Calamity

Psalms 9:11

Calamity is defined as:

an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.

This week I am talking about observed calamity as opposed to experienced calamity. My desire is to talk about the condition of humanity and not about personal suffering.

I want to start by considering humanity’s relationship with God. To do so, I will start with Psalm 2.

Psalms 2 says:

 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalms 2:1-12 NKJV)

The nations rage. The rulers of the earth take counsels together against God.

The Lord asks why.

In another place the Lord says:

“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name. I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts; a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom—”Isaiah 65:1-6 NKJV

God stretches out His hands to a rebellious people.

The key to understanding the attitude of the rulers of the earth and the attitude of those to whom God has stretched out His hands is this word “rebellion.” 

The history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament gives us an example to understand the results of this attitude toward God. This is helpful for all of us, because we are all born with self-will. 

Just to be clear that this applies to us all, I want to quote for you Romans 3:10-12.

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NKJV)

This describes the rebellion against God in the human heart.

If we go back to Psalms 2, we see that the rulers of the earth say,

Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.

What causes people to view the statutes of the Lord as bonds to be broken? Speaking of the commandments of the Lord the Psalmist says in Psalm 19,

More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalms 19:10-11 NKJV)

If the commandments of the Lord are so good, why do the rulers of the earth rage against God?

Isaiah 65 that we just read gives us a hint. It says. “Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts.” We want to do whatever pleases us. The answer lies in the human heart. At the core, each of us starts out as an idol worshipper, and the idol is the self. Some people desire comfort above all else and will do anything to get it. Others desire pleasure and still others crave security. Those who see money as the way to get what they want are in danger of treating money as a god, while those who view power as a way to get what they want are likely to do anything to gain power. Still others crave acceptance and will do anything to be accepted by others. The Bible describes these cravings as coming in three types:

1. The lust of the flesh
2. The lust of the eyes
3. The boastful pride of life.

These lusts are reflected in the rebellion in the heart.

As I started to say, the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament serves as an example of the results of rebellion against God. Returning to Isaiah 65, I want to focus on just a few words. In verse 5, it says of the attitude of the people of Israel,

These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. (Isaiah 65:5 NKJV)

God was expressing His displeasure with the attitude and behavior of the people. He was stretching out His hand to them but they were rebellious and would not listen. Isaiah was a prophet, and he warned the people of what was coming as a result of their rebellion. God sent other prophets over a long period of time until finally the promised calamity struck. 

The northern kingdom of Israel was attacked and conquered by the Assyrians. This great calamity could have been avoided if the people would only have listened to the prophets, repented and sought the Lord.

The southern kingdom of Judah saw what happened to Israel and yet they also refused to listen to the prophets and finally, a little over 100 years after Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians conquered Judah.

Isaiah is the first of the prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures. His words were well known in Israel. They would have known the words we have read today, including these words from Isaiah 65:6:

I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom.

When calamity struck the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom could have taken warning, but instead, they were proud and said, “We are better than them.” So, calamity eventually struck them as well.

Jesus warned of an attitude of pride. Luke 13 tells of two calamities that happened in Israel during the days of Jesus.

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13:1-5 NLT)

Jesus was talking about two calamities that happened in His day and saying that the people that observed those calamities needed to take warning and repent of their sins.

Psalm 9 is a Psalm that speaks of God’s judgment against the wicked. Psalm 9:11 says:

Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! (Psalms 9:11 ESV)

The deeds this Psalm is talking about are God’s judgment of the ungodly. For example, verses 5-6 say:

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. (Psalms 9:5-6 ESV)

Consider carefully these words. “You have made the wicked perish; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.” God is not a passive observer in the affairs of men. Ephesians 1:11 assures us that he works everything according to the counsel of His will. Blotting out their name forever reminds me of God’s judgments against Babylon and against Petra and against Tyre. All these cities came to tragic ends just as God foretold through the prophets.

The Psalmist also gives another truth. Look with me at verses 9 and 12.

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Psalms 9:9, 12 ESV)

The Lord is a helper for the oppressed. 

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. But God was not deaf to their cries for help. He sent Moses to tell the Egyptians to let His people go. The ten plagues gave Egypt ten opportunities to repent. But, they would not, and in the end, Egypt was all but wiped out.

The Lord is a helper for the oppressed.

I want to quote for you what our 16th president said concerning slavery in their United States. In his second inaugural address President Lincoln said:

The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."

President Lincoln viewed the Civil War as the judgment of God on this nation for its sin of slavery.

The targets of 9/11 represent our false gods. Our might and our prosperity mean everything to us. We are so busy pursuing success we forget about the treasures of heaven. The calamity of 9/11 served as a wakeup call and we must be careful not to forget what is really important, our relationship with God.

I fear even greater calamity for our nation. We will not escape the judgment that is coming because of the killing of babies in the womb.

The godly died along with the ungodly in the attacks on 9/11. The difference is that the ungodly passed from this life to face judgment for sins that they had not repented of. But the godly died having been forgiven of their sins and passed into the presence of the Lord which is better by far than anything we have here on earth. The Bible tells us:

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Psalms 116:15 ESV)

And also,

The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; (Isaiah 57:1-2 ESV)

Death is not a punishment for the one who has put his/her faith in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said:

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:23 ESV)

Calamities remind us that judgment is coming. 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:9-10 ESV)

Since judgment is sure to come, we must take the advice Peter offers:

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:11-13 ESV)

Suffering

Job 9:11

Some emergencies are quick: a moment in time and then the crisis is past. Other emergencies mark major life changes. Some events are turning points, shaping us and changing us forever. Suffering can start with an event or be introduced gradually, but suffering is defined as a state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. A key concept here is the word “state.” This implies a condition that is continuing. Suffering can continue for a lifetime. The Bible deals with suffering extensively, but the best known example of suffering from the Bible is the story of Job.

Job faced the loss of his children, the loss of his possessions and the loss of his health. Any one of these events by itself is a major crisis, but all three at once puts this 9-1-1 event in a category all by itself.

Let's read about some of what Job went through.

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." (Job 1:13-19 ESV)

All this happened to Job at one time. Then came this:

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. (Job 2:7-8 ESV)

Now, Job had some friends. They came to comfort and be with Job.

We are told this about his friends.

“Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13 ESV)

Seeing Job’s great suffering, his friends sat with him on the ground in silence for seven whole days. Finally, after the group had sat in silence Job spoke. He said:

"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.' Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. (Job 3:3-4 ESV)

Cursing the day He was born and venting his pain do not seem like extreme responses considering what happened to Job.

However, Job’s friends did not see it this way and when Job cursed the day he was born, Eliphaz spoke and told Job:

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it.

A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice: 'Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

(Job 4:7, 12, 15-17 ESV)

Eliphaz implies that if Job was righteous bad things would not have come his way, and he claims to have been visited by a spirit. 

Some people will claim to have had special revelations or to have heard from angels or spirits. Such claims are usually made to lend authority to what is being said. Eliphaz makes his claim of having heard from a spirit to add conviction or authority to his words. This actually serves to make his condemnation of Job stronger. And, make no mistake, Eliphaz is condemning Job for his suffering.

The discussion goes on for a couple of chapters and in chapter 8 Job’s friend, Bildad, states bluntly that Job must repent. And furthermore, Job’s children sinned and that was why they died. The responsibility for Job’s suffering is placed squarely on Job’s shoulders by such statements.

When suffering comes, most of us will face the question of our own responsibility for the suffering. This is compounded when suffering comes by accident. Automobile accidents are a major cause of suffering in our world, and when they happen insurance companies and courts assign fault. 

Some suffering is caused by deliberate evil actions, and other suffering comes by accident. However suffering comes, we always face the question of responsibility.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day generally taught that all suffering came because of sin. The sufferer therefore always bore some personal responsibility for his suffering. In the course of His ministry, the question of personal responsibility came up to Jesus about a man born blind. “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” (John 9:2) The assumption was that someone sinned. Jesus answered:

It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:3 ESV)

Jesus says that the suffering in this particular family was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

When Job responded to his friends’ accusations, he included this statement:

Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. (Job 9:11 ESV)

In this statement, the “he passes by me” is the same word that Job’s friend, Eliphaz, used when he claimed to have heard from a spirit. Job is reflecting on Eliphaz’s claim to have been able see a spirit (Job 4:15-16), and says, with some sarcasm, that being mere flesh, Job cannot see spirits.

We often hear statements like “God would not do that,” or some other statement that indicates that we know what God would or would not do. The only reliable source for knowing what God does is His word, the Bible.

The Bible speaks to the unbeliever and says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:16-19 ESV)

It says nothing of suffering or punishment from God only that judgment is certain if a person does not believe in the only Son of God.

The Bible also speaks to the believer and says:

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV)

The Bible teaches that suffering in the lives of believers is for the purpose of our growth and for our good.

We learn from Job that we cannot perceive all the reasons God might have for our suffering, but the assumption that it is because of some personal sin or for punishment is wrong. And, making accusations or even speculating about why is not helpful.

One thing we are instructed on is that as believers, one of the fruits of our suffering is that we can encourage others with the encouragement that we ourselves receive. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV)

This verse tells us that God is the God of all comfort. Assigning fault is not comfort. Jesus did not condemn the woman at the well but offered her eternal life. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery but offered her forgiveness. Jesus offered forgiveness to the lame man lowered through the roof. He offers forgiveness to all of us if we confess our sins. 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1 ESV)

Hebrews 4:15 tells us He is able to sympathize with our weakness and Isaiah 53 tells us:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4 ESV)

Can we put to rest the idea that we are suffering for some wrong we have done? Job’s friends got it wrong.

For the person who has learned to know the Shepherd, there is rather the calm assurance,

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4 ESV)

Catastrophe

Genesis 9:11

The Bible paints a realistic view of life. The stories it tells are true. Therefore, it reflects the realities of life. Both the failures and victories of the characters we meet in its pages are honestly reflected.

The victories and disasters of life are also reflected. We see the victories and defeats of individuals, but we also see the story of humanity as a whole. The Bible tells the story from the beginning and also tells us what the end will be.

The story of humanity starts with God who created man and woman in His own image. He placed them in a perfect garden and placed the world under their care. Through their own choice, the man and the woman introduced death and suffering to this world that was under their care.

The Bible records a number of different disasters and catastrophes, but none is so painful or disastrous as the man and the woman’s choice to eat of the fruit that God had forbidden.  Because of that choice, we now live in a world where disasters, emergencies and catastrophes are the things of which the world is made. Emergencies are commonplace, and each emergency is a potential catastrophe in the making.

How are we to understand the place of these catastrophes in our world? The word catastrophe is from the Greek words Kata meaning down and Strophe meaning turning. At its basic level a catastrophe is a sudden and unexpected down turning.

We are going to begin our study of the 9-1-1s of the Bible with a look at the flood.

The flood was the biggest single catastrophic event in world history. This one event wiped out virtually all life on the planet. If it had not been for the preservation of life in the ark, the flood would have resulted in the extinction of all but the most rudimentary forms of life on earth. Let’s read what the Bible says about the flood.

The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. (Genesis 7:17-24 ESV)

The Hebrew word translated prevail in these verses means to be strong or mighty. Water became the primary thing on earth. The earth was entirely covered with water. It was an ocean planet for 150 days.

Today, people fear this kind of extinction event will happen again. They may not believe the Bible or its account of the flood, but climate change, asteroids, wars and floods are sources of fear. Articles such as one titled, “Climate Change Is the Greatest Threat To Human Health In History,”^[1] are easy to find as we try to deal with our fear.

As we look at what we just read from Genesis, we notice that it says, “He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens.” The “He” in this passage assumes a personality behind the catastrophe. The flood was an intentional act.

Many question the existence of God based on the evil and suffering in our world. This passage seems to add to this problem by making God, Himself, responsible for the destruction. Many of us have trouble trusting God, because we know that He will not necessarily prevent catastrophe from striking in our lives.

As a matter of fact, catastrophe is going to strike in all of our lives. For example, until Jesus returns, we are all destined to die. This also means that we all must go through the very painful reality of the deaths of beloved family members. Each death is a catastrophic event for us.

Today, we are going to ask the question, “Is there a plan?”

Is the world and everything in it following some sort of a plan, and more importantly, is my life following some sort of a plan?

In a recent movie I watched, a young man who was pursuing a life in science repeated several times, “Perhaps I can bring order out of the chaos.” I was fascinated by this, because with our world’s Darwinian view of existence, chaos is all we should expect. Science has its roots in the conviction that our world is capable of being understood. The conviction that an intelligent Creator made an intelligible world started the early scientists on the road of discovery. Modern science has at its roots the Christian convictions of those who fought to bring us out of the dark ages.

If we accept the Darwinian view of the universe, then the answer to our question would be, “There is no plan. The fittest survive and that is all there is.”

I have managed to raise up several very large questions, and yet I do not intend to try and answer all these questions today. But I want us to grasp how large and all-encompassing these questions are.  The emergencies, unexpected downturns and disasters of our lives bring up questions like “Where is God?” and “Why did this happen?” In large scale disasters that we observe as third parties, we might ask these questions as philosophical queries. But, when my life or my family is falling apart, the questions become much more personal and painful.

We must be aware that we will face doubts, and these doubts are made worse because there are scoffers. By scoffers, I am speaking of those in our world who find our reference to the Bible as the word of God laughable. The Bible warns us that there are scoffers. In speaking about scoffers, 2 Peter 3 also addresses the account of the flood. It says:

…knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3:3-7 ESV)

This passage says a lot, but let’s focus on and notice first of all that it says, “Scoffers will come.” And, I want us also to notice that their scoffing assumes that everything has always continued without changing since the beginning of creation. This is exactly the assumption that is behind the Darwinian philosophy that dominates our culture, education and thinking in the modern age.

When you are faced with a tragedy, you will have doubts and questions. The world does not have the answers to the doubts and questions; rather the world compounds the problem by offering the wrong solutions.

When Noah and his family stepped off the Ark, God said to him:

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1 ESV)

God blessed Noah and encouraged his family to multiply. They have just survived the greatest catastrophe the world has ever seen, and God is telling them to go and live with confidence. He then says:

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:11 ESV)

In verses 9 and 11 of Genesis 9, God says, “I establish my covenant with you.”

We see in this statement two important truths. First, God establishes His covenant. And second, God is a covenant God.

The truth that God establishes His covenant is important on several levels. The idea behind establishing something means causing it to stand. According to Google, the English word “establish” means to set something up on a firm or permanent basis. The word used in the Hebrew that the Old Testament was written in means to arise, stand or establish. God’s covenant is established. It is both firm and permanent.  This is the first important truth we can turn to when catastrophe comes. The assumption that all things have always continued without change is wrong. But the truth is that the unchanging thing is God and we exist because He has set up or caused His covenant to stand.

The second truth is that God is a covenant God. By “covenant God,” I mean that God makes promises and He keeps His promises. God has made many promises to His people and not one of His promises has failed.

We can count on these two truths when catastrophe comes.

However, let’s now return to the issue of trusting God. We know that many doubt God’s goodness because of evil and bad things that happen, and even as Christians, many of us live in fear of the day of disaster.

Consider the flood with me.

The flood was necessary, and God gave 100 years of warnings while Noah built the ark. The flood was not a random act of a capricious God.

We do not know everything, but we are given hints that let us know that God knew what was necessary. 2 Peter 3 talks about the destruction of the ungodly that is still to come. And, God is still giving warnings.  According to Genesis 6, in the flood, God was dealing with ungodliness. God is more aware than we are of evil and bad things happening on the earth and He is dealing with it. When He deals with it, like by sending a flood, we complain about His use of drastic measures.

My point is not to answer all the questions about good and evil, but rather to bring us to focus on the truth that God knows what He is doing, He has a plan and He is working according to His plan. We do not know how it works or why it works, but the Bible tells us:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (Ephesians 1:11 ESV)

How He works all things according to the counsel of His will is beyond my ability to understand. But God has given me many examples in His word. Joseph’s brothers meant evil when they sold him as a slave, but God used it to work a great deliverance. The world and the devil had nothing but evil at heart when they crucified the Son of God, but God used it to accomplish the defeat of death, provide new life, work the resurrection, and purchase our salvation.

At the conclusion of the greatest single catastrophe to ever visit our planet, God tells us that He establishes His covenant. He gives us His promise.

There is one more thing implied in God’s covenant. God’s presence. In establishing His covenant and causing it to stand, God implies His presence and work in our world.

One of the most significant answers the Bible has to the accusation that God must not care about evil is the fact that He took on all our suffering and sorrows when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. He not only knows but He understands, because He has suffered. In light of this, His promise to be with us takes on deep meaning.

I want to close with God’s promise to us, His people, from Isaiah 54.

"This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:9-10 ESV)

In the realities and the 9-1-1 days of our lives, we can rest in the knowledge that the Lord has compassion on us.

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^[1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20181218.278288/full (Accessed January 9, 2020).

New Things

Isaiah 43:18-19

Isaiah lived most of his life in Jerusalem. During his days, Judah was still a fairly strong nation. Isaiah ministered many years after the glory days of David and Solomon when Israel was at its greatest. During Isaiah’s lifetime, he saw the decline of Judah and the rise of Assyria as the dominant power in that part of the world.

This historical context is important to Isaiah’s message. He speaks of the judgment of Israel as a certainty when it has not yet happened. For example, Isaiah speaks of both the Babylonian captivity and Israel's dispersion among the nations before either of these things happened. Isaiah’s name means “The Lord Says,” and his voice is one of the earliest to clearly spell out the coming judgments on Israel and Judah. He warns of the consequences of their apostasy and tells of the glories of the coming millennial kingdom.

During Isaiah’s times, the nation of Judah looked back on the glory days of King David and King Solomon and recalled the strength and prosperity of those days. For this reason, the politics of the nation were shaped by a desire to regain what they had lost and were continuing to lose. They were trying to recapture the past.

Many of us have experiences that we would like to relive and many of us try to recapture the past. Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about this tendency titled “Glory Days.”

C. S. Lewis wrote about this tendency in his “Letters to Malcolm” saying”

I am beginning to feel that we need a preliminary act of submission not only towards possible future afflictions but also towards possible future blessings. I know it sounds fantastic; but think it over. It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we expected some other good. Do you know what I mean? On every level of our life—in our religious experience, in our gastronomic, erotic, aesthetic, and social experience—we are always harking back to some occasion which seemed to us to reach perfection, setting that up as a norm, and depreciating all other occasions by comparison. But these other occasions, I now suspect, are often full of their own new blessing, if only we would lay ourselves open to it. God shows us a new facet of the glory, and we refuse to look at it because we’re still looking for the old one. And of course we don’t get that. You can’t, at the twentieth reading, get again the experience of reading Lycidas for the first time. But what you do get can be in its own way as good.^[1]

God addressed Israel’s looking back with longing on days gone by. He  says:

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV)

Out of context, the command not to remember the former things seems strange.

God established days of remembrance. The celebration of the Passover is designed for remembrance. There are some things that we should never forget. We celebrate communion regularly because Jesus told us to remember Him.

We must remember God’s faithfulness, but we must realize that His next work will be new. God never changes. He says He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 tells us:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 ESV)

However, although God never changes, He is always doing something new. Every day is a new day. Each sunrise brings a new day. No two snowflakes are ever the same. Even identical twins differ from each other. God could part the Red Sea every day if He wanted, but He already did that and it is not necessary or needed anymore. However, He will do yet greater things, but the delivery of Israel from Egypt by parting the Red Sea was a unique historical event that will not be repeated.

In Isaiah, God is telling Israel not to hold on to the past. He is also saying that the glory to come will be greater than the glory of the past.

As we look forward to the future, whether it’s at the beginning of each new day or whether it’s at the beginning of a new year, we must remember this about God. He is doing something new.

We must be like Paul who says:

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 ESV)

Paul describes himself as forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

When God says, “Remember not the former things,” He means we have to leave the past behind and look forward to what lies ahead. We are never going back there (wherever “there” might be). In addition, God has great plans for the future.

Individually, we can have confidence as we look forward to the future because of what God has done in the past. We know He is faithful. We know He is with us. We know He sustains us. Therefore, we know He will continue. But, we cannot focus on getting back what we feel we have lost or recovering what is past. We must focus on the goal of the upward call of God.

As a church, we must do the same thing. We can be confident that God is doing great things, because of the past. But, we cannot expect the things He will do will be like those of the past.

For each believer in Jesus Christ, there is a moment of rebirth. We were born again. As a result of this rebirth, we are new creatures. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

Rebirth is a new beginning. And, as I often repeat, we are confident that what God has started He will continue until it is completed. He is working to form Christ in us and He will be successful.

A problem enters in when we do not get the future that we want. We learn quickly in life that we do not know what the future holds, and, even though we know we cannot control the future, we try to control it. We try to impose our will on the future. Jesus knew this tendency and tried to address our worry and fear saying:

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34 ESV)

Jesus said this in the context of teaching that we are to seek first God’s kingdom and trust God for what the future holds.

This is not to say that we are not to plan and prepare for the future. That would be foolish; but we are not to worry or be anxious because the future is in God’s hands.

In Isaiah, as God speaks of not looking back He says:

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19 ESV)

I want us to see both the words “Behold” and “now it springs forth.” He questions them and us. “Do you not perceive it?” He expects that we should be able to perceive what He is doing.

This makes me think of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well in John 4. In that account, Jesus was weary from the journey through Samaria so He and His disciples stopped to rest by the well of a Samaritan town. He then sent His disciples into town to get food. The Jews avoided the Samaritans at all costs so it was unusual for them to even be traveling through Samaria, but while the disciples were gone, a woman of the town came out to the well to get water. So, Jesus spoke with her.

When His disciples came back they were wondering what on earth He was doing speaking to a person who was both a Samaritan and a woman, but they did not ask. However, when the woman left and Jesus did not want food, He explained to them that His food was to do the will of the Father. Then He says:

Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. (John 4:35-36 ESV)

I share this story because the disciples could not perceive or understand what Jesus was doing. But it was so simple. He was doing the work of the Father. He was harvesting souls for the kingdom of God.

In your life and in mine, God has told us what He is doing. Romans 8:29 puts it succinctly.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29 ESV)

According to this, He is conforming us to the image of His Son.

In addition, Jesus set an example of what He wanted us to be doing when He sat and visited with the Samaritan woman. He made it clear what we are to be doing when He told us to go and make disciples.

He wants us to be part of the harvest. He wants us to press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

This year God will be doing new things. Some of the changes will be difficult. Some of the changes will be really exciting. But, everything will be new. By the Fall, our youth group will be new as some will graduate and others join in. By the Fall, our children’s ministry will be new as each child will move ahead a year in school. Each Sunday our worship experience will be new as different songs, singers, musicians and messages are presented.

In our personal lives and in our church, we can live with the anticipation that God is doing a new thing and it will be even better than the past.

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^[1] http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/Enjoying_Good_Memories (Accessed January 4, 2020).