The devastation in Israel is so bad that it bears some
comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah! The complaint
is that there is no knowledge of the Lord in Israel. How could the people of God lack knowledge
about Him? We know that there were times
in Israel's history that they lost the Word of God and had to recover it. It is truly amazing but at the same time
there are definitely places in the church today where the Word is either
heavily redacted or intentionally mishandled so that it is, in effect, lost and
then there is no knowledge of God. I wonder
if even in the evangelical wing of the church we have not lost at least some
knowledge of God. Have we focused so
heavily on the grace of God and salvation that we have forgotten or lost any
sense of the fear of God and of discipleship, changed lives, repentance? The Book of Common Prayer, for instance, was
felt to be too penitential in confession and so changed in order to be more
uplifting. Is there anything more
uplifting than being greatly forgiven?
Jesus speaks prophetically of a time when Jerusalem will
fall, enemies will surround it on all sides and will destroy the city. What, however, are the things that make for
peace that the people do not know this day? Who Jesus truly is would be the correct answer
to that question. Peace, true peace, the
shalom of God, is found only in recognizing and accepting Jesus as the only
begotten Son of the Father. Peace is
possible only in Him. Jesus offers so
much more than they are looking for and, unfortunately, they will reject what
He is offering. The leaders are looking to
destroy Him but the people were hanging on every word. Why were the leaders looking to destroy Him? What had He done to them? The people were going after Him and rejecting
them and He was speaking against them. Truth
was setting them free.
Peter says the world was created in water and through water
but the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, is a day of fire. He assures his readers that this day will
indeed come and everything will perish but the Lord is patient and it is not
His desire that any should perish yet in the end, some will. CS Lewis said that there are two kinds of
people, some who say to the Lord, "Thy will be done", and others to
whom the Lord must say, "Thy will be done." Let us share the Good News broadly and gladly
that we should have no regrets concerning our friends, family and
acquaintances. Let it not be said of us
that those near to us lacked knowledge of the Lord because we withheld it from
them.
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