The Bible provides a good working definition of anarchy. As the people of God dwelt in the land that they had been promised, they forgot God and because of that they were overcome by their enemies. When they cried to God for deliverance he raised up Judges that would lead them against their adversaries and point them back in the direction of the Lord. As the book of Judges comes to a close we read, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21.25). God was the leadership of the nation but the people continued to neglect the Lord in spite of the fact that they had suffered the negative consequences of such actions. Anarchy is defined above as being that state in which everyone did what they wanted to do without thought of the consequences, the impact on others, or the impact on future generations.
During Jeremiah's day, the kingdom had digressed into a state similar to that seen periodically in the book of Judges. As God sent Jeremiah to warn the people of the things that were to come upon them if they did not repent, they responded in much the same manner as seen above. Finally the land was destroyed and all those who could work or be otherwise put into service were carried away into Babylon. Those who were left were then told by God that they were not to go to Egypt. They were to stay in the land (Jeremiah 42.19). Rather than listen to the voice of the prophet and the commands of God they continued on in their own way. Jeremiah warned them, "Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn." (Jer 42.22). This warning comes after they had asked Jeremiah to pray and inquire of God on their behalf (Jer 42.20) and then chose to disobey what God had stated to them.
As the Hebrews went to Egypt they began to worship the gods of the land and to sin against God. When confronted by Jeremiah they again responded in a way that speaks of disorder and chaos. "But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil." (Jer 44.17). Note the lack of reality in their statement. They have been overcome in their own land, as God had warned, they had lost their nation and they have now violated the word of the Lord in that they have gone to Egypt which they were told not to do. Now note another insane observation that they make. "But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine." (Jer 44.18). The statement here is interesting because they have failed to really heed the warning that the prophets, all of them, had been giving. The fact is that once they had progressed to a certain point they had no choice but to face the consequences of their actions. Jeremiah tells them this and reminds them of their own negligence toward God. "Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day." (Jer 44.23).
There are several characteristics of anarchy that we can see. We can also see how these are alive and well in the world around us. The first of these is that anarchists believe that they have the answer for the "woes" of the world in the absence of personal experience or knowledge. There are many who just "know" how things ought to be and I often wonder where they acquired this knowledge. The second thing is that the anarchist denies the reality of the situation that they are living in. There is often a concerted denial of the fact that there is no evidence that things will be better when all of those troublesome ideas, like Christianity, are no longer able to "repress" and rob people of reaching their "potential". Thirdly, there is no concern for the impact of what they are doing on those around them who may just happen to disagree, or others who may be following them blindly. Fourth is that fact they are ignorant of the history of their ideas. Many of the ideas that oppose God are simply restatement of older thoughts that simply end in the destruction of individuals and societies when order and respect for the principals that God has established are abandoned. God has given us a book filled with the stories of the lives of those who were unfaithful, and faithful, to Him. In the reading of those lives there is wisdom in seeing what attitudes will not work. As the Jews of Jeremiah's day have shown us, their nation was in ruins, they had continued to sin against God and they just could not figure out what went wrong and were really blaming God. As God spoke to them He gave us a way to tell if we are on the right track or not. "Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. (Jer 44.27-28). Anarchy is the willingness to ignore and deny reality while that same reality manifests itself all around. The final word, as stated above will that which stands the test of time. So far, the word of God has stood that test, surviving in spite of hate, evil, opposition and every other negative thing that could stand against it. It is time to pay attention the lessons that have been preserved in the scriptures. It is time to realize that it is not just a book and that the future of our eternal souls depends on it. The words of Bildad the Shuhite serve as good advice on this matter. "For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? (Job 8.8-10)
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