"But if not" and Dunkirk

   “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.’” (Daniel 3:16-18)

    

       As an amateur student of World War II, where my father  fought and served in the U.S. First Infantry Division in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany, I must admit I am looking forward to the release of the movie Dunkirk, which is to come out soon. It tells the story of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and part of the French army that was surrounded and forced to destroy all its equipment and artillery prior to being evacuated to England during the successful invasion of Holland, Belgium, and France by the German army in May 1940.

     I am sure the movie will do a great job describing the courage and determination of the British and French soldiers who fought so valiantly only to have to retreat from their precarious position. Then to be evacuated by the British Royal Navy and a flotilla of commercial and private ships and boats that answered the call to cross the English Channel to Dunkirk, France and to pull 338,000 Allied soldiers off the beaches and keep them out of German POW camps for the remainder of that long and brutal war.

      

       Some called it the “miracle of Dunkirk” and although you will not read anything about miracles in the myriad accounts of the battle and evacuation, this description of the salvation of a large part of the British army is much more accurate than one might know if you know the “rest of the story.”

    I don't remember the pastor I heard speak on this subject many years ago but he said the following about Dunkirk:  General Gort, commanding the BEF, and his army was surrounded and slowly being pushed back to the coast,  a Navy Commander on his staff sent this brief radio message to the British Army HQ: “But if not.” When the decision was made to try and rescue these soldiers with the navy, this message was also sent out to all of Great Britain for anyone who had a ship or boat to assist in the evacuation to come and help. Thousands of ship owners knew this quote from the Bible and responded to the call, some from as far away as the Isle of Man, and rallied to the beach of Dunkirk, enduring constant attack by the German Luftwaffe (Air Force). All of England knew that the commander was quoting from the book of Daniel and that he expected England to come and rescue the army, but if not, just like the three Hebrew boys in Daniel, chapter 3, they would not surrender to the Nazis. (Sadly, very few in Great Britain would know this quote from the Bible today.)

     All over Great Britain, prayers were sent up for the army and for the courageous ship captains that braved the channel and enemy fire to rescue their army. King George called for a national day of prayer and Westminster Abby, cathedrals, churches, and taverns (yes taverns) were packed with people all over Great Britain crying out for God to save the army and protect the boats going to their rescue. God answered their cry! In a small seminary in southern England Rees Howells and many others were praying for the soldiers deliverance.

    Here is an excerpt of what was happening there:  “On May 29^th Mr. Howells was again alone with God. In the meetings, the prayer was for God to intervene at Dunkirk and save the men. As the Spirit came upon them in prayer and supplication, what one prayed at the end expressed the assurance given to all: ‘I feel sure something has happened.’

    May 29 was the day of the evacuation of Dunkirk. Mr. Howells said, ‘Let us be clear in our prayer that the intercession is gained. The battle is the Holy Spirit’s. See Him outside yourselves tonight; He is there on the battlefield with His drawn sword.’

    May 30^th, 7:30 p.m. ‘From a worldly standpoint there is no hope for victory; But God has said it…..He going to intervene. Instead of bad news about our soldiers, if He is on the field of battle He can change that and make it good news. Oh, for God to lift us up tonight! We are not to run into any panic thinking the Nazis are going to win: Germany must be delivered as well an England and France. We may have to go through far greater sufferings yet, but I am not going to doubt the final issue. We state in the plainest terms: The enemy will not invade Christian England.” (Rees Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb, pp. 282-283)

    God answered the prayers of thousands such as these and we know now, that not only was the British army saved to fight another day, England was never invaded, the battle of Britain was won, and the Allies took the battle to Germany and ultimately triumphed over the Nazi scourge.

   “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalms 33:12)

Pray:

1.     God guard our nation from the evil one. Help those, whom you have selected to be our leaders, to look to You and to depend upon You in these difficult times.

2.     Raise up thousands of prayer warriors to "stand in the gap" to pray for our leaders, our military scattered around the world, and for our churches to be lighthouses of the gospel.

3. Lord, help me to be one of those prayer warriors, and let me start today!