The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 34:1-4,
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!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree."
Isaiah's prophetic message turns to a cosmic perspective of judgment.
Fads come and go, music changes (always devolving it seems to me), people's perspectives on which political issues are important come and go as well. The global crisis de jour changes (global cooling, global warming, exponential population growth, disappearance of the Amazon jungles, etc.). Clothing styles change and there always appears to be those things that become passe.
But, as I get up in the morning, it has always been about the same. A 24 hour day, with the four seasons of the year, similar weather patterns (I'm not given to the global warming hype) - it all seems so stable. At age 75, the creation has felt to me to be in a stasis.
However, that is not what the future holds. As we consider the prophetic outlook, God's coming judgment is headed our way and it is going to encompass all creation. In addition to Isaiah, consider Jesus' words in Matthew 24:29-31, "Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
Look at what Peter prophesied, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" 2 Peter 3:10-11. John's prophetic message in Revelation 6:12-14 says, "There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."
While things just seem to go along without much change, a day is coming when everything is going to change. Drastically and unalterably change. Nothing will be the same.
Are we ready for that day?
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree."
Isaiah's prophetic message turns to a cosmic perspective of judgment.
Fads come and go, music changes (always devolving it seems to me), people's perspectives on which political issues are important come and go as well. The global crisis de jour changes (global cooling, global warming, exponential population growth, disappearance of the Amazon jungles, etc.). Clothing styles change and there always appears to be those things that become passe.
But, as I get up in the morning, it has always been about the same. A 24 hour day, with the four seasons of the year, similar weather patterns (I'm not given to the global warming hype) - it all seems so stable. At age 75, the creation has felt to me to be in a stasis.
However, that is not what the future holds. As we consider the prophetic outlook, God's coming judgment is headed our way and it is going to encompass all creation. In addition to Isaiah, consider Jesus' words in Matthew 24:29-31, "Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
Look at what Peter prophesied, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" 2 Peter 3:10-11. John's prophetic message in Revelation 6:12-14 says, "There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."
While things just seem to go along without much change, a day is coming when everything is going to change. Drastically and unalterably change. Nothing will be the same.
Are we ready for that day?
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!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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