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Faith

The futility of military strength

The second world war began after one country assembled an army stronger than those of the surrounding countries, with more men and better equipment, and then asserted its dominance over its neighbours. There is always a chance that history could repeat itself and some rogue nation could assemble sufficient power to subjugate the rest of the world. But ultimately the greatest military power in the world cannot stand before God, as the 20th chapter of the Revelation reminds us:

And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go to the four corners of the earth to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for war. They have as many soldiers as there are grains of sand by the sea. They marched across the earth, and surrounded the camp of the believers, and the beloved city. Fire came from heaven and destroyed them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet were.

Individuals have the power to cause harm by their aggression; countries and nations have the power to cause far greater harm. The more fervid the cause motivating the aggression, the more significant the impact of the aggression may turn out to be. Ultimately, however, the military might of all the armies of all the world counts as nothing before God, who in the space of six words can destroy them all.