Thursday, March 13, 2025

"Pop Up" Prophecy - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saohim today anwhat came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 13:9-13,

"See, the day of the Lord is coming
    —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
    and destroy the sinners within it.
The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
    and the moon will not give its light.
I will punish the world for its evil,
    the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
    and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
    more rare than the gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
    and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
    in the day of his burning anger."

This prophecy of Isaiah begins with "A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw", verse one. Yet, here is a prophecy of the end of the age of mankind when God's judgment comes. As Isaiah looks ahead and speaks of a much nearer event, the destruction of Babylon, which took place in 539 B.C. (if I have my history correct), still a 160+ years future to him, the day of the Lord, which Jesus Christ describes in Matthew 24, comes into view. Jesus quoted this passage when asked about the end of the age.

One aspect of prophecy in Scripture that has intrigued me is the way that a prophetic message of something emerges in the midst of something else. Here in a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, the day of the Lord at the end of this age rears its head. This feature of prophecy, seen in many places in Scripture, feels to me like looking over the ocean and suddenly a whale appears, coming up out of the water only to disappear underneath the surface again. As we read an account of something in the Scriptures, a prophecy may thrust itself from the current context, unannounced and at times with points of commonality shared with the context. The book of Psalms is peppered with it.

It really is a fascinating feature of prophecy to me. It also challenges me. A cardinal rule for many of us is looking to the context of a passage to make sure we understand what we are reading. However, sometimes not so much…

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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