While listening to the senior pastor’s Sunday sermon on the theme of “God Almighty,” I deeply meditated on the passage from Ezekiel 37, in which God breathes life into dry bones to raise up a great army. God led the prophet Ezekiel to a valley filled with desolate bones and asked him, “Can these bones live?” In response, the prophet Ezekiel acknowledged the Creator’s absolute sovereignty and confessed, “O Lord God, you know.” As the prophet proclaimed God’s word in obedience to His command, a majestic miracle unfolded: the dry bones interlocked, tendons formed, flesh grew, and skin covered them. The biblical description was so concrete and vivid that the miracles and visions of that time seemed to unfold right before my eyes.
The pastor explained that the confession “God knows” is an expression of absolute faith—one that acknowledges human limitations while trusting in the possibilities of the all-knowing and all-powerful God. I imagined God’s holy breath (the breath of life) being breathed into the innermost being of people in an age that has lost its soul and discernment. This vision of dry bones—which symbolized the people of Judah who had been taken captive to Babylon and had lost all hope—is a solemn message that applies equally to South Korea today, as it stands amid the chaos of a shifting paradigm.
The recent domestic political situation has been nothing short of a series of upheavals. Following the former president’s declaration of martial law, many citizens took to the streets to prevent what would have been an unprecedented crisis in constitutional history; however, due to the rulings of the judiciary and the Constitutional Court, the harsh history of presidential impeachment was ultimately repeated. The major opposition bloc in the legislature is taking control of public discourse by flooding the airwaves with rhetoric designed to maximize public sensationalism, going beyond legal criticism. Yet even amid this turmoil, there are leaders who have set aside their own political and religious interests to raise their voices in the wilderness, calling for the protection of constitutional order and bringing allegations of electoral unfairness into the public sphere. In particular, the actions of veteran politicians—who, despite being snubbed by the mainstream media, have set aside their vested interests to pursue transparency in the election management system to the very end—and the spontaneous solidarity of young college students and citizens gathered around the Election Fraud Prevention Task Force (EFPTF) and the University of Freedom represent noteworthy changes. I, too, have completed the EFPTF’s educational program and taken my first steps in online and offline activities to safeguard the transparency of democracy, our society’s most precious value.
A dispassionate analysis of the current macro-political landscape reveals that, as the balance between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches tilts sharply toward a specific ideological camp, the continuity of the national system as a whole stands at a critical crossroads. Should a government with a specific ideological orientation take power in the future, there is a high likelihood that even the paradigms in diplomacy, national security, and defense will undergo a complete overhaul. The pressure to pass an anti-discrimination law containing provisions that many in the Christian community view as toxic, the control of individual freedoms under the pretext of public health and security, the deepening partisanship of major media outlets, and invisible sanctions against alternative media are all very real threats. Furthermore, the dumbing down of education and distortions in the asset market caused by excessive fiscal spending will ultimately lead to suffering for the middle class and ordinary citizens. Over the past few years, we have witnessed the gradual erosion of the nation’s foundation for self-reliance under the guise of welfare policies. However, because the pace of this change has been subtle and gradual, many people have failed to recognize the crisis. It is a tragic aspect of our society today that people, mired in spiritual apathy like dry bones in a valley, are barely getting by day to day, relying on stopgap financial aid or mere luck.
One day, on my way to an early morning prayer meeting, I saw a pack of cigarettes in a foreign language lying on the floor of my apartment building’s underground parking garage, and I felt a strange sense of alienation and alarm. It was a moment when I truly realized the cultural and human influence of a massive foreign power that has penetrated even the most intimate corners of our daily lives. In fact, a look at global platforms and the content market reveals that these concerns are far from unfounded. The entire stake in the developer of a major popular game (LOL)—which countless Korean teenagers are immersed in—is already owned by a Chinese tech giant (Tencent), and a subsidiary of that same company is also a major shareholder in the mobile messaging platform used by the entire nation. Furthermore, issues such as the system granting voting rights in local elections to foreign permanent residents who meet certain requirements, or the inflow of capital into land through loopholes in specific agricultural bills, require thorough reexamination from a national security perspective. As allegations of land purchases in key strategic locations and the installation of offshore structures in coastal waters come to light belatedly, and despite frequent massive data breaches involving personal information by major telecommunications companies, I observed the media and the public remaining silent without any sense of crisis—and once again, the image of the dry bones in the Bible overlapped with this reality.
However, as I read through the book of Ezekiel, my heart began to shift from mere skepticism and lamentation over reality to an anticipation of a dramatic turnaround. This is because, amid the ruthless dynamics of the international community, global leadership (the Trump administration) has begun to rein in certain foreign tech capital by placing it on a security regulation blacklist, and conscientious individuals from the media and public service sectors are joining the alternative education movement to participate in the campaign to restore constitutional order. Amid a series of declarations of conscience by faith-based entrepreneurs denouncing the macro-level harm caused by certain bills, it is also encouraging to see a presidential candidate—who has overcome complex political obstacles within the conservative camp and placed fairness and a sense of national identity at the forefront—garnering strong public support.
At a recent regional meeting of the Coalition Against Election Fraud that I attended, I was deeply moved to see a procession of young parents—unlike in the past—holding the hands of their young children. The nationwide screenings of an independent documentary film addressing the fairness of election administration, coupled with the emergence of international election monitoring efforts, bring to mind the prelude to the Incheon Landing Operation, which turned the tide of history. I trust that God will surely breathe holy life into this land, which is like dry bones. Today, too, I rise at dawn to go to the sanctuary, and as I earnestly pray that my fellow workers of faith will rise up together as a spiritual army to rebuild the fallen walls, I begin this day full of hope with vigor.
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