“I want to prove it for myself…” is something we all have thought, said or done. Being warned to not touch a hot stove does not always prevent us from getting burned. Unfortunately, good advice to not make dangerous mistakes may not be enough for us.
It certainly wasn’t for the nations of Israel and Judah:
“And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).
These nations proved what God had said would be the consequence for their disobedience. They chose sin and rebellion against God, all of which led to national captivity. Daniel wrote of this:
“We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster…” (Daniel 9:10-12).
And so it is, today! Great disaster is coming upon the whole world, and it will first focus on the modern descendants of Israel and Judah (prophetically spoken of in Jeremiah 30:7 as “‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’”).
We know these and many other similar biblical passages. They have been a motivating force in our lives. In recent decades, there were others who, for a while, believed God but then chose to ignore what they once knew. They have separated themselves from God—only to eventually learn firsthand the price of sin.
The world is not mindful of God or His laws, and with impunity people are unrestrained in following their own ways—defiant in their self-willed choices.
Jesus makes an epic comparison between the pre-Flood world and that of society just before His return to the earth by pointing out that people were and would be living separate from the Will of God (Compare Luke 17:26-30). His words are a warning for all who will listen.
When he was warned, Noah paid attention:
“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
Here is a warning we in the Church of God must take to heart with all urgency and seriousness:
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues’” (Revelation 18:4).
If we are to be saved from the coming tribulation, now is the time to heed the warnings from God!
