Thoughts from the Cradle - June 3
A recent headline in the Star and Stripes stated that 27 Iraqis had died and 118 had been wounded. The majority of people involved were Iraqi police officers who were protesting the decision that a special unit was being disbanded. The protest was peaceful. The protest in Iraq is something that was rarely seen in Iraq during the Saddam years due to his heavy and lethal hand in dealing with protestors. The stadium that is in the middle of our base in Balad, is very nice and was previously used for soccer games. The groundskeeper for the stadium remained even after Saddam was over thrown. Today he tells a very tragic story of the past. During the halftime of soccer games, Saddam would have people who had voiced opposition to his leadership brought to center field. They would then have their heads chopped off in front of the entire crowd.
Back to the Iraqi police who were attacked. There were two suicide bombers. The first one exploded and then as people who were not killed or severely injured were fleeing to safety the second suicide bomber joined the new crowd and then detonated himself about a minute later.
The people responsible called themselves, Al Qaida, Iraq. They stated that the police were secretly promoting a pro-Israel agenda. This was of course complete non-sense, but if you are going to kill your own people then you need a justification and the one used for this attack was calling the police Jewish collaborators.
What can be said of this type of self destruction? What would motivate people to not only kill others but also themselves? I believe the answer is told in the book of John. Jesus is telling his disciples what is coming in the future and what can they expect. John 16:2, “…in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”
It appears what is happening here as well as in Israel, is the fulfillment of this prophecy of Christ.
I believe what we are engaged in here is part of a war that is being fought on many different realms. I believe at the most basic level this is a war over the spiritual direction of the world. I believe that Ephesians 6:12 speaks much of the battle that we do not see. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Even though we are engaged in a battle in Iraq, Israel and Jerusalem are still inextricably linked to the conflict. As it says in Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
Soli Deo Gloria
More thoughts to come
I hear what your saying, and your probably right to some degree, but I think people started killing for the sake of God way before now.
We can't say for sure, but those who killed stephen probably thought they were doing God a favor, and latter Saul certanly thought he was serving God.
One of my profs tossed this quote at us the other day. "People never kill so well, or so happly, as when they do it for god"
Posted by: David at June 7, 2005 09:37 AM
