by Pastor Bob Lawrenz
God's Prophetic Word forms the pattern which history will follow. Today's reading in Amos 9 could have been plucked from newspaper headlines of fifty years ago, yet it dates to almost 800 years before Christ. Current events in the Middle East follow the pattern, too. With Russia now taking such a pre-eminent role in the teetering politics of Syria and its weapons of mass destruction, who would ever have thought that Russia would broker a peace through détente?
Back in 2002, George Bush gave us his famous State of the Union Address during which he labeled Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, an "Axis of Evil." But these countries have long been a thorn in the side of world politics, not just since Bush's speech. He merely state the obvious, because "...Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).
Everyone on Main Street seems to sense that another global war is right around the corner. The three major issues mentioned in Revelation are inescapably in our headlines: the failing world economy, political upheaval, and incredible relious differences. (Antichrist will offer a false resolution to these things.) In the minds of the people, dark times are looming on the horizon.
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:130, "The entrance of thy words gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple." Being familiar with God's Word is key to maintaining our peace in troublesome times. The Believer can take great comfort knowing that God will work everything to the good for His own.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our patriarchs in the faith. But there were others in that lineage who turned their backs on God and away from the land given to them: Cain departed from the Lord and went East; Ishmael, Isaac's brother went West to Ethe land of his mother; and Esau, Jacob's brother went east, and south, and west and mingled with his cousins, the Egyptians. The "Arab Spring of Old" continues today as the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, (unless) He revealeth His secret to His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7
~ Major in the Minor Prophets for RICH BLESSINGS! ~
