Alex CevallosYes. Joseph, Daniel, and Jesus were are Jews who lived under an empire. Joseph lived under Pharaoh in Egypt, Daniel lived under the King of Ancient Babylon, and Jesus lived under the Roman empire. Each of these men were watched closely by the Ancient Empires.
Something the account of Joseph teaches me is that God cares about the fate of the world. He gave Joseph a vision that there would be a famine and use Joseph to come up with a way to preserve food and ration it for the people of the Near East to survive a decade. If Joseph were alive today he would be given a Noble Prize in Economics for this incredible achievement. These kinds of circumstances are all around us and if we, American Christians, rely on God’s divine wisdom like Joseph did we can offer solutions to the Near East.
Daniel. The young and intellectual Hebrew who was enslaved by the King of Ancient Babylon. Daniel was forced to master the law of the Chaldean’s. God blessed Daniel with knowledge and intelligence in the ways of the Chaldean’s. If you read Daniel, he never says, I was intelligent and knowledgeable but rather he says God gave him knowledge and intelligence. Daniel teaches us an important ability when engaging with another peoples culture and laws. If you are going to learn another peoples culture and laws you must do so with excellence. Daniel was so excellent in abiding by the law Babylon that his enemies trick the King to enact a law forbidding Daniel from praying to the God of Israel.
Jesus. A Jewish man who lived along the Sea of Galilee under the strict watch of Roman forces. One person asked Jesus, “Should we pay taxes to Rome?” Jesus answered, “Give to Cesar what belongs to Cesar and give to God what belongs to God.” Here Jesus is teaching us to honor the government. He is also teaching us that it is ok to engage with foreign nations that do not believe in the God of Israel. Although the Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Sumeria, and the coast of the Galilee were all Roman citizens Jesus reminded them that his kingdom is not of this world. This means kingdoms/nations come and go but only the kingdom of heaven is eternal. This sentiment is found in Daniel’s vision when he says that the Kingdom on earth will be destroyed by the Kingdom of heaven.
Not only do I consciously or subconsciously use my faith to examine foreign policy I think I MUST use my faith when examining foreign policy.
