The date is April 9, 1942. Fighting has been heavy for weeks and the death toll has been high. Supplies have been cut off, and the men have been without ammunition, clean water, food, or first aid for days, if not weeks. Today, all of that will change. Because today, the commanding officer, Major General Edward P. King, Jr., will go against his orders and surrender. He will do so to save the lives of his troops.
At the surrender, where he turned over more than 79,000 men to the Japanese Colonel in command, ceremonially giving him his pistol because he lacked a sword, he asked if his men, about 67,000 Filipinos and nearly 12,000 Americans, would be treated well. The Colonel replied, “We are not barbarians!”
But that day would go down in history as the beginning of the Bataan Death March, a forced march of over 90 miles in heat, dust, and disease. Of the more than 72,000 prisoners who began the trip, at most only 54,000 reached their destination. Despite being denied food and water, any who failed to keep up for any reason were beaten and killed. Thousands more died in the prisoner-of war camps where they were interred. The cruel irony could not have been lost on General King.
That ought to remind us that we, too, were at war, but our war was with God. Paul tells us in Romans 5.9 that we were His enemies. When God called us to faith in Christ, we surrendered to Him, and He, too, took us on a march. But the journey on which He leads us is a triumphant procession, (2 Cor. 2.14: God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ), during which He does not deprive us, but supplies us with all we need and more, (Phil. 4.19: God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus), and at the end of which He brings us not to a prisoner-of-war camp, but to glory, (Heb. 2.10: bringing many sons to glory; 2 Cor. 4.17: achieving for us an eternal glory.)
In the Philippines, April 9th is celebrated as “Araw ng Kagitingan,” or “Day of Valor,” a national holiday when the men who were forced on that march are remembered. I would suggest that April become the month where we remember not the marchers, but the One Who “forced” us on our march and celebrate Him, for our march is a journey of grace to glory with a Benevolent and Gracious God and Guide. Let’s all think about that. Amen.
– Pastor Jim