September 11, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.  His rule will extend from sea to sea  and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9.10)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Many will ask the question today, “Do you remember where you were on 9/11”? They will be referencing a terrifying example of hatred and fear of one people against another which happened in New York City on September 11, 2001. I won’t even enter into the debate as to true perpetrators of this act of war not the American or Global response to it. We know what happened in the days, weeks and month which followed. We know the echoing of the falling of those twin towers across two decades and now into a third. Let us ask ourselves, “What price- war?” And as terrible as that heinous act was, we know of other such atrocities which have occurred in this country and across the globe which are heinous as well. We are quick to recognize school shootings, event bombings and wars of ethno-political interests. We are also mindful of the rise in crime against others in violent acts of murder with weapons of drugs and guns. The root of this evil is hatred. It is a hatred of self, others and of God. In the midst of it all, we hear the cry for “Peace!” We long and yearn for the peace that surpasses all understanding. We wonder why we cannot manufacture it, legislate it, purchase it and sustain what little peace we may find. It is as elusive and conditional, momentary and fading as the sunset on the western horizon each and every day inspiring awe and then fades to darkness. Is it not because the peace we seek can never be a human creation? At best we attempt to duplicate it, copy it, mimic it and feign it. Our attempts to be peacemakers result in disappointment and temporary lulls like a calm before the storm. We even hear Jesus urge us in the Beatitudes from the “Sermon on the Mount” to be peacemakers with an assurance of becoming sons/daughters/children of God. Yet, for far too many the efforts to claim the position of peacemaker sounds like and look like an attempt to play “God.” This is, in fact, a sign of the End Time when there will be one who will claim an ability to make wars cease which will bring freedom and liberty to all. This “one” will declare a global peace but will have to enforce it with fear and dread dressed up like a lamb grazing in green pastures led by still waters to lie down without worry or fear. This “one” will be revealed as the wolf in sheep’s clothing prowling at every door, crouching at every city gate, howling at the moon to fill the darkness of doubt with a cacophony of “what’s next.” As I have said, it is a sign of the End Time when deceit will be called truth and truth will be condemned as a lie. But, not for long.

It was in such a scenario as that which Zechariah heard the call of God for the nation of Israel to lead the world into a season of authentic peace. Even this nation has experienced such seasons of peace. We know, however, they were not authentic because they did not last. Such seasons are captured between two seasons of trial, tribulation, depression and wars with rumors of more wars. Such seasons exist in that moment of time when the pendulum swings from one side to the other and appears to “bottom out.” But like the effect of a tsunami on the ocean before it rises up over and then on the shore, the water is sucked out and away exposing drier ground. It may seem like nothing is happening until it happens with full and devastating force. Pharoah and his army experienced such a season as the waters of the Red Sea pulled back exposing a land bridge on which the Hebrew exiles crossed on their way from slavery to freedom. As Moses directed the people of God to cross over to the eastern shore, it was the presence of God in a pillar of fire and smoke which held Pharoah’s army back. When the crossing was complete and Moses himself was in place on the eastern shore, the presence of God in that pillar moved and revealed the way in which the Hebrews had gone. Pharoah believed it was his way as well and sent his soldiers and chariots in. As Pharoah stood on the western shore opposite Moses, the army of Egypt thundered across the bridge. I do not think they were at peace any more than were the Hebrews in their crossing. It had to be a fearsome sight leaving them captured in the wonder of it all and in the task ahead to revenge the sons they had lost when the Spirit of God hovered over the face of their deep. Then the season of peace ended. Now captured in the collapsing of the towers of water on either side, thousands were crushed and drowned. The threat of Egypt was ended but the peace of Israel was still in doubt. Just as it was in doubt for Israel in the days of Zechariah as the messengers declared “There is a peace and rest in the land.” (1.11) There was a peace and some rest. It was a restless peace negotiated by the evidence of “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” They counted on the authority of Darius the Mede to maintain the peace which he had won with his mighty armies.

This is not what God was revealing to Zechariah in chapter 9. This is not a peace as the “ones” of this day and age, this culture and climate, are promising. The land of opportunity promoted by some as “a promised land” is being seduced into a false sense of security on one side and a attitude of apathy and comfort on the other. It is, as it was in the days of Zechariah and in the days of Moses, a restless peace. What we long for is what humanity cannot provide- authentic peace. We long for “that peace which surpasses all understanding.” We hope for a peace that defies the logic of great thinkers and the imagination of great dreamers. We yearn for a peace that will endure forever unthreatened and beyond doubt. Such peace can only come in a Messianic Age with a leader of such repute and ilk that it speaks of God Himself. The evidence for Zechariah was given already as “the One who will ride in on a donkey, the foal of an ass.” Such evidence stood in stark contradiction to those who had proclaimed peace before. In verse 10, we see the further contradiction to conventional wisdom with the affirmation of God’s will. If peace, authentic peace, is what is desired why would it be with a great military presence to serve as a deterrent to all others who would stand against it? And what is astounding to me, as I believe it should be to you mighty ones of God in Christ, is that the evidence is what happens within the boundaries of the promised land which dated back to the Abraham encounter in Babylon, the Ur of the Chaldees. The evidence is the disarmament of Israel itself: the chariots of Ephraim (representing the Northern Kingdom), the warhorses of Jerusalem (representing the Southern Kingdom) and the battle bow of the Zealots who fought in the highlands. Their weapons were taken not because they believed the world was disarmed. Their weapons were laid down because of their faith in the Messiah who alone possessed the power that could not be overtaken by an enemy which had no more ability to consume than the dark could the light. They were the evidence of “peace in themselves.” How interesting that when Jesus gave His new command it was directed to the disciples themselves: “Love one another.” And what sage advice for a group of missionaries being sent into the world to declare peace: model peace. They were not only supposed to be “at peace,” but they were supposed to “be peace.” Isn’t that the intent of the beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons/daughters/children of God“? Are we listening? Do we not hear? The word of the Lord is given with distinction and without distraction. Anything else would be anything less and never more. As it would be for Israel, then so, too, can it be for the rest of the world.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.