War

And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’ (1:11)

Now that's odd. I can't imagine that there has been a time in history when the world was all at rest and in peace. Even Jesus, the prince of peace, promises 'wars and rumours of wars'. So what's going on?

Honestly, I've no idea. Is the whole earth the whole known earth maybe? The flood story feels that way so why not this one. Or is it a time of much smaller population when the whole earth could be at peace? That seems a little more likely. A wave of conquest by a great power is followed by a time of calm before the next wave. 

In either case it is yet another example of how absurd is the idea that religion causes wars (I mean - the most deadly wars in history had nothing religious about them at all). Human beings in greed or pride or fear or folly cause wars. They may blame religion or use God as an excuse, but it is no more than that. 

Oh some religions are certainly more prone to violence - don't get me wrong - but even then many have followed them peacefully. No it's people, or more specifically human sin, that leads to war. War is caused by rebellion against God not following Him.

Yeah, I know, the conquest of Canaan? Well, that's another story, but maybe we'll come to it later.



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