The Jan. 30, ‘04 Denver Post article which headlined, "Bus bombing kills 10 in Jerusalem...50 wounded in blast near Sharon's home" brings the words of Zechariah 12:3 & 9 to the forethought of many prophecy students.
We read, "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples: all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it...It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
It has been reported in the past that after a suicide bombing, ultra-Orthodox Jews meticulously gather up every remnant of the victims. Even going to the extent of using tweezers to collect even the smallest fragments of flesh.
The January 30th Denver Post article added another insight into the devotional practices of the ultra-Orthodox Jews after such a horrifying act of evil. The article reported that, "An ultra-Orthodox Jew stood...about 15 yards from the wrecked bus, chanting the 94th Psalm."
The next time devout Jews are seen praying over the carnage of a suicide bombing in Israel, let it be remembered that a call for God's vengeance is in the heart of their prayers.
Let us read this prayer to and from God through the anguished soul of Israel. "O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs - O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud. LORD, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?
They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. They break in pieces Your people, O LORD. And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob understand."
Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.
Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, and teach out of Your law, That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance. But judgment will return to righteousness, And all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul would soon have settled in silence. If I say, "My foot slips," Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You? They gather together against the life of the righteous, And condemn innocent blood. But the LORD has been my defense, And my God the rock of my refuge. He has brought on them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; The LORD our God shall cut them off."
In Habakkuk 1:1-4 the prophet asks in despair how long God will You wait to deal with the wicked?
In verses 1-3 in Chapter 2 God assures His prophet He has an appointed time of judgment and that it will come at the close of the age.
At that time we are told in verses 4-6 & 10-13 of Chapter 3, "His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there His power was hidden. Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His feet. He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting...The mountains saw You and trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice, and lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; at the light of Your arrows they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear. You marched through the land in indignation; you trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, by laying bare from foundation to neck."
It is of special interest to me that in verses 5-17 of Habakkuk Ch. 1 God mentions one particular nation's rise and fall. He speaks of the earliest days when this nation set out on its conquests and then bridges the span of time when this nation is to be judged in these last days in Chapters 2 & 3.
The people God speaks of being specifically preserved for tribulation in the end times when this prophecy will be fulfilled, are the Chaldeans. These are the people known in the year of 2004 as the Iraqis. Iraq's final judgment, as prophesied of in Jeremiah 50 & 51, has not been fulfilled as of yet, but very soon it will be.
It will be then that we can expect God to "...work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you...for the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 1:5 & 2:3).
One day soon the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds to gather together to Himself all the living and dead that have believed in Him for the forgiveness of their sins (I Thess. 4:15-18).
The day to be delivered from God's wrath is today. Judgment and eternal death await all who reject the perfect sacrifice Jesus made of Himself on the cross with His own sinless blood. There is a blessed peace that surpasses all understanding about to dawn on believers from all the ages. Don't miss out on this priceless offer from God - it will surely come, it will not tarry.