Remembrance Day

It is difficult to think about Remembrance Day without writing about it. I know that in the past I wrote about us, living with the Word of God saying, that we should not war against our brothers. You recall when the ten tribes broke from Rehoboam’s control, he was told to dismantle his army and not fight against his brethren because the split was God’s doing. But they continued to fight long after hearing God’s words. It seems we have an aversion to words from God, to our disadvantage!

I am now 81 years of age and I was a teenager in high school when World War 2 ended. I have watched the remembrance activities for years now and I remember two recent changes. Once that we created the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we dropped our poppies on it at the close of the remembrance activities. It was a nice touch. The other was not so nice in that the speakers were exorcized not to mention the name of “Jesus Christ” so that the ceremony would be inclusive! Now when I observe the ceremony, I listen carefully to see if some Christian is willing to expose himself and Jesus Christ by mentioning the forbidden name during the remembrance!

The ceremony finishes with the parade of various military units of veterans, soldiers and cadets, the latter being ready or getting ready to make their career in the military, a profession that we glorify although we tell ourselves that we do not glorify war. The acknowledgment of the troop’s work, suffering, losses and valour make the celebration a show of pride and thankfulness for their accomplishments on the battlefield, whether we like it or not!

We need to introduce something meaningful to the celebration that we could be proud of celebrating. For instance, we think lovingly of Micah’s prophecy found in 4: 3, “And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” We know this prophecy relates to the time of Christ’s rule on earth, but can’t we take a step towards that goal now?

Let us declare on Remembrance Day that our military will only be used to protect the United States, Canada and other Israel nations. There will be no invasions of any kind in other parts of the world. If everyone leaves us alone there will be no more war!

Think how we could reduce military spending! No sixty-five F 35’s at 35 million dollars each. On what could we spend all that money? Perhaps infrastructure would modernize our great cities and provide lots of jobs for those without work.

The second step would be much harder and I think it would only be possible when the Lord returns and we are called from the graves for the resurrection. At that time we will believe the good things written in the Bible with God’s stupendous act of restoring life to the dead and writing His laws on our hearts and minds. Hosea reminds us of our good fortune when he states, 2: 23, “And I will sow her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy, and I will say to them which were not My people, Thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

When that precious day comes, we will inherit certain promises of God. There is a promise in Isaiah 54: 17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” Of course, there is more. When we are reconciled to God and His laws, He will fight our battles for us, as He did in the old days when He led the people into the Holy land. God speaks of one of our soldiers turning away a thousand of the enemy. We must win with a small army (like Gideon with his three hundred) so that God will be recognized as the real force behind our army. He long ago identified us as His battle-ax and there are many examples of this in the Bible, especially with David who only went to battle with God’s permission and blessing.

So, let us declare a policy of defence only with no foreign involvement!

As we pursue such a posture towards peace, let us remember Isaiah’s great prophecy, in 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.”

Let us prepare for the arrival of the, “Prince of Peace!”