Evil Prospers when...

Lesson Outline

• A Call To Protect Life (Proverbs 24:11)
• A Warning Against Inaction (Proverbs 24:10,12)
• An Example Set (Mark 10:46-49)

Modern Evil Dictators

Hitler was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to his death in 1945, becoming Germany’s Fuhrer. Before he gained power, he wanted to be an artist, but he failed. Then he decided that he wanted to be a member of the German army, he became solder in World War I. When the German army surrendered, Hitler escaped and returned to Germany. He believed that Germany lost because they had surrendered, and it made him bitter. He then turned his attention to the Jews. He believed that the Jews were the cause Germany’s problems and he also believed that the Jews did not count as human beings. His plans were to eliminate every Jew in Europe and to gain world control.

Saddam Hussein was widely condemned for the brutality of his dictatorship. The total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddam's government in various purges and genocides is unknown, but the lowest estimate is 250,000.

Pyongyang has staged 64 public executions in the first nine months of 2016, Kyodo News agency reported on Thursday. That figure is up from August, when the number of people publicly executed was 60, according to a source on North Korea. Public executions are used as a means of controlling the population, as North Korea continues to require volunteer labor for state infrastructure projects. The total count has doubled in 2016.

The changes indicate North Korea is no longer holding back despite international condemnations of its human rights record. Policy shifts may have occurred after the United Nations Security Council imposed tougher sanctions in March, according to Seoul intelligence.

Amin was dictator of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin charmed and promised the world that he would bring peace and democracy to the people of his country. Instead he turned Uganda into a poverty-stricken land patrolled by death squads. Amin was possibly the most brutal and merciless dictator of all time. His rule was characterized by human rights abuses, ethnic persecution, political repression, massacres and the expulsion of 80,000 Asians from Uganda. Amin pitted his people and executed hundreds of thousands of his people. Amin was probably the most sadistic dictator in the 20th century.

First Thoughts

A Call To Protect Life (Proverbs 24:11)

What factors could contribute to good people remaining silent, indifferent, and inactive in the face of social, military, or social upheaval?

Evil Prospers when...

• We have a moral obligation to protect the lives of innocent and oppressed people.
• "taken off to death" and "stumbling toward slaughter" conjures pictures of inhumane killing.

...Good men do nothing!

A Warning Against Inaction (Proverbs 24:10,12)

• "Do Nothing" is a translation from the Hebrew that means...a lazy person...or slackness in duties.
• It further says "in difficult times" as in pressing or closing in on.
• To ignore or "do nothing" when others are being persecuted is weakness. It could be taken further to say God limits us, when we ignore the suffering of others.
• vs.12 claiming ignorance is dangerous.
• Mistreatment of orphans and widows was common in Israel and they often had no one to advocate for them.
• How can inaction be as serious as wrong action?

Value ALL

Going back to what Proverbs said, "doing nothing in a difficult time.", Jesus modeled for us...don't just sit there and do nothing!

An Example Set (Mark 10:46-49)

• "Blind Bartimaeus" people are often identified by their infirmaries.
• Illness was often seen as being the result of sin. So many who were sick would be considered as "getting what they deserved."
• Begging for mercy...this man who made a living begging began to cry out to Jesus for healing.
• Others told him to be quiet!
• Why was Jesus' stopping to respond to Bartimaeus so different?
• What lesson can we take away from this?

Value All

Jesus values ALL people.