The Two Basic Reasons for [Most] Wars

There are two basic reasons for most wars.

They are revealed to us in the opening of the first two seals of the scroll in the Revelation.

We see these two of the four horsemen revealed when the Lamb (the risen Christ) opens the first two seals.

The democratically elected government of Ukraine is under attack from the autocratic Russian President, Vladimir Putin. It is the first step in Putin’s desire to take over much of the world around him. In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and other world leaders signed an agreement with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler agreeing to let him have Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia, and this was supposed to stop Hitler’s aggression. It didn’t. And if you’re looking at Ukraine in 2023…it won’t.

The war in Ukraine is a war of conquest. Across the years, for millennia, one self-centered, narcissistic, autocratic leader after another has had the burning desire to conquer other countries. The biblical examples would be Tiglath-Pileser III, and Shalmanezer V of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Alexander the Great of Greece, and the Caesar’s of the Roman Empire. The prophets warned Israel of the coming Assyrian invasion in 722 BC, but the leaders and the people chose to ignore the prophets and, “thus says the Lord.” Jeremiah and others tried to warn the leaders and people of Judah, but they refused to listen, and by 586 BC the walls of Jerusalem were torn down, the temple destroyed, and most people taken into exile. The Greeks desecrated the temple and the Romans ruled with an iron hand.

History, of course, gives us many other examples around the world. Wars of conquest—think of Putin’s war in Ukraine—are fought out of power and greed.

“Then I saw the Lamb (the risen Christ in the throne room of heaven) open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2)

Let us be reminded that when John was given this vision (Revelation) on a Lord’s Day (Sunday) while exiled on the Island of Patmos, it was the Roman governing authorities who had put him there; away from family, friends, and his beloved seven churches of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The Romans had come. The Romans had conquered. Their military leaders rode white horses. When John was given this vision of the white horse and its rider, he understood conquest and what it meant.

Along the highway of history there have always been those who conquered and those who were conquered. Conquest comes out of greed—we want what they have. Conquest comes out of an overblown ego—I/we want to be known as the powerful, and I/we want history to record our strength and our power.

Those “leaders” who act out of greed or for selfish power, always attract others who see possibilities in the conquest. Hence today, we see Iran, North Korea, China, and others joining hands with Vladimir Putin in his attempted conquest of Ukraine.

Evil always attracts evil.

And while some believe we should leave it alone, and let Putin have his way in Ukraine, they are missing an important part of the story. If we let evil have its way today; it will come home tomorrow. When will we learn this great lesson of history, and this great lesson of the word of the Lord?

“When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword.” (Revelation 6:3-4)

The second major reason for war is commonly called “ethnic cleansing.” There is a desire by one group to totally destroy/annihilate another. And this is what we saw unfold Saturday, October 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorist attacked Israel. It is what we saw unfold from 1939 to 1945 in Europe, and we’ve seen it in Cambodia and some African nations. For whatever reason—religious zealotry, years of prejudice and hate, revenge, or numerous other reasons—there are always those who are not so much concerned with conquest as they are with destroying a certain people.

Hamas, Hezbollah, and numerous other terrorist in the Middle East have one goal, the destruction of Israel, and the annihilation of the Jewish people. It is an ages old conflict. If we trace it back far enough, we will discover it began when Abraham slept with the Egyptian servant Hagar at his wife Sarah’s behest.

Is there a way to stop this red horse and its rider who carries a “great sword?”

Once more we are reminded that evil begets evil.

Whether it is evil people, or evil ideas and ideals, evil begets evil. The red horse and its rider have been riding the globe throughout history. Can this horse and its rider be stopped? Will it be stopped?

Whenever a conflict breaks out in Israel, people come forth with “proof” of the end of time. But is it?

Instead of listening to those who put their own interpretation to it, let’s let Jesus speak. He is, after all, the authority on the subject.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6)

It is our task to work for peace on behalf of our Lord, the Prince of Peace.

It is our task to stand up to evil: “Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13)

We pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

It is not our calling to sit around and wait for the “end of times.”

It is our calling to stand up to evil, to do the work of the kingdom, to pray for and work toward peace among all people.

The white horse and its rider are riding across Ukraine, “conquering and to conquer.”

The red horse and its rider are galloping across the Middle East, “so that people would slaughter one another.”

Evil is begetting evil.

Do we stand up to evil, or do we choose to withdraw into our own shell and hope against hope evil won’t come our way?

And one more thing for those who like to speculate about the end…

“But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

We can’t say we haven’t been warned. “When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

May I remind us all, the weapon of the Christian is the sharp two-edged sword, which is the word of God? There is power in the gospel.

blessings