World War II remains the most devastating and costly conflict in human history. Including the war in China there were as many as one hundred million people who died in it. The physical damage is far beyond our ability to calculate. It was motivated by the some of the cruelest evil to ever manifest itself in mankind. Even so, as both the Lord Jesus and Paul explained, the things that will come upon the world at the end will be like birth pangs when a woman in labor. It is the nature of birth pangs or “contractions” to become both stronger and more frequent the closer to birth. This is what we can expect, and what has in fact been happening.
However, these contractions do not always come as expected. Though World War II was certainly one, the following ones did not always come in the form of a war. There have been earthquakes, famines, diseases, and other great tragedies in the earth, much of which were hardly reported in the west because it did not happen in the west. However, these are all working together to bring forth the birth of something. The earth itself is going to expel the evil that has been sown in it, and it is also going to purge itself of everything that hinders it from being prepared for the age to come.
We will eventually study all of these things in some depth, but for now I am just sowing some seeds for consideration. We do need to understand World War II because in many ways it was a manifestation of the nature of evil that is growing in man, as well as a dress rehearsal for what will be faced in even greater ways in the end.
The terrible darkness and destruction of World War II also made manifest some of history’s greatest heroes. The character and courage that arose to combat this great darkness was so wondrous that they have been called “The Greatest Generation.” To date there may not have been a more heroic generation as a whole. One of the greatest stories of both courage and character in the entire war comes from a very unlikely source—the women of Berlin.
A friend of mine, Col. Eugene Bird, was one of the first American soldiers to enter Berlin after its fall. Col. Bird had seen much devastation as the Allied armies fought their way across Europe. However, the devastation he witnessed in Berlin exceeded it all.
As Col. Bird began to approach Berlin he could smell the stench of death more than thirty miles away. Not only had Berlin suffered almost Allied bombing daily for years, but two of the most powerful armies on earth fought through almost every street and neighborhood until the German army was completely destroyed. The Russians, who captured Berlin, lost more men taking that one city than the United States lost in all of World War II, including both its war in Europe and the Pacific.
As a reward to the Russian army that captured Berlin, Stalin gave them three days to do whatever they wanted to the German people. Because there were hardly any men left, the women and children were at the mercy of a very angry army. Most all of these women had certainly lost their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. They were almost all wounded and had been on near starvation diets for months. They were then subject to repeated rapes, some even dozens of times a day, as well as beatings and many other cruel abuses. Many were shot just for sport.
Then after three days the Russian officers could not get their men back under control. The plundering, raping, and killing went on for more than two weeks until finally officers started shooting their own men to get them to stop. Having talked to some of the women who were subjected to this, it is hard to comprehend how terrible this hell was after years of hell from the war itself.
As the Allied commanders surveyed the devastation of Berlin, it was decided that it would be impossible to rebuild it. One estimate was that it would take a hundred boxcars a day for thirty years just to remove the rubble so that they could start to rebuild it. They determined to just remove the few survivors to another location where they could start over. The survivors, the women who had endured so much, refused to leave. They said that they were not going to abandon their city, and would rebuild their city by themselves if they had to. The next day they were all out in the streets with buckets doing what they could to start cleaning up the rubble.
Col. Bird watched as the officers of the other Allied nations did, in shocked disbelief. He confided in me a couple of years ago that he had come to hate Germans so much because of what he had experienced in fighting them across Europe that he, and many others, were determined to survive the battles they were in so that they could kill more Germans. On that day, as he watched these tortured and wounded women begin their work on such an overwhelming task, his hatred for the German people was changed to awe, then respect, and then such love that he determined that as soon as he was discharged he would move back to Berlin to help these great people rebuild their nation.
The Allied leaders were also moved by the incredible spectacle of these courageous women, and they too decided to help them. Finally it was determined that at whatever the cost, Berlin would be rebuilt. It was not only rebuilt, it became one of the greatest cities in the world, as well as one of the most beautiful. They did not remove the rubble; they just pushed it together and made the beautiful hills that the city is now built upon.
My point is if these women of Berlin, who had suffered so much personal loss, devastation, and humiliation, would have such courage and resolve to take on the task of rebuilding their city, how can we fail to have the same heart for the church?
In Berlin everything became so precious after it was rebuilt that every single tree in the city was numbered and registered for its protection. How can we fail to number every single congregation, every believer, and watch over them so that none are ever lost or destroyed? How would the church be transformed if we responded to the attacks and devastations, which have come upon the church the way the incredible women of Berlin responded to their city?
Those who have the heart of God will have this heart for restoration. They, like is testified of the Lord Himself, will not want to see even a single flickering wick go out. If there is any life at all, there is still hope.
Now let’s look at how we can begin to practically apply this. First, how can we apply this to our families, churches, movements, or the body of Christ? For example, have there been divorces? If so, there have been wounds and devastation regardless of how well they have been covered up. Regardless of how wrong someone was in a situation, we must keep in mind Galatians 6:1:
“Any trespass” is inclusive. We are also told to “restore” them, which is far more than just forgiving them. Of course, relationships can become so entangled and confusing that we could easily think one is far past restoration. One thing that we can count on—it will be far past our wisdom and ability to work out. We will not accomplish any true restoration without the Holy Spirit. However, there is nothing impossible for Him!
In the very beginning the Holy Spirit moved upon that which was “formless and void” to bring forth this incredibly wonderful and intricate creation (see Genesis 1:2). In some translations it reads that He moved upon “chaos,” which is fairly accurate. The point is that there is no amount of chaos or impossible looking situations that the Holy Spirit cannot move upon and bring forth something far more beautiful than we ever imagined. Our whole job in this is to turn to Him, and follow His lead.
As we approach the end of this age, we are going to be facing increasingly difficult and confusing situations. There is going to be increasing chaos. Now is the time for us to learn to trust the Holy Spirit in every situation, and grow in both faith and wisdom as we see His marvelous work. We must begin to see humanly impossible situations as opportunities for the Holy Spirit. When these are restored, the Lord will receive far more glory than when things are restored that were humanly possible.
For several weeks now we have been trying to drive deeper and deeper this theme of restoration because it is the foundation of everything that God is doing at this time. This is fundamental to understanding His work both in our times and within us. I entitled this study “The Greatest Heroes” not only for the courageous women of Berlin, but because some of the greatest heroes of the faith. These heroes will be in heaven for all time, having kept God’s heart for restoration by continuing to build and restore in the midst of the chaos and destruction coming.
Restoration is a fundamental truth about God’s purpose in the earth. A foundation is not something that you lay and then never use again. It is what supports the rest of the building. Therefore, we will be patient and make sure it is laid properly before we go on. If the foundation of any building is not true, then the higher we go, the farther it will tilt until at some point it will fall.
It is also for this reason that I sow into every message some review of things previously covered. These do not just insure that everything is understood before building upon it, but the reviews will help to drive these truths a little deeper into us. Our goal is not to just know what is happening in our times, and what God is doing, but to be a part of it.