BEYOND THE CALL

Above and Beyond DNA

A slave woman’s life in ancient Egypt offered less than an ideal setting for motherhood. Pharaoh’s order to Hebrew midwives to kill all male children at birth accentuated an already hostile environment. Unintimidated, Jochebed, mother of Moses, displayed brilliant courage, bucking all odds to spare the life of a son who would change world history.

“Moses was fitted to take pre-eminence among the great of the earth, to shine in the courts of its most glorious kingdom, and to sway the scepter of its power. His intellectual greatness distinguished him above the great men of all ages. As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and legislator, he stands without peer.”

“Yet, with the work before him, he had the moral strength to refuse the flattering prospects of wealth, and greatness, and fame, ‘choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.’” E.G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, 146.

Every human carries 8,388,608 gamete possibilities which means that the child of a parent couple has more than 70 trillion variant genetic combination possibilities. See Lane P. Lester and Raymond G. Bohlin, The Natural Limits to Biological Change (Dallas: Probe Books, 1989) 54. While a random assortment of DNA dictates the physical ID of a human, character development is vested in an individual’s personal power of choice. Apart from the wide diversity of physical appearances, there are only two character categories: the good and the evildoers.

Moses’ greatness was built on goodness. His goodness was based on an unselfish character and his character resulted from a lifetime of choices reflecting the righteousness of God, the Creator of DNA. Without goodness, there is no such thing as greatness.

Like Moses, the life of Desmond Doss demonstrated goodness in action. Both men lived courageous, purpose-driven lives as true and directed as “the needle to the pole.” The choices made and the decisions taken by both looked to God for guidance. Desmond Thomas Doss (1919 – 2006), assigned by the U.S. Army to serve in the 77th Infantry Division’s Medical Detachment during World War II’s blood bath, put his life on the line, serving humanity. Like Moses, Desmond chose God’s goodness.

This gentleman of the American South, a lean stick of a man weighing in at hardly 150 pounds soaking wet, served God, his country, and his personal faith with courageous distinction. In a small college town just East of Chattanooga, Tennessee, stands a bronze statue honoring this remarkable Christian hero of conscientious conviction.

Doss didn’t believe that man evolved accidentally over deep time. His life was rooted in the Bible narrative that humans were created in God’s own image and given the power of free choice. He faithfully celebrated that conviction by not only setting aside one day in seven to show respect for the creation miracle but also by kneeling bedside each evening to thank his Creator for another day of life. He resisted military pressure to carry a rifle designed to kill another human—unlikely credentials for a future recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

During World War II’s raging fury, when sixty million human lives were snuffed out, many Christian men and women stood tall in the tradition of the apostle Paul, risking their own lives courageously, to save others!

Doss, a humble Christian from the American south, epitomized Christian heroism. He did his duty serving his country and the United States Army as an unarmed medic during World War II. Doss took his faith with him, kneeling to pray bunk- side in Army barracks before retiring, ignoring the taunts. Once, while on his knees, a soldier’s boot sailed by, cast his way by a scoffer.

All bullying derision disappeared once the 77th Division faced combat in the bloody Battle of Okinawa and encountered “a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire” on Hacksaw Ridge. The only medic available to a 155-man company, the twice-wounded Doss, displayed “courage above and beyond the call of duty” by repeatedly exposing himself to the withering barrage sweeping the Maeda Escarpment, single-handedly rescuing 75 wounded soldiers.

WLJ

The Honor “Citation” Says it All

“He was a company aidman when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet [120 m] high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back.

“Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying all 75 casualties one by one to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands.

“On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards [180 m] forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards [7.3 m] of enemy forces in a cave’s mouth, where he dressed his comrades’ wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety.

“On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire, and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet [7.6 m] from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards [91 m] to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire.

“On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aidman from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. “Awaiting the litter bearers’ return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude, he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards [270 m] over rough terrain to the aid station.

“Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.”

Babylon's Fiery Furnace

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the nations and peoples of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3