14/10/2020 - WHEN THE EARTH MOURNS AND LANGUISHES

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The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon is shamed and shriveled; Sharon is like a wilderness, And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. Isaiah 33:9

When a person or nation does not fulfill the divine purpose, everyone suffers. Israel should have been God´s Garden, the land from which, according to the Creator,  flowed milk and honey, having everything to enjoy Heaven´s abundance. However, this did not happen because of the Canaanite sinners. At that moment, the chosen people should have put themselves in the hands of the Most High to show the truth of His Word. The Father is faithful in all things!

If they had served God as He wished, they would not have submitted to kings, only to the Lord. They wanted to be like other nations, but they already had the Almighty as Sovereign. So, because they rejected Him, they faced complicated situations with each king who came to power, with the exception of a few. We need to allow the Omniscient to guide us, because He knows everything and loves us.

If the divine plan had succeeded, the Assyrians would have achieved nothing by attacking Israel, as it did with Sennacherib, one of its rulers, famous for his conquests, but who failed before the prophet Isaiah and king Hezekiah. We suffer because we do not give God the command of our lives and we don´t believe in the Scriptures. Without His help, we will achieve nothing!

The Assyrians were conquering one kingdom after the other; even the northern one, called Israel, fell before them. Thus, the whole land was in mourning. Judah defeated Sennacherib, but did not withstand Nebuchadnezzar, who came years later and took the nation captive to Babylon. Why did that happen? Because they did not serve the Lord and His intentions. The right thing to do is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first (Matthew 6:33).

Lebanon, which admired the Israelis’ bravery and fame and thereby prospered, shriveled in shame. Today, in all places, we should hear people say that they go to the church of believers, because, besides being holy, everything goes well for them. Then, we wouldn’t even need to evangelize as much as we do. The way to live the faith in Christ would be the best message that the lost would receive. Pray!

The plains of Sharon, pointed out in the Bible for the rose it produced, would receive people from various places to see the richness of its land, the produce of its soil and the devotion of its farmers, but it was simply forgotten. Instead of God´s love, they had the love of Eros, the god of lust and sensuality. Now, the world needs to see in us  the love of God in action and not the carnal action that exists in people.

What happened on Mount Carmel, in Elijah’s challenge, should remain in the memory of God’s people forever. However, this was no longer the case, for they forsook the Lord of Holiness – Jehovah – to worship Baal, the lord of lust. Bashan, the land of beautiful and strong bulls, and Carmel were looted of the glory that should have existed in them. That is so sad!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares