Signs of the Times
Learning to discern God at work in our lives and world is a natural part of our life in the Spirit. It is also intimately connected to our understanding of God and his ways, as revealed in scripture.
What do you sense God is up to in your life and world?
This past Sunday, I shared a message at Embrace Church on “The Written Word and the Living Word.” It was the second message in our series of sermons on Elijah. In that message, I referred to the Signs of the Times and Elijah’s ability to discern those times based on his knowledge of scripture.
When Elijah stood before wicked King Ahab and announced that drought was coming, he wasn’t conjuring up cloudless heavens and dry, cracked, sun-baked ground. He was simply proclaiming what was coming based on the authority of God’s Word and the events of his day.
Right before the prophet bursts on the scene in I Kings 17:1, we read these words in the final verse of I Kings 16 —
In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua, son of Nun. (I Kings 16:34)
It happened just as Joshua said it would. After the walls of Jericho came crashing down by the power of Israel’s God, Joshua issued a warning. Here’s what he said in Joshua 6:26 -
At that time, Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
A wicked king, described as the most wicked king in Israel’s history, governs Israel with his wife, Jezebel, from Sidon, the stronghold of Baal worship. The nation tumbles into spiritual darkness. Idolatry is rampant in the land.
As these events unfold, Elijah recalls another warning from scripture. Joshua’s predecessor, Moses, had warned the people about the consequences of allegiance to other gods, saying -
The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:23-24)
Elijah was a keen observer of the events of his life. He was also well-versed in scripture. These two things allowed him to “see” what God was up to.
Back to my earlier question. What do you sense God is up to in your life and world?
What events are unfolding in your life, your family, your work, your nation? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see and ears to hear. As followers of Jesus, we don’t have to live in the dark. We have been rescued from the “domain of darkness” and are now living in the “kingdom of light.”1
There’s a lot of darkness surrounding us. But as His light shines in our lives, we will not stumble in the darkness.* God’s Word (both his Written and Living Word) will be for us “a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.2
In Christ,
Dan
You can listen to my weekly messages at Embrace Church, High Point.
Colossians 1:12-13.
Psalm 119:105.