Genesis 1:3-4. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
The Rabbis of old taught that there is light you can see, and light you cannot see. The first light (primeval light) became invisible following fall of Adam and Eve, only the Sun moon and stars would provide light to the world from then on. The primeval light became spiritual light.
They said that Adam and Eve were originally clothed with light, but after they fell they had to be covered with skins. There’s a play on words here, as the Hebrew word light is owr, spelt aleph – vav – resh, while the word used for skin is also pronounced owr, but is spelt ayin – vav – resh. The first letter is changed, from aleph, which can symbolise the one true God, to ayin, which means Eye, suggesting that they can now be seen, so need clothing. Jesus said that he was bringing that original light back again:
John 12:46. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
Darkness is the normal condition of the world without God.
We’re hearing a lot about wars these days. Any idea which is the deadliest war currently taking place?
Answer: deadliest current war – is the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has escalated this year. 6 million deaths in past 30 years, no end in sight.
Most dramatic in effect on people: Sudan, war in 3rd year. 150,000 dead, 14 million displaced, worst displacement crisis in the world – just two out of 8 shooting wars in Africa currently, another 10-12 around world.
I see war as a symptom of nations in conflict with God. We have had our focus kept very much on Ukraine and Israel this past few years, because they appear to pose more risks for our own country and way of life, but that is to overlook much that is happening elsewhere.
More nuclear weapons?
Political leaders in Europe, especially France and Germany, have been talking about the need for more nuclear weapons, while our own government is pressing on with updating British nuclear forces, and the Prime Minister had himself photographed visiting one of the Trident submarines carrying 48 warheads. Do they have any idea what these weapons can do? It sometimes seems that for politicians nuclear weapons are a kind of abstract idea, a totemic way of averting war. I will explain what they actually do in a little while. Remember:
…Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. Ps 127:1b There is certainly no discussion of seeking the protection of God over any of our European countries anymore. I believe that many actions that have been taken by our government over recent times have made the likelihood of a future conventional war with Russia greater than ever. Many Russians firmly believe that we, Britain, are their sworn enemies, and even if the present war subsides in the near future the things we are believed to have done against them will not be forgotten.
Collapse of Godly values in Western Society Many writers have dealt with the collapse of Western Society, falling birth rates, radical changes in moral values. Current topics include euthanasia for the sick and elderly, the disappearance of marriage as a foundation block of civil society, an assault on “family values” and traditional sexual morality, rising crime rates, fraud in our financial systems. Leading church denominations are collapsing under the pressure to conform with contemporary society.
When I went to church as a child, the 10 Commandments were displayed on the wall at the front. Aged about 9 I remember asking my mother what Adultery was – she said – oh, that’s for grown-ups! But we’re actually in a society where for many those commandments have been switched from prohibitions to positive instructions:
1. You can have any God you like as long as it’s not the god of the Christians and Jews.
2. You can make whatever images you like, particularly those portraying Jesus in depraved ways. Stone Buddhas make cool garden ornaments!
3. You should definitely use the name of the Christian god in offensive ways.
4. You should be prepared to work 7 days a week if it helps you make money. After all, it’s not as if anyone actually believes there was a God who created everything!
5. You should mock the elderly, and complain about them – perhaps those geriatrics using up your inheritance to fund the care you won’t give them.
6. OK – killing is bad. But not when it concerns unborn babies or the sick and elderly. Or those people in foreign countries declared “bad actors” who can righteously expect to be evaporated by a Hellfire missile from a British UAV.
7. Adultery? Who cares! What is unforgivable is saying that any form of sexual behaviour other than in a marriage between a man and woman is wrong. You must not judge us! We cannot help our feelings and our desires!
8. Stealing from me is bad, but you can’t blame me for helping myself to those opportunities that came my way such as that inflated insurance claim I made or the extra expenses I put in for.
9. False witness? Joining a pile-on against someone I dislike or disagree with on social media is absolutely fair, and everyone makes up stuff to make other people look bad, don’t they?
10. Covetousness is totally good. Our whole economy depends on making people long for stuff they cannot afford. Would you shut down Aston Martin or Gucci? Or put the advertising industry out of business?
It’s as if the threat of war is an approaching dark cloud over a bleak and derelict wasteland
already lost in darkness. The Hebrew word for darkness (choshek) is the opposite of Light, in
the same way that God’s peace (shalom) is the opposite of evil (Isa 45:7). The darkness is
gathering, evil can be seen all around, but we should see this as an indication that the Lord is
near, and seek his peace.
Zeph 1:14-15. The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the LORD is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—
I was trained for war – Ps 144:1:
Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle
I was fascinated by the WW1 poets which I studied for ‘O’ level English Lit. After I left school, I served for 21 years in the RAF, and warfare was my profession in many different roles during my RAF service.
My final tour of duty was at RAF Molesworth then being built up to be a Cruise Missile base. The bunkers built for the Tomahawk cruise missiles were designed to withstand any direct conventional weapon attack, or a megaton airburst nuclear blast only a mile away. Those Tomahawk missiles would have had a very similar mission profile to the Vulcan bombers I served on at the beginning of my career (and both are museum exhibits at Duxford now!).
I went to Cranwell and then on to fly Vulcans, at a time when the Cold War was at its height. This set the NATO Allies against the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries, with the expectation that any war that started would quickly turn into a nuclear exchange. We learned what had to be done to survive a nuclear attack. Mainly for we Vulcan crews, it was about getting the whole bomber fleet airborne within two minutes of the order to “scramble”, as the maximum warning time of a ballistic missile attack on UK was four minutes.
Visit to Plokstine
Last Autumn we decided to visit the Baltic states, Estonia Latvia and Lithuania, formerly part of the USSR, so “out of bounds” to me before 1991. I’m interested in the Hanseatic league following visits to Bergen and other Scandinavian cities, and I wanted to see the old port cities such as Tallinn and Riga. I had also spotted that in Lithuania there was a place that was a “Cold War Museum”, on our route to the old Hanseatic port of Klaipeda. This turned out to be the last surviving SS4 Medium Range Ballistic Missile site, with four launch silos now decommissioned, and a command centre.
Once we got there, I was able to confirm that it was indeed one of our Vulcan bomber nuclear strike targets, about 5 minutes flying time for our Vulcan after coasting in at low level. We were tasked to drop a single 400kt lay-down weapon with a two-minute time delay. We would have caught the missile crew at Plokstine in the process of reloading their silos for a second launch. It felt really strange to be able to visit such a place, and go inside and look into the silos (now empty, of course). On the way out I went to the visitor centre, and saw they were selling fridge magnets with pictures of the site, pretty much as we had seen it in target study over 50 years before.
The young man at the desk was curious about why I wanted one. I explained that the place had been a target, and I was very happy to be able to buy a fridge magnet of the target I’d never had to bomb in the war that was never fought.
He asked me what would have happened if we had bombed the place. I said we would have made a hole 1km across, and 100 metres deep. His face dropped in surprise.
I didn’t add that it would have destroyed pretty much everything above ground to a radius of about 8km, and the land would have been made uninhabitable for centuries or longer. Of course, the first thing people at Plokstine would have seen was a flash of light 1,000 times brighter than the noonday sun. That’s also the last thing they would see, either because they would have died, or if surviving then they’d have been blinded. That’s a light we never want to see! There is another great light.
Isaiah 9:2. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
That zealous young Rabbi, Saul of Tarsus, saw a blinding light outside Damascus , an experience known to those few who have witnessed the awesome holiness of God. The men with him were not privileged to see the light, which surrounded the risen Christ. Saul’s sight was restored after 3 days. This encounter with the risen Christ turned him from serving the powers of darkness, persecuting “the Way” and having followers of Jesus executed into the Apostle to the Gentiles. His writings and teachings have helped build and support the church for nearly 2,000 years.
Roger Price 1981 talk “Does Russia have a future?
While we were living in Norway in 1981 I first heard tapes by Roger Price, the Bible teacher of the Chichester Christian Fellowship. He gave a talk titled “Does Russia have a future?” (now available online) and said that he expected the Soviet Union to last for 70 years, as it was a Babylon system – an empire founded on Emperor worship. It had begun to form in 1919, and was declared in 1921. Therefore we should expect to see it begin to collapse from 1989 through to 1991, which is precisely what happened, although it seemed highly unlikely in 1981.
He went on to say that whatever happened, Russia itself would recover, as it had a key role in the future war of Ezekiel 38 & 39, and would lead an attack on Israel, allied in particular with “Persia” (Iran) “Cush” (possibly Ethiopia”) and “Put” (Libya) with others from the north and east.
At that time my RAF role involved studying the Soviet Northern and Baltic Fleet Air Forces and their Long Range Air Force, and also reviewing information from the Middle East including Israel every day. In this job I learnt that the majority of important events happening in the world do not get reported in the news media, which are highly selective when making choices about what to publicise.
Israel
Why is Israel so important? The answer is that God created it as a nation, and promised to preserve it through the ages, to be a witness to his faithfulness and justice.
Deut 32:9-10. For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.
The normal word for apple (tapuch) is not the one used here. The “apple” of his eye is here a translation of the word ????? iyshone meaning the dark spot in the middle, the pupil, through which the light can be seen. In Proverbs 7:2 we are told:
Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.
For us, God’s word should be our chief focus and the source of our illumination.
Ps 119:105. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
When in Deuteronomy 32:10 it says Israel is the “apple of God’s eye”, it means that God “sees”, Israel, in a special way, it is always under his gaze, a focus of his attention.
The first time I really considered the situation of Israel was May 1967, during a War Studies lecture at Cranwell. We were briefed on the order of battle status of Israel and the opposing nations of Egypt Jordan and Syria plus the Iraqi air force.
Egyptian forces were rated good, Jordanians very good, Syrians not so good.
Israel then had a standing army of about 160,000 troops against about 280,000 of the opposing nations. They had about 250 aircraft against about 600 and about 800 tanks against some 1,770. Artillery and anti-aircraft weapons were at least 4:1 against Israel. Our lecturer told us that whatever our sympathies may be, if it came to war Israel could not hope to win, and the nation could be wiped out. They would not have a chance!
It’s interesting to see how this prediction from a secular expert compares with that of a Bible scholar such as Roger Price.
Less than a month later war did break out and lasted just 6 days from the 5th to the 10th of June 1967. Israel defeated the Egyptians Jordanians and Syrians and destroyed the Iraqi air force. They also captured extensive areas of land including especially “East” Jerusalem, the original city of David and much of the original ancient Israelite territory of Judea and Samaria. They overwhelmed their enemies who were all scattered, put to flight (not all the aircraft which were destroyed, of course!).
Result: Israel lost nearly 900 soldiers killed; their enemies about 18,000, They lost 46 aircraft, their enemies about 400. Israel tank losses were 400, their enemies about 900.
Deut 20:3-4. And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
There were other amazing victories against massive odds in 1948 and 1973, showing God has been fighting for Israel.
God is still fighting for Israel. 2024 produced some astonishing events, especially the ballistic missile attacks from Iran on 13th April and 1st October 2024. On the first occasion at least 120 missiles were launched, on the second 200. These are by far the biggest simultaneous attacks using ballistic missiles that have ever happened, and the aim of using the missiles this way is to overwhelm the defences.
Put it this way, if anyone attempted such a strike on UK our defences such as they are would be overwhelmed and most of the missiles would get through.
Israel is a tiny country, and even if a ballistic missile is intercepted there’s a whole heap of stuff going to come back down to earth one way or another, including explosive warheads and unburnt rocket fuel.
The first astonishing fact is that almost every missile was intercepted, the second is that hardly anyone in Israel was hurt and very little damage was done. These results are nothing short of miraculous.
What is the response of Christians to all this?
John 8:12. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
We absolutely must not walk in darkness! This means resisting all the attempts by the world to drag us down. Our calling is to manifest the light of Christ.
Do not be afraid
There is much out there in the media attempting to stimulate fear. “Bad news sells!”
Right now we are supposed to be worried about such things as the rise of Artificial Intelligence, the digitization of our money systems, the growing surveillance state, the lack of “freedom of speech”, new possible pandemics, and (if you read the Daily Express website), the Yellowstone super volcano being about to erupt and asteroids coming to wipe out the planet.
Many times in the Bible we are told not to be afraid. We Christians have some primary tasks, interceding for our nation and praising God (even when times are hard and bad things are happening). These are our duties as priests of God.
1 Peter 2:9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;
I remember some years ago meeting a person who had spent time in ministry in Nigeria, and come to know some former witch doctors who had turned to Christ. They said that they had been able to spot Christians because they gave off a kind of light. They knew to avoid such people, but also observed that those Christians seemed to have no idea of the power that was in them. I’ve not heard this verified since, but there are many accounts of witch doctors from several different countries who have turned to Christ because they recognised both the goodness and the power of Christ to change lives.
When everyone is fearful, we need to be calm. It’s not our role to behave like a police car or ambulance rushing about with flashing blue lights, stirring up fear and anxiety, but rather to be steady beacons pointing the way to Jesus. We must walk steadily and keep walking.
1 John 1:5-7. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Just like Abraham, our hope is not fixed in this world. We are but travellers here, “strangers and pilgrims”, looking for a “ heavenly country”, where God has “prepared a city” for us (Extracts Heb 11:13-18).
Revelation 22:5. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Going forward we just need to remember that as Christians we are heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, called to be servants of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We may be called to serve as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher. We may be called to speak or to minister, with gifts ranging from healing to helps available to us.
In the coming times we may need spiritual gifts we have not yet received, to minister in roles that we have not previously been called to. We have no way of knowing what may happen to us or what we may be called to do.
There is a myriad of ways we can serve our living God as lights in the darkness, following He whose word “is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path”.
I’ll leave the last word to that Sunday School teacher, Missionary to India, and poet, Minnie Louise Haskins. This poem was shown to King George VI by his 13-year-old daughter Princess Elizabeth, and he read it to the nation at Christmas 1939 just after the outbreak of World War 2:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and
put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light
and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
(Extract, “The Gate of the Year, Minnie Louise Haskins)
Martin Johnson
1st April 2025
martin.w.johnson101@outlook.com
www.hesedassociation.com