The Natives are Restless

The phrase "the natives are restless" comes from a 1933 film, “The Island of Lost Souls.” According to the Oxford Dictionary, the phrase is used facetiously to mean trouble is brewing. But more pointedly, it denotes a collective hostility toward authority and control.

Last week, I suggested that the emerging global insurgency, captured by the Occupy Wall Street movement, is the spirit of lawlessness predicted by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2.  Since then, the media are referring to it as "unrest."  Indeed, restlessness pointedly depicts this phenomenon.

In the book of Job, Satan is introduced as a restless creature, “roaming about on the earth and walking around” (1:7). And he is introduced in the book of Genesis as one disturbing the peace and rest of Eden, provoking Eve to distraction. And then at the other end of the Bible, Peter compares Satan to a roaring lion, prowling about restlessly.

While I have deep respect for the constitutional right of dissent, I can’t help but think there is something else happening on our planet. Isaiah says, “those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt” (Is. 57:20).  Don't those words capture the current global mood?  Earth’s natives are restless!  But be careful not to get caught up in it.  Rather, hold on to the One who said “Come unto me… and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).