… These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored

… And though these days of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

… Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
Lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee                                                                             Out of Zion’s hill, salvation comes…

(Days of Elijah, Songwriter: Francis Robert Mark)

Ahh, these days!  We sigh deeply when we hear and observe, (mostly from a distance) of wars, rumors of wars, political scheming with slander to win more power for all the wrong reasons, love used and abused as a desire to control another, relationships tenuous at best because of seeking self-satisfaction, being easily offended, assuming the worst in each other.  But are these days as bad as the days of Noah—where only a few people believed God and did what He said? Sometimes we wonder and make judgments based on comparisons—a human thing we do often.  Sometimes pray out loud, “How long, O Lord, will you put up with this—and us?” 

Could it be we cry out when our faith begins to waver and wonder if God knows what is going on?  Maybe it’s not what is going on around us but in us.

Revelation 6, The Message

Unsealing the Scroll

^1-2 I watched while the Lamb ripped off the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the Animals roar, “Come out!” I looked—I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a victory garland. He rode off victorious, conquering right and left.

^3-4 When the Lamb ripped off the second seal, I heard the second Animal cry, “Come out!” Another horse appeared, this one red. Its rider was off to take peace from the earth, setting people at each other’s throats, killing one another. He was given a huge sword.

^5-6 When he ripped off the third seal, I heard the third Animal cry, “Come out!” I looked. A black horse this time. Its rider carried a set of scales in his hand. I heard a message (it seemed to issue from the Four Animals): “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, or three quarts of barley, but don’t lay even a finger on the oil and wine.”

^7-8 When he ripped off the fourth seal, I heard the fourth Animal cry, “Come out!” I looked. A colorless horse, sickly pale. Its rider was Death, and Hell was close on its heels. They were given power to destroy a fourth of the earth by war, famine, disease, and wild beasts.

^9-11 When he ripped off the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those killed because they had held firm in their witness to the Word of God. They were gathered under the Altar, and cried out in loud prayers, “How long, Strong God, Holy and True? How long before you step in and avenge our murders?” Then each martyr was given a white robe and told to sit back and wait until the full number of martyrs was filled from among their servant companions and friends in the faith.

^12-17 I watched while he ripped off the sixth seal: a bone-jarring earthquake, sun turned black as ink, moon all bloody, stars falling out of the sky like figs shaken from a tree in a high wind, sky snapped shut like a book, islands and mountains sliding this way and that. And then pandemonium, everyone and his dog running for cover—kings, princes, generals, rich and strong, along with every commoner, slave or free. They hid in mountain caves and rocky dens, calling out to mountains and rocks, “Refuge! Hide us from the One Seated on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb! The great Day of their wrath has come—who can stand it?”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Will it get worse before it’s gets better? 

As Jesus opens the seals, we imagine it will based on John’s vision of things to come when Jesus comes.  But if we hold on and never let go of who God is and what He promised we will be safe.  If we who have decided to believe in Jesus, His Son and follow what He taught; we will not perish.  Jesus warned his disciples and us—

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. ^‘Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.’”—Jesus, Matthew 24:6-1

HOLD ON to these words of Jesus as we continue…

Our times—

Where we live, work, and raise our families, people are harassing and slandering each other and sometimes killing each other to impress their peers so they can fit in and belong. What people really seek is acceptance of anyone who will notice them—but at a very high cost—they must take a life to have life in the group.  Groups like these are formed in the darkness by humans who have not seen, heard, or experienced the Light of Day.  Some have heard, but have rejected the Message. 

But we must realize we all fall for dark deeds of self-fulfillment easily.  It is our “fallen nature” to constantly seek to fill that emptiness in our souls first with all that is not God.  Since the fall of Adam and Eve, when the sin of self was introduced by the Tempter, we fall.  The Tempter, then and now, seeks to distract us from God, deceive us with lies about God with the ultimate goal to destroy our relationships with God.  (Genesis 3)

Oh how God loved to walk with His “created in His image” humans in the garden, but when they were enticed to “be God” (like the fallen angel did), the relationship was severed; but His love for them was not.  God had a Plan to restore this broken relationship. God knew. God loved. How great is our God?

The real Enemy of God (and we who believe God) is still at work to empty our souls of God.  Jesus came to earth to fulfil the Plan of God to reconcile us to God, redeem us from all sin, and give us a new beginning with God.  Jesus came to fill the empty place within us with all that is God.  How merciful is our God?

When we say Yes to Jesus, God’s Holy Spirt comes to live in all who believe with constant attention and holy transformation to our thinking that prompts our behaviors!  God’s Holy Spirit fills us to overflowing proportions of what was once empty inside us.  God meets and surpasses all our needs for love, acceptance, belonging, joy, and peace with the promise of life forever with Him—all because Jesus gave His life for ours.  Oh what a Savior, isn’t He wonderful!

God loves and accepts us the way we are as we come to Him; but God also loves us enough to grow us to be more like Him since we were “made in His image.”  His Holy Spirit works daily to comfort, convict, correct, and compel us to be more like Him in every way while loving us unconditionally with every step along the way.  His love never ends, never gives up on us, and never changes.  His love is deeper, wider, broader, and forever true.  God is relentlessly faithful to us—even when our faith fails for a time.  How awesome is God? 

So, maybe we have been asking the wrong questions as we judge our times.  Maybe better questions are;

Who do I know that needs love and acceptance from me as a believer in Jesus?

Do I look at others the way Jesus looks at me?

Do I love or do I judge? 

Do I help or hinder God’s plan and desire that no one perish but believe and have life forever?

Lord,

I’m praying the prayer of Paul who sat in a prison cell asking others to pray with him—

…that You may open a door for Your message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, no matter the circumstances of our own lives. I ask that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. I pray to be wise in the way I act toward outsiders; making the most of every opportunity. I pray that our conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone.  (See Colossians 4:2-6) 

In Jesus Name, Amen

And these are the days of the harvest, yes Lord
The fields are as white in Your world
And we are the laborers in Your vineyard
Declaring the Word of the Lord

… Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun at the trumpet’s call
So, lift your voice, it’s the year of Jubilee
And out of Zion’s hill, salvation comes…