Nothing New Under the Sun

The city police were on edge. With tensions between citizens and the police so high, it made sense. After all, the greater the crowd, the greater the potential for chaos. As the crowds swarmed upon the city, chaos would come unlike anything the city had seen in years.

It all started with one innocent man. He was minding his own business when a group of agitators began to loudly accuse him before a crowd of people. They accused him of turning on his own race and abandoning his culture. What started as a peaceful gathering quickly turned into a riot, and mob violence quickly followed. People ran towards the innocent man and shoved him to the ground. People who didn’t even know him began punching, kicking, and spitting on his body as he lay in the fetal position on the ground.

Within minutes the local police force arrived and rescued the man from certain death. But just barely. And even their arrival could only stop the rioting for a few minutes before things got out of hand again.

The scene I’ve just described could have been a scene in any number of American cities over the past few weeks, but it’s not. This riot occurred nearly two thousand years ago when Paul the Apostle visited the city of Jerusalem. It's recorded in Acts 21-22. 

King Solomon, the wisest sinner who ever lived, wrote these words thousands of years ago: "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Yes, there is much that is unprecedented about these times in which we live. Yes, most of us have never experienced anything quite like 2020. But events like these are not unprecedented in world history. More importantly, every riot, every infection, every act of injustice, every evil is under the sovereign control of the God who works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:10-11).

Do your soul some good and trust Him today.