God’s promises to His people in times of great trouble, turmoil, and chaos
As the world
around us becomes darker and more Godless every day, with deception, death, and
the threat of war all around us, as evil becomes more obviously evident everywhere,
where is hope?
There is hope,
peace, and even joy for those that put their trust in Jesus, the Son of God. He
is the Righteous Judge, the Commander of the Armies of Heaven, the King of kings,
and Lord of Lords. In times of great trouble, turmoil, chaos, and especially in
times of judgment and the wrath of God, Jesus is the “hiding place”.
[1Th 5:9
NKJV] 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ,
[Psa 16:11
NKJV] 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence [is] fullness of
joy; At Your right hand [are] pleasures forevermore.
[Act 2:28
NKJV] 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of
joy in Your presence.'
[1Th 2:19
NKJV] 19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Is it] not
even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?
The promises
of deliverance and safely in times of great trouble:
[Gen 7:16
ESV] 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God
had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.
God’s
people, Noah and his family, were saved from the flood of destruction in an ark
(a vessel or basket vessel) that carried them above the flood from God that destroyed
the “earth” in Noah’s day.
[Exo 12:27
ESV] 27 you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he
passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the
Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and
worshiped.
The Hebrews
were saved from the angel of death by the blood applied to their dwellings. God’s
people today are saved from death by the “blood of Jesus” (His blood, shed on the
cross) for the forgiveness of sin) applied to their hearts.
[Psa 27:5
NKJV] 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the
secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a
rock.
God will “hide”
His people in the time of trouble in a secret place (His tabernacle –heaven?).
[Psa 31:20 ESV]
20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store
them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
God keeps
His people from the plots, deceptions, and from words spoken against them so that
they produce no effect.
[Psa 32:6-7
ESV] 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when
you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me
with shouts of deliverance. Selah
God delivers
and preserves His people in times of great trouble.
[Psa 57:1
ESV] 1 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when
he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take
refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
God’s mercy
is His people’s place of refuge in the storms of destruction.
[Psa 83:3
NKJV] 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted
together against Your sheltered ones.
There is evil
counsel against God’s hidden or sheltered ones.
[Psa 91:1
ESV] 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow
of the Almighty.
God is His
people’s shelter in times of great trouble.
[Psa 119:114
NKJV] 114 You [are] my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
God is not only
a hiding place; He is also a shield against the fiery darts of evil. God’s people find hope in His Word.
[Pro 18:10
ESV] 10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it
and is safe.
The place of
safety is The Name of the Lord (Jesus).
[Isa
26:20-21 ESV] 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors
behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. 21
For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of
the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
and will no more cover its slain.
When the
Lord comes to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, His
people are to hide themselves (in the Lord) until the fury has passed by.
[Isa 32:2
NKJV] 2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, And a cover from the
tempest, As rivers of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a
weary land.
Jesus is the
hiding place in a weary land.
[Jer 39:18
ESV] 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but
you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in
me, declares the LORD.'"
Put your
trust in the Lord and He will save you in times of war or great destruction.
[Jer 45:5
ESV] 5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I
am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you
your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go."
Do not seek “things”
when the Lord brings disaster upon all flesh and He will give you your life as
the prize of war.
[Col 3:2-4
ESV] 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Remember who
you are as a born again child of God. Remember where your citizenship really
resides. Think about the promises of God to His children and the eternal life He
has given to those that believe and trust in Jesus.
From David Guzik’s
study guides:
(Isa 26:20-21) The promise of refuge in the time of
great indignation.
Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind
you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is
past. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of
the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will
no more cover her slain.
a. Come, my
people, enter your chambers: Isaiah, speaking for the
LORD, prophesies a time when God's people are invited to come and find refuge until
the indignation is past.
i. The
refuge is secure. God's people are secure in chambers, with
the doors
shut behind them.
They are hidden securely (Hide yourself).
b. The indignation God's people are hidden from is from the LORD
Himself: the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the
earth for their iniquity. This is not persecution from
the wicked, but judgment from the LORD. This is not a local judgment, but
something the LORD brings upon the inhabitants
of the earth in
general.
i. The
devastation of the indignation of the LORD is seen all over the earth: The
earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.
c. When
is this time when God's people are carried away, securely hidden, from a time
of great indignation the LORD brings upon the earth? It can refer to the
deliverance of the Jewish people from the fury of the Antichrist described in Revelation 12:6 and 12:13-16.
But it is more likely that it speaks of the refuge, the safety, the security of
God's people when they are caught up together with the Lord in the air (1
Thessalonians 4:16-17) and escape the horrific indignation of the
Lord that He pours out upon the world in the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22, Revelation
9:15-21), which will immediately precede the second coming of Jesus
Christ (Matthew
24:29-30).
i. Seen this way, this is a powerful passage supporting the
teaching of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which says that Jesus Christ will
remove His people from this earth before the time of Great Tribulation coming
upon the earth immediately before His ultimate return.
A. The
last chance.
1. (Zep
2:1-2) Repent while there is still time.
Gather
yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the
decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the
Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes
upon you!
a. Gather
yourselves together: The idea is gathering together
in a solemn demonstration of national mourning and repentance.
b. Before the decree is issued: All the
announcement of judgment in the previous chapter is understood as a warning and
as an invitation to repentance. The often-unwritten theme behind most every
prophecy of judgment is, "This is what will happen if you do
not repent." Here the prophet pleads with the nation to repent before it is too late.
c. Before
the day passes like chaff: Here the prophet calls for a
sense of urgency in repentance. Each day passes
like chaff, and there is nothing to show for the day if
we neglect what is most important: getting right and staying right with God.
i. How
easy it is to let the days pass like
chaff, and never get right with God! Often the devil's most powerful
lie isn't that there is no God, or no Bible, or no truth - often his most
powerful lie is that there is no hurry.
Nevertheless, today is the day of salvation.
2. (Zep 2:3) The last chance.
Seek the
LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek
righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of
the Lord's anger.
a. Seek the
LORD, all you meek: Even the righteous must take
heed to this warning. It would do them no good to say, "The LORD speaks to
my wicked neighbor and not to me." At a critical moment of national
danger, even the righteous must seek the
LORD.
b. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger: In more
than one place, God promises to hide His righteous in the day of great
judgment. This is especially relevant to the time of the Great Tribulation,
when Jesus warned us to Watch therefore, and pray always
that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke
21:36)
