The Burning of a City
This message is kind of a continuation of my previous message concerning wars and how they are being treated as a game by those who wish to belittle others with their words and phrases. But this message will be a bit more on the direct side of things and will be focused on the personal levels even though some general terms will be used as examples. This message is designed to inform us of how the enemy looks at our core and what he wishes to do to our inner being. Do not be fooled for one minute that these examples are not presently being carried out or in the works in our lives, it is a serious threat and it needs to be taken heed of with eyes wide open.
In the closing months of the Civil War many signs began pointing to the eventual collapse of the Confederate way of life. The Northern Army began its push into the south with swift and convincing attacks on some of the Confederate strongholds. Even though the war seemed like it was nearing its end there still was many more days and weeks of fighting to come with many more acts of death to be portrayed. The army did not stay around too much since they had a final objective and they had not reached the area of completion. One of these marches involved a portion of the Northern Army racing into Georgia which meant coming from the north they had to travel a great distance. The commander of this army had specific instructions and his objective given to him was clear, but he was given a choice in some of the more specific decisions that he and his army would face and that would be to what extent of destruction was going to be leveled upon the territory in his path. This choice that was given to him was given to him by the overall commander in the North and to his utmost this army commander was going to make his point known to the South that the North meant business.
As this advancing army approached towns and communities the men began to make their wrath known to the inhabitants of these places. Many houses, barns, businesses and other permanent places were burned to the ground. Many animals and other work animals were systematically destroyed as the army quickly passed through these places. One of the instructions that this commander gave to the troops was to take no prisoners no matter what they offered in return for protection. The commander also gave orders to not allow any residents follow the soldiers as they left their places of residence and if they did follow the troops then to make sure that they stood far behind and had no contact with the soldiers. The reasoning was that this army was on a time schedule and they had no time to be slowed down by people or any other objects that would delay their advance. The liberating army was now being seen as an invasion force that had one thing on their mind and that was punishment for those who chose to not view their ideas as the truth and that these people now deserved to feel the full wrath of their conquering opponents.
An unusual twist in this scene is that when this army approached known areas where slaves were living, the soldiers would read the document to the people in the community or area and then would post the Emancipation Proclamation onto some type of fixed building or in some cases a tree. After informing the people of their freedom the soldiers would then continue their march to another community along their path to their objective. The people who could understand the written language quickly read the document and began to spread the word that they were free. Excitement ran through the communities and villages but they quickly realized that the soldiers who brought the news to them about their freedom did not stay around to help them out in any way. And when the people tried to follow the soldiers the soldiers followed their orders in keeping them away, so even though they were free they had no protection or any means of supplying for their families any longer.
As the army advanced further south a major city was lying on the horizon. Many of the soldiers, who had not been told of their final objective, speculated that this major city was their reason for marching through all of the littler communities without stopping. The city of Atlanta was now within their sights and it was the commander’s decision of when to attack. When the attack orders were given the soldiers continued their march towards the city and broke the siege upon the city by advancing into the city. It became very clear as soon as the guns of the army were within range that the commander was not going to have any mercy upon any structure or any person that resided inside Atlanta. The commander gave specific instructions for nothing to be left standing of the city and no life should be able to prosper in the city again.
As the last soldier left the city of Atlanta the orders of the commander had been executed to its utmost, nothing was left of Atlanta and it would be a long time before anyone or anything would show life in that city again. The soldiers of the army could not believe that they were leaving the area. They had marched for weeks and had destroyed one of the crown cities of the Confederacy but realized that this was not their final objective. The soldiers continued their drive further south and a few weeks later arrived at their final destination which was Savannah a city on the Atlantic coast. The mission had been completed and with the path that they took virtually split the Confederate lands in two which totally rendered the Confederate supply lines invalid for any further usage. The objective was clear in the mind of the commander and he obtained his orders to the best of his ability. He did not have anything to announce his arrival nor did he had any bells and whistles after he left the area, he only did what he had to do and then left the people to fend for themselves.
The second example I am going to use for this message is set during World War II in one of the great talking points of the war. This example occurred at the closing of this great war and is considered one of the sore areas of the war with some claiming the necessity of the action at all. In either of these cases these points are null and void since at the time they were deemed necessary and there is nothing that we as humans can do now to turn back the clock to change the outcomes; however, we can take heed of these examples and notice that even though I am talking about cities in this message the same concepts are being played out for your spiritual life and your heart and once these areas of your life are compromised they are easy targets for something like these examples to occur.
Dresden in 1945 had seen its fair share of the war up to this point. The city had been targeted in bombing runs before and the people of the city knew they would be targeted once again since their war effort factories were still standing. It was just a matter of time before the attacks would begin but for whatever reasons the inhabitants of this great city did not leave but entrenched themselves into their domains and continued to live out their daily lives.
The battles of World War II continued to begin and end while this major operation was being planned. Both sides of the war were trying their best to defend and attack to preserve the precious ground that they held yet one side stood taller and mightier and was continually on the move forward. The advancing armies had their specific objectives which they drove as fast and as hard to as they could and when they reached their daily objectives they would wait for further orders. It is well known that a foot soldier can only cover a certain amount of ground in a day and to soften up the areas ahead of the battle field artillery can be used to ease the “road” a bit. However, the war effort for the enemy still could be hundreds or even thousands of miles away and the only way in the 1940s to reach this production line was by plane. Bombers were not the sophisticated ones like we have today where one bomb can be delivered to a certain spot on the map with a guarantee of its target being hit. The bombers of World War II had the new technological equipment to help them guide the bombs to their targets but many bombs had to be dropped to reach the maximum effectiveness needed to complete the mission.
The plans had already been drawn up and approved from the highest command. The target had been selected and deemed worthy enough of such a great mission. Everyone had been in agreed with the decision to set the mission date and inform the personnel of their assignments. The individual squadrons were briefed on their targets and routes that they were to follow and the time of departure was the last bit of information given before they were set to their quarters for rest. At the designated time the combined attack forces flew over their target and dispatched their cargo onto the target with precision guidance as drawn up by their commanders.
The devastation of the mission was great and in fact 15 square miles of the city was totally destroyed by fire including many of the civilians that were living in and around the industrial area. The interior city of Dresden had been totally wiped off the face of the map; and the fires continued to burn throughout the city for weeks. The attack force into the heart of that city was pinpoint and so effective that Dresden never recovered until the allies helped with the restoration of the city after the war ended. The war effort of the city proved too valuable of a target not to skip and the allies felt that it would lengthen the war if they did not attack the industrial area of the city. So in this case even though the attacks and advancing armies were miles away the major objective of the region had to be completed by another means of attack.
What is amazing to think about is that the commanders of both examples had experienced their wars on an intimate level and in some way each of their lives had been personally touched by these conflicts. Both commanders had their own personal reasons for believing in the war effort and both commanders understood that when wars are fought that sometimes the innocent dies during these battles. The same has happened to our enemy because his life was touched so long ago but his grudge continues to grow to God’s prize possessions, innocent ones and everyone else who has drawn a breath are subject to a major offensive by our enemy, yet we sit and wait blindly and continue to live on our own “preparing” ourselves in case something happens.
These cities were targets by the enemy to make statements to the people that lived within the confines of the city; however, the title of this message is used in a singular form and even though I gave two examples in history concerning targets and the burning of those targets; however, the real target that my message is referring to is your heart, which is your spiritual city. These examples were executed while there was a war ongoing, wars that had visible effects upon the lives of those who were around the area of fighting. These attacks and marches were all part of the routine maneuvers that occur during a war and as it has been recorded for centuries that non participants of these wars still get caught in the fighting and end up just as hurt and devastated as the soldiers participating in the battles.
This is where you come into this picture. For such a long time we have not recognized the true target of our enemy. Our focus has been on other things or places which have allowed us to demean the value of a single person which in turn causes us to become blind to the oncoming attacks of the enemy. I have written a couple of times in the past about the human and our connection with cities. We still have not come to the realization that we are a city and we cannot be hidden from our enemy. We are a target and if we are not prepared to defend ourselves and to help out those other “cities” to which the enemy has devastated we have lost our effectiveness as a Christian, not to mention being a human.
One detail to keep in our forebrains concerning these two examples. The burning of Atlanta occurred in mid July which is one of the hottest times in the South during the summer. The bombing of Dresden occurred in mid February which is still in winter. Dresden is located at the base of the Ore Mountains which makes it cold during this time of the year. Each of these occurrences happened in vulnerable or potentially difficult times of the year concerning the weather. In other words, our enemy will strike us when our conditions are at a vulnerable time, which represents both good and bad times in our lives.
Our enemy has an objective and his objective is your heart! He will do anything in his authority to destroy your heart and blind you to the truth. The enemy has been allowed to waltz into our camps and take hold of key positions in the name of acceptance or tolerance. This is nothing but a ploy from our enemy to continue his assault on our hearts and to bring in his philosophical ideas within our spirits. Once our spirit is infiltrated and shaded from the truth, the truth becomes a gray area which has no definition and therefore cannot be sustained in any form that humans come in contact with. So, if the smallest of truth is subjugated as worldly realization then as humans we will eventually give into its lie. Goebbels said it best some years ago that when you tell the public a certain idea long enough they will eventually believe it and accept it as the truth. Our true enemy is doing just that to our inner cities and it is burning our cores to the ground.
This is a warning to us all and especially the Church, wake up and smell the coffee and take notice of what we are allowing into our lives. This acceptance of the worldly lies that our enemy is pushing into our lives through societal means will destroy our inner beings if we do not stop believing them. It is time that we turn back to God and to realize what our enemy has stolen from us. We need to restore our relationship with God and turn from our wicked thoughts and gray lines. This world does not care about you nor does the spirit that controls it, only God cares about you and He is the only answer for humanity. The world’s troubles will not stop coming, in fact they are just beginning and as long as humans continue to look for a king we will continue to sink into the muck and the mire of the world. It will not be until we look to The King that our answers to our questions will be given and peace returns to our hearts again.
DLB
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