IMPASSE MOMENTS

From My Perspective - - -

The Sunday Morning Newsmaker Programs this week featured different points of view based upon a statement by The President that there was a “Red Line” – that if crossed – would necessitate action and intervention, presumably by the United States. The reports, sounding vaguely similar to those that brought about a prolonged war in Iraq, indicate Syria has used Chemical Weapons against the Rebel Forces (actually citizens of Syria). At least two questions emerge from the reports, namely: (1) are the reports of the use of chemical weapons valid and true; and (2) are the words of the United States President valid and true, or just more rhetoric and bluster? Did the President mean what he said, and say what he means? Do his words have believable substance?

Obviously, there is now a self-imposed impasse for this nation. We have been placed in “a position or situation from which there is no escape; a road or way that has no outlet.” Congressional Republicans said Sunday that President Obama must stick with his vow to take action should Syria cross a “red line” by using chemical weapons on citizens, amid such mounting evidence, but cautioned against sending in troops. The rationale for this is: “U.S. officials said last week that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad probably used chemical weapons twice in March…” and “…amid a two-year civil war in Syria, more than 70,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more displaced. The assessment that Syria used chemical weapons last month followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar -- key allies eager for a more aggressive response to the Syrian conflict.” One Congressman allowed on This Week: "The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line…It can't be anything other than a red line.” On Face the Nation, a Senator stated: “For America to sit on the sidelines and do nothing is a huge mistake…" Another Senator, on Meet The Press stated: “…the red line strategy has given Assad a “green light” to do almost everything up to that point -- including the use of missiles, helicopter attacks and other civilian strikes that have resulted in “atrocities on a scale that we have not seen in a long, long time.” The arguments are mostly partisan and are echoed by many.

War is both harsh and hideous. Cruelty and callousness begin to surface. There seems to be no limitation to a bent for torture and massacre. Evil begins to emerge into the light of day and people begin to cringe and recoil at the horror of it all. There is an interesting observation and action recorded in Genesis 6:5-7, “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said: I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." What did the Lord see that caused Him such great pain? What was the ‘red-line’ that man had crossed that brought about the resultant judgment of God upon His creation? It is summarized in the text as being “great wickedness” and “great evil.” The Message Paraphrase of verse 5 is: “God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil - evil, evil, evil from morning to night.”

We fast-forward to Matthew 24:37-39 for both insight and readiness: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” The “red-line” of The Lord remains the same. He will not tolerate “great wickedness” or “great evil” in His Creation. In a day when both wickedness and evil are rampant – aborting millions of babies; redefining marriage and entering into a Sodom and Gomorrah mindset; ignoring God and His Standards; alternative gods and religion dominating the world’s landscape; the limiting of freedom and liberty; oppression and cruelty in the midst of nations – these and many other areas are “red-line” before a Holy and Just God. I Thessalonians 5:3 indicates: “While people are saying, Peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly … and they will not escape.” What preparation have you made for that definitive “red-line” –  Impasse Moment – when the day of the Lord arrives? Consider these things with me.