How God Subverts the Evils of War

As I write, a massive barrage of rocket attacks has left Kyiv’s inhabitants without heat, electricity, or water. Our 19 Jews for Jesus Ukrainian missionary families are refugees, both inside and outside of their country. I don’t know what the situation will be when this reaches you—but February marks one year since the start of this war. It weighs heavily on my mind, but it also has reaffirmed my confidence in how God works.

My Visit to Ukraine

When I flew to western Ukraine two months into the war, snow was falling, the wind was whipping, and sirens were wailing alerting us to Russian drones overhead. I later reported what our veteran mission leader Tolik said as he recounted the horrors of war, but it bears repeating: “It is a bad time for Ukraine but a good time for the gospel.”

A Prophetic Pattern

I’m reminded that many of God’s most profound promises come to us in times of war. Take the promise of Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2. Notice the context: “Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek” (Micah 5:1).

You’ll find the back story for this announcement of Messiah’s birth in 2 Kings 18. Jerusalem was surrounded and under attack by the mighty Assyrian army under King Sennacherib, who wrote, “As for him [Hezekiah] I confined him inside the city Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage.”*

I’m reminded that God’s triumph often comes to us wrapped in humiliation.

Hezekiah was the one Micah refers to as “the judge of Israel.” To smite him on the cheek was a great insult not only to Israel but to their God. I’m reminded that God’s triumph often comes to us wrapped in humiliation.

In fact, Hezekiah’s humiliation foreshadowed the humiliation of the promised Messiah, starting with His birth. Micah 5:2 announces that salvation will come from backwater Bethlehem, which was considered “too little to be among the clans of Judah.” Isaiah predicted the humiliation of Messiah’s death: “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). Jesus, the rightful King, not only of Israel but of the universe, fulfilled both passages (Matthew 2:5–6, 26:67, 27:30 and Luke 2:4, 15).

Welcome to the Front Line in the Longest Battle Ever

A spiritual war has been raging since the dawn of time, and all of us have been caught up in it in one way or another. Whether we are in a literal war zone or dealing with the painful realities of our everyday lives, Jesus went before us. He experienced all the anguish we do, and much more.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16). This is the basis for you and for me to trust, “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

And most often that divine care comes to us in unlikely ways and from unlikely places.

The Light of Victory

God invites us to lay down our struggles and anxieties at the foot of the cross. Everything you have endured and any pain and humiliation that you might experience, Jesus has endured. He came from the most unlikely of places and won the war for our spiritual freedom in the most unlikely way. His gospel shines a powerful light that can pierce any darkness. That certainly includes the darkness of the war in Ukraine.

During the first 10 months of 2021 (before the war), Tolik had seen 19 Jewish people receive Jesus, which is a wonderful result in the field of Jewish evangelism. But during the same amount of time during the war, he saw over 100 Jewish people come to faith. Over and over, our staff’s small acts of support for others opened up big opportunities to share the gospel.

God continues to invade the hell of war in unexpected ways. I am thankful for partners like you who are helping us extend the gospel, God’s stairway to heaven, for all who believe. May you be encouraged by what God can do in the midst of whatever battles you and your loved ones might be facing in this season.

*Annals of Sennacharib