Remembering!
Meditation for the week of May 27, 2012
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:6)
There are some things that I wish I could forget. My family and I made a trip to Gettysburg several years back and I wish I could forget what we saw and felt as we looked over one of the most famous battlegrounds in the Civil War. There was a sinister feeling to that place that even my children noticed. That was a place where Satan had worked his magic and many soldiers died. Relatives fought relatives. People who should have been friends ended up killing each other in that war. Gettysburg is a terrible thing to remember.
Obviously, while Gettysburg seems close and personal because the war was on US soil, all war is a testimonial to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. When Eve believed Satan’s lie that God was holding out on her and she would know true happiness if she ate the “forbidden fruit,” she set in motion the sorrows of men and women killing men and women from that time on. Her son Cain killed his brother Able. The earth was finally destroyed in the flood because of the violence on the earth.
That violence will continue until the end of this age. The disciples had wanted to know when the Lord was going to return to set up His kingdom and when the end of the age would occur. Apparently, the tribulation period that is described in this chapter is the end of the age after which the Lord comes to reign. That will be a brand new age. During that tribulation period there will be wars and rumors of wars that will be far worse than anything we have experienced thus far in the history of mankind. We have all heard of Armageddon. That war will be fought during this short period of seven years. Human beings will be intent on killing each other. And all of these wars will occur because of sin.
We like to remember the heroic feats of those who are willing to fight wars for us. Some make the ultimate sacrifice and give their lives. I wonder how many of those who have died end up in heaven and how many end up in hell. We know that only those who sins have been forgiven end up in heaven and that forgiveness comes about through faith in the death of Christ. But I suspect most of those who die in war have died unsaved. Satan is reaping his harvest in glee as soldiers and civilians by the millions have entered eternity unsaved as a result of war. Isn’t it sad that we need to defend ourselves and our country against others just like us that the Lord has created? The ones we fight have souls and families and are loved by God just as much as the soldiers that we send to fight them.
We are all thankful for those who have been willing to protect us and our country in war. But as we honor and memorialize them on Memorial Day weekend, we need to remember that we are remembering that sin is real and that Satan is real. Even as we remember the Lord on the Lord’s day with a cup of wine and a loaf of bread we are forced to remember that those who hated the Lord without a cause (John 15:25) were willing to murder Him because they envied Him (Matthew 27:18). Killing is in the nature of man because sin is the nature of man ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
I am glad that there is something better to remember than war and its depravity. King David could say:
Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth. (1 Chronicles 16:8-12)
Remembering His marvelous works and His wonders is so much better than remembering wars that certainly make heroes out of our soldiers but which remind us of the dreadful consequences of sin.
Bruce Collins