My mother was a voracious newspaper reader. She’d read it daily cover to cover. Even and especially the sports section. Sunday was her big day, as that paper was chock full of special sections. It was her Sunday afternoon routine. This went on until she no longer has the strength to hold up the paper. She even volunteered at the local university to read newspaper articles via radio to those who couldn’t. Of course, all that is now passé, but I’m sure her nose would now be stuck in an iPad.
As a result, she was always up on current events, and she was one to freely offer her commentary from behind the wall of newsprint. Then, even the slightest deviation from sainthood was looked upon with derision. She’d shake her head in disgust and make that sound with her tongue against her teeth. I really question if she could survive in this day and age. There is nowhere to hide from disturbing news, and its escalation is as rapid as bacteria in a Petri dish.
Those of us who are plugged in to true news sources and possess a modicum of discernment know there’s another shoe to drop soon. What we are seeing and reading is not normal. It’s not the standard deviation. This should be no surprise to Bible readers. We should see the handwriting on the wall.
25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 “This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 “ ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 “ ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25–28
The Medes and Persians have already found where we are vulnerable and have been streaming in because of our complacency. While we know what is coming because we know well the source and nature of evil in the world, we of all people should be buoyed by the assurances in the Word that it will not end well for those who perpetrate evil. It goes something like this.
8 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of man will devour him.
So he will not escape the sword,
And his young men will become forced laborers.
9 “His rock will pass away because of panic,
And his princes will be terrified at the standard,”
Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. Isaiah 31:8–9
The standard bearer is coming and he will be the one wielding the sword. Another passage in Isaiah is even more illustrative of what God can and will do, in this case to Assyria (a preseason game).
30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard,
And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod.
32 And every blow of the rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on him,
Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it fire. Isaiah 30:30–33
If you study these passages and track down all the verses in the concordance, you’ll be interested to know what Topheth was and why it was ripe for judgement. This was the “high place” in the Valley of Ben-hinnom where child sacrifices were regularly performed to appease Molech, the “detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.” (1 Kings 11:7)
30 “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord, “they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. 32 “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. Jeremiah 7:30–32
It’s not a quantum leap to find not so subtle corollaries to these practices in our world and nation, which God “did not command,” which “did not come into his mind.” It would be best to fear greatly the presence of a “deep and large” pyre of wood that requires only his breath to ignite into a “torrent of brimstone.” Isaiah 30:33
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s always the Good News to fall back on.
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:1–2
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