Yesterday the news was 20,000 died and 60,000 are missing. Today the
death toll is expected to be over 100,000. But that does not take into
account the million or more who will be endangered by the sources of
water contaminated by rotting corpses.
The military junta that has run Burma since 1962 does not seem to want
western aid agencies coming into the country. And large scale
government financial aid looks as it will merely line the pockets of
the army.
Let's face it. This is no ordinary tragedy. The numbers involved
remind us of the plagues of the Book of Revelation. "By these three
plagues a third of human kind was killed" (Revelation 9:18). The
context of these disasters is "the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation
6:16). We should not be heartless and minimize the terrible sufferings
of the people involved. But this at least means that the cyclone in
Burma could be part of our reigning Messiah's purposes.
What could be the outcome of what seems to be an unmitigated disaster?
Perhaps the military junta will finally be toppled. All around the
Irrawady basin the hills are populated by the Karen, Kachin, and other
tribes. Many of them are Christians, but they are terribly persecuted.
This could be the Day of the Lord for them to make their influence
felt among the Burmese who tend to view them as ignorant savages. .
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord"
(Revelation 11:15; 12:10).
I am no prophet but, as I pray for our friends in Burma, I know that
things will change. And I trust Jesus the loving (and wrathful) Lamb
to work things out for the very best.Robert Brow
e-mail : browr@brow.on.ca
web site : www.brow.on.ca