"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is that it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." - White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel
Last year I began reading the book Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg. It was one of the most educating, eye-opening books I've read in a long time. It traces the history of liberals (or progressives) in American politics back to the early 20th century, and their alarming similarities to Hitler and Mussolini. After reading this book, I have been able to see so much deeper into the acts and words of liberal politicians today, like Obama, Pelosi, and other leading Democrats.
So, in my Read the Bible in 90 Days challenge, I read the book of Genesis in 4 days. As I was reading about Joseph's life in Egypt in Genesis chapter 47, I was reminded of the above quote by Rahm Emmanuel.
Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us your bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed."
Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone." So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
When that year had ended, they came to him next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes; both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.
Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. Only the land of the Priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.
So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." - Genesis 47:13-25
Even though there was a plan in place for the famine, as the 7 years went on, the people suddenly had no means to purchase the grain that had been stored. Pharaoh had all the money. Next he took all the livestock. Last, he took all the land. Now Pharaoh owns everything; in fact, he owns the people. Now they all work for him.
Famine is certainly a crisis, and Pharaoh used it to his benefit. (It's interesting to note in verse 25 the people were the servants of Pharaoh, not Joseph.)
How does this apply to what Rahm Emmanuel said last year, or to America's situation today?
1. We have a strongly-socialist minded President and Democratic Congress in power right now. They love socialism. Many socialist/communist thinking people have been appointed to cabinet positions in the first year of Obama's presidency.
2. The stimulus bill, Cap and Trade, and Health Care Reform all take power out of the hands of the people and give it to the government; echoes of the Egyptians praising Pharaoh and saying "we are your servants because you have saved our lives" are very disturbing in this light.
The value of our dollar is plummeting. We face terror threats constantly. We are dependent on foreign oil. Unemployment is up. Morality is down. Our nation is teetering on the brink of a catastrophe, and we have politicians in place who are just rubbing their hands together in anticipation of 'fundamentally changing the United States of America.'
I encourage everyone to read Liberal Fascism. It will change the way you listen to the news and view today's politics.
And pray; for our citizens, our families, our government, and for the peace of Jerusalem.