Camels Charging:

Beyond knowing that what is going on is incredibly dangerous, not just for them, but for those of us in lands far away, I don't understand a great deal about what is going on in Cairo. Would I be content to live under President Mubarak's authoritarian rule? Probably not. Are freedoms in Egypt greater than in many other Muslim nations? I think simply looking at the news videos and seeing how Egyptians, especially the women, are dressed, indicates that the answer is "Yes." If Mr. Mubarak and his cabinet become permanent guests of King Saud is it likely that Egypt will become a less stable place? I think without a doubt. Is it unfortunate that the US and much of the rest of the Western World is so dependent on the oil that moves through the Suez Canal? Yes, but even if we had the will to change that, it would take a while to fix it. Should the affairs of the Egyptians primarily be the concern of the Egyptians? Well, yes, but that hasn't been entirely the case for some time now.

Anyhow, seeing fighters mounted on camels charging into the fray in Cairo reminded me that these are not new problems. We've been dealing with oppressive leaders and dissatisfied citizens for millennia. In Samuel's time Israel wanted a king, they got Saul. David hadn't paid attention to his public image, so the public fell for the well-coiffed Absalom's campaign ads. Jehu provided the Old-Testament equivalent of making the trains run on time, so the people loved him--at least for a time.

We ought to do what we can to have the best government that we can, knowing that often we can't do much. We can't assume, though, that the "voice of the people" is always right. In addition to the examples above I offer one more. Two-thousand years ago some folk got off their camels and entered a public square just up the road from Egypt. They cried, "We have no king but Caesar!" and demanded the crucifixion of their rightful sovereign.

Ultimately our dependence cannot be on camels, horses, tanks, or stealth bombers. (Psalm 20:7) Rather our ultimate hope must be in the Lord. (Look at Romans 8:25 in context.) Since that needs to be the hope of the rest of the world as well, we need to wrap the news in prayer. I may not know what the President should do, but that is certainly what I ought to do. Look at 1 Timothy 2:1-8 for some ideas on how to do that.

It's STTA.