Volume 11 · Chapter 59

WHY WARS ARE ALLOWED AFTER a walk of several hours, we reached the road that led from Jericho to Jerusalem, and we had the opportunity to take a little rest because a big group of Roman soldiers, who changed quarters and would be sent back to Rome, occupied the road. So we went to sit at the side of the road which we had to follow to reach Bethany, and we let the group march by.

[GGJ.11_59,02] My disciples watched those robust, strong men who all looked tanned and robust. They belonged to the selected troops who were privileged to stay for the winter in Jericho, which was a world city at that time. James asked Me if these people really enjoyed their profession as a soldier and if the spirit, which was also living in them, is not stirred to make it clear to them that war means a lack of brotherhood and that all kinds of vices were the result of that. Finally the question was asked to Me why I actually allow wars by which so many prospering lives and their future are destroyed and the souls will become cruel and often completely degenerated. They all looked at Me while asking this question because this was never directly asked to Me.

[GGJ.11_59,03] So I asked them all to come and sit closer to Me so that I did not have to speak too loud and catch the attention of those who were marching by. And I said the following: “When you look upon all the things that you can see in life, it is always necessary to never judge these on the outer but always on the inner actual core. Material outer things and spiritual inner things, this means corresponding things can apparently be contradictory with one another because their poles are often opposite to each other, yes they have to stand as completely opposite concepts against each other despite the fact that the one cannot exist without the other. If these contrasts are really catching your eye you think that you have discovered unexplainable contradictions, but to the eye of the spirit this is not so at all. This is for instance the case here.

[GGJ.11_59,04] A Roman soldier is allowed to murder by his profession. How is his outer human position – which is certainly not according to My teaching of peace – related to his inner human being, which is also from God and has to return to God? How is it possible, you ask, that I allow a soul, endowed with the godly spark of the spirit, to become entangled in such wrong things?

[GGJ.11_59,05] You think that there is no explanation, because even if I refer to the free will of man, by which in his outer position he can do what he wants, you will ask: ‘Is it for You then really necessary to allow so much freedom to the people that they are using it for murder and manslaughter, and would it not be better to at least restrict that freedom in such a way that it would not be misused for so much unreasonable grief and sorrow on Earth?’ Yes, you will ask: ‘Can the deity, who is the true Love, quietly look at such immense disaster and terrible misery which people inflict upon themselves without being afraid or wanting to stop it? Is the loving deity not an insensitive deity who experiences some kind of joy by quietly watching how His creatures devour each other? No human being could quietly watch so much misery if he would have the power to act, because even his compassion would force him to jump upon it and stop the fighting groups with holy seriousness. Then why does the deity not do this while He rules over all powers?’

[GGJ.11_59,06] Look, this is what many wavering souls, in whom already much of My clear light has flown, are wondering, and then they begin to doubt the true love and even the existence of a God of love, being lost in all kinds of abysses of doubt, and finally they leave the true faith.

[GGJ.11_59,07] But I will give you a light that will sufficiently illuminate all those questions. So listen.

[GGJ.11_59,08] At first we have to look at how a human being behaves towards another human being, and then how he, while he lives in matter, behaves towards God – or to say it in different way: to what are his ideas inclined with regard to the visible and the invisible?

[GGJ.11_59,09] Now it is very natural that a simple human being, whose soul is still undeveloped, will at first direct his thoughts only to the outer which surrounds him, and also only make an opinion according to what he sees and hears. The purely outer manifestations will at first attract him. He will evaluate this, draw his conclusions, and from the experiences that he acquired he will know how to make the outer environment useful to him. Only after he came to the point that he can control the outer of the natural events, his reason will urge him to ask for the why and will begin to search for it. The course of the development in the material world is however always such that first the outer cover is examined and after that the spiritual core is often peeled out from it with great difficulty.

[GGJ.11_59,10] However, you know that the development of the animal kingdom as well as of the preceding plant kingdom is based on the destruction of the outer form, despite the prevailing inner life’s principle that strives for perfection. This outer example of nature will of course not remain hidden for a human being whose soul is not yet that developed. Yes, it is present in him as a soul’s power that has to be overcome since during his course of life he possesses the urge to destroy. So he imitates it in so far that he claims the right of the strongest and also practices it as far as he is in a condition that still hinders the inner development of his soul. Only in times when the development of the soul is put forward by which in a certain way the purely outer, material observation is considered as a conquered aspect, the hardness of the soul cannot appear anymore and the right of the strongest can entirely disappear in man. Then the right of the enlightened human spirit comes into action which is much more invincible than that first physical force. 225

[GGJ.11_59,11] All those soldiers stand however on the level of the purely outer observation of nature which teaches them the right of the strongest. They are also not concerned about the development of their soul and so they imitate that struggle in nature, and for the moment they absolutely do not feel any emptiness in themselves. Yes, besides that they can even be very good men, even goodhearted, as long as they do not have an imaginary enemy before them in the image of another soldier from another country, eager to go to war and opposing each other as embittered enemies as soon as the trumpet will call for war.

[GGJ.11_59,12] However, I have to allow this education because the recognition of the inner core is only possible by the penetration of the hard outer shells, and the human spirit cannot be awakened in any other way than by experience.

[GGJ.11_59,13] ‘Experientia docet’ [GGJ.11_59,experience teaches] is the means here, and you know how true this saying is, because a disciple learns through experience more than by a hundred unproven rules that are learned by heart. The Earth is a school where spirits have to become wise through experience. Therefore, the most various possibilities are given to them here to gain experience one after the other to let the spirit mature quickly. And how the totally difficult, bitter and unpleasant experiences, that are like a wild mountain creek, have to be restrained to become a quietly streaming, calm river, is shown by My teaching. And My life must and always will be an example that shows how all experiences will help to bring the spirit in man close, yes very close, to God.

[GGJ.11_59,14] So if you neglect your experiences you will never become wise construction workers in the Kingdom of God, because to Me, man must always be educated along practical ways. However, My voice can mostly only clearly sound in the soul of man when the soul has turned more inward through many bitter experiences of all kinds and has turned away from the outer.

[GGJ.11_59,15] So if mankind wants to go through life by outer fights and 226 wars, by which the only important thing is to maintain or to acquire as much as possible a position of power between two countries, then experience will teach very soon how little happiness and satisfaction as well as inner spiritual development there is possible when screamings of war are roaring through the countries, undermining all joy of life.

[GGJ.11_59,16] This is why in later times war will be considered as an absurdity which man has to abhor and not as a glorious situation while now they still expect honor and glory from it. And war will completely disappear. After having turned away from these outer fights, human race will turn to the inner, and everyone will, by the victory over his inner enemy, be more glorious to Me than the most victorious commander in the eyes of his emperor.

[GGJ.11_59,17] But for this understanding, experience is necessary, and the way goes through many hardships and errors. This school is the one and only that truly allows a free decision-making of the human soul. That God Himself can look at this is simply because the goal here stands higher than all the other things. The method to reach the goal is however very wise and it always carries the certain result in itself.

[GGJ.11_59,18] If a father has an unruly child who is not much inclined to obey his words and commands, he will give him the opportunity by some bad experience to seriously run into something, but at the same time he will also try to as much as possible soften the bad consequences. This is also the case between God and men. God will always seek out the means that are soft, but when they are without result, He must use the strongest means to keep humanity on the way that leads to the goal of peace and pure happiness.

[GGJ.11_59,19] However, when someone does not want to walk these ways because he disregards everything that comes on his way with this means of education, it is very natural that this contempt must finally bring him to ruin because he absolutely does not want to become wise by some loss but he even directly challenges every obstacle that he experiences so that he easily can lose his life by not observing the most simple rules of vigilance which are to a wise person clear of itself. But how can the deity be responsible for which the individual person is guilty himself by his own conduct? So He is not cruel, nor is He inclined to feel any pleasure for the suffering of His creatures, but He only is forced to hold back His love and let wisdom prevail for the sake of the goal.

[GGJ.11_59,20] With this, you have again an explanation of what was often said to you in similar form. So look at the outer things only from their inner relation so that you will no more stumble upon all kinds of doubts and contradictions.”