Meditations from Zion

All things foretold will happen in good time. And yet, we still have a role: we cannot stop events from happening that are inevitable, but we can slow down the process. As believers, we are the remnant who stand fast in faith, working paradoxically much like sheep in a wolves’ world.

II Thessalonians 2:6
And now you know what is holding him [“man of lawlessness”] back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

The other day, I received an email from a friend who was passing along a David Wilkerson prophecy about great cataclysm and catastrophe coming soon. After a little investigation, I discovered this message was delivered back in 2009 and has been discussed ad nauseum on the Internet (both for and against) as to its validity, etc. My friend asked me “what do you make of this?” And I wondered what kind of reaction he expected.

The people of Earth live in perilous times. Some of the peril comes from our abuse of its natural resources and breaking the balance of nature with greedy commercialism and disregard for the poor. We have had a rash of natural disasters that have swathed countries in destruction and sorrow. We have whole peoples and nations bent on killing one another in the name of their gods, their histories, and their traditions. Some actually believe their perceived evil can be held back with weapons and violence.

When Abraham pleaded on behalf of Sodom (where his nephew Lot lived), he really had nothing with which to negotiate except for the existence of “righteous people.”

“Abraham confronted him [God], “Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn’t you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can’t believe you’d do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn’t the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?” [Genesis 18:23-25]

This was a prayer. This was a plea for justice. Abraham spoke on behalf of those who could not, who didn’t even know their lives were in danger.

Can I do any less? My response (as well as the response of all who call on the name of Christ) is to pray the mercy. Like the child in the story of the boy who held back the waters by putting his thumb in the dike, we too must be willing to stand, to pray, to cry out to God for the sake of those who cannot. Evil is present, but so is righteousness.