The Pastor Who Watched the Idols Fall

In December 1989, Romanian pastor László Tőkés refused to be silenced. For years, Nicolae Ceaușescu had demanded near-worship from his people — giant portraits hung in every public building, state propaganda declared him the savior of the nation, and secret police crushed anyone who dared dissent. Tőkés, a Reformed minister in Timișoara, had spoken out against the regime's persecution of his congregation. When authorities ordered his eviction, his parishioners formed a human chain around his church.

That small act of defiance became a wildfire. Within days, hundreds of thousands filled the streets of Bucharest. Ceaușescu stepped onto his palace balcony expecting the usual orchestrated applause. Instead, he heard something that visibly shook him — the roar of a people who would no longer bow. Four days later, his regime collapsed entirely. The colossal portraits were torn down. The cult of personality crumbled like wax.

Psalm 97 declares that the mountains melt like wax before the Lord of all the earth, and that all who worship images are put to shame. Tőkés and his congregation witnessed this ancient truth in their own lifetime. No regime built on false worship endures forever. The Almighty reigns, and every idol — whether carved from stone or propped up by propaganda — eventually falls before His righteousness. Light dawns for the faithful who refuse to kneel to anything less than God Himself.