There the angel of the LORD appeared to [Moses] in flames of fire from within a bush. -- Exodus 3:2 How does God go about getting our attention? I think the most common way for him to work is by using the natural (which he created) in very unnatural (supernatural) ways. He uses ordinary people in superordinary ways. For instance he took Moses who had been born and raised in Egypt where he lived for forty years in Pharaoh’s palace before being exiled to the backside of the desert. There he tended his father-in-law’s flocks for 40 years. At the end of that time, now 80, God had a very critical message for him. But before Moses could hear the message, God had to get his attention. So the angel of the Lord signaled Moses, using an ordinary element of nature in an extraordinary way. He used a scrub bush on the slopes of Mount Horeb, which He set on fire. When Moses stopped to investigate, he saw that although the bush was burning, it was not consumed. At that moment, God had his attention. Moses was ready to listen to God’s message. (Exodus 3:1-4) I believe today that God is trying to get the attention of His people. He has a very critical message for us. And He is using ordinary elements of our environment in an extraordinary way for that purpose. This time He is not using a desert bush, He is using the sun and moon. In Genesis 1:14…God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years. The word for “signs” means “signals.” And the word “seasons” means “feasts” or “divine appointments.” In other words, the primary purpose of the sun and the moon was not just to give light, not just to mark days and weeks and years, but to serve as signals for God’s divine appointments. Jesus affirmed this when He said there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars before He returns to earth. (Luke 21:25) He then gave the message: Be always on the watch, and pray… (Luke 21:36) This year, 2014, there will be two total lunar eclipses, or what’s referred to as “blood moons.” They fall on the divinely appointed feasts of Passover (April 15) and Tabernacles (October 8). Next year, 2015, there will be two more total lunar eclipses, or “blood moons,” that will fall on the very same feasts of Passover (April 4) and Tabernacles (September 28). Right in the middle of these four blood moons will be a total solar eclipse which will take place on the Jewish New Year, March 20, 2015. And arching over the second blood moon this year, the solar eclipse next year, and the third blood moon, is the Jewish Sabbatical year in which God commands the Jews to focus on Him. Without doubt, God is using the ordinary for something extraordinary. He is trying to get our attention. Here are some of the noted events that have happened on Jewish Sabbatical years: The six day war, The bombing of the twin towers, the end of both WW1 and WW2 and so many other major world events including Jesus beginning his teaching ministry and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Jewish Sabbatical years are very important for God getting our attention. What’s the critical message God is signaling us to pay attention to? Peter gave insight when he explained at Pentecost that in the last days, God says, ...The sun will be turned to darkness (a solar eclipse) and the moon to blood (a lunar eclipse) before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. (Acts 2:17-21) Therefore, I believe the message God is giving us is a wake-up call to humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Because the day of the Lord is near. (Joel 1:14-15) God’s patience has run out. God’s judgment is about to fall on our nation and on our world, and it’s going to be ugly. Can we delay God’s judgment? Can we hasten the return of Jesus Christ to earth and therefore our deliverance from the judgment that’s coming? God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 indicates that our earnest seeking of God’s face and our humble repentance from sin, do make a difference. But we’ll never know that difference until in utter desperation, with nowhere else to turn, we fall on our faces, repent of our sin (not theirs), and cry out to God in prayer.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 05:08:13 +0000
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