October 24, 2018
Psalm 46:6-11 …“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.” vs. 9
Often we think of the God of the Hebrews as being a warmonger, one who brings devastation and ruin through force of arms. At the very least, their God is portrayed as urging the people to do battle against their enemies and to wipe them out completely. But that’s not the picture we see here! Instead, the psalmist says that God makes wars cease to the end of the earth by destroying all weapons. He clearly implies that God is not a fan of war, but instead acts powerfully to bring warfare to an end. If that’s the case, it means war is a purely human endeavor and is not a part of the divine intention for our world. It really is sad to see how devastating our love of war is for our planet. Tens of millions of people live in refugee camps all over the world, forced from their homes by never-ending armed conflicts. Countries spend trillions of dollars to build devastating war machines and maintain ever-vigilant armies. Weapons have become increasingly sophisticated and deadly. And none of this is the will of God! How sad it is to see followers of Jesus climbing on the bandwagon in support of bigger and better bombs. Perhaps, someday, this madness will come to an end! May God act quickly to make war obsolete!
Thought for the Day: Why do we love war so much?
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