Daniel True
Most all of us have heard of the Great Wall of China; some of you have even seen it and perhaps walked on some of it (it is 4,160 miles long – further than from Key West, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska)! It was built in the 7th century (BC) and rebuilt/repaired between 6 BC and 16 AD. Initially, it was a defensive aid to protect Northern China from attacks by the Mongols. It has been opened to foreign tourists only since 1959.
Masada was another fortified area but it was built on a mountain peak about 300 feet above the plateau. The Jews who occupied Masada in 66 AD held out for three years but the invading Roman army was finally able to breach the walls of that great fortress.
The fact is that there have been many walled cities, but nothing quite on the scale of China’s Wall. The Bible reveals that as people gathered into communities, walls were built to protect those within from attack or robbers/plunderers. Some of the better known Biblical sites with walls were Jerusalem, Babylon and Jericho. Eventually, all those walls were breached for you cannot build a “perfect”, impenetrable bastille.
In Medieval days castles were built with walls surrounding them. Some had the inverse; moats or ditches as fortifications, filled with water to make ingress more difficult. Even today all over Europe you can find castles or their ruins inside walled fortifications.
Between1942-44, the infamous rampart, the Atlantic Wall, was built by the Germans. It incorporated the old Maginot Line, a fortified wall built by the French after WW I. This composite line of fortifications was constructed to hopefully prevent or deter attack by the Allies coming in from the West (Atlantic Ocean). It stretched from the French-Spanish border to Norway. It didn’t work – WE won!
During the Normandy invasion in June of 1944, the Allies were confronted with a unique “wall”. In the lowland countries there were “hedgerows”, closely spaced trees and shrubs, trained in such a way as to be intertwined, making an almost impenetrable barrier. Only by some creative “field modifications” to place makeshift plows on the front of tanks were the Allied troops able to break through the hedgerows!
After WWII, an “Iron Curtain” fell across much of Eastern Europe, a virtual wall that isolated the Soviet Union. In 1961 a real wall was constructed to sequester East and West Berlin. That wall was finally “felled” with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1989.
The point that is being made in this article is that, no matter how unique or creative man can be, there has never been a wall that would keep people out indefinitely! They will find SOME way to breach any wall.
Spiritually, there IS a wall that will offer constant protection and comfort. God has provided “a hedge of protection” for the believers. See these words from Psalms 91:
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. (Psalms 91:9-11)
Yet, even with this promise from God, there is a condition! Look at verses 1-4:
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
The condition is: as long as you stay “under His wings” you have His protection, His covering. But, you do have the choice to walk away from Him, to get out from under the “shadow of the Almighty” (fall into sin). And, in doing so, you open yourself up to “the snare of the fowler and the perilous pestilence” – attacks by the enemy.
Many Christians read this Scripture and wonder why they have come under attack. The fact of the matter is that they have stepped outside that virtual “hedge of protection”. So, step back; confess your sin and ask for forgiveness.
Do your part and God will do His! You must put forth the effort to stay under His wings; on His side of the wall!
There is another wall that should be maintained; the wall around your heart! Like the comfort you receive by snuggling up under the “wings of the Lord”, you should treat your friends and family likewise. Show them the same kind of Godly care and love that you get from the Father! Pull them close in.
