As we meet on a Sunday morning, we are likely to be most keenly aware of the great privilege we share in Christ. We have been called out of this world of darkness into the glorious light of the word of God. Without the hope God has provided, we would find ourselves truly adrift in an increasingly troubled world. Surely, this fact was brought home to us most forcefully as we followed the events of the past few weeks leading up to the Quebec referendum.
In considering the implications of a “Yes” vote, media interviews dramatized the anxiety, anger, depression, frustration and fear felt by ordinary men and women. In hearing their reactions, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words in describing the desperate reaction of people to events just prior to his return.
Were we shaken too?
Even if Quebec were to secede from the rest of Canada, it would be a relatively minor event compared to the tremendous upheavals that must be in mind when Jesus says the powers of heaven shall be shaken. What is coming will be of such magnitude that men’s hearts will fail them for fear and “for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). In contrast, of course, Christ’s followers are looking forward to their redemption at the very time others are so shaken.
With reference to events of the past few weeks, what was our reaction? Was it closer than we might have liked to that of the man on the street?
I can only speak for myself, but I was surprised at my own reaction We often speak in a political sense of “the sea and waves roaring” being one of the signs of the times. The Quebec situation, along with that of others in the world, certainly fits such a description. But it seems much easier to view such events with detached interest, even excitement, when they are happening on the other side of the world. What’s been happening in Bosnia or the Middle East, for example, and the continuing struggle in Russia seems to have little personal impact. Yet I found it was not quite so easy to maintain an objective attitude when the upheaval and turmoil was much closer to home.
Seeing the invisible
If nothing else, these events in Quebec served to emphasize our great need for a continued, trusting reliance on God’s word. In times of uncertainty we must remain focused on those invisible things of God which we know will endure, rather than being caught up in the visible things around us which will surely pass away. How important it is to keep reminding ourselves of those things spoken of in the scriptures and of those examples of faithful men and women of whom it is said, “God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.”
Thus we read of Abraham, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:9-10).
We continue to read, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth…But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly” (vs. 13, 16).
A necessary reminder
The purpose of God is something of which the ordinary man on the street knows little. Yet even knowing these things, knowing that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4:17), I personally found it hard to remain detached as the end result became more and more uncertain in Quebec. I found it hard not to look at the faces on TV without labeling them as being either the “good ones” or the “bad ones.” And even in the face of Jesus’ words stating that we should not be anxious about our daily, physical needs, I couldn’t help thinking about the financial implications of a “Yes” vote and how that would personally affect me.
While not knowing how others reacted, I found my own concerns an eye-opener, even a warning, showing my reactions to these events were not all they should have been and not at all what I assumed they would have been under the circumstances. For myself, I could plainly see the vital importance of making the word of God a living reality in my life. It must not be something that is read and tucked away until next time, but it must dominate the thoughts, actions and reactions. Only if it does will we be “accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36).
Right knowledge critical
The importance of having right knowledge and acting on it is brought out in Hosea. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). It wasn’t, of course, that God had failed to provide them knowledge. Quite the opposite — His feelings toward Israel were like a husband for his wife and He had given her much instruction and shared with them much from His own corn, wine, wool and flax. It was as if He were an husband who lavished silver and gold upon his wife.
No, their lack of knowledge did not reflect a failure on God’s part but on theirs. He had provided but they had rejected His gracious provisions. Thus He declares through His prophet, “Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…and seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children” (Hos. 4:6).
Rejection of the knowledge of God was no new thing for Israel. Hosea was, in fact, the last of a long line of prophets raised up by God to warn the northern kingdom of Israel to change their ways. For centuries, except for a faithful remnant, God’s call for repentance had gone unheeded. Their rejection of the Lord had not been a sudden and outright act but a gradual, insidious incorporation of the beliefs and practices of the nations around them. What they did is very similar to what we see repeated again in the history of the Christian church in the first through fourth centuries.
Rejection of the true God
Israel still observed rituals and offered sacrifices to God, but now they viewed Him as Baali, their owner, and not Ishi, their husband. This people had been called out to manifest the glory of their God. They were to reflect His character and attributes in all their dealings with their fellows. Instead, they thought it only important that they continue to observe ritual before a god whom they came to look upon as an angry, demanding master -a super Baal, as it were, and not the merciful, gracious spiritual husband to whom they had been betrothed.
How extremely disappointing Israel’s rejection of the true knowledge of God must have been to Him. Thus it seems almost with a note of despair that God declares: “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:6).
How could they not have realized this fact? Why did they prefer to exchange God’s truth for a lie and to worship an angry, demanding master rather than a merciful and loving redeemer?
The point stands out clearly: using his own devices, man is utterly incapable of worshiping God in an acceptable manner. We’ve probably heard it said that it doesn’t really matter what we believe and that all forms of religion are equally valid; they are just different paths leading to the same destination. Nothing could be further from the truth as we can see from the example of Israel: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” was the divine assessment.
Remarkable mercy
Though God’s message through Hosea clearly spells out the impending judgments that would soon befall the northern kingdom, it also speaks of God’s steadfast love and of Israel’s ultimate restoration. What comfort it would have given the faithful remnant to know that though God would cause Israel to pass through the valley of Achor (the valley of trouble), this was ultimately to be a door of hope and reconciliation. As we read: “I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies” (Hos. 2:19).
The evidence before us
Brothers and sisters, we see in events around us clear and certain evidence that God’s plan continues on His time schedule. Nations and leaders are raised up and brought down by Him in order that His ultimate purpose might be accomplished. Does knowledge of His plan give direction and stability to our lives? Or are we not allowing the word to have the influence on our lives that it should; and perhaps, as I discovered from my reaction to the Quebec referendum, are we becoming too absorbed in the temporal things which will surely pass away?
Knowing this to be so, let us continue to look to the scriptures, the only true and reliable source of comfort and hope in a world of ever increasing unrest and uncertainty. We know these things will not last; we look to Jesus as the man whom God has appointed to judge the world in righteousness.
In these emblems of bread and wine before us we see the assurance of this fact — in that God raised our Lord from the dead.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One