Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, dear ones.
Beautiful day out there. And I beheld a spectacular sunrise while driving home from the Airport Sheraton Hotel early this morning…around 6:15am. I met a woman at that hotel last night and spent the night with her. Of course, it was my wife, Becki, of 45 years. She’ll be there one more night surrounding a conference.
I just had to go across the grass fields to influence our head-strong dog to come back home…so I have wet feet now. It’s also a damper to my interest in putting up with this goofy dog who refuses to obey when he has other interests in view. Phooey.
Time for work. May you conquer what needs conquering.
Love, Dad/Ray.
The very same sentence that concluded yesterday’s reading concludes this one—“Then the land had rest from war” (14:15). And once again, it offers a nice reprieve from all the conquering going on—even if it is justified as a “Holy War.” However, ask this question: “The land had rest from war for how long?” History reveals the answer—NOT LONG.
My own limited reflections observe that war and conquest run deep through the entire panorama of human history. But so do hypocrisies and ideological discrepancies. (I wonder why?) For example, we who are citizens of the USA should not deceive ourselves into thinking that our forefathers took over this great land mass with the happy consent of its indigenous peoples. We are grossly naïve to think that our own national history is free of atrocities and violations of “human rights.” I have no choice but to be very cynical concerning man’s ability to create a lasting utopia. I have to conclude that war and conquest are here to stay on planet earth until the return of the Supreme Conqueror and the set up of His transformational “new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). And if we take to heart the end-time Biblical predictions yet to come announcing war, suffering, and death, “we haven’t seen anything yet!”
The FOCUS VERSE above is part of Caleb’s personal testimony as he appeals to Joshua for permission to follow through with his conquering and occupation of the area of Hebron. Notice Caleb’s use of the word “convictions.” That indicates his true belief system—his passion. Those convictions influenced him to follow the LORD “wholeheartedly.” Caleb, in other words, nurtured a HEART AFTER GOD that set him apart from the crowd. I have to admit that an eighty-five-year-old invincible warrior is pretty impressive.
Conclusion: Don’t settle for just being another old conqueror. How about being MORE? “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).