The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. (Nah 1:3)
Texas and Louisiana have just experienced one of the greatest hurricanes in the history of America. Some may ask: “What is the great sin of this area that they were singled out for such devastation and the death of at least 46 people?” They carry no label as great sinners that I know of.
On April 27, 2011, at different times of the day, three tornados struck our area on Sand Mountain, Alabama with the death of 46 people. In the broader area, altogether there were five tornados. Our area is not one big Sunday school class, but neither is it the most wicked. These violent storms continually occur all over the world. Does God have anything to do with it? Is He punishing some people who are more evil than others? We have no proof of that. We have more proof that our whole nation is wicked to the bone.
The Bible records God’s judgment upon wicked people. He swallowed some up in the ground and burned some and simply stopped the hearts of some wicked people. Only God is smart and perfectly righteous and knows who is wicked enough that they should be executed or that they should die as part of His plan. One thing is clear: In the storms, God is displaying His awesome power before an unbelieving world that defies His authority over it. He can use this power any time it serves His purpose.
If God did not have power over the storms, He would not be God. Some reason that if God has the power to restrain the storms and does not, then does He truly love and care for people? Or, does God love people but He does not have the power to control the storms? Which is it? Neither. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:8-9)
God has a master blue print for the universe, including every baby that is born. But, Americans have decided to murder over sixty million innocent babies in the womb. They all showed up in Heaven,… ahead of time. The government didn’t make them do it. The government gave them permission to kill their babies if they chose to do it. But, even though God is slow to anger, He has shown that there are limits to His patience. God told Abraham He was going to give him the land of the Amorites, but not now. It would be 400 years down the road.
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Gen 15:16) God judges in righteousness and could not give Abraham the land until the Amorites were wicked enough that God would be just in killing them and giving their land to Abraham’s descendants. God didn’t afflict them wickedness. He gave them a free will to rebel against Him if they wanted to. They would reach a point that God would have to destroy them.
America was recently treated to a display of God’s awesome power when the eclipse of the sun trailed across America in a short time. The TV presentations of the eclipse did not mention God or give Him glory for it.
To those honest enough to acknowledge it, God has displayed Himself in thousands of ways. Paul wrote: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Rom 1:18-20)
Not only the whole of creation and the storms but also the nation of Israel is a teaching tool to the world. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee (Israel), though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:5-6)
The nation of Israel is not just another little nation. In 1948 Israel declared itself to be a nation and U. S. President Harry Truman, against the strong objection of his State Department, recognized Israel as a sovereign nation. As a boy, his mother frequently reminded him: “Be good to the Jew, Harry.” Then, God arranged to have him sitting in the president’s chair at the exact time to sign his name to the document that would recognize Israel. Time after time, since then, Israel has astounded the world with her surprising ability to outwit and out-fight her enemies that surrounded her….to this day. The God of Israel is also the God of the storms. They are tools in God’s hands to use as He thinks wise. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year - THE LINKS MAY NOT WORK
September 4, 2017 – MONDAY
A.M. Proverbs 5,6 P.M. 1Cor. 14:1-20
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Memory Verse This Month:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (Luke 24:44)
Song for Today: THE LINKS MAY NOT WORK
The Unclouded Day (3:32) (CMC- Sou. Pines, NC)
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