April Anniversaries of Tragedy and Hope

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and started the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

“Over the next 85 days, 206 million gallons (780 million liters) of oil—19 times more than the Exxon Valdez—spewed from the well” into the Gulf of Mexico (MSNBC, April 20, 2011).

Considering this anniversary got me thinking about other depressing April anniversaries that remind me of all that is wrong in this world today.

April tragedies

Here are some other tragic April anniversaries:

• Beginning of the U.S. Civil War, April 12, 1861.
• Birth of Adolf Hitler, April 20, 1889 (his birthday is often marked by neo-Nazi violence).
• Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1968.
• Chernobyl nuclear disaster, April 26, 1986.
• Verdict of the Rodney King case, which spawned the Los Angeles riots, April 29, 1992.
• Terrible end of the siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, April 19, 1993.
• Rwandan genocide, April 6, 1994.
• Oklahoma City bombing, April 19, 1995.
• Columbine school shooting, April 20, 1999.
• Virginia Tech shootings, April 16, 2007.

I am not trying to paint some conspiracy theory connection between all these, though some of them are related.

CNN’s Tricia Escobedo noted in her article “What Is It About Mid-April and Violence in America?”that “the Oklahoma City bombing was timed to coincide with the Waco anniversary. And it’s unclear whether the Columbine shooters timed that attack to mark Adolf Hitler’s birthday or possibly Waco.” She asked Robert Blaskiewicz, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta who teaches a course on conspiracy theories, about any connections between the dates.

He warned against the “conspiratorial mindset” that sees “patterns in unrelated events.” But he said, “Nonetheless, in the mythology that has grown up around Waco and Oklahoma City among self-identified patriots, the 19th has become a sort of high holiday for those who think that they live under the thumb of a tyranny.”

The real connection I see between all of these tragedies is not a conspiracy of men, but a deeper conspiracy by the enemy of God and humanity, Satan the devil. God said that Satan has deceived the whole world and is the source of lies and murderous attitudes (Revelation 12:9; John 8:44). His focus is on influencing humans to think and do evil (Ephesians 2:1-3), in his all-out effort to thwart God’s plan and destroy humanity. Of course, he is active throughout the year, not just in April.

The good news is, Satan won’t succeed.

Annual celebrations of hope

The biblical festivals currently underway remind Bible believers of that good news and real hope. Jesus Christ came to conquer Satan, sin and death. As pictured by the spring festivals, Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7) and our Deliverer (Romans 11:26-27).

The New Testament Passover, which was celebrated the evening of April 17 this year, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, April 19 through 25, represent that real hope for deliverance from Satan and the tragic consequences of his way of life.

If you have never heard of or understood these annual celebrations and anniversaries of hope, you owe it to yourself to learn more about this good news. For a biblical explanation, see “What Does the New Testament Passover Mean and How Is It Commemorated?” and “What Does the Feast of Unleavened Bread Mean for Christians Today?”

Mike Bennett is a husband, father and minister of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, living in Ohio.