Time to be Afraid

Scripture: I know your works—your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:19-20

Observation: This is the second church in a row where Jesus' pronouncements are effectively as follows ... your faith is good, however some of you commit sins related to both recognizing the Lord as the true God and thus disobeying the commandments (with sexual immorality the prime example). In this case, these people are doing so because they claim to have discovered some hidden wisdom - they actually call it the "secrets of satan" (v24) - which is a teaching they now publicly profess.

And Jesus also declares the outcome of such actions ... they will be struck with afflictions and illnesses, and their children will die. This is consistent with other such declarations in scripture; even in Psalm 140 as part of today's reading, declares that those who oppose the Lord and his believers will have hot coals poured out on them and thrown into the fiery abyss of hell, and while on earth they will be evicted from their land and homes and hunted by violence itself.

The Lord gives time for repentance from doing wrong (v21), but in the end he will bring punishment on those who disobey, both in eternity and also in this life.

Application: Once again, as I have lamented before, the description of those cursed by their repeated and persistent disobedience is so very like our current society. I mean, this exactly describes modern cultural thinking ... 'through our better compassion and understanding of people, we now must understand, accept, and embrace all kinds of sexual behavior'. Is that not a "secret of satan"? Are these messages not originated by people who declare themselves to have some great insight like a prophet would?

And once again today I say, I am afraid for what will befall - and is already befalling - our society. Jesus pronounced the outcomes, reenforcing the word of God given to us even earlier, and we are not heeding his word. I don't fear for myself, but for our world.

Prayer: Lord, in the long-term plan of salvation, I am strong in your promises and I am not afraid of the long-term future. However, I know our earthly society is heading into a time of major problems. Please keep myself, my family, and your Church, in your loving hands. Amen.