TIMES OF WARNING

TIMES OF WARNING

Several times when The Lord was preparing to send judgment on the human race, He would give a warning so that folks who would listen could change their manner of life, and thus avoid the consequences. I think of a few:

Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

This, of course, was a prediction of the flood and of the length of time it would be before Methuselah would die. His name, given to him over 800 years before, had been a prophecy of the coming flood. Now, a definite time is established for the meaning of his name to be fulfilled (“he dies, a going forth”).

Another such prediction was given to Abraham on the plains of Mamre while he conversed with God. It would be nine generations before this one was to be fully realized. BUT IT DID HAPPEN. Just like the Lord said it would, Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. I gather that the Lord was implying to Abraham that it would be fully nine generations before He would feel that He had given the Amorites ample opportunity to change their ways. They didn’t, so He sent the Children of Israel into their land to decimate them. He also wrecked Egypt in the process.

The first Covenant had what I call a “contingent clause” containing two words—“But if”. That one provision spoiled the whole thing, and the Covenant ended up in the scrap heap.

Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Our sins and failures were laid on Jesus (see Isaiah 53) at Calvary, and when we accept His sacrificial death for ourselves, a process is started which will ultimately bring about our complete Salvation and deliverance.

That is not to imply that we will not encounter obstacles and threats to our total deliverance along the way, but it does ensure total victory if we can maintain Faith in the Integrity of what God has said He will do. Our Salvation no longer depends on what we can do, but on God’s faithfulness to His Word in our behalf.

To be sure, there are many enemies lurking along the pathway of our life, waiting to hurt us or destroy our faith in Jesus, but they can not, (dare not) cross the Faith Line to damage us, much as they might try.

As a matter of fact. God has issued a stern warning to those enemies of His Plan for us in Jesus Christ. We find the record of their demise in the last book of the Bible—The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the Book of our Deliverance from our enemies—many of which we do not recognize as being enemies. We have a tendency to be fear-stricken when we think of the downfall of some of our enemies. That is because we fail to see them as enemies instead of friends.

But that condition will change as God continues to build His Church into what He intends for it to be in its finality.

Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

That statement is used four times in the KJV.

Do you have any ideas about who those enemies are?