WAR AND CORRUPTION

Read Isaiah 9:5-7

Key Verse: For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.  Isaiah 9:5

War, then as now, is horrible. Since Cain murdered Abel, the tragedy of war and corruption has permeated society through every age. Each new invention or discovery, created to improve life, is soon adapted to become an instrument of destruction. Innocent people are victims of war’s atrocities and prime young men and women are sacrificed on the battlefield, whether the conflict strives to combat evil or is the source of evil.

Corrupt leaders seeking power run over their own people and their countries are laid waste in devastation. Each generation since ancient times has known has known the the heartbreak and misery of War.

What comfort and hope these words of Isaiah must give  to all of us , wearied by years of warfare.

“All the boots of tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire,” when Christ comes to judge the world and usher in the Peaceable Kingdom when war shall be no more! The messiah will be a righteous ruler and justice will prevail in the kingdom of God. “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Prayer: Help us to strive for peace on earth – in our families, our churches, our communities, and the world, as we await that day, O Lord, when all signs of warfare and destruction are destroyed.  Amen.