BY THE WAY
Pirates in Prophecy?
T
he Bahamas. The name evokes beaches, palm trees and fun in the sun. The massive cruise port in Nassau can disgorge 3.5 million tourists per year, to visit the historic capital and enjoy its attractions. Early in the 18th century, however, Nassau had a different distinction. It was a pirate republic, openly ruled by the most successful and infamous pirates of the day. The area around Nassau could shelter as many as 500 smaller ships of the kind the pirates preferred, but the waters were too shallow, and the navigation too intricate, to admit ships of the line, frontline warships. This prevented legitimate naval forces from entering Nassau harbor to stop the predation.
Pirate codes
A pirate museum in Nassau now tells the story of the rise and fall of the pirate republic. I was fascinated to learn that the only laws in the city were pirate codes to which the crews had to agree, to keep order, if not honor, among thieves. The codes limited drinking and gambling and forbade fighting among shipmates and bringing women on ships. Anyone not a pirate, however, had no such protection.
A long, sordid history
Pirates in prophecy?
Strange as it may seem, there is a prophecy about pirates in the Bible. It states that in the future, God Himself will put a stop to all such marauding. “Woe to you who plunder,” God warns (Isaiah 33:1). Verses 21-23 continue: “But there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will sail, nor majestic ships pass by (for the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us); your tackle is loosed, they could not strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail. Then the prey of great plunder is divided; the lame take the prey.” In Isaiah’s time, raiders sailed the Mediterranean, attacking ships, navigating up rivers to raid cities, plundering, kidnapping and murdering. This unusual prophecy promises that when the Kingdom of God is established, piracy, like all other forms of crime, will end. Rather than cutthroat pirate codes, the law of God’s love will rule in the minds and hearts of all people. —Joel Meeker @JoelMeeker
Photos: iStockphoto.com Back cover photos: iStockphoto.com
Because of sympathetic book and film representations, pirates are often viewed as mischievous heroes with
hearts of gold. But, in reality, they were cruel, violent plunderers—the ruin and death of many innocent people. Piracy, using ships to prey on weaker or defenseless people on land or sea, has a long history. On the stone walls of the temple at Medinet Habu on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, I saw carvings showing a massive pirate raid on the coast of Egypt, around 1200 B.C.! Some of those pirates, called the Sea People, may have later come to be known as the Philistines! Piracy is still a scourge along the west and east African coasts, in the South China Sea, and still, as long ago, in parts of the Caribbean. Scores of attacks are reported each year. As moral order breaks down in advance of the return of Christ, we can expect to see piracy of all sorts become a greater peril.
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