All Glory to God the Father and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Something a bit more topical than usual.
We are living in interesting times. There are those that see this as a sure sign of the end times and Christ’s imminent return. While that may be a possibility, the scriptures state that God has kept the time of Christ’s return known only to Himself.
Mark 13:32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
I have always had an interest in history and from my reading, there have been many times in the past that looked to the people who were living through it, that the end was nigh. As I watch the country I grew up in unravel, I think we are not looking hard enough at the big picture. The really big picture is how God sees things. Is He happy with how we as a country have followed His Will?
Hence, I see this as God’s wrath at a people who have rebelled against his Word and Will. We have, as a people, and I am talking about Americans here, codified into the law of the land, the murder of infants in the womb. In a time of only essential services being allowed to be open for business, via an edict of your local Caesar, Planned Parenthood was open and running. Churches were closed, but Planned Parenthood was open and providing its “essential” service. Those were scare quotes by the way.
So how do you suppose that God is going to feel toward a country that has kicked him out of most of our lives? Churches, many churches, have opened their doors to the world and adopted social issues, rather than spiritual truths. The Bible does deal with social issues:
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Lamentations 4:3
Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
That last one has to make us all a little uncomfortable. God knows each of us before we are born.
Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
And yet the Supreme Court of our Land says that woman’s choice is the law of the land.
All of the above is my argument that COVID 19, Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, riots, schools being closed and the mask mandate are His wrath at our rebellion and not necessarily an indication of immediate (more or less) end times. And I say again, I could very well be wrong about that.
Fine and dandy you say, but what do we do about this?
Have you ever wanted God to speak to you? To have direct chat with you, telling you about Himself and His will and what He wants from us? Well, have I got a deal for you. He wrote a book.
Nah, that old thing, you reply. And I don’t like reading. Hearing this, I naturally wonder if you raised by wolves?
Seriously, God wrote a book. 40 authors over 1500 years, and a consistent story. And after reading it, studying it and teaching from it, I find that it is timeless. Sure they talked, dressed and smelled differently back then, but there is nothing new under the sun. That little saying comes from:
Ecclesiastes 1:9
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
Which is thought to be written by Solomon, the wisest man in the world. And I have to agree with him. Now getting back to God writing a book:
2 Peter 1:20-21
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
There are more things like this in the Bible when you start reading it, or listening to it if you don’t like reading. Amazon has lots of audio versions of the bible.
Getting back to what should be done about God’s wrath being played large across the land. Well first of all the acknowledgement that we deserve it. Fear not, the bible has an answer as to how to bring us back into alignment with God’s will. In fact there are quite a few examples of how people found themselves suffering God’s wrath and did something, and then they found we have a Merciful God. What did they do? They wholeheartedly repented, and God’s Mercy was shown to them. The key word here is wholeheartedly.
Let’s look at an example. Jonah, the guy that spent some time in a big fish. If you went to Sunday school, Jonah was a favorite one to use because of the big fish. Maybe you didn’t go to Sunday school (see the wolves comment above) and don’t know the story. Jonah was chosen by God to go tell a sinful city to repent or else.
Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Jonah was a man much like us, born to sin, and hearing the word of the Lord telling him to do this thing, thought nope, and ran in the other direction.
Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong, but did it anyway? We go back to “nothing new under the sun.”
Jonah 1:4-6
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
What we see here in Jonah’s day is what we see in our day. Calling upon their own god or idol, and notice a small “g” god, to save them. What would that be now in our day? BLM, Feminism, LGBTTQ or even our own political alignment. Sometimes it is just chaos that some people have for a god/idol. Jonah tried to run from his God. The captain and crew were terrified and asked him to appeal to his God.
Jonah 1:7-9
Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”
Interesting that the captain and crew’s god had no effect on their fate. Just like today. Your small g god/idol will have no effect on what you hope to accomplish. Just cast you further into sin. Jonah’s God, our God, the true Living Word, arranged the lots to fall upon Jonah, as they have now fallen on us.
Jonah 1:10-17
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah fessed up and into the sea he went. And our Lord had the perfect penance, a time for reflection you might call it.
For those of you getting antsy over what my point is, I will speed things up and come to my point. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent.
This is from John MacArthur’s Study Bible, this being his commentary:
Jonah 3:5 Jonah’s experience with a fish in light of the Ninevites’ pagan beliefs certainly gained him an instant hearing. From the Divine side, the wholesale repentance was a miraculous work of God. Pagan Sailors and a pagan city respond to the reluctant prophet, showing the power of God in spite of the weakness of the servant.
And here is the payoff or my point, if you will.
Jonah 3:5-10
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
Everybody in that day knew the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. You’ve got a strange prophet in your town, one who says he was swallowed by fish. He’s saying change your sinful ways or else. The king of Nineveh got what the “else” part could mean. And everybody, man and beast were to be covered with sackcloth. I checked with Amazon for sackcloth and all they could offer is burlap.
But what I want you to understand is, if we are under the wrath of God, the bible shows us, more than once, what we must do. Sure, you didn’t protest, riot or burn any building, at least I hope not. But you are of this people who has abortion, gay pastors and marriage as laws of the land, to name a few. Daniel understood this and included himself in the sins of his people, while Daniel himself was righteous before God.
Daniel’s Prayer for His People
Daniel 9:3-10
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
True contrition of the heart and repentance is required from each and every one of us. On your knees repentance. The bible truly is God’s breathed out Word and as such provides the information you need to live in these troubled times. Read it, study it and pray to God for wisdom in the scriptures.