Destruction from the Almighty
Isaiah
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Throughout history there have been many days the Lord has exacted punishment for the various and many sins of His people.
With Isaiah being a prophet it's not always easy to understand things, not for this ordinary layperson who has no background in theology or even history. Do I always interpret things correctly? I'd be the first to admit that I only do the best I can with the knowledgde I do have and pray that the Holy Spirit guide me into understanding.
Can a prophecy hold duel meanings? I'm not sure. I do know that prophecies can be given in more ways than one. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 for instance. Some might expound more on what was at first given.
God's ways are mysterious and we have to seek to understand, to know, and to realize that God gives prophecies to us for our edification.
I read stuff like this...
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
And it makes me think of the last days before Christ's return and the chaos that will be going on. Howl, cry out, and we know many will be doing just that when they realize that the day they never imagined would come is finally here. We know the Bible tells us many will be deceived--
Matthew {7:22} Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.
There will be plenty of howling when the deceived realized their deception, when instead of waiting and eagerly looking for Christ to redeem them they have gone after other ways, deceptive ways. Ways, so deceptive that just like Eve in the garden of Eden the only defense will be I was beguiled, only unlike Eve the people will realize that they allowed themselves to be deceived when they had didn't have to, they welcomed the deception, the heart will be revealed and unlike Eve's heart, people will know that they embraced sin rather than the truth because the price of the truth was too much for them to bear- they couldn't give up enough of themselves to God's will, they had to try and save themselves and the deception will be great.
Reading on...
{13:7}
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart
shall melt: {13:8} And they shall be afraid: pangs and
sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a
woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another;
their faces shall be as flames.
The agony of realizing you've been deceived will be horrific won't it? How could it be otherwise? We see horror movies, even if we don't watch the movie itself we see advertisements for them, we know they exist, we know what they are and even the worst horror movie we've ever seen or know exists will not compare to the true pain described here. Even the worst tortures man has endure will not be as this. Eternal life lost. There can be no greater horror to endure.
{13:9} Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it.
Sin must be destroyed ultimately and of course sinners don't like to believe that can happen. Fairytale and yes, another horror story or movie to be told. End of the world stuff sells. Yet there is a reality here that people want to keep fictionalized. As long as it stays a mere story it's okay. Suspecting there might be truth to it is a bit frightening, and people will equate it with being lunatic, being freaks, being an oddity. Keep it fictional and all is well. Make it reality then either facing it or joking it away are options a person has. It's easier to make a joke of it. It is easier to not think about it because thinking about it will call your life into accountability and well, who wants that, it's no fun. We call sin fun and the majority of the world has made sin acceptable. Is it no wonder the world has to be destroyed, that God's wrath and fierce anger are coming? That when sin is wiped away the world will be desolate.
{13:10} For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall
be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause
her light to shine. {13:11} And I will punish the world for
[their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will
cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the terrible. {13:12} I will make a man
more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden
wedge of Ophir. {13:13} Therefore I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the
wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce
anger.
The world will be punished for it's evil.
The wicked will be punished for their sins.
The arrogant, the proud will no longer exist, there will be no more haughtiness.
Those of God's left will be precious and pure through Jesus Christ.
God's wrath is real.
God's wrath is coming.
No one has ever seen the fierce anger that God possesses towards sin and the sinner.
People would much rather talk of love than hate.
Yet God's love for us, the greatest love of all brought His Only Son, Innocent of all sin to die for us sinners.
Love conquers sin.
God's love will defeat the hateful sin, not accept it, defeat it. Sin will be wiped away, not indulged, not overlooked.
There will come a day when there is no more sin.
God's love will reign because it is so much more powerful than sin.
May the day of the Lord's fierce wrath find us protected in love and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May we look only to Jesus and know of ourselves we can do nothing, let alone save ourselves.
By the glory and will of our Lord now and always.
Amen.
3/4/10
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
If you hunger, you wish to be fed.
If you thirst, you wish to drink.
If you lack clothing, you wish to be clothed.
If you're sick, you wish to be nurtured.
If you lack a place to live, you wish to have a home.
If you are imprisoned, you wish to know outside someone cares.
If you are the stranger don't you wish to be helped?
What do we do to help others? What do we do? People are in need all around us. Who do we help?
A stranger came to my door yesterday and I feared him and just wanted him to leave, leery of him and his being around my house. My first thought was that maybe he was one of those thieves who case the house before they do anything. Later that day it hit me, he was a stranger and I didn't welcome Him. I told myself that it was the way things are, society is different now. How can I trust strangers that come to my door not to hurt me, or want to hurt me? Today another stranger came to the door and my son answered it, it was a man selling meat out of his truck. My son told him we weren't interested, and we're really not because who wants meat from an unknown source? But immediately I told him and my daughter about the stranger the day before and now today and how we are supposed to help strangers, they could be angels even. And my daughter said, but yesterday that guy looked like he was trouble, and I said how are strangers supposed to look? Are they supposed to have a halo, wings, look nice? This all has me really thinking about things and I believe God wants me to learn something here, I only hope and pray that I do learn. I need to get over my fear, I need to help strangers. I need to do as God would have me to do. I need Him to teach me, help me because I am so weak. I don't want to be among those who don't help strangers, who don't love my neighbors. I need to do more some how, some way. I want to be among the sheep on God's right hand. May God help me.
By the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
In His love.
Amen.
3/4/11