Chapter 4: God’s Plan for Self-Government, Then and Now
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel…” (Benjamin Franklin)
In the last chapter, we talked about Noah, and Nimrod, and how the people got together to disobey God and build a centralized empire around their Tower of Babel.
Soon afterwards, God thwarted their ambitions and scattered the tribes, with the children of Japheth heading off toward the North, the children of Ham heading toward the South, and the children of Shem spreading out through the Middle East. Some people have even gone so far as to say that Noah himself–even before the Tower of Babel incident–headed East and founded ancient China.
The Book of Job–considered by many to be the oldest book of the Old Testament–seems to recall what had happened to Nimrod’s ancient empire:
“He (God) leads princes away plundered, and overthrows the mighty. He deprives the trusted ones of speech, and takes away the discernment of the elders… He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”
Job 12:19-20, 24-25
The point here is that man–us, we–no matter how smart we get, no matter how advanced we become–can never be smarter, or more powerful than God, and thankfully, He is good, and kind, and wants the best for us.
A case in point may be observed in the Book of Jonah.
The people of Nineveh (in the Neo-Assyrian Empire) had become cruel and ruthless, and were threatening the nation of Israel. So, God was not happy with them. So what did He do? Did He send down fire from heaven to consume them? No, instead, He sent a prophet–Jonah–to warn them. And this is what God said to Jonah about the city of Nineveh–which (coincidentally) had been part of Nimrod’s ancient empire:
“…Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
Jonah 4:11
Benjamin Franklin once said:
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel…”
Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention, 1787
But some people today are no longer impressed with the ideas of Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, or Plato and Aristotle:
“In a certain sense, then, today’s preschoolers are smarter than the greatest thinkers of the ancient world.”
Steve Stewart-Williams Ph.D., evolutionary psychologist and cultural evolutionist
This is the kind of thinking that leads people to say things like this:
“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
Barack Obama, campaign visit to Columbia, MO
Back in ancient times, God chose Noah to build the ark and save the human race, but only a couple of generations later, it is Noah’s grandson Nimrod–not Noah–who built the first empire and set himself up to lead it. Benjamin Franklin would have called that laboring in vain–in vanity–in the idea that Nimrod was smarter-better– than the people around him.
Elitism is defined as “the attitude or behavior of a person or group who regard themselves as belonging to an elite.” (Bing)
Why is elitism so prevalent? One source says:
“Abraham Lincoln’s dream of governance ‘by, of, and for the people’ has mutated into a deathless trope, emanating from megaphones in the hands of charlatans, philistines and fools.”
DAVID MASCIOTRA, SALON, OCTOBER 25, 2015
So how do these “elite” come to power?
We put them there.
My favorite president was James A. Garfield. And he once said:
“Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”
James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States, 1877
If the people who are running any particular area of our culture–whether it’s government, or media, or higher education, or whatever— have values that are different than ours, we have a responsibility–a duty–to do something to rectify the situation. If we don’t, we are accepting it. We are, in fact, saying “This is the type of culture I deserve.”
Is it?
We are very fortunate to live in the greatest republic–the freest democracy–that has ever existed throughout the history of the world. And we do not have to see it fall into ruin.
Let me leave you with this quote from Richard Maybury (the writer of the wonderful “Uncle Eric” series of books):
“Perhaps more than anything else, (we) should assume humans have the ability to overcome their problems and move forward… One of the most noteworthy characteristics of America’s founders is that they were aware of their own world, and indeed (that) their own characters and personalities, were not the best that humans could do. They worried about slavery, poverty, and war, and wanted something better. More importantly, they knew enough law and economics to believe something better was possible and they were working toward this goal.
“They were not utopians. They realized a perfect society is not possible. But they knew we could do much better and they were trying to create the legal environment that would enable this to happen…
“The belief that a better tomorrow is possible is absolutely essential not only for the rescue of our country but for the mental well-being of the individual. Young people need it desperately. However, we need to visualize this better future…”
Richard J. Maybury, from “What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This?” 1994
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