Luke 17:28-30 So also as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but the day Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed them all. Even so it shall be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave us some signs and indications of what society would look like just before His return. One sign was the sign of Lot.
In Genesis, we read that Lot decided to reside in Sodom, where society had become so detestable before God that He destroyed that city and the cities of the plain with fire and brimstone. While Lot was ‘vexed daily’ [2 Peter 2:7-8] because of the evil that surrounded him, there is another aspect of this passage that I’d like to expound upon.
When God revealed to Abraham his intention to destroy the cities [Genesis 18:22-33], Abraham interceded with the Lord such that if merely ten righteous souls were found there, God would relent from his terrible judgment.
Just ten souls … and the cities would have been spared. Did Lot allow his community to silence him? This is the question I’d like to explore. While the Scriptures do not allude to it, I can only wonder that if Lot had preached the righteousness which burned in him, he might have preempted the wrath which Sodom's sins were piling up.
Is one of the signs of this age that we who walk in the righteousness of Yeshua will be silenced by a society growing in evil and iniquity day by day? Apparently, it doesn’t take much these days to be "silenced", at least not in the vast world of social networking. I was recently banned from Facebook for 30 days … why, I don't know, but I cannot help but wonder which post was deemed unacceptable! Nevertheless, I will not allow society to silence me. We are called to be a light on a hill … not to hide our light under a bushel. It is not a time to be silent, but rather to be ever more resolved to share the good news of the gospel, even as never before, in the spirit of grace and truth!
Don’t be discouraged with the rapid decay of society around you, but realize this is merely a sign of the times. May the Lord continue to speak through you to reach this world around us … for we are not called to be silent!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As the Biblical feast of Pesach (Passover) is celebrated throughout the world on Thursday, we are reminded of the deliverance of the Jewish people from the land of Egypt where they had served as slaves. The word for slaves in Hebrew is “avadim”, which, interestingly, is also the same word for “servants.”
In these days, we have to pray for wisdom! In the letter of James, the Lord’s brother, he writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally…” [James 1:5] The context for this request is trials! Since this is a time of almost constant trials, God knows we need His wisdom, more than ever.
Throughout the Bible, the faith of the saints was never something passive — but rather a faith of action.
Much of the world is dealing with the greatest disruption of their lives… probably in their lifetimes, particularly in the West, and what is known as the “First World”. Here’s a helpful perspective toward understanding what is taking place.
Continuing our exciting account of the Moravian Revival, I have to highlight the minuscule quantity of saints involved. This was, in proportion to its astounding effect, a very small group, a little church. Yet the amazing demonstration of God’s principle of power through unity re-echoes the events at Pentecost when 120 believers also were in profound unity waiting on the Lord. It wasn’t the numbers but the removal of contention and division that paved the way for a 100-year revival.
The Moravian revival, our current subject, began in the little community of Herrnhut on August 13, 1727, with a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit likened to that of Acts 2. It was a work of God that would transform this group of splintered Christian settlers into a unified missionary endeavor committed to reaching the unsaved around the world.
As we discussed last week, the word for “sign” in ancient Hebrew is “oht”. It was used in Genesis to designate God’s covenant sign with Noah, (the rainbow). And we see now the same word again, in Exodus, identified with the deliverance of the Jewish people from the tenth plague, when the angel of death passed through all Egypt to strike the firstborn. Anyone under the “sign” of the blood was spared.