The People Doth Protest

Last December, while reading through a magazine article full of predictions for the coming year, I don’t recall any of the prognosticators foreseeing the political protests and civil unrest that has unfolded across the world these last two months. Of course, no one can anticipate every possible future event, but it seems that many of the persistent demonstrations – and the success of them – have caught some world leaders by surprise. A populist uprising in Tunisia deposed the authoritarian President, Abidine ben Ali, who had ruled for 24 years. In Egypt, protests against President Mubarak’s system of governance eventually resulted in his resignation. Neighbor to Tunisia and Egypt, Libya has descended into civil war, a tragic development of demonstrations against Colonel Gaddafi. Elsewhere in the world, protests – and rumors of protests – are under way in such places as Bahrain, Yemen, Djibouti, Iran, and China. In Wisconsin even, state employees are vehemently protesting proposed changes to their benefits and employment agreements.

It was against this backdrop – this apparent spirit of intransigence sweeping the globe – that I read recently of the events in Numbers 16 commonly called “Korah’s Rebellion.” But before Korah and his fellow protestors enter the scene, there is an intriguing account of a man caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. The man was taken into custody and, after word came down from above, publicly executed. As I read through this account, I found myself coming to the man’s defense: So he was gathering wood. You’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath, but what if he had a good reason? What if his children were cold or he had just received some unexpected guests? I realized however, that although the man’s motives are not disclosed to us, God knew the man’s heart and the complete circumstances of the situation. Furthermore, Sabbath desecration was a capital offense (Ex 31:15), so although the punishment struck me as severe, God’s sense of justice – and love – dictated that it be the necessary outcome.

Perhaps we are given a hint into the man’s motives in the following verses. Immediately after the man’s execution, God instructs Moses to have the people wear tassels on their garments as a reminder of His commandments and that they “not follow after their own heart and their own eyes.” In fact, there are three reasons given: 1) to remember God’s commandments, 2) by remembering, to keep the commandments, and 3) to be holy. Indeed, the temptation to do what is right in our own eyes necessitates frequent reminders of what is right in God’s eyes.

Enter Korah and his comrades. In a scene reminiscent of some large-scale intervention, Korah and 250 national leaders confronted Moses about his perceived abuse of authority. He needn’t exalt himself, they argued, because “all the congregation are holy, every one of them.” Perhaps they thought the wood gathering man’s punishment was unnecessary. Perhaps their pride was wounded by having to wear those silly tassels on the corners of their garments. We don’t really know, except that their grievances mounted, and so they protested.

We all know the end of the story – Korah and his colleagues were consumed by the earth and Moses was vindicated. Their protests were in vain, and the voice of Moses retained as much, if not more, authority than before. May God save us from following in their footsteps and being so distracted by what we perceive to be injustices that we fail to remember God and keep His commandments.

So what should our posture be, in these days of discord and division? Consider the words of Jesus: blessed are the peacemakers. Note that no such blessing is reserved for those who protest, demonstrate, or overthrow governments. Certainly, there is a big difference between standing up for righteousness and mob-driven demonstrations, but personally, I don’t wish to have any part in the spirits of protestation and rebellion causing so many to rise up in various parts of the world. May each of us find the grace to view and respond to the situations we encounter in life from God’s perspective and therein find the means to be peacemakers instead of protesters.