"Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war..." ~ 19th Century Hymn
Today is Day #27 of Counting the Omer. The name "Joshua" is really the equivalent of "Yeshua" in the Hebrew. In Joshua 1:1 (Love the numbering of this verse! He is THE One, the Only One God), Joshua's name appears for the
27th time. In this passage, we see the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land. The Old Covenant is a temporal shadow type of the spiritual New Covenant. In the Old Covenant, Israel fought their battles with the literal sword. In the New Covenant, we fight our battles with the Sword of the Spirit. We are to conquer the world and accomplish the Great Commission with this Sword.
Remember the old Sunday School hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers?" I'm sure you sang that if you were raised in church as a child. It always sounded so quaint. After all, what was there to fight about? No one was oppressing Christians during the 1960's and 1970's in our idyllic little suburbs of Western Civilization. As kids we simply accepted these lyrics as some corny metaphor for "soldiering" on in good works. For the most part, we were harmoniously living together with other religions and races in a democratic country offering the most liberty in recorded history. No one wanted to go to "war" with our fellow citizens.
Have you ever watched a movie plot that starts out all sweet and dreamy, but slowly... very slowly, as the drama progresses the creepy tension rises? Remember the movie Fatal Attraction? The adulteress seemed normal enough in the beginning, but gradually the depth of the madness increased in dramatic intensity throughout the film. The viewer actually begins to feel sorry for Michael Douglas--the unfaithful adulterer. Just a little "fling with sin" and, before you know it, you have the family pet rabbit boiling on your stove.
I think this is a good analogy for the social climate we face today as devout believers. For Christians and Jews the moral turn in our countries are a somber referendum on our future. As we are shoved "Forward," we are slowly beginning to realize the true impact of this hideous Leftist ideology. Will we be shepherded like dumb sheep into a God-less society where we are forced to compromise our deepest held beliefs?
In formerly Judeo-Christian based nations around the free world, persecution against Mosaic Law values are slowly, yet steadily picking up steam. I'm not talking about in oppressive Islamic or Communist countries. Sadly this persecution is taking place in former freedom-loving countries such as the United States, Canada, Belgium, England, France and Australia, just to name a few
Here's just a small sampling of news headlines found in the past year among literally hundreds of examples:
United States: Democrats Block Bill to Stop Infanticide--Refuse Care for Babies Born Alive
Canada: Government to Begin Seizing Children of Parents who Oppose Gender Transition
Belgium: Statistics Show Euthanasia rising by 27% per Year
England: Man Arrested for Street Preaching
France: Anti-Semitic Attacks are up 74%
Australia: Labor Party to Ban Free Speech in Next Election
Before being martyred, the Christians in first century Rome were given one last opportunity to appease the state. If they were willing to make a public sacrifice at the altar of the gods, they could get their sentence overturned. Instead they chose to face the lions and got ripped apart in a bloody sport as their fellow citizens cheered and clapped. Their unflinching resolve was true evidence of unswerving faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
Despite my deep trust and faith in God, it is very disconcerting to see the people on the front lines capitulate under the cover of political correctness. Sort of like the canary in the coal mine--will we also succumb to the "gas" of the surrounding culture? When will I or my loved ones face the pressure to step on this minefield?
The western social schizophrenia continues to slowly increase in intensity. We worship at the altar of "tolerance" as the intolerance of Judeo-Christian values heats up with each passing day. Like the choice given to the Roman martyrs, Christians will soon be asked whether they are willing to compromise their faith in order to appease the state. Will they give in to the temptation to make a "public sacrifice" on the altar of the human secularist gods? At what point, like the adulterer in Fatal Attraction, do we recognize that we are in deep, deep trouble?
Make no mistake...whether you acknowledge it yet or not...
WE ARE AT WAR.
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring-those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
~ Revelation 12:17
Prayer:
