The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, . . . "And behold, I Myself am bringing the flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh . . . ." Then God remembered Noah . . . And God said . . . "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth"
(Genesis 6:5, 17; 8:1; 9:12-13).
THEME: RETRIBUTION
Vanessa Williams, the dethroned Miss America, explained on losing her title, "The past just came up and kicked me."
Like America's former beauty queen, most people understand that the past can kick us to death. In fact, death is God's ultimate judgment on the past.
Disobedience, irreverence, murder, and pride tarnished Adam, Cain, Lamech, and the Babel bunch. Genesis gives few specifics about what evils stained Noah's neighbors, but God chose to make an example of them.
As time melds into eternity, the Flood still stands as a startling symbol of sin's penalty. Except for the eight in Noah's family, God killed a whole generation of people.
We don't like the idea of retribution; floods and crosses leave us in despair. But lest we be hopeless, God sent a rainbow and a resurrection.
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JAN 15
GENESIS 6
Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually . . . So the Lord said, I will destroy man (Genesis 6:5, 7).
It happened again. A mountain in Mexico that had lain dormant for a very long time suddenly came alive, erupting with so much power that it became the world's largest active volcano. The 7300-foot El Chichon giant had been quiet for hundreds of years before its explosive reawakening. Like the eruption of Mount St. Helens, which broke its long silence in 1980 and transformed its majestic snow-covered peak and placid Spirit Lake into dust and vapor, the explosion was unexpected. The people near the mountains lived in complacency, never anticipating such drastic changes.
These events symbolize all the unexpected changes in history and nature since Noah's day, when God destroyed the wicked. Like the people living near El Chichon and Mount St. Helens, Noah's neighbors lived in complacency. But corruption made their complacency even more foolish--even more deadly. Preoccupied with the pleasures of sin, they thought their evil ways would never catch up with them. But God stepped in unexpectedly.
Sometimes we act as if we believe God is inactive, and that our security is reinforced with concrete and steel. But that's only the way it seems. Time always catches up with us, as it did in Noah's day. Every sinner will someday face a flood or an exploding mountain. Jesus has promised to come back unexpectedly. We should all make sure we are not living in sin's danger zone when He returns.
--M.R.D.II
Judgment may be delayed, but it is sure.
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JAN 16
2 PETER 3:1-14
Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be? (2 Peter 3:11).
The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is going to fall. Scientists travel yearly to measure the building's slow descent. They report that the 179-foot tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch a year, and is now seventeen feet out of plumb. They further estimate that by the year 2007 the 810-year-old tower will have leaned too far and will collapse onto the nearby RISTORANTE, where scientists now gather to discuss their findings. Quite significantly, the word PISA means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed.
We know that some things, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, are destined to collapse. But what about the Golden Gate Bridge, the World Trade Center Towers, the Rock of Gibraltar, and the Rocky Mountains? Like that tower, they too are resting on "soft foundations." They too will fall one day--at a time already determined on God's calendar.
Maybe it doesn't seem pressing because we think we'll pass from this earthly scene long before that great judgment day comes. That's not how Peter responded. The inevitable collapse of all things made him think about the eternal society built on righteousness and truth, a society that would continue, even after Gibraltar is gone. It motivated him to build his life on Christ, the only foundation that will never crumble.
--M.R.D.II
Our main business in this world is to secure an interest in the next.
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JAN 17
PROVERBS 29:1-6
It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
We were out on the lake and the fish were biting. Suddenly we heard a rumble in the distance. Looking up, we saw a mass of dark clouds in the west. The sound of thunder warned of a coming storm. It was a long way off, I thought, so I didn't heed the suggestion of my fishing partner that we start back to the cottage. I hoped the bad weather would move to the north or south of us. But then it happened! A fresh breeze sprang up, and the clouds mounted quickly overhead. We tried starting the motor--but no response. I cranked while my partner rowed frantically. The waves became whitecaps; the rain came in sheets; and the gale tossed our aluminum boat like an autumn leaf. That experience taught me a valuable lesson. NEVER WAIT WHEN A STORM IS BREWING!
It also preached a powerful sermon. Judgment is coming! It may seem far off to those who are in good health, but our motor can "conk out" at any time. To heed the foreboding signals of death is true wisdom. Look in the mirror before you go to work and observe some of its warnings. Notice those gray hairs and wrinkles. Remember your stiffening joints, shortness of breath, that dizzy spell--it's all "thunder in the distance." Why not hasten to find shelter in Christ before it is too late? Don't depend on your motor or the oars of self-effort. You will have no excuse, for you have been warned!
--M. R. De Haan, M.D.
We are not truly ready to live until we are prepared to die.
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JAN 18
MATTHEW 13:36-43
Those who do not obey the gospel . . . shall be punished with everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
During the Franco-German War of 1870-71, a homeowner found two unexploded shells near his house. He cleaned them up and put them on display near his fireplace. A few weeks later he showed them to a visitor. His friend, an expert in munitions, had a horrible thought. "What if they're still loaded?" After examining the shells, he exclaimed, "Get them away from the fire immediately! They're as deadly as the day they were made!" Without realizing it, the homeowner had been living in peril.
Likewise, many people unknowingly live in constant jeopardy of something far worse--a Christless eternity in hell. Failing to recognize the consequences of unbelief, they risk sealing their doom at any moment. We cannot exaggerate the danger of rejecting Christ and living in unbelief, for what we do with Him and His offer of salvation determines where we will spend eternity.
The words of our text are among the most chilling found in the Bible. They emphasize the truth of Hebrews 10:31: that it is "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Our Lord describes hell as a terrible place of outer darkness (Mt 22:13) and eternal hopelessness (Mt 18:8-9).
--H.G.B.
When it comes to salvation, he who hesitates may be lost!
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JAN 19
ROMANS 1:18-32
God gave them over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28).
People who want nothing to do with God make themselves candidates for His ultimate judgment. They spend their days alienated from Him, and will spend eternity banished from God's presence unless they repent.
Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, was reared in a godly home and admonished to accept Christ by his grandfather Jonathan Edwards. But he refused to listen. Instead, he declared that he wanted nothing to do with God and said he wished the Lord would leave him alone. He achieved a measure of political success in spite of repeated disappointments. But he was also involved in continuous strife. When he was forty-eight years old, he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He lived for thirty-two more years, but was unhappy and unproductive. During this sad chapter in his life he declared to a group of friends, "Sixty years ago I told God that if He would let me alone, I would let Him alone, and God has not bothered about me since." Aaron Burr got what he wanted.
--H.V.L.
There is a way to stay out of hell, but no way to get out.
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JAN 20
PSALM 2
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision (Psalm 2:4).
Psalm 2 describes wicked leaders who thought they could successfully oppose God and His Anointed. The psalmist indicated that the Lord will "laugh" at them, which is meant to convey the absurdity of man's attempt to defy God. Those who persist in this invite not only His ridicule but also His judgment.
W. S. Pulmer tells what became of godless men and women who persecuted Christians and sent believers to their deaths. Of thirty such Roman officials, Pulmer says, "one became deranged after some atrocious cruelty, one was slain by his own son, one became blind, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in a miserable captivity, two committed suicide, five were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, . . . and either were killed in battle or after being taken prisoner. Among these was Julian the apostate. In the days of his prosperity, he is said to have pointed his dagger to heaven, defying the Son of God, whom he commonly called 'the Galilean.' But when he was wounded in battle and saw that all was over for him, he exclaimed, 'Thou hast conquered, O Thou Galilean.'"
God's laughter at sinners is no laughing matter. "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" (Ps 2:12).
--R.W.D.
Playing with sin is toying with judgment.
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JAN 21
REVELATION 5
"Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb" (Revelation 5:5-6).
The Lord Jesus still extends His offer of salvation. He came to die for our sins, and He gladly saves everyone who trusts in Him. But one day that offer will be withdrawn. The slain Lamb--sacrificed for sin--will become the Lion, bringing judgment upon all who rejected Him.
In DISCOVER YOURSELF IN THE PSALMS, Warren Wiersbe recalled a story told by an evangelist he heard many years ago: "In a frontier town, a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon that had a little child in it. Seeing the child was in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop it. The child who was rescued grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before, had saved his life, so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced all his pleas: 'Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.'"
Jesus stands before us today as our Savior, the Lamb slain for our sins. But if we do not turn to Him in faith, He will one day stand before us as our righteous Judge. He will say: "On earth I was your Savior, but you would not believe. Here I am your Judge; depart from Me to everlasting punishment."
Those who believe on the Lamb will not have to face the Lion in judgment.
--D.C.E.
What we do with Christ now will determine what God will do with us later.
