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Published December 2003 in Horizons a publication of Regular Baptist Press.
Here's a quick history quiz. In what year did World War II end? 1944? 1945? Or 1974?
Most likely you chose 1945, which normally is the correct answer. However, for a least one man, the world's greatest conflict lasted for over thirty years, no concluding until 1974.
Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese Imperial Army received commando training at the Nakano Military School in 1944. After graduation he was sent to Lubang, an island in the western Philippines. His orders were to lead Japanese troops in guerilla warfare, beginning by destroying an airfield.
An important ingredient in Onoda's training was a large dose of propaganda. The war against America, he was taught, would not be short. It could last for decades, his instructors said, but in the end Japan would triumph.
"Whatever happens," General Muto had said to Onoda, "we'll come back for you… You may have to live on coconuts. If that's the case, live on coconuts." So Lieutenant Onoda accepted his assignment, determined to survive for Japan until his commanders returned for him.
Propaganda can't alter reality, however. The tide of war turned against the Japanese military, and the Empire of the Rising Sun surrendered the next year. Cut off and ignorant of these events, Onoda and his men continued to occupy the island, ready to resist any American activity.
One day a Boeing B-17 flew over the Japanese hideout and dropped leaflets containing surrender orders from General Yamashita. The orders were genuine, but unfortunately they contained a Japanese printer's error, which the men quickly spotted.The Americans are sneaky, Onoda concluded, but not sneaky enough. He threw away what he thought was a phony surrender order.
In the following months and years, various methods were attempted to coax the Japanese out of the jungle. Loudspeakers announced the end of the war, magazine articles about Hiroshima and Nagasaki were planted along the jungle trails, and more leaflets were dropped. One after another, Onoda's men either deserted or were shot by armed islanders. Onoda himself, however, constantly recalled the promise his commander had made to him: "Whatever happens, we'll come back to you."
So year after year dragged by. Whole decades passed. Then, in 1972, Onoda's last comrade was shot and killed during one of their raids on a village. Onoda was left alone.
Meanwhile, back in Japan, Onoda had become famous. He was known as the one Japanese officer who had never surrendered, the undefeated samurai. As a result, in 1974 a young Japanese man decided to go camping on Lubang in order to find Onoda and persuade him that the war had truly ended.
When this man finally encountered Onoda in the jungle, though, and explained why he had come, the warrior replied, "If you want me to go to Japan, bring me my orders! There must be proper orders!"
Two weeks later, the young man did just that. He had tracked down retired Major Taniguchi and returned with him to Lubang where, at last, they convinced Onoda to lay down his arms and come home - three decades after the wars conclusion.
How sad that Onoda's trust and faithfulness - two positive qualities - were misplaced in his superior officers. He spent half a lifetime fighting a war that no longer existed. He had put his confidence in the promise that fallible men would return for him. But he waited in vain.
Jesus, too, has promised to come again for His people: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3). Unlike the human commanders of the Japanese army, however, the Lord keeps His promises, and nothing can interrupt His plans. True, years have passed, and some have stopped waiting for His return. But the Son of God will return in His time, and each tick of the clock only draws us closer to the Second Coming of our Lord.
So keep looking up, soldier of Christ! Lieutenant Onoda faithfully occupied his island for thirty years as he waited and scanned the ocean for an army that could not return. But Christ, who died in order to bring you into the family of God, will not forget you nor forsake you. He will be faithful to His Word. "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." (Matthew 24:42).