One minister serving in the government said to his followers to beat up officials who were not heeding to their grievances. Another said, we are ruling party, the officials and police should do all our bidding. Sadly, there are bureaucrats and police officials who do not uphold law, but uphold unrighteous desires of rulers and make them glad.
Hosea warned the Nation of Israel against such unrighteous acts. “By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery.” (Hosea 7:3) This kind of leadership affects a society or a nation in multiple ways. Instead of being practicians and promoters of truth, justice and righteousness, rulers and princes were promoting evil and treachery. Only righteousness exalts a nation. (Proverbs 14:34) Treachery replacing trust is dangerous to any society or nation.
1) Society: People deal falsely with one another. (Hosea 7:1) Integrity in individuals is not considered important. The atmosphere of mistrust leads to social disharmony, conflicts, hatred and violence. There will be atmosphere of fear, insecurity and immorality.
2) Law and Order: Thief breaks in and steals things. Locked houses, shops in the night or lonely travellers are looted. In modern times, locks, security measures, surveillance cameras…etc are not enough to restrain their nefarious activities. White-collar thieves could break in computer systems and mobile phones to hack, loot, steal data, information, private data and even business secrets.
3) Wickedness: Bandits raid outside. There is no social restraint or fear of security forces or fear consequences of evil awarded by the government. It is free run in the society. Might is right, sadly, that becomes the norm.
4) Misconception: They also think that God will not remember their evil (Hosea 7: 2). Or God will overlook their sins and wickedness. Strangely, some believe, they can please god as they pleased their king with treachery or trickery or bribery.
Only a community of believers could bring trust, integrity, love and peace in the society. Christian disciples are transformation agents.
Do I trust God and lead a trustworthy life?