Today’s Scripture Reading (October
30, 2015): Deuteronomy 13
Kevin Wheatcroft
of the United Kingdom is owner of what is probably the largest Nazi Germany
collection of memorabilia in the world. His collection, which includes a number
of vehicles and tanks, and he is currently working on restoring the only known
remaining German Kriegsmarine S-Boat or German Fast Attack Boat, is valued at
just over $160 million. The Wheatcroft collection began when Kevin’s parents
bought him a very unusual birthday gift when he was five years old – a bullet-pocked
SS Stormtrooper’s helmet with lightning bolts on the ear-flaps. He had specifically
asked his parents for the helmet. From there, the desire to collect the
artifacts simply escalated.
What makes the collection unusual, and even more valuable
from a monetary standpoint, is that the trade of Nazi relics has been banned by
several European countries – including Germany and France. And it is not only
nations that have banned the sale of these artifacts; no major auction house
will handle any memorabilia connected with Nazi Germany and E-bay has recently
followed suit and will not allow any of these items to be sold over its web
services. The trade of Nazi Germany war artifacts has largely become a black
market endeavor, which has produced a side effect of raising the value of the items
in question. But even today, the memory of the evil committed under the Nazi
insignia is simply too great and there are those that simply believe that these
artifacts should be destroyed – and it is often holocaust deniers, such as
David Irving who owns one of the most visited World War II websites, that argue
for the protection of Nazi artifacts.
The destruction of the artifacts was the instructions
that Moses wanted to leave with Israel. There would be towns who would rebel
against God, and there would be those who would do great evil in the land, and
they would have to be destroyed. But it was not just the ones who rebelled that
were marked for destruction. Moses seemed to believe that the evil committed in
these places would seep into the very ground. These centers of rebellion and
evil would have to be totally destroyed. Any artifacts would have to be piled
up and burned. And the area was to become off limits, it could never to be
rebuilt on again.
Moses instructions provided an accurate understanding of
evil. It seeps, maybe not into the ground, but definitely into our lives. It
doesn’t take much of it to totally destroy us. We are all like an alcoholic
when it comes to the evil we allow into our lives. One failure explodes into
many. The only effective way to keep evil out of our lives is to abolish even
the smallest evidences of it. It is hard, but it is necessary if we want to
keep our lives on track.
For Israel, these empty places would serve as a reminder
of the effects of evil, both on the land and in their lives. And they would
provide a picture of the desolation that evil brings with it. Evil is always
the enemy of life. And it always will be.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 14
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