Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Because you have trusted in your power
and in the multitude of your warriors,
therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed. Hosea”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, November 16, 2019
by R. Fergus Moir, Clergy Stuff
I’m a child of the Cold War. I was too terrified to watch the TV movie The Day After when it came out in 1983. I had just turned 12 and already had nightmares about nuclear warfare on a regular basis. Even then it was clear to me that bigger, stronger, more deadly weapons did not create security, but destroyed it—why couldn’t the government understand what seemed so obvious to a 12-year-old?
Thousands of years earlier, Israel’s rulers had no better grasp of the obvious. Hosea makes it clear that trusting in their own military might will only result in warfare, not prevent it, and that in the end, they will be destroyed as a result of their own self-confidence.
Today, we still rely on our military to maintain a false sense of security while warfare (often aided and abetted by our military) rages around the globe. How long before it catches up with us? As Christians, we are called to reject war and follow the path of peace.
How can I take action to challenge the sin of trusting in military power?
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