Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Is There Is A Time Called Too Late? Part 1:

The Minor Prophets Speak to Today

Is There A Time Called Too Late?

___________________________________________________________________________
 
Words of warning heeded
are sweeter than encouragement
in the face of judgment.
 
Words of warning hold immediacy
in the face of
a time called too late.
___________________________________________________________________________
 
The nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, ran out of time to repent. Assyria swept in and destroyed the nation. What they did not destroy they carried away. Unlike Judah the destruction was permanent. No mass exodus returned to the land after Assyria's fall. To this day there is speculation about where these Israelites were resettled by Assyria or where they wandered off to.
 
Chapter 8 of Hosea details many details of the coming destruction and God's words and actions before they became reality. The passages are filled with the evidence of their apostasy and God's words concerning each point he makes.
 
"These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age."
 
It is time we heed God's warning.
 _____________
 
For every nation, for God's people today,
there  is  a  time  called  too  late
and here is what it looks like.
____________
 
1. SOUND THE ALARM!!
 
The enemy descends like an eagle
on the people of the Lord!

What an awes inspiring visual.

Sometimes the shadow that we see is the impending punishment
that will tear us apart because God has given up
hope of humbling us and bringing
us to a change of heart
and life.

2. HELP US, FOR YOU ARE OUR GOD

A time will come when we are frightened.

Sometimes our frightened cry to God, our claim that he is our God,
may seem to go unheeded
and it is
because it is too late.

God is not a magic yoyo who must respond in a specific way
if we just pull the string right.
Repentance can and does come too late,
especially corporate repentance,
even individual repentance.
There is a time called
too late.

Our call does not change the fact that we rejected
God's lordship over us while
praying for him to
exercise lordship over our enemies.

3. THE PEOPLE HAVE REJECTED WHAT IS GOOD,
AND 4. NOW THEIR ENEMIES
WILL CHASE THEM

It is our rejections of God's definition of good
that have unleashed evil
among us.

That is why demonic activity runs unchecked
among those who accept God's rules
but not his rule.

"I have heard of your repentance,
but have not seen it."
God

When our enemies chase us without relief
this sign of the end rules.
God's punishment has already
begun to destroy us
and the culture around us.

Is That TODAY?





Photo Credits:
Megaphone by Igor Klisov some rights reserved @flickr.com
flying eagle by Brandon HM Oh some rights reserved @flickr.com

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