SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/12/2015
10:50 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Nations: Prepare for Defeat
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Joel 3:16
Message of the
verse: “16 The LORD roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth tremble. But
the LORD is a refuge for His people And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.”
As we look at the first portion from this 16th
verse I can’t help but think of all the times that are found in the book of
Revelation when the word “loud” is used, and many times it is from a voice,
that of God, the Lamb, or an angel, and now we hear the LORD roar in this verse
from Joel.
I am going to quote the first paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe’s
commentary on this verse, and I can say that it could have fit right into my
study this morning from the 16th chapter of Revelation: “The name ‘Armageddon’ is found only in
Revelation 16:16, referring to the Plain of Esdraelon where many major battles
were fought in Old Testament times.
Revelation 16:13-16 informs us that Satan, through his demonic powers,
gathers the armies of the nations to fight against God at Jerusalem. But the invasion will fail, because Jesus
will return in power and slaughter the enemy, turning the whole ‘battle’ into a
supper of flesh for the scavengers of the earth (Rev. 19:17-19.”
We can also look at a couple more OT verses to help us as
we look at the roaring of the Lord. Amos
1:2 “He said, "The LORD roars
from Zion And from Jerusalem He utters His voice; And the shepherds’
pasture grounds mourn, And the summit of Carmel dries up." Hosea 11:10-11 “10 They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed
He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come
trembling like birds from Egypt And like doves from the land of Assyria; And I
will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD.”
God’s roar will mean destruction to the nations who have
come to defeat Him, but it will bring peace to the nation of Israel, God’s own
people. Isaiah 26:20-21 says “20 Come,
my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a
little while Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the LORD is
about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer
cover her slain.” What a fitting verse
to go along with our verse in this SD.
As we look at the last portion of Joel 3:16 we can see
the promise of God that He will take care of His people, however when I studied
the book of Daniel and in particular chapter nine I learned that God would
continue to discipline the people of Israel because of their sin even up until
the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory, for at that time they
will look at Him whom they have pierced and will recognize that He indeed is
their Messiah. As we look back into the
history of Israel from the time that Pharoah began his persecution on them all
the way through our modern times we see that the Jews have had a tough row to
hoe to say the least. Dr. Wiersbe had a
friend who was a missionary to his people the Jews, for he was a believer in
Jesus and thus a missionary to his people.
Dr. Jacob Gartenhaus use to say: “We
Jews are waterproof and fire proof; God has blessed us so that nobody can successfully
curse us, and we shall be here long after our enemies have perished.” You can be sure that God knows what the
nations have done to His chosen people and one day He will settle the score
with them, but in the meantime all believers should pray for the peace of
Jerusalem as Psalm 122:6 instructs us to do, for when we pray for the peace of
Jerusalem we are actually be praying that the Lord Jesus Christ will return,
for that is the only time that there will be peace there.
8/12/2015 11:13 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment