THOUGHT OF TODAYS CHAPTER (Ezekiel 30). [27 July, 2014] Thoughts from Australia The language of the “Day of the Lord” is something that we as Christians apply especially to the second coming (2 Thess 2:2). Yet the final end has its historical example. For Egypt the day had come. Amos is the earliest Bible writer to use this language and he assures his readers that it won’t be the day of light they anticipate but a day of darkness. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light,— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? (Amos 5:19, 20). Clouds and doom are what “the Day” will bring to Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s time. There will be no escape from Babylon. Well-developed biceps are often seen as an attractive feature in a man today. For a ruler in the ancient world they were a sign of great military ability. Pharaoh has lost the use of one arm already and Yahweh will soon render the other arm useless. On the other hand, He will strengthen both arms of Babylon as His instrument. It is all in Yahweh’s hands. The nations only imagine they have the final word. It takes wisdom to see the workings of history and to know ahead of time who the conquerors and the defeated will be in any given scenario, when to resist and when to be still. It takes wisdom and great courage, for it is far easier to lean on visible human power than on the arm of the invisible God. Today, will we trust in human strength or in the powerful arm of our God? Ross Cole Senior Lecturer Avondale College, Australia
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 15:55:24 +0000