In an article entitled "Arabs Are Beginning to Miss the Dictatorships" Arab Muslim journalist Khaled Abu Toameh writes: "On the first anniversary of the Arab Spring, many Arabs are beginning to wonder whether they would soon start missing the corrupt dictators who ruled them for the past few decades.”
The Arab Spring was supposed to promote women's rights and political moderation. But, Khaled says, “judging from results in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, it is evident that the "Arab Spring" has failed to achieve any of these goals.” (Seems to me, their "Spring" has sprung a leak.)
Khaled says the 3 nations where dictators were toppled are now in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists who used "Arab Spring" to gain power. Khaled says the White House was warned the Muslim Brotherhood would hijack the democratic movement and impose radical Islam on the people.
The people of the world are watching these events to see if democracy will take root, as though that will bring about peace. The solution won't be found in any form of government. Not for the Arabs. Not for the U.S. We all await the final solution when Christ returns to rule the earth, when “the government will be upon His shoulder, and of the increase of peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
When the U.S. decided to help the citizens of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya overthrow their governments, I wondered how much thought was given to who would replace them. The ‘insurgents’ had no identifiable leaders; and the only thing uniting them was their shared hatred of totalitarianism. Now in Egypt, as internal fighting and power struggles begin, anarchy doesn't seem far off.
"Anarchy" (the state of lawlessness) is on the rise. And is it this spirit of lawlessness that seems to underly the current Occupy Wall Street unrest that has spread all across the U.S. and to every continent. Some are calling it “a new age insurrection, in which aggrieved people—enabled by social media and inspired by uprisings in North Africa and Europe—are uniting in opposition to what's wrong with the world." But what can protesters, who are only united by their common anger and resentment, hope to accomplish? Without leaders, goals, or solutions, isn’t it just mayhem and chaos?
How are we to discern these things? First, we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus warned that lawlessness would increase in the end times (Mat. 24:12). Second, we must not be enticed by the spirit of lawlessness and chaos which foretells the day of the Lord. (2 Thessalonians 2:4-11) We are witnessing an unprecedented increase in chaos and lawlessness in 2011 that is much more insidious than a local gathering on Wall Street.
I’ll bet you think I’m referring to yesterday’s surprise earthquake on the East Coast. But the idiom “shake up” could refer to any number of things going in the world today: nervous investors unable to trust a shaken stock market; the Congressional shake-up over the failed ‘debit increase’ negotiations; or the shaken lives of Texas farmers by the driest 10-month period in Texas since 1895. And we are still feeling the effects of the shaking up of Japan’s post-tsunami economy. And then there is the summer of discontent in the North African and Middle East countries. And these are but a few of the natural and political catastrophes that have our world all shook up.
To “shake up” means to jostle and toss someone or something back and forth. To “shake someone up” means to shock or upset someone. Oftentimes, a container of liquid needs to be shaken before it can be consumed or used. The idiom is also used in “shaking up” an organization—to make it more effective. But the term isn’t always negative: “shaking up” can be good for a dull relationship.
But one thing is certain. The God of the Universe (the One we are privileged to call our Father) is shaking up things, people, and nations. The reason earthquakes are frightening is that they shake the ground we stand on. What better reminder than yesterday’s startling East Coast quake that we should be standing on firm ground, “firmly rooted and built up in Him and established in our faith” (Col. 2:7), not forgetting God’s promise, "Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also. This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain…so we can receive a Kingdom that is unshakable" (Hebrews 12:26-28, edited).
