A House Divided

"A house divided against itself cannot stand" - Abraham Lincoln


A strange behavior has been discovered in young male elephants in Africa. It is not normal for an elephant to kill a rhino. When the older adult male elephants are "culled", that is killed for population control purposes, the younger males do not have an opportunity to mature properly. As a result, when they get into a conflict with a rhino, these young males will continue to attack the rhino, even after the rhino backs down.

When the older male is reintroduced into the herd, it demonstrates the correct behavior and the young males return to normal. Elephants have strong family relationships just like people do. When something is out of balance, it shows up in both the elephant population and the human population.

Society is now reaching unprecedented levels of households with missing fathers. Just like the young male elephants who lack "father figures", many families are growing up without a very important element.

The family unit is the closest reflection of our Creator that we have on earth. The Evil One knows that if he can divide the family, he can create chaos and further separate us from God. Broken families become the norm as new generations follow the broken family model that they grew up in. Broken churches also remain broken from one generation to the next.

Abraham Lincoln was quoting Scripture; Matthew 12:25 reads, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." Lincoln was using this quote in reference to slavery. Jesus was referring to a world that is separated from our Creator. We need an example just like the young male elephants need a role model.

The Evil One is going to keep doing everything in his power to keep the kingdom of God divided. As long as we go to separate houses of worship, we will be a house divided. The voice of the Evil One is strong in our world today. The voice of the Holy Spirit that is inside each of us is difficult to hear. Our hope for ending the fractures in God's people is to listen to that voice and overcome the division that exists in our families and in our churches. We need families to stay together so that the reflection of God can be seen without the division that is becoming the norm. There is hope for the male elephants who need role models and there is hope for mankind. Jesus promises that one day He will return and His house will no longer be divided.