October 28
Jer 51:54-52:34 | PS 100:1-5 | Prov 26:18-19 | Titus 3:1-15
When it comes to Bible prophecy and our acceptance of it, one of the biggest stumbling blocks is ourselves, our intellect, our ability to reason, our ability to make sense of it before it unfolds. But this is arrogance as we lift ourselves over God. In pride, if we can't make sense of something, though God has pronounced it, all too often we wave our dismissive hands and either disregard or disagree. For 1900 years, as Jerusalem and Israel lie in desolation and marshes, the predictions of them once again becoming the nation that it now is was dismissed and reinterpreted to fit the minds of theologians who believed they knew better. Worse than that, now that is has unfolded, lifted in pride, they can't simply admit that perhaps they were wrong. The prophecies concerning the future Messiah also took two seemingly different paths. One, that was called Messiah ben Joseph described a Messiah who would be peaceful, submissive, who would be beaten and killed for His people. The other was called Messiah ben David who would be powerful, conquering, who would rule and reign and live forever. We now understand this as Jesus' first and second coming, but many have rejected Jesus and what He did for mankind at His first coming since it doesn't fit with their preconceived understanding of His second coming. So, as we look towards prophecies yet to be fulfilled, we would be wise to stop elevating our intellect, and instead accept in expectation through faith in our God who is unlimited in His ability to follow through with that which He has already described.
We read in Jeremiah 21:7, "And afterward,” says the Lord, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’" Yet we also read in Ezekiel 12:13, concerning King Zedekiah, "I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there." Both were prophets, at the same time, Ezekiel living in Babylon, taken in the 2nd Babylonian siege in 597 BC. How can this king be brought to Babylon, yet not see it? Though beforehand this seems contradictory, we read in 52:11, after the king was forced to watch the execution of all of his sons, " He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death." He was indeed brought to Babylon, but never saw it, as he was rendered blind. In the midst of a devastating famine, Elisha prophesied that the next day, there would be plenty for everyone to eat. An officer scoffed at this prophecy as we read in 2 Kings 7:2, "So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”" This seems contradictory, why would the officer see and not eat of it, until we read in 7:17, 20, "Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him...And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died."
We would do well to accept the fact that God is always right and we are not. Respected theologians have gotten things wrong throughout the centuries. When things don't make sense, they eventually will, once they are fulfilled, just as God stated through His prophets. We read in Isaiah 14:24, "The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:". So, concerning the most pivotal decision anyone of us will ever make, God has promised salvation, eternal life, for those who will surrender their lives to Him. God has promised eternal judgment to those who reject and refuse to surrender to Him. Surrender means to have faith in, to trust, to put your full weight upon, not simply mentally or intellectually give assent to God. God has promised, and has spoken clearly through His prophets. It is time to stop trying to make sense of every detail of His plan of salvation, and simply accept his plan.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: