Devotion by Steve Long
Many agree that building a wall to keep out the enemy is a
good idea. I support building a wall on our border if it can actually keep
terrorists and intruders out of the country.
But there are problems with this concept. Historically,
walls of this magnitude are not always impregnable and tend to give an enemy
even more incentive to try to overcome them.
France had its Maginot Line which was initiated after World
War I. It was strong and invincible at the German border but was weak along the
Northeastern borders of France where there were neutral countries. Germany,
under Hitler, came in through the lowlands of the Belgian border, where the
wall was weak, to quickly come in and overtake France.
The Great Wall of China, thick and high, constructed by
approximately 1,000,000 laborers, is said to be over 13,000 miles in length and
constructed over hundreds of years. But we are told:
Several strong nomadic tribes in history had managed passage
across the barrier. For instance, in 13th century, the Mongols led by Genghis
Khan breached the wall and subjugated north and central China for nearly 100
years; in 1644, the Manchus, entering from Shanhaiguan resulted in the collapse
of the Ming Dynasty.[i]
There is the old story of Troy, who also had a great wall
(said to be 17 feet high and almost as thick at the bottom). As we know the
story, the Greeks overtook them by getting inside through a large constructed
horse on wheels under the guise of a gift. Once inside the gate, Greek soldiers
sprung lose and began to fight and overcome the Trojans.
The point here is that it really doesn’t do much good to
build a wall to keep problematic people out of our country if there is already
great evil inside the country.
Nehemiah led the Israelis of his time to help him build a
wall around Jerusalem (approximately 444-425 BC) to keep enemies out. This was
accomplished swiftly by great effort, but Nehemiah knew that keeping enemies
away from without was not enough. He emphasized their Spiritual condition as
well. He knew it would be of no use to keep away invaders from the outside as
long as there was still corruption inside.
In the book of Nehemiah, Ezra, the Scribe stood and read
from God’s law to all the people for hours.
Then it says:
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for
he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people
stood up. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people
answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands. And they bowed
their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.[ii]
This began not only a Spiritual awakening among God’s people
but also a reformation in which laws were put in place which were imperative
for the people to live by.
Nikita Khrushchev, the Premiere of the old Soviet Union
(Russia and its conquered states) was quoted to have said: “We will take
America without firing a shot” and “We do not have to invade the U.S. - We will
destroy you from within...”[iii] That was in 1956. Ironically, the Soviet Union
no longer exists and America still does, but today, opposition is creating
havoc once again for our country and the Marxist scheme of destroying America
from within still rages on. This is real – not imagined!
Our country needs to become as concerned about what’s going
on inside as we are about what’s going on around us. We should concern
ourselves about some of the words being spoken by academia, Hollywood, the
media and politicians inside America as much as about what Kim Jong Un is
saying across the world.
If we apply this concept to our individual lives, we realize
that “We have met the enemy and he is us.”[iv]
In the words of the Lord Jesus, What good does it do to
“make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full
of extortion and excess.” Then he adds, “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first
that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean
also.” [v]
By another analogy; what good does it do us if we clean the
outside of our bodies but on the inside we are racked by deathly disease?
Our bodies may look healthy outwardly but it is important
for us all, through God’s word, to get a Spiritual angiogram. What does our
heart look like? We are told in Proverbs to “Keep your heart with all
diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
[i] https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/facts/
{ii] Nehemiah 8.5-6
[iii]
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/111856-ussrkhrushchev-we-take-america-without-firing-ann-dickerson/
[iv] Pogo Comic strip – April 22, 1971
[v] Matthew 23.25-26
No comments:
Post a Comment