Ruth Bell Graham was once asked in an interview if she had ever in her 63 years of marriage to Billy Graham considered divorce. She replied by saying: “I’ve never considered divorce. Murder, yes, but not divorce.” What married person cannot appreciate the humor underlying that remark? And yet, the sad truth is that, statistically, most homicides in America are committed by loved ones!
Want proof? Just watch most any rerun of “Forensic Files”! Like a great many others, my wife and I have seen just about every episode of this long-running show. As a result, we lovingly joke with one another that we are both fairly safe, given that modern investigative techniques pretty much assures that neither of us would survive forensic scrutiny should we deal nefariously with each other.
I’m just joking! As did Billy and Ruth Bell Graham, we love one another far too much for any such shenanigans.
Still, given these things, a news story by Arden Dier posted on www.Newser.com earlier today caught my attention. Titled “Suitcase with Woman's Body Stayed Hidden for 16 Years: Maintenance Worker Make Gruesome Find in South Korea Building; Cops Suspect Old Boyfriend”, the article reads:
The body of a woman who disappeared in South Korea some 16 years ago was discovered by chance last month during maintenance work on an apartment building, leading authorities to her alleged killer. The man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, told police he'd been living with his girlfriend in a studio apartment in Geoje for five years before killing her during an argument in October 2008, the BBC reports. The man said he hit her in the head with a blunt object, put her body in a suitcase, then concealed the suitcase in cement on his third-floor balcony. No one inspected the concrete until last month when a maintenance worker drilled into it.
The body of the woman, identified as B, was discovered partially preserved inside the suitcase and identified through fingerprint analysis, per the Korea Times. She was in her 30s when she died. Family members had reported her missing in 2011 after they went to find her in Geoje and were told she'd split with Mr. A and left the city. Mr. A left the studio apartment in 2017, per the Times. It was never occupied again, but instead used by the building owner's as a storage space, the BBC reports.
The owner had called in workers to repair a leak on the balcony when the discovery was made. "The concrete structure was located on a balcony separate from the rooftop room, making it difficult to notice from inside the room," a police officer is quoted as saying, per the Independent. Mr. A was suspected in the woman's disappearance early on. Given the new evidence, he was arrested Thursday in the city of Yangsan. He confessed to the killing and to throwing the murder weapon and his girlfriend's phone into the sea, per the Times.
What does all this prove? That you can run, but you cannot hide? Most likely so. For, in the modern world, with the advent of modern forensics, people are fooling themselves if they think they can get away with murder. Chances are, they simply cannot.
But more to the point, if we cannot get away with things in this world, how likely are we to get away with them in the world to come?
After all, (in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, chapter 32, verse 23) the Bible says, “… behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
All throughout history, men and women have done wrong and attempted to cover up their transgression, only to have it then uncovered by the Lord. Whether it was Cain in his murder of Abel, or David in his adultery with Bathsheba, or Ananias and Sapphira in their deceptive self-promotion, the Lord has always had a way of fulfilling His promise: “What you have done in secret… I will (now) do … in the open for everyone … to see.”
And so, my friend, be careful! Remember the words of Jesus (in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verse 17), when He said: “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.”
In other words, you can run; but you cannot hide. For your sins, most assuredly, will eventually find you out!
STORY SOURCES:
https://billygrahamlibrary.org/remembering-ruth-bell-graham-2/;
https://www.newser.com/story/356787/building-maintenance-work-reveals-16-year-old-murder.html.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/numbers/32-23.htm;
https://biblehub.com/2_samuel/12-12.htm;
https://biblehub.com/luke/8-17.htm.
Want proof? Just watch most any rerun of “Forensic Files”! Like a great many others, my wife and I have seen just about every episode of this long-running show. As a result, we lovingly joke with one another that we are both fairly safe, given that modern investigative techniques pretty much assures that neither of us would survive forensic scrutiny should we deal nefariously with each other.
I’m just joking! As did Billy and Ruth Bell Graham, we love one another far too much for any such shenanigans.
Still, given these things, a news story by Arden Dier posted on www.Newser.com earlier today caught my attention. Titled “Suitcase with Woman's Body Stayed Hidden for 16 Years: Maintenance Worker Make Gruesome Find in South Korea Building; Cops Suspect Old Boyfriend”, the article reads:
The body of a woman who disappeared in South Korea some 16 years ago was discovered by chance last month during maintenance work on an apartment building, leading authorities to her alleged killer. The man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, told police he'd been living with his girlfriend in a studio apartment in Geoje for five years before killing her during an argument in October 2008, the BBC reports. The man said he hit her in the head with a blunt object, put her body in a suitcase, then concealed the suitcase in cement on his third-floor balcony. No one inspected the concrete until last month when a maintenance worker drilled into it.
The body of the woman, identified as B, was discovered partially preserved inside the suitcase and identified through fingerprint analysis, per the Korea Times. She was in her 30s when she died. Family members had reported her missing in 2011 after they went to find her in Geoje and were told she'd split with Mr. A and left the city. Mr. A left the studio apartment in 2017, per the Times. It was never occupied again, but instead used by the building owner's as a storage space, the BBC reports.
The owner had called in workers to repair a leak on the balcony when the discovery was made. "The concrete structure was located on a balcony separate from the rooftop room, making it difficult to notice from inside the room," a police officer is quoted as saying, per the Independent. Mr. A was suspected in the woman's disappearance early on. Given the new evidence, he was arrested Thursday in the city of Yangsan. He confessed to the killing and to throwing the murder weapon and his girlfriend's phone into the sea, per the Times.
What does all this prove? That you can run, but you cannot hide? Most likely so. For, in the modern world, with the advent of modern forensics, people are fooling themselves if they think they can get away with murder. Chances are, they simply cannot.
But more to the point, if we cannot get away with things in this world, how likely are we to get away with them in the world to come?
After all, (in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, chapter 32, verse 23) the Bible says, “… behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
All throughout history, men and women have done wrong and attempted to cover up their transgression, only to have it then uncovered by the Lord. Whether it was Cain in his murder of Abel, or David in his adultery with Bathsheba, or Ananias and Sapphira in their deceptive self-promotion, the Lord has always had a way of fulfilling His promise: “What you have done in secret… I will (now) do … in the open for everyone … to see.”
And so, my friend, be careful! Remember the words of Jesus (in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verse 17), when He said: “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.”
In other words, you can run; but you cannot hide. For your sins, most assuredly, will eventually find you out!
STORY SOURCES:
https://billygrahamlibrary.org/remembering-ruth-bell-graham-2/;
https://www.newser.com/story/356787/building-maintenance-work-reveals-16-year-old-murder.html.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/numbers/32-23.htm;
https://biblehub.com/2_samuel/12-12.htm;
https://biblehub.com/luke/8-17.htm.