"In that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping, and mourning, and baldness, and girding with sackcloth! And behold (there was) joy and gladness, slaying oxen, killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine; 'let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die!' And it was revealed in my ears by the LORD of hosts, 'Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die,' said the Lord GOD of hosts." (Isaiah 22:12-14) FOLLOWING THE TRIUMPHALISTIC PAGAN MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS IN EACH SUCCESSIVE TIME ZONE, WE BECAME INCREASINGLY DISTRESSED. SUCH PRIDE! SUCH HUMANISM! SUCH REJECTION OF GOD WHO, IN TRUTH, CREATES AND SUSTAINS US IN THIS TIME. THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS
ON THIS PASSAGE IN ISAIAH BY MATTHEW HENRY* WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND
GOD'S PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT TOOK PLACE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE: "Note their great contempt of God's wrath and justice... Here observe God's design in bringing this calamity upon them: to humble them, bring them to repentance, and make them serious. In that day... the Lord did thereby call for weeping and mourning, and all the expressions of sorrow, even for baldness and girding with sackcloth; and all this to lament their sins (by which they had brought those judgments upon their land), to enforce their prayers (by which they might hope to avert the judgments that were breaking in), and to dispose themselves to a reformation of their lives by a holy seriousness and a tenderness of heart under the Word of God. When God threatens us with His judgments, He expects and requires that we humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that we tremble when the lion roars, and in a day of adversity, consider. "How contrary they walked to this design of God: Behold, joy and gladness, mirth and feasting, all the gaiety and all the jollity imaginable. They were as secure and cheerful as they used to be, as if they had had no enemy in their borders or were in no danger of falling into His hands. When they had taken the necessary precautions for their security, then they set all deaths and dangers at defiance, and resolved to be merry, let come on them what would. Those that should have been among the mourners were among the wine-bibbers, the riotous eaters of flesh; and observe what they said, 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die'. "Note how much God was displeased at it. He signified His resentment of it to Isaiah, revealed it in his ears, to be proclaimed upon the house-top: 'Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die'." --Matthew Henry*
PLEASE JOIN WITH ME IN AGREEING PRAYER:** "Lord, the Millennium Celebrations were an abomination to us! Such pride! Such an exaltation of man instead of You. If we were grieved, we can only imagine how You must have felt as You looked down from Heaven. "As in the days of Noah, were You sorry You had made man on the earth? Were You 'grieved' in Your heart? Since the earth is 'corrupt' and 'filled with violence', do You want to destroy what You have allowed us to erect? (See Genesis 6) "Through these words in Isaiah You indicate that You will not suffer long with our idolatry and depravity. You will deal with our iniquity. We ask that, in Your wrath, You remember mercy. "We pray in the precious name of
Your Son, Jesus, who is Lord over all these nations. Amen." * Matthew Henry was a renowned Puritan preacher and biblical commentor from Chester, England, during the early 1700's. could you encourage us by e-mailing back with your "Amen"? Or if you would like to add a prayer of your own which we can "Amen", then reply here. Thank you.
|
