Remembrance

John Plunkett

November 10th 2018

Tomorrow – Sunday November 11th – is Remembrance Day.

Last week, I was listening to an Irish radio channel which repeatedly announced the upcoming Remembrance Day “celebrations”!  Those announcements triggered some thoughts on what God might think of Remembrance Day.  Also, as to whether we – God’s people – should be observing it.

According to Wikipedia:

Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. 

Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. 

Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. 

Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.) 

The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.

The memorial evolved out of Armistice Day, which continues to be marked on the same date. 

The initial Armistice Day was observed at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic" during the evening hours of 10 November 1919.  The first official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace the following morning.

The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields" written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae {1872-1918}.  After reading the poem, Moina Michael {1869-1944}, a professor at the University of Georgia, wrote the poem, "We Shall Keep the Faith," and swore to wear a red poppy on the anniversary.  The custom spread to Europe and the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth within three years.  Madame Anne E. Guerin tirelessly promoted the practice in Europe and the British Empire.  In the UK, Major George Howson fostered the cause with the support of General Haig.  Poppies were worn for the first time at the 1921 anniversary ceremony.  At first, real poppies were worn.  These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I; their brilliant red colour became a symbol for the blood spilled in the war.  

Remembrance Day is related to Veterans Day and Memorial Day in the USA and Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand.  But have you ever wondered about the defeated powers from WWI and WWII?  Whether or not they, too, have their own versions of Remembrance Day?

Actually, they do!  From Wikipedia again:

Volkstrauertag (German for "people's day of mourning") is a public holiday in Germany two Sundays before the first day of Advent {observed on November 18th in 2018}.  

It commemorates members of the German armed forces and civilians who died in armed conflicts, and includes victims of violent oppression. 

The other Axis powers – Italy and Japan – also have their own versions of Remembrance Day.

In addition, here’s an interesting, thought-provoking, on-line letter from a young German:

How do the people of Japan, Germany and Italy feel when the winning Allies celebrate their victory in World War II every year?

I (a German) witnessed British war commemorations in 2012 and I have to say that my first reaction was disgust and my second reaction deep disappointment.

Although I had studied English culture in school, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw around Remembrance Day on the 11th of November. 

This self-congratulatory mumbo-jumbo wasn't something I had thought possible in a modern-day European country.

There are parades with veterans, soldiers and even young children goose-stepping around cities.  There is a two minutes of silence followed by firing a piece of artillery (what a way of commemorating the dead – by worshipping the weapons that killed them).

Last year the Tower of London was surrounded by red ceramic flowers that deliberately looked like a sea of blood.

Right now, because of the centenary, there are so-called WW1 Discovery Days at the military museum in Staffordshire where visitors are 'immersed in a professionally created soundscape that takes you straight to the trenches of WWI France'.   And: 'Parents and children will get the chance to try on uniforms, as well as handle weapons and equipment from the time.' 

On its homepage the museum states that: 'You’ll discover just how great a role the county played during the 1914 to 1918 conflict.'

To me this is not remembrance or commemoration.  That's wallowing in a past.  These events do not inspire people to think about war in general. They don't reach out to former enemies.  They don't promote peace.  They serve the purpose of making people feel good about their British identity -- telling the same stories over and over and over again.

When it comes to commemorations of WWI and WWII, the British have certainly taken this torch -- and they made sure it is still burning brightly. 

As offspring of the 'former foe,' I wonder what my role is in all of this.  

The answer is: None.  Modern-day Germany and our current relations to the UK don't feature in these events.  A German politician might lay down a wreath somewhere; but that's it.  If Germany were still a warmongering threat, I would understand the gloating and glorifying nature of these events better.  But this is not the case.  Sometimes it feels as if the British don't want us to be peaceful.  They need us to be the evil, ugly antagonist and I am sick of it.

It's a good thing that most Germans are completely clueless about all of this.  We are already suspicious of the British as reliable European partners and this nationalistic fuss taking place each year does not speak in their favor.

I can't say that I agree with all of this person's sentiments; however, what he wrote certainly does make one think

War

If we look at the Bible statistics of the word "war" and its related words, we might deduce that God might have had a different attitude toward war in the New Testament times than He did in Old Testament times. 

In the Old Testament we find 230 mentions of the word war and its related words.  In the New Testament we only find 24 mentions.  That's only about 10% of the Old Testament mentions.

~~~

The very first Bible mention of “war” is this one, from the time of Abraham:

Genesis 14:
1:  And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
2:  That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar…
Verse 8:  And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

And the very last mention of the word “war” is in Revelation 19 – as inspired by Jesus to the apostle John – speaking of the future, of course.

But first let’s look at a literally challenging question in chapter 13:

Revelation 13:4:
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like unto the beast?  Who is able to make war with him?”

Jesus answers this vain braggadocio with these words:

Revelation 19:
11:  And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war…

Who is able to make war with the Beast?  The LORD Jesus is!  Along with His army of holy angels and His newly born-again brothers and sisters!

Verse 19:  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.

And what will the result of that attempted "war" be?  Without going into the gory details mentioned elsewhere:

Revelation 17:14:
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

This victory in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3) will be more of a “righteous massacre” than a real war or battle.

One would think that, after that massacre, humanity would learn its lesson, and that it would be the final instance of end-time warfare; but there will be one more – which is prophesied to result in another “righteous massacre”:

Revelation 20:
7:  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8:  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9: And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

So, WWI was not “the war to end all wars” as it has sometimes been called.  No! The righteous massacre of Gog and Magog will be the “war” to end all wars! 

Yes.  That's where it will end.  But where did human warfare begin?  In the time of the first mention of the word “war” which we read in Genesis 14?

No! More likely, long before that!  Prior to the Flood:

Genesis 6:
11:  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence…
Verse 13:  And God said unto Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

And you can bet your bottom dollar that, if it was a major factor in God’s decision to destroy the majority of mankind, the “violence” He mentions here was much more than a couple of guys having a bit of a scrap!

Trish and I were talking about this the other day and we agreed how nice it would be if the leaders of countries who had a problem with each other would do the fighting and leave their people alone!  

This theoretical concept reminds me of a 1970 movie based on an essay the humorous title of which was “Suppose they Gave a War, and Nobody Came.”

But by the time of the first king of Israel, the standard human method of resolving disputes had become firmly entrenched:

1 Samuel 8:
1:  And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
2:  Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.
3:  And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
4:  Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5:  And said unto him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6:  But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.”  And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7:  And the LORD said unto Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
8:  According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto you.
9:  Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.”
10:  And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
11:  And he said, “This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12:  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13:  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14: And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15:  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
16:  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men {yes, in the flower of their youth!}, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17:  He will take the tenth of your sheep: and you shall be his servants.
18:  And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
19:  Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "Nay; but we will have a king over us;
20:  That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
21:  And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
22a:  And the LORD said to Samuel, “Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king”… 

Did the LORD’s prophecy come true?

Of course it did!

1 Samuel 14:
47:  So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed {acted wickedly against} them…
Verse 52:  And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.

And so it has been ever since!

In 1971, John Lennon sang “War is Over.”  

He was wrong!  It wasn’t!  It isn’t! His song reflected his own persoanl wishful thinking.  In fact, less than a decade later, John Lennon the pacifist was brutally murdered outside his New York City apartment block.

And so, violence and warfare continue in various forms and various places to this very day.

The Spanish philosopher, George Santayana wrote that "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

It is evident that mankind – including our Israelitish nations – have not learnt their lessons.  They have ignored the loving admonitions that our merciful God has given them over the centuries.  And so, it is prophesied that our Israelitish nations are destined to be violently taken into captivity once again.

Yes, just as He anciently used the Gentile nations of Assyria and Babylon/Chaldea as kinds of “tools” to punish the idolatrous tribes of Israel and Judah, so He promises to do again in the last days.

But, because those Gentile nations will enjoy their role too much and will overdo it, God will punish them too.

And, just as He has done in the past, the LORD Jesus will continue to use war as a tool of punishment up until the early days of the Millennium – although, as already mentioned, those final “wars” with those who try to fight against the Messiah will not be much in the way of wars at all:

Joel 3:
1:  For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2:  I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
3:  And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4:  Yes, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine?  Will you render me a recompence?  And if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head…
Verse 7:  Behold, I will raise them out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head…
Verse 9:  Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10:  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11:  Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12:  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13:  Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14:  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15:  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16:  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17:  So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
18:  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19:  Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20:  But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21:  For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.

Yes. God will recompense the nations' warlike tendencies back on their own heads!

The bottom line, though, is what God’s attitude to war will be after Jesus’ return – i.e. during the Millennium – which Isaiah refers to as part of “the last days”:

Isaiah 2:
1:  The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2:  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3:  And many people shall go and say, “Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4:  And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more…

We usually end the quote there.  But today, let’s continue it to its end –  just to remind ourselves what humanity – including Israel – has done to bring these punishments upon themselves:

5:  O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6:  Therefore you {LORD} have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7:  Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8:  Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9:  And the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself: therefore forgive them not.

Should we – God’s people – be repeatedly remembering warfare and our nations’ previous wars?  Does God want us to be remembering these things?  To be continually reviewing them?

Although the famous well-known phrase by George Santayana might be true that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," what is it that God does want us to remember?  What does He want us to keep our minds on?

Paul gives a good answer to this question – but only in general terms:

Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Okay.  But what things, more specifically?  Let’s look at some “remembrance” scriptures and find out.  But first, let me just mention that the Greek word for “remembrance” is the verb "hupomimnesko" (Strong’s 5279).   No surprises here.  It means just what it says: put in remembrance, remember, bring to remembrance and  put in mind.

At the very beginning of His human sojourn, Jesus’ mother, Mary said this about the LORD God, her Saviour – who was in her womb at the time:

Luke 1:54:
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;

And as His human sojourn drew to a close, here is one of the most well-known “remembrance” scriptures – from Jesus Himself – via the pen of Paul:

1 Corinthians 11:
24:  And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25:  After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

But, although, soon after the night that He said those words, it would become necessary for Jesus to return to heaven, He made provision for His disciples and those believers who would follow them, by making this request of His Father:

John 14:26:
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, it shall teach you all things, and bring {hupomimnesko} all things to {hupomimnesko} your remembrance {hupomimnesko} whatsoever I have said unto you. 

Jesus used that word three times in this sentence!  His double repetition of the word hupomimnesko – remembrance – might imply that it would be extremely important to have “all things” brought to our remembrance.

Yes, it is right and good for us to frequently review and remember all the things that Jesus said to His disciples.  

It is also right and good for us to remember our faithful spiritual brothers and sisters – including those ministers who have been helpers of our joy – and if applicable, to retain good, positive memories of them all:

1 Thessalonians 3:6:
But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:

All the better if we can occasionally communicate with our beloved brethren who have remained faithful – even those who might fellowship with different Church of God groups than our own.  A card, an e-mail, a letter of encouragement – just to let them know that they are in our thoughts, prayers and memories – like this one from Paul to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:
1:  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2:  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3:  I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;
4:  Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy;
5:  When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you also…

But there are other, more solemn remembrances that are also right and good for us to have.  Still in 2 Timothy 1; continuing in verse 6:

6:  Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.

Paul is urging Timothy to remember to stir up the Holy Spirit that was in him.  To use it!  To put it to work!

A little later in this same letter, in chapter 2, Paul wrote:

2 Timothy 2:
11:  It is a faithful saying: “For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him:
12:  If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:
13:  If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.”
14:  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15:  Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16:  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

This was something of a repetition of something he (Paul) had written to Timothy in his earlier letter:

1 Timothy 4:
1:  Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2:  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3:  Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from {clean} meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4:  For every creature of God is good, and nothing {clean} to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5:  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6 :  If you {Timothy} put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto you have attained. 

Look at the distinction that the author of the book of Hebrews was inspired to make between various kinds of “things” worth reviewing and remembering:

Hebrews 10: 
1:  For the {sacrificial} law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2:  For then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3:  But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year…

Just like the annual remembrances of the sins that caused all the wars -- and other sins that were caused by the wars!

4:  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5:  Wherefore when He came into the world, He said, “Sacrifice and offering you would {wanted} not, but a body have you prepared me:
6:  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure”…

At the time when these words were written, the sacrificial law which had been required and had been repeated and remembered for about 1,600 years was being wound down and would soon be on its way out.

Not that there was anything wrong with it.  After all, God made it!  But it had served its purpose; and was then to be superseded by the “thing” that it had symbolized for all those centuries – the “thing” that could forgive sins – the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Due to the death and resurrection of Jesus, the repetition, review and remembrance of all those sacrifices was, even then, no longer necessary; and pretty soon after this was written, due to the destruction of the temple in 70AD, the Hebrews would no longer even be able to review those sacrifices!

So what did the writer of the book of Hebrews encourage them to call to remembrance?  Later in this very same chapter:

Verse 32:  But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions; 
33:  Partly, whilst you were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst you became companions of them that were so used.
34:  For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

The author encourages the Hebrew readers of his letter to recall to their memory the early days of their conversion – those heady days when they were in the bloom of their “first love” which had given them the courage to be able to withstand any and all trials that might come against them.

A good lesson for us too – especially if and when we find our faith flagging!

Moving on, what did the apostle Peter say we should be remembering?

2 Peter 1:
12:  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth,
13:  Yes, I think it meet {right, proper}, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…
Verse 15:  Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

“These things”?  What things? 

For the answer, let’s go back to the beginning of the epistle:

Verse 1:  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2:  Grace and peace {N.B. Not war!} be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3:  According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue:
4:  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these {things} you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5:  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6:  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7:  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8:  For if these things be in you, and abound, they {these things} make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9:  But he that lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten {i.e. does not remember!} that he was purged from his old sins.
10:  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall…

And the wonderful, ultimate result of us doing these things -- i.e. acting upon our remembrances of “these things”?

11:  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

So, in closing, let me assure you that I’m sure that God is not against anyone wearing a poppy at this time of year.  Nor, I believe, is He against anyone attending Remembrance Day ceremonies.

I would hope, however, that any ceremonies that you do chose to attend are not "self-congratulatory mumbo-jumbo" or "wallowing in the Allies’ past military victories," as that young German person opined.  I would hope that they represent the people’s desire never to repeat such wars.

However, if we believe what the sure prophecies of God’s holy written Word tell us, those desires for peace are mere wishful thinking!  

Let’s not forget that, as prophesied by Ezekiel, even without actual declared warfare, our modern Israelitish lands are filled with bloody crimes and many of our cities are filled with violence!

Also that, like it or not, the prophesied future of our sinful nations is one of warfare and captivity such as the world has never seen.

But, even though we are commanded to watch and pray, neither do I believe that God wants His people to dwell on all the fine details of these awful things.

On the contrary, I believe that, rather than looking backward in time, He wants us to look to the future – to “the wonderful world tomorrow” – and that He wants us to “accentuate the positive.”

In conclusion, let’s finish on a positive note – by re-reading:

Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

JHP/jhp