MORNING MANNA 12-7-23
A Day of Infamy
“To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.”Jer.6:10
The day of infamy should be our reminder to always heed warning.
Three hundred and fifty-three Japanese planes took off from the flight deck of six Japanese carriers on the morning of December 7,1941; one hundred and eighty-three at 6:00 a.m. and a second wave of one hundred and seventy followed at 7:15 a.m. Pearl Harbor was the objective of their attack.
The USS Condor was on routine minesweeping patrol duty offshore near the island of Oahu early that morning. About 3:45 a.m., men of her crew spotted a submarine in the restricted waters near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Condor’s skipper signaled to the destroyer Ward,which was also on patrol close by, giving the Condor’s position and what they had seen.
As the Condor was only equipped for minesweeping, and the Ward was armed with guns and depth charges, they proceeded into Pearl Harbor as their patrol duty time was over. The anti- submarine nets in the channel had been opened for the Condor as she was scheduled to come in at that hour.
The USS Ward responded to the message from the Condor by speeding to the area named but could not locate the submarine. Both the Condor and the Ward considered the idea that one of their own submarines might be in the restricted area by error. The Ward went to battle stations anyways but found nothing.
In the daylight at 7 o’clock, the Ward sighted a submarine and again went to battle stations. They sank the midget Japanese submarine near the Pearl Harbor channel entrance and the commanding officer of the Ward sent the following tense message to the commandant of the 14th Naval District in Pearl Harbor.
We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon a submarine operating in defensive sea area.
Neither the text nor the implications of this message were distributed to the fleet in time to warn them of the impending enemy attack.
So many stories are told of warnings of the Japanese attack on December 7. Yet none of the recipients of those warnings took heed to the messages and acted on them. Close to three thousand lives were lost that day because no one acted on the warnings given.
In our lives, how often do we ignore the warnings of God’s Word? Our verse today shows us Jeremiah’s lamenting that the people of Israel were not listening to God’s message. Because of their refusal to listen, Israel spent many years in bondage.
As you read God’s Word, do not lightly read over commands. Take them to heart. Recognize God’s message directly to you. Apply them to your life and always heed God’s warnings. Let the day which will live in infamy be a day you remember to heed God’s warnings.(Daily in the Word)
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
Humble, Tx
