Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts.

Isaiah 1:23, NIV (1978)

When I was a kid, we played cops and robbers. During that era - before everybody was "breaking bad" - we all wanted to be the cops because we knew that they were good and that the robbers were evil. Since that was the case, you would have to switch roles every once and a while so everybody had a chance to be the good guy. When I was a kid, the good guy always won. Furthermore, even a child knew in his heart that this was the way it should be.

Fast forward to our modern times. In recent news have come a flood of incidents that reveal a different story than the good guys have been accustomed too. Many of these stories involve accounts of how officials in positions of power are preventing voter identification laws. Why? Doesn't it make sense to make absolutely sure in one of the most sacred functions of society that we know a person has the legal right to be voting? In a society that demands I.D. to come into certain types of movies, to purchase certain types of products, to operate a motor vehicle and even to attend a big political rally or fly on an airplane, why wouldn't we require an I.D. for voting? The arguments against requiring an I.D. to vote are intellectually weak to say the least, but they are being made all the same and judges and politicians are upholding the "right" for people to vote without proving they have that right in the first place.

That's bad enough and is certainly serious enough to call into question the legitimacy of our modern elections, but it hasn't stopped here. Recently in the news we learned that the State of Alabama was being sued by the Justice Department of the United States of America for removing the names of illegal aliens from the voting registers. Let that sink in for a moment: The chief law enforcement agency of our nation is attempting to force a state to knowingly assist criminals in performing an illegal act. And, since so many of our federal judges are in their positions through political appointments - placed there by politicians to do their bidding instead of to maintain justice, it is likely that some federal judge along the line will uphold the Justice Department's illegal act.

So, what's the big deal, you might be wondering. It's just this: The cops have become the robbers. 

When this happens, you no longer have a rule of law that is enforced in a fair and unbiased manner. And, without a rule of law, you no longer have the basis for a nation to be a nation. 

This was happening in Isaiah's time. As was stated in the passage above, the rulers had become rebels - they were quite literally companions of thieves! Their cops had become robbers, and as a result, God was about to take away their right to be a nation. He was sending the prophet Isaiah to warn them that they had to repent and that their time to do so was running out. The punishment for tolerating the corruption of their leaders was going to be severe, so they had better listen to God and take care of their situation before God had no other choice but to intervene. The thing that should sober our thinking about our modern times is that the people of that time did not take God's warning seriously, and most of the nation was destroyed in a punishment that is almost too horrible to describe. 

Now, I am no prophet, but it shouldn't take a prophet to make this observation: When the cops become the robbers, the innocent people have only a short time to remove that corruption from their midst. And, if we are honest, we will have to admit that we have tolerated the cops being the robbers for far too long now. And I'm not talking about our police when I use the word "cop" in this analogy, for most of our policeman and sheriffs are doing their jobs when those above them will allow it. No, the "cops" I am talking about exist at many state and most federal levels, and they are out of control. If we are wise, we will start doing something about it right now.

But what can we do? What happens when our avenue of voting to enact change has been compromised? Well, the first thing we need to do is pray. The next thing we need to do is contact our representatives - it might just be that there a still a few who have not gone over to the other side. The final "thing" we can do is "the right thing"? You might be wondering what that "right thing" is, but our kids know. We knew what the right thing to do was when we were young. When the cop became the robber, you stopped playing the game. It is time, I believe, for us to stop playing games and start insisting that the corruption comes to an end. It won't be easy, but as the Israelites found out many years ago, if we do not do something, then God will. And I doubt very seriously that we will find that His way of taking care of the sin that we were responsible for will be something that many of us can bear.

I know that this article is not a "fun" one today, but it isn't intended to be. Christians have been silent for too long, and the bill for that silence is coming due - right now! Our nation's chief law enforcement agency really did just file a lawsuit to force a state to aid and abet criminal activity. This is but one instance of their crossing that line between being a cop and being a robber in recent years. The cop really has become the robber. This happened in Germany in the 1930's and it resulted in a world war in the 1940's. Do you think it will end up any better for we in our modern times... if we do nothing?

The good news is still that we are going to Heaven if we choose to obey God's terms. Let's make sure that our children have the same opportunity to make that same choice. It won't be easy - the easy ship left the harbor long ago. But we have it to do, so let's get started. We can start where God has always required His children begin: With repentance and prayer.