End of War
“‘“After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.”‘”
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 38:1-13 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
War, like death, is the fruit of the curse of sin. I’m reminded of this animated short called “A Brief Disagreement,” where two neanderthals start fighting over a shiny rock. Their fighting escalates and escalates into war and eventual nuclear annihilation. But even then, they can’t seem to make peace.
And so, because of the curse of sin, war is pretty much inevitable. But to acknowledge that reality really breaks my heart. Us humans work and work and work and struggle to make a better life for ourselves, but how is it that we can be so calloused and insensitive when it comes to the well-being of other peoples?
And it’s not simply that humans can be calloused and insensitive when it comes to the well-being of other peoples. Sometimes it seems like us humans even delight in destroying other peoples—all in the name of sovereignty or security.
War is the way of humanity, and so it is by war that the world as we know it will come to an end. And this text is a prophecy of that war. We find it in Revelation 20:7-9, as well. The enemies of God march against the people of God, but the enemy armies are eliminated in an instant. Then, no more war—no more death, no more sin, no more pain or sorrow.
Until then, God calls us to live to fill the earth with His glory in Jesus’s name through God-fearing, God-honoring, God-worshiping, God-loving communities and families—the church. To the best of my ability and understanding, according to God’s sovereign hand, that’s what I will do.
Father, You are good, and Your lovingkindness, mercy, and faithfulness endure forever. That we believe, even though we cannot understand the evil that exists in this world. We long for the day when You eradicate evil and we can live in peace and prosperity, as You have always intended. Let that day come soon. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
