War Against Evil

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WAR AGAINST EVIL

 

Matt 2:16-18

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  

NIV

To be outwitted is bad enough, but to be outwitted by three foreigners was enough to make him furious enough to order a mass murdering of baby boys. This is pure evil personified. This does tell us that perhaps by the time the Magi did arrive in Bethlehem that Jesus was no longer an infant wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a manger. We learn this because Herod had all boys two years and younger killed, although, we cannot be sure how long it took him to figure out he had been outwitted. Nevertheless, this also fulfilled the words of the prophet, so we must also conclude all this was within the foreknowledge of God. Surely it was not God’s plan for all those boys to be killed, but it was within his foreknowledge, which tells us that man can carry out his free will for evil and is not stopped by God. God knows what man will do, and allows man to carry out his plans, even if it is not within the plan of God. The fact remains each person must come to God willingly and submit himself, offer himself to God forfeiting self-will that is bent on evil. We also know that all of man’s heart is deceitfully wicked always bent toward evil all the time. Herod is proof enough of that. This is a lifelong pursuit to wage that war within between listening to the inner voice bent toward evil and listening to the voice of the Spirit leading us into all truth. If we think we do not have that war, then we must conclude we think more highly of ourselves than we should, in fact, even better than the Apostle Paul, for he confessed that war that waged within him. He said that which he did not want to do, he did, and that which he wanted to do, he did not. He said that he found this law at work, that when he wanted to do good, that evil was right there with him. This is our battle. We cannot think there is no evil at all left within us. Certainly, we would never have all the boys under two killed in a town, but what about not forgiving someone. What about holding onto anger, jealously, or envy. What about slander, which is gossip? How about this feeling hurt, when someone offends or does not do what we think they should? What about this idea of our desires, our wanting what we want when we want it? Is there not a war waging within us between doing good and doing evil? Can we say our heart is absolutely pure all the time, without any impure thoughts at all? Surely we are not as evil as Herod was, but we have to be truthful with ourselves and see there can be evil lurking within and we need to be on guard all the time against it. God knows our hearts better than we do. Just as he knew Herod’s heart before he committed that murderous crime, he knows the choices we will make throughout our lives, whether we listen to the voice within us or the voice of the Spirit. God does not make us do or stop doing anything. He offers the path, the light to see that path, and it is up to us to either stay on the path or wander off from time to time. Let us pray we spend more time on than off that path. Therefore God also offers his armor, so we might take our stand in the war against evil.