About a year ago I began writing about the concept of the Home Guard and Canada’s Rangers. These were community groups that came together during the axis threats of World War II in England and Canada, volunteer in nature and designed to assist the authorities in the event of attack on the home front. Other work pushed the blog to the backburner and I haven’t had the time to explore the concept much. Getting back into writing, videos and classes are also being planned out too, it seemed prudent to reevaluate the topics I was covering and see if there is much relevance still.

Just before the Christmas holiday the prediction of a 2024 “Black Swan Event” was made on CBS’s Face the Nation. This caused a buzz through several preparedness circles, perhaps right fully so. After all the current state of the world has the war in Ukraine continuing, China is stepping up its activities in the Pacific, senior members of the military claiming we will be in conflict with China by 2025, military being drained of equipment, a recruiting crisis, an invasion of military age men crossing the southern borders, a hot war starting in the middle east, shipping through the Red Sea under serious attack, and our bases in the middle east under repeated attack.

The potential need for the community to be pressed into the role of safety and security has not decreased, rather it seems to be a major issue on many peoples minds. This topic is a regular part of conversations in places and with people I would not have expected a few years ago…not an encouraging feeling regarding the state of the nation/world, but it is encouraging to see people coming together, having concern about how they will fix an issue.

I also have to understand that preparing for a worst case scenario is not going to gain much widespread interest until the need for these skills and community involvement are upon us. So perhaps its time to assess whether the community could need to come together for its collective safety and security, whether there is a desire in your area, and if not you can still start training on your own.

The Old Testament is full of times when the community arose to provide for its safety and security, and while the message of this capability is hugely important. I think the most important lesson are of the need for community and ultimately of trusting God. It is difficult to place your trust in something outside of yourself, but being a good a faithful servant of Jesus is trusting him and not leaning no your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 KJV Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Nehemiah’s adventures were set in different circumstances than of our own, he went to rebuild Jerusalem. However, the need to protect the community was very real as he was surrounded by enemies who wished him very real harm. This did not stop the work they had, it simply meant they worked together and addressed both the need to complete the tasks at hand and address their security concerns. Reading the verses I can infer the following principals: everyone was armed, everyone was trained and capable of fighting to defend the community, they worked together as a team, and most importantly they placed their faith in God.

Nehemiah 4 NKJV

But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. ² And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”

³ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”

⁴ Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! ⁵ Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

⁶ So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷ Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, ⁸ and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. ⁹ Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

¹⁰ Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

¹¹ And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”

¹² So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”

¹³ Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴ And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

¹⁵ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. ¹⁶ So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸ Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

¹⁹ Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

²¹ So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. ²² At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” ²³ So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

I know that there is a lot more to unpack in Chapter 4 of Nehemiah than a the little bits I am pointing out, for the sake of staying on task we’ll refrain from a deep dive today. The principals of community security and trusting the LORD remain.

So to answer the original question: is the Home Guard concept still relevant? Yes it seems so, at least right now. Though I hope peace and security can return and this concept is only an interesting idea.

-Joe