Jamma Mokhriby
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.
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