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Psalm 114:7-8   Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.All the events associated with Israel’s rescue from Egypt, her preservation for 40 years in the desert, her conquest of Canaan and her settlement in the Promised Land, should have left God’s Chosen People in absolutely no doubt that their God was the Maker of heaven and earth and the one who controlled it day by day in every little detail.  Sadly, they quickly forgot and needed constant reminders about God’s Person and Power – Who he is and what he can do.
If this were the case for them, it is not surprising that modern man, with all his sophistication and arrogance, refuses to acknowledge even the existence of a Creator God, let alone his sovereign power over all things.  Even his clearest ever evidence of this supernatural power – the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ – was denied by those in the best position to verify and embrace it.  Jesus himself “knew what was in a man” (John 2:25) and stated: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).  Ironically, they had even put a guard on the tomb to prevent any possibility of any ‘funny business’ by his disciples!
Moreover, because of mankind’s sin-deadened hearts, and his own great mercy, Jesus has given us ample warning in his teaching that when he comes back again it will be in judgement against man’s refusal to acknowledge God and turn to him for salvation (eg Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21).  The God who provided water from the rock for Israel in the wilderness continues to provide ‘warning shots’ in preparation for Jesus’ return: famines, floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, wars and rumours of wars, etc.  But our ‘enlightened’ modern culture, that has ‘successfully’ removed God from its thinking and its calculations, refuses to ‘tremble’ at his ‘presence’ clearly portrayed in these things – just as Israel did so long ago!
Let us pray earnestly and often for our world around us, and take hold of whatever opportunities the Lord gives us to sound the warning locally, even if we are mocked for doing so, just as the Old Testament prophets were mocked in their day.
–  Bruce Christian