Something you may not know about me is that I thoroughly enjoy reading Russian literature, especially stuff that was written in the 19th century. There’s an honesty with the human condition that I find refreshing. Here recently I was taking in Nikolai Gogol’s, “Dead Souls”. Now, if that doesn’t sound lighthearted and fun I’m not sure what would.
In this novel Gogol is highlighting for the reader the rampant and endemic corruption in the government of the Czar, especially when it comes to the way serfs are treated. Without giving too much away the main character of the book is going from landowner to landowner buying the names of serfs who had died, but who had not been reported dead on the census. He does this so that he can pretend to be a rich nobleman. All the privilege without any of the work. The total absurdity of it is meant to highlight how little the Russian government cared about the very people they were charged with protecting. It was this kind of thing that led the Communist Party to gain power. The poor (the so-called Proletariat) had so little hope in the leaders that were supposed to provide for their wellbeing that they were willing to throw their lot in with unstable and vicious men, who had at least a plan to deal with their troubles. Now, we all know that after millions and millions of them had died they learned the hard way that it wasn’t the wisest thing to go with the Reds. A real truth is that in times of trial people will seek out any solution that seems plausible and aren’t likely to think through the long-term realities and gauge whether or not it is wise to take that road.
One such example we have in the Bible is with the otherwise good King Hezekiah. In Isaiah 30 we hear the prophet condemn Judah because in fear of the Assyrians they had at first reached out to Egypt for help. The people of God had seen the Northern Kingdom fall. It had not taken long for Sennacherib to lay waste to the cities of Hoshea. So when he sought to do the same to the Southerners they panicked. Instead of calling out to the LORD, the one who could actually help them, those in authority sought the assistance of their old enemy. Part of the problem here was that Egypt was not Egypt anymore. It would be like getting in a fight in 2022 and asking George Foreman to come help. Yeah, he was without a doubt a fearsome boxer in his day, but he’s 73. That’s not going to be a lot of help in a scrap. And Egypt wasn’t much help either. One of the things we are meant to learn from this encounter is that it is easy for us to walk by sight and not by faith, especially when we are confronted by difficult and seemingly impossible situations.
Reacting in haste never ends well. It is one of the reasons why it is so vital for the Christian to be actively involved in daily preparation for the soul’s strength. The means of God’s grace in prayer, Bible reading, fellowship, and private/family worship all work together to give us the muscle memory to remember our help in ages past, and our true help in the days to come. One of the things we can do as we enter into the new year is to recommit ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities we are given by Christ and His Church to do this work together as a family built on love and truth.