FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP=ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
You have likely been one of those wondering, “Why in all the world is Russia carrying on the atrocious war against Ukraine at this time? What have the people of Ukraine done to Russia to merit such violent actions? Why, after taking Crimea and fighting the people of the eastern region around Dumbas, Luhansk, Donetsk and Mariupol, etc., for more than eight years, is Russia still fighting? What does President Putin want?
The argument forwarded is that the Kremlin has identified the eastern region as a Russian-speaking part of Ukraine that is more Russian than Ukrainian. Or is it what has been reported that President Putin has repeatedly made the unfounded accusation that Ukraine has carried out genocide in the east, and he is there to seek justice and create peace.
Almost two-thirds of the eastern regions were in Ukrainian hands when the war began. The rest was run by Russian proxies, who created Moscow-backed statelets during the eight years of skirmishes. Before the war, President Putin recognized two eastern regions as independent of Ukraine. It is being argued that if Russia were to conquer the eastern region, it would give Vladimir Putin a great opportunity to negotiate the end of the war and take over as he did in Crimea after a discredited referendum in 2014.
Yes, President Putin might seem strange in his ambition, but we need not think of him so strange since history is filled with the records of land grabbers, just like Putin. Think of all the colonial powers.
I asked one of my neighbors which of the African countries he is from, and he said Guinea. I knew of three Guineas, but when I asked, he said, “there are four Guineas, German Guinea, Spanish Guinea, French Guinea, and/or Portuguese Guinea. After their independence from their colonial powers in Europe,” he notes, “French Guinea became Guinea, Spanish Guinea became Equatorial Guinea, and Portuguese Guinea became Guinea-Bissau. However, German Guinea dropped the Guinea part of the name to become Cameron and Togo.”
Yes, my neighbor still insists that there are four Guineas. The information he gave was insightful, giving me a full history lesson. That pushed me to do more research to find an interesting fact. I was born on a colonized island, and I remember people calling a British coin “guinea.” I did not know that the gold used to make the coin came from Guinea; that, of course, was before all of the divisions.
People have been coveting other peoples’ lands even from Biblical times. Remember how King Ahab of Samaria coveted his neighbor’s vineyard? Do you remember how he sulked and refused to eat because he did not know how to get the vineyard when Naboth, the owner, turned down his request? But when his wife Jezebel saw him sulking, she told him to “snap” out of it.
Then she reminded him that he was the king and had the right to take any property he wanted. Therefore, Jezebel came up with a conspiracy that led to Naboth’s death. Then, with Naboth out of the way, Jezebel encouraged Ahab to take control of the vineyard. Remember how Prophet Elijah confronted Ahab about his conspiratorial action? Read the full story in 1 Kings 21.
Of course, Biblical history is also filled with men who have coveted other people’s wives. Read about Abraham, how the Pharaoh king of Egypt tried to take away his wife. (Genesis 12:10-20). The same thing happened when Abraham went to Gerar. Abimelech tried to take his wife (Genesis 20:1-16). And the same thing happened to Isaac, Abraham’s son when he went to Gerar with Rebecca. Abimelech tried to take his wife (Genesis 26). Because of the power positions of the kings, Abraham and Isaac, fearing for their lives, told lies that their wives were their sisters.
While many excuses have been offered for land and property grabs or for the lustfulness that has led to taking people’s spouses, one word truly describes the meanness of the actions, namely “covetousness.” As is said, “Covetousness is marked by an inordinate – or excessive desire for wealth or property, or for possessions that belong to others.” The last of the Ten Commandments, as sighted in Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (NKJV), warns in very broad terms of the sin of covetousness.
In other places in Scripture, it is clear that it is not as obvious as other sins. It begins in the mind and the heart and then comes to the fore in various actions that can be shrewd or visibly vicious. While other depravities are rebuked, covetousness is left to fester until it blossoms into the worst form of idolatry in the soul.
Within our contemporary cultural contexts, efforts are being made to sanitize covetousness and make it acceptable. Our marketers and advertisers know how to use it in their trades, but however it is done, it is a curse most destructive to the soul.
In effect, if there is one corruption that we need to get rid of from our souls, it is that of covetousness. Therefore, we need to constantly remind ourselves that covetousness is at the root of all sins, and therefore we need to do all we can to get rid of it. But, of course, despite our greatest efforts, we cannot get rid of covetousness by ourselves, so we need to seek the help of God to jettison it from our lives.
The instruction in 2 Timothy 2:22 is pertinent here, “Flee also youthful lusts (another word for covetousness); but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Of course, lust or covetousness is not just a problem for youth but is evident in the character of all who have not given themselves wholly and truly to God. It comes from a heart of self-centeredness; and we need to ask God to help us get rid of it, because it is the most destructive of all curses that can be in any heart. Only a heart transformed by grace can live above the lustfulness of life.
