Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; ² and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. ³ They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:1-3, NKJV)

Behind every chaotic scene is an event or set of events leading up to the moment; no matter how sudden it may appear. At the center of a rebellion is a spirit bent on disrupting the plans of God at the cost of the very people acting as the agents of chaos. The aggressor is also the victim but has no concept of the darkness lurking in their emotions.

It doesn’t take much effort to see that we are living in a chaotic time. Every nation on earth is reeling from all manner of events that threaten its inhabitants – man, animal, vegetation, etc. The level of chaos range from wild fires, floods, earthquakes, hailstorms, landslides, violence, and political uprising. At the center of it all is man and the our activities. Everything that is bad or chaotic has its roots in sin and we continue to live in sin. We continue to act out of pure selfishness and to act against our own best interests.

Like Korah and the men with him, agents of chaos have stood up to weaken the nations and the church has not been spared. In fact, we could argue to the church has, in many cases, led the effort to sow seeds of chaos because we have allowed the spirit behind Korah’s rebellion to influence us also. The church – the called out ones – is to be different from the world. Yet we too often take on the identity of the world and joined in rebellious activities that cause us to act against our brothers and sisters.

I am thankful for Christians who take to heart Jesus’ blessing to those who are “peacemakers”. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for the shall be called sons of God” (Matt 5:9).

Peacemakers often sacrifice a great deal in the process. To bring us back into communion with Himself, God sacrificed His son Jesus who “For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). The Son of God gave himself so that we may join in His resurrection and becomes sons of God. To overcome agents of chaos, we often must be willing to lay ourselves on the line but the times have brought about a selfish generation. A generation that thinks “me, myself, and I”. Unwilling to make any significant sacrifice for the benefit of others if it means being inconvenienced.

God gave governments authority in order that they should restrain evil and keep peace. However, our governments have become the agents of chaos. They sow seeds of distrust among its people and among the nations. The people inside the governments of the world act out of pure self-interest and plots agendas that creates personal wealth, even well beyond their terms. We, the people; we the church often become unwitting members of the plots because our emotions are driven by the very spirit behind their corrupting influences.

Where are our peacemakers? Where are the godly men and women whose motivation is the will of God? Why does it seem as though I have to squint my eyes to see a righteous person who does not act as an unwitting agent in the spreading of chaos? We must guard against being agents of chaos and not let the spirit behind Korah’s rebellion take hold of us. We must recognize the authority given by God and whether those entrusted with such an awesome responsibility are executing their office faithfully. Where unrighteousness reigns we must take up the full armor and engage but we must be careful that we do not wrestle with God.

Where do we begin?……….Well, I would suggest within!