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The Veil of Oblivion

“We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them.”

Those words served as a poor prophecy. They were part of an editorial written in the Harrisburg Patriot and Union, and they were in regards to Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address. 

 

Imagine: one of the most iconic speeches in American history—possibly world history—being dismissed as silly remarks, destined to be covered by the veil of oblivion. That newspaper is still in existence today, although under a different name. Their 1863 prediction was so egregious that in 2024 the paper actually issued a retraction…161 years after it was written!

 

The writer of that piece demonstrated an arrogance that adds humor to his grave miscalculation. As much as we might snicker at his words today, it makes me think of the people now who are just as arrogant—and just as wrong—in their assertion that Jesus will be covered by the same veil of oblivion. Whether they joined the old chorus that said “God is dead,” or they just brush Him off as a myth or fairy tale, they are gambling their souls on their miscalculation. 

 

In Acts 19 we read of an uprising in the city of Ephesus. Paul was preaching that Jesus is the real and true God, and the citizens became so outraged that they formed a riot. Someone tried to silence the crowd by saying Paul should be ignored because no one could dispute the reality of their goddess Diana (or Artemis): “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash (v.35-36).” 

 

In hindsight, betting against Abraham Lincoln was not wise. Much worse, though, is betting against Jesus. No one worships Artemis in the temple of Ephesus, but people are still worshipping Jesus 2,000 years after the resurrection. That is because Jesus is alive and well. The veil of oblivion has fallen on all those who rejected Jesus, so don’t make their same mistake. 

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