Stephen
Terry, Director
The
Lord Reigns
Commentary
for the January 20, 2024, Sabbath School Lesson
"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought
back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The
great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels
with him." Revelation 12:7-9, NIV
As far back as the beginning, a
struggle for sovereignty has persisted. Who is to be in charge? The Bible cedes
that to God by virtue of his creative power and his ineffable, eternal nature.
It would seem foolish to try to seize that power from a being one cannot
understand, one cannot outlive, one that has creative power we cannot equal.
Despite that rebellion ensued. One of the created angels rose up against God,[i] and
he succeeded in bringing a third of the other angels into the conflict on his
side[ii].
It was narcissistic foolishness destined to fail. Not only was the rebellion
defeated, but it changed the relationship between humanity and God when the
rebellion spread to the earth. Like a terrorist destined to lose a pitched
battle, those in rebellion took hostages from God's creation. God has mounted a
campaign ever since to free as many of those hostages as he can. In the
process, he must determine who are truly hostages, and who are supporters of
the rebel leader. This is not always clear, and the evidence must be
transparently laid out for God's character has been unjustly challenged by the
rebels.
The terrorists' propaganda never
ceases. "God's character cannot be the loving persona he claims. Otherwise, why
does he abide suffering that we can see all around us?" "God does not exist
else he would answer prayers. Have your prayers been answered?" "If God is so loving,
why is he always looking for excuses to burn people with hellfire?" But every
war has propaganda intended to sway belief when facts prove inadequate. Even
now, we see a steady flow of propaganda from both Russia and Ukraine, from both
Israel and Hamas. This desire to control the flow of information is pervasive.
Even a child's reputation on the elementary school playground is either boosted
or sullied based on schoolyard gossip, gossip that may have no basis in fact,
only emotion and spite. It can be problematic when it achieves its goal of
causing us to fear the results the lies and half-truths can have on our future.
But giving in to that fear can result in driving the image of God from our
lives, an image we were created to bear - the image of love. Fear displaces
love and blossoms into anger as it grows in the heart. If allowed to pursue its
course, it produces a crop of violence and every horror that accompanies it. It
can quickly become a harvest of death and destruction with everyone afraid to
lay down their weapons.
The greatest fear for many is
the fear of death. God has sought to lay this fear to rest, those who
acknowledge him and live out his love in the world will not suffer eternal
death. Jesus came as surety of that promise. He lived a life of love and
compassion, was killed by those who feared him as a threat and was raised again
to life. Jesus did not fear death, so those who used that fear to manipulate
others had no hold over him. He knew that the sovereignty of God would ensure
the outcome. He knows it will do that for us as well and urges us to have faith
in that process. It is not so difficult to accept this of a loving God. That is
why Satan, the rebel leader, is willing to do all he can to assail the character
of God with his propaganda war, highlighting every possible angle that has the
potential to portray God as unloving and therefore, unreliable regarding the
promises made by Jesus of heavenly mansions and that he would return for those
who love him.[iii]
Jesus knew how powerful fear of
death can be to us. We are mortal in our present state and death surrounds us
on every hand. It is hard to deny the reality of that mortality. The adversary
urges us to believe that this is all there is. He wants us to think there is no
hope for immortality. After all, didn't God take that away after the Fall in
Eden? We may as well grab all we can in this short life we now have both for us
and for our families. God is not the hope for our families' futures. We are. So,
enter the fray. Take what you can, and the devil takes the hindmost. Should
anyone fail to heed his words, the devil is more than willing to point to
examples of those who have had it all in this life as well as faithful believers
who have had very little except suffering. His arguments are so convincing,
very few find themselves able to gainsay them. But every person who gives in to
such thinking becomes yet another arrow in his quiver of examples. When we have
the promises of God and we sacrifice them on the altar of the indulgence of our
own desires, we are not drafted into the rebel army. We volunteer. These become
valuable soldiers to further the rebellion, for the devil can point to their willingness
to toss faith aside as proof of the validity of his argument. They see it! Why
can't everyone else?
Nonetheless, despite the devil's
bombast. The truth remains. It is not what is shouted
in the tumult of the public square. It is not found in governments legislating
morality for everyone except themselves. It is not heard in the explosions of
bombs or missiles. It is not heard in the reports of small arms. It is found in
the quietest of places and is only the whisper of a child in the wind.[iv] Elijah
had confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Fire had come down from
heaven in their presence. Despite such a display, Elijah fled in fear from the
enemies of God. He did not understand that it is not the display of raw power
that demonstrates the character of God. God is found in the quietness of a stilled
heart at peace with the world, a heart that trusts him no matter what the
propaganda says.
God weeps at death and all it
means.[v] How
much more must he weep when we so willingly inflict death on one another? Even
those with the name of Jesus on their lips march off to war to lay as many others as they might into a grave, denying them an
opportunity to realize that the Lord reigns over all and desires to save them.
Even in the case of the Mount Carmel contest, how many of the prophets of Baal,
after seeing the demonstration, had realized that the Lord is God, not Baal? We
will never know for they were all put to the sword at Elijah's command. His
fear of those who hated God became anger that produced violence, and that
violence took away their opportunity to come to God. What was Elijah afraid of?
The Bible tells us that he was also afraid of dying.[vi] Despite
that great fear, he did not die. Instead, he rode to God in a fiery chariot. This
is often the way it is with our fears. We can spend an entire lifetime fearing
death that will come to all anyway.
Jesus told us not to fear such
death.[vii]
It makes no sense to fear someone who may kill the body, and yet have no fear
of fighting against God who has the power to destroy body and soul with eternal
death. If life is so precious a commodity, we should seek the source of life,
not the easy path of the one who opposes that source. The devil cannot offer us
life. As in the beginning, he can only guide us to death. It serves his purpose
to remind us of the ever-present possibility of death. Fearful people are easier
to manipulate. Fear of death is like having a leash around our neck that can be
pulled at will to guide us contrary to the path we would have chosen on our
own.
Unless Jesus returns soon, we
all must die. How hard it is to face that eventuality filled with fear. As I
age and discover the frailty of the bodies we now possess, it becomes easier to
see death as a release from suffering. I have attended to close family members
as they passed from this mortal existence. In each case, death brought release
from unremitting pain, debilitating illness, or the confused and despairing
anxiety of dementia. It is apparent God cannot grant us immortality in these bodies.
Chronic eternal pain would be no blessing. We should not fear death that is
only a gateway to leave suffering behind for a better body that awaits us at
the Parousia.[viii] The Lord reigns. Trust
his promises.