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.
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]Though the new cycle of Israel's feasts has concluded, I'd like to share one more observation about last week's high holy day, Yom Kippur. It is a day on which adults are afflicting themselves by fasting, abstaining from all pleasures, and repenting. But for the children, Yom Kippur is a very different holiday. This day is my son Obi's favorite holiday! Why? Because the kids are not fasting or recalling their sins or suffering at all – they are celebrating freedom!
“Don’t be anxious”…even though it's a perfectly natural response to mounting threats; sickness, finances, employment, uncertainty, emotional stress, family crises...Nevertheless, it says, "Don't be anxious about anything". Instead, pray!
A major earthquake struck Taiwan over the weekend, which triggered a tsunami warning as far away as Japan.
This reminded me of when we first moved to Israel, in 2003.
The word "verily", in this verse, is the Hebrew word “emunah” (em-oo-nah). It also means "faith" or "faithfully". When we trust in the Lord, and our trust is demonstrated by doing good, He declares that He will faithfully feed us. How will we be fed?
In the early 1800's a preacher gave a message to call men to join him on the mission field in Africa. In the audience were only a few women along with a boy. The pastor knew that few women were expected to volunteer to face harsh African jungle conditions. However, he gave the message; and no one responded. What he didn't realize was that he had touched the heart of a little boy whose name was David Livingstone. This boy would grow up to spend the rest of his life ministering to Africa's unreached tribes.
A.W. Tozer had an interesting commentary on this verse. He said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."
When does God answer our prayers? And when do we receive what we ask of Him? And when are we confident He has heard our requests? Many of us wonder why our prayers seem to go unanswered.