I was studying Psalm 2 this morning - and this reflection seemed worthy of posting on my blog. The more things change - the more they stay the same....
Psalm 2:1-3
1 Why this uproar among the nations,
this impotent muttering of the peoples?*
2 Kings of the earth take up position,
princes plot together
against Yahweh and his anointed,*
3 ‘Now let us break their fetters!
Now let us throw off their bonds!’*
So, this is a 30,000-foot view – of this text…..
You’re looking at all the nations, and what you see is a war machine.
This psalm originates from a time in human history when the war machine, or Empire Nations, was first invented.
The Assyrian Empire, specifically around the 8th century, from the 9th to the 8th century BC, was the first super-organized military-industrial complex. The Babylonian Empire that followed them in the 6th and 5th centuries was modeled after it. Similarly, the Persian Empire, which later included Alexander the Great, also imitated the Assyrian military style.
Therefore, this was the first imperial age, at least in that part of the world.
The assumed picture here is that we know what nations do:
They organize the military-industrial complex, conquer territories that don’t belong to them, rape and pillage, take all their possessions, and then leave a heavy tax burden behind for the people who remain.
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