GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 13-7
Wars and Rumors
It is prudent to be cautious. I drove by a house in northeastern Georgia recently, and there was a tornado shelter in the yard. Prudent. Many houses in the more tornado-prone areas of the U.S.—Oklahoma and Kansas—have safe rooms or underground shelters. Again, prudent.
There was a great atomic bomb shelter building boom in the United States in the late 1950s, peaking in the 1960s. When I was in Emerson Elementary School (the school building no longer exists) in Granite City, Illinois, in the 1950s, we had “Duck and Cover” drills in which we dropped to the floor and huddled under our desks. It was a tense moment in world history. The Cold War was at its height; the Soviet Union had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in 1953 and had launched Sputnik in 1957. There were civil defense initiatives encouraging Americans to build fallout shelters. Then there was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 that triggered widespread fear and led to a surge in the construction and sales of personal and community fallout shelters.
Jesus had prophesied that there would be great destruction in the city of Jerusalem, and even the temple would be destroyed, so that not one stone would be left upon another. Four of his disciples then asked Jesus what sign there would be that these events would take place. Jesus shifted from the prophetic to the exhortative when he said, “But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is not yet.” (Mark 13:7)
There is an important little phrase tucked into this exhortation—“do not be alarmed.” This is not a “bury the head in the sand” approach, but in the midst of the wars and rumors, one should not be so disturbed as to let go of one’s faith; after all, wars and rumors are part of human life. The divine work will be different from all these things, so do not be alarmed, do not let go of trust, hope, and confidence in the Father. Jesus’ words and exhortation are still relevant.
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