Proverbs 24:11-12 Wise Words #25
God calls us to reach beyond me, my four, and no more. Be alert to what is happening in the world around you and be willing to act to protect those in danger.
When reading this passage, the very first thing that came to my mind is the Holocaust. I’m pretty sure everyone knows the events that I am speaking of. But what boggles the mind is hearing some people say it never happened; it was made up. I have traveled to the remains of some of the most horrific ‘torture chambers’ imaginable. These were most certainly occupied by those their jailers thought deplorable, disposable, and disgusting. The inhabitants were Jews from all walks of life, those found hiding the Jews, and those who dared to speak up for those “being taken away to death”.
In the days of World War II, information was not always reliable and didn’t always reach everyone. Those in the United States of America had no idea the depths the Nazi party had sunk to. Soldiers became intimately familiar with the tactics but that information didn’t flow freely back to the masses on the other side of the ocean. As a result, many didn’t know of the wholesale slaughter of the remnant of the Children of God. They knew things were difficult but knew little of the deeper ideology driving it.
In Germany, Austria, Russia, Poland and several countries surrounding them, the truth was known. The ghettos of Warsaw and other such places constructed to ‘house’ the Jews heard the stories and took action. Some of it protective and others destructive. Fear ruled supreme in every corner. But MANY people followed the Wise Words of today, even in the face of death.
Neighbors hid neighbors, families pretended a Jewish child was their own. Whatever it took to keep even a few lives from being taken.
Today, it would be nearly impossible for such atrocities to go unnoticed. Cell phones, cameras on every corner, and the internet make keeping secrets a MAJOR challenge. The war in Ukraine is a perfect example of this. But KNOWING about threats to life and doing something about are two different matters. If they came today for my neighbor, simply because his ideology was different, would I stand by? Would you?
I’m famous for being uninformed politically. I’m also a skeptic when it comes to what is on the internet. The news media doesn’t even have my trust. Would I really know if something drastic happened? Probably, because my children keep me apprised of important changes going on. They would surely warn me.
Giving this question time to sit in our hearts, I’m reminded of two different quotes. 1) “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything”, and 2) is a poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
If we remain silent when we see others in danger, we will have no one to look out for us when we are threatened.
The second part of our text tells us that GOD KNOWS our hearts. If we purposefully close our eyes to the plight of our fellow man, we WILL be judged for it. In Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, those who passed by on the other side, would be in danger of this. When they appeared before God, He will say, “Depart from me for I don’t know you,” Even though they were religious leaders in Israel, their heats were NOT connected to His. They had ‘lip service only. What are you (am I) willing to risk to save someone we know is being mistreated? What are we willing to risk NOT rendering aid?!
Father God, You know my heart. I love people and help wherever I can. But I don’t go out looking for those in trouble. I also don’t spend any time listening to news; local, national, or world. I trust that when a time arises that YOU would have me stand, YOU will let me know! Open my eyes Father in that time to see the WHOLE truth and what I can do. Keep working with me on instantly recognizing Your voice. I’m always afraid I’m the one speaking instead of You; my ideas and imaginations.
Thanks for telling me right now that sometimes that is exactly how You speak to Your children; by putting something in their hearts that they can’t walk away from. I’m open Father. Use me as You would.
