Praetor

Its rather sad. Saddam is no longer with us on earth. He apparently faced death fearlessly, clutching his Qu’ran.

But what upset me most is the controversy surrounding his death. This reminds me of an incident at varsity. I was studying post graduate Psychology. It was the good old days when we were not allowed to wear jeans to class. My first class was at 10:00 and I was busy working at home dressed in my jeans. 9:50 I saw I was late for class. Running there would take about 10 min. I just grabbed my books and ran for it. During the break between the two periods my Prof called me. I knew I was in trouble. I was surprised, however, he did not ask me why I was with jeans in the class. I would have had an excellent excuse! Rather he reprimanded me saying that as a senior student I needed to set an example and obey the rules. Do not let it happen again! I made sure that it did not happen again.

Saddam was the supreme authority in Iraq. Everybody was responsible to him for what happened in the country. They were so afraid of him they did not give him the facts of a situation, but rather told him what they thought he wanted to hear for fear of their life. What nonsense is this then of having a fair trail? Clearly the 140 odd Sh’ites were killed, the Kurds gassed and war declared against Iran and Kuwait. Isn’t that the truth? Must we now give him the opportunity of rationalising away his responsibilty? Give him an opportunity to make excuses for his decisions? Is this what justice has become?

May we learn something differently about justice from this incident. My prayer is that the Lord will let his death work for the good in Iraq.

Luk 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

What a remarkable song the an­gels sang. Through all ages men long for peace, but it escapes them.
Since mankind’s rebellion against God peace escapes us. Satan’s heart was filled with pride to be higher and greater than God. As a result war broke out in heaven and Satan was thrown out of heaven onto the earth.
When the crown of God’s cre­ation was set on earth, Satan was determined to lead mankind into rebellion against God. Man listened to Satan and disobeyed God with the result that man was separated from God. Man joined the ranks of Satan through this rebellion. Immediately blame shifting happened and not long after the first murder took place.
Is this, however, all that the an­gels are announcing - the end of war and strife? No. Clearly this did not happen. We are still plagued by strife and war today. Note that the angel first an­nounces that God sent his anoin­ted One to earth (Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. vs.11). For this God is glorified in heaven. His splendour and glory shone around the angel.
The effect of the coming of the anointed One is peace on earth. This peace first of all holds sal­vation for the men on whom God’s good pleasure rests. Peace can only be received through salvation in Jesus Christ.
He is the Prince of Peace (see Is 9:5,6). He is the one who gives the gift of peace. We can only receive it in His presence, through a committed relationship with Him.
Isaiah also announced that through His wounds there is healing for us, He took up our infirmities and carried our sor­rows, he took the punishment for our sins (see Is 53:4,5).
God’s peace thus holds well-be­ing in the widest sense of the word in all areas of life: right­eousness, free from the bur­dens common to mankind, bodily health, contentedness, good relations and wholeness.
Goed DOES have the last say!
Jn 15:19 If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don’t have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that’s why the world hates you. - The world does not accept Jesus that is why the world cannot have true peace.
Do you long to have true peace? Have you committed your life to Jesus and live in his presence?

Our local newspaper placed a cartoon depicting the grim reaper reaping his share of lives on the roads in South Africa during the festive season. More than 800 open graves at a time that is supposed to be filled with joy and happiness. But it is also the time of year that more people attempt suicide and crime is flourishing - blowing up ATM’s.
But isn’t this just part of Christmas?

Mat 2:16-18 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he became furious. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys two years old and younger in or near Bethlehem. This matched the exact time he had learned from the wise men. Then the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah came true: “A sound was heard in Ramah, the sound of crying in bitter grief. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted because they were dead.”

Bethlehem and vicinity was not densely populate
being a small town in a rural area. 12 -20 boys may have been
massacred. But why did they have to die? Clearly Herod felt threatened
in his political power by this new born king. In his anger at being
outwitted he ordered the death of all boys younger than two years of
age, hoping to eliminate the new born king. Can you think of a more
self-centred act. But are we not the same. We don’t go around killing
people, but we are just as self-centred. We have our own hopes and
aspiration regardless of that of others.
Matthew was also making the point that what happened wasn’t haphazard, but prophecies made centuries before.
Rachel was the favourite wife of Jacob who had great difficulty bearing children. Through the Lord’s grace she bore a son, Joseph. Imagine her heart sore when she heard that a wild animal supposedly devoured him. During the birth of her second child, Benjamin, she cried of pain and died at his birth.
This quotation from Jeremiah refers to the mothers whose children were exiled to Babylon. The mothers weeping as their sons passed the grave of Rachel (in the vicinity of Ramah).
Why is Matthew referring to this scripture? He is bringing home the fact that God has the last say in spite of the circumstances.
Rachel was weeping, but her sons were alive and God was in control of their lives even though at the time it did not seem so. The exiles returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple and the city. A new covenant was promised them. God intervened and brought about his purposes.
A spiritual perspective at what happened at Bethlehem and the fact that God has the last say is bonre out by Rev 12:4b-6.

The boys of Bethlehem were the first casualties in the warfare between the kingdoms of the world with Satan as its ruler and the kingdom of God and his Christ. Through the ages the warfare has been going on.

Also here we see God in charge. He has the last say. The Christians overcame the Dragon.

We need to engage in this battle because ultimately victory is ours. We engage in the battle through prayer. Intercede against the grim reaper causing the carnage on the roads. Engage because you know that the grief and heart sore does not have the last say. Engage because Jesus opened a way for us to be victorious over our self-centredness. Praise the Lord that He has the last say!

God saw this terrible condition of man. He knew we were in a predicament, we could not save ourselves from this condition.
He wanted to help us, but we can’t see him and we can’t identify with him. So he decided to come to us - in an incarnation of mankind - he became fully human, just like you and I. He came into this world and lived and went through all the experiences of human life. His name is Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem! He was born poor - in an open feeding trough in a stable. He grew up in a very humble home - worked at a carpenter’s bench. He was hungry and thirsty - he was fully human! Yet, He did not cling to his status as God. He set aside the privileges of deity and became human. This was an incredible humbling process. He lived a selfless, obedient life. The only difference was that Jesus had no sin. Thus there were no place for lust, anger, pride, jealousy, fascination and avarice in his life. He was perfect, so no future judgement awaited him. He was not attracted to the pleasures of this world because he knew the glory of his kingdom awaiting him. He is the only person that could SAVE US FROM the tiger and the snake. He is the only one who could rescue us and give us true peace.
He did so much for mankind: He healed them, fed them, helped them, tried to bring them to God and yet …. some of the religious leaders turned against Him because of jealousy! They arrested Him, brought all kinds of false accusations against Him and then condemned Him to die! In those days they condemned criminals to die on a cross. So, this good, innocent person died on the cross, not because of His sins or anything He had done wrong. He was absolutely sinless! He died because He faced our judgement and took our punishment. He took our sins on him and died in our place! If we commit our lives to Him, He will protect us and save us from our terrible predicament. Then we will experience a peace that the world does not know. But if we turn our backs on Him we remain in our terrible condition.

Since all of these sons and daughters have flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood to be like them. He did this so that by dying he would destroy the one who had power over death (that is, the devil). In this way he would free those who were slaves all their lives because they were afraid of dying. Heb 2:14,15 (God’s Word Translation)

One day a Hindu “Sadhu” told a story, illustrating “the condition of man”:
“There was a man in the forest. He was being pursued by a tiger. In order to escape, he ran as fast as he could. He saw a dry open well. There was a tree nearby and one of its branches was hanging over the mouth of the well. The tiger was on his heels, and he jumped for the well! As he jumped, he caught a hold of the branch and was hanging there, safe from the tiger!”

“The tiger stands for the sins of the past. It is your struggle with this terrible disease namely, the six enemies of the soul namely, lust, anger, pride, jealousy, fascination and avarice (greed). They are daily pursuing you like the tiger and will not let you go!”

“As this man was hanging from this branch, he looked down in the bottom of the well and he saw a huge snake (python) - mouth open wide, waiting for the man to fall so that he can catch the man, crush and swallow him!”

“The snake stands for “the judgement of the future” which is awaiting you. So, you’re being hounded by the tiger (the sins of the past), and the judgement of the future is awaiting you!

“This man who was hanging onto the branch of this tree, suddenly noticed that some bees had built a beehive on this branch and it was full of rich honey! - just dripping down in front of him! He leaned forward and with his tongue started lapping up the honey! Oh, it was such delicious honey! He forgot all about the tiger. He forgot all about the snake. He was just enjoying the honey!

He’s being hounded by the sins of the
past, harassed by “the judgement of the future”, but although he is in this life
for a reason, he is enjoying the “honey” of the world! - pleasure,
position, power, status and he forgets the sins and the judgement!

“There were, however, also two rats living in the wall of the well. They quietly came out, nibbling on the branch to which he was hanging. One was a black rat, and one was a white rat - “day and night!” As the days and nights went by the branch was becoming weaker and weaker. When the man heard a cracking noise he saw that his weight was going to break the branch. He sat as quietly as he could, but he was about to fall prey to the snake!”

“This is the condition of man: He’s in this world for a while, enjoying the pleasure of the world, but time is passing and soon the judgement is inevitably coming!”

THIS IS A TERRIBLE PICTURE OF THE CONDITION OF MAN: hounded by the sins of the past awaiting the “judgement”, and “time passing!” Worst of all there is no escape!