Pentecost 2014 has past, and now we push on through the summer toward the Feast of Trumpets that falls on September 25th this year. In the Central Valley of California we groan a bit as we look out over the months ahead wondering if the drought we are experiencing will be coupled with excessively hot weather. It was 104 degrees in Modesto on Pentecost, and in Fresno it will climb to 107 degrees today. Days like this make you wonder if the theory of global warming isn’t proving to be a fact after all, never mind the excessively cold winter, just past, for many around the world. But why all this disturbance with weather? Are we just following some pattern that comes round every so many centuries? No, I don’t think so.
Thinking about what the Bible says the end time will be like, the things we are experiencing globally make you realize we are in the time leading up to the tribulation – a time of Satan’s wrath turned loose on this world. These weather disturbances are only a part of the problems this world is dealing with; and we, as Christians, need to realize things aren’t going to get any better.
That’s not good news, or is it? That all depends on where you’re coming from.
The news we pick up from our media is becoming ever more difficult to read or listen to. The Fresno Bee is filled with reports of murders, day after day. Two nights ago there were three gunshots fired directly behind our home, which is situated in a “safe” neighborhood on a “quiet” street. Even seemingly insignificant events like California Chrome’s failure to deliver the Triple Crown can enrage those who care about such things. Lack of fairness and justice continually dominates such events, pushing people into deep frustration and anger. It’s hard to find a place to look for good news anymore.
Recently I had to replace outdated equipment in my office; the main reason being Microsoft decided to discontinue support for its popular XP operating system, leaving XP vulnerable to hackers and hateful individuals who plant viruses and adware into individual computer systems. Why did Microsoft abandon this flagship upon which so many people depend? Much like the Y2K scare, many people are now forced to do what I have done, buy new. This may or may not prove to be good for Microsoft, but it has certainly placed a burden on those who have already paid considerable amounts to float the Microsoft ship. Greed. Lack of loyalty to its customers. Loss of pride. It’s all rolled up into this one act, which seems to be the nature of today’s businesses.
Where is all this leading? Read Deuteronomy 28:15 through to the end of the chapter. Compare it with the first 14 verses of the same chapter. Where do you think America stands? God is clear. For a nation that forsakes its God, the God of the Bible, there is no good news.
But for those who have not succumbed to this world’s collapsing morality, and have, instead, held to their conviction that God’s way is the right way, there is good news. The Bible does hold out protection through the bleak days ahead for such individuals. No, the Bible does not speak of a miraculous “rapture” – a relatively modern theory – said to take people off to heaven to await the final outcome of the great trouble now speeding its way toward those who approve evil. One could certainly wish for such an event, but God does not hold that out to us. However, there is protection promised to those who reject the way of greed and rapid moral decline. There is help for those who seek the God of the Bible. I advise you to read the 9th chapter of Ezekiel in order to understand God’s mind and actions toward those who “sigh and cry” over the evils consuming this world.