'For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?
And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?'
Isaiah 14:27
'For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts.
And cut off from Babylon the name, and the remnant...'
Isaiah 14:22
Babylon is the ancient name of present day Iraq. In the Bible, a new Babylon will be one of the preludes to bringing us nearer to end times and the return of Jesus Christ.
I am no clairvoyant, but rather a humble student of history. It is this aspect of my interests that I will like to share some insights on today.
Nevertheless, let me first digress by taking a look at my 'crystal ball' as this is the increasingly popular medium today, amongst the millions of fans of the that seemingly harmless purveyor of 'nice' black magic, the boy with the owl-liked glasses and his latest half blooded royal princely connections.
In cancer, the cells quietly grows and multiplies in us, before its ugly heads surfaced into a painful montrosity. While not necessarily the best analogy, our values be it good or bad are best absorbed over time and our character transformed over a period of time.
Sacrifice of humans on the altar might seem unacceptable still by today's already fairly warped standards, but who knows, as our kids get ingrained into a culture of acceptance of what is presently not acceptable( except in the medium of fiction), those wonderful pagan stories ever so nicely sugar coated will become delectably hard to resist in real life. The deceitful human mind existing in all of us will eventually legitimatize such practices.
Far fetched?? Lets now revisit history.
If the Bible is to be believed(which I do), King Solomon was the wisest man that has ever walked this earth.
'...I(ie God) have given thee(ie Solomon) a wise and understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee'
1 Kings 3:12
'If thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments....then I will lengthen thy days'
1 Kings 3:14
'But if you shall at all turn from following Me, .....and will not keep My commandments and serve other gods, and worship them;
then will I cut off Israel out of the land ......and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people...'
1 Kings 9:6
'But King Solomon loved many strange women......And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.'
And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel .....'
1 Kings 11
Solomon was blessed wonderfully by God. Yet, he chose to err and brought himself and his nation down the road to despair and self-destruction.
A familiar route. It is not new, Adam and Eve were the first infamous pioneers of this forked and treacherous route.
What about us???
'Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God be glorified in him, God shall also him.'
John 13:31-32
History is filled with plenty of examples of God's wonderful grace
- the beleagured and persecuted early Christians who found refuge, legitimacy and power when the Emperor of the all powerful Roman Empire decided to adopt the Christian faith as the core value of his empire
- the early settlers(in Dec 1620 arriving from England on the ship Mayflower) of today's superpower, the United States of America were God fearing men and women who were truly thankful that God's provisions ensured their survival through their first and very harsh winter in America.
- the Jews long scattered round the world in the diaspora, being mercilessly hunted and killed in Nazi Germany. Yet, a significant remnant, despite all human odds, not just survived but managed to gather together as a nation to form present day Israel.
History is also littered with sad examples of the glorious, being brought down from the pinnacle to the lows.
- The fall of Constantinople(in Turkey) in 1453, was a signicant turning point in the ebbing strength of the Roman Empire.
But, is the increasingly sinfulness of the guardians of the soul of the Empire a greater cause of the decline.
Martin Luther, the key catalyst of the Protestant movement within the Christian faith,in 1517 was moved to protest the moral decline of the teachers of our faith then, when indulgences(sounds like God's grace) were being sold for monies and favours.
- If not for God's grace even in the face of man's sinfulness, the renewal of the Christian faith would probably have floundered.
One man, or rather one King Henry VIII of England, left the Catholic church and threw his weight behind the nascent Protestant movement, because he face excommunication from the Catholic church, for wanting to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Today, in this same haloed grounds of the ex-Great Britain, gay priests and a rephrasing and reconfiguration of the Bible are some of the of the more 'interesting'changes being initiated.
'Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you'
Deuteronomy 4:2
What does all this means??
Man plans, God directs.
Often, in a prolonged period of despair, after fruitless searches and heartrending disappointments, we finally turn to God.
God never fails us. In our weakness, we will see the Grace of God.
Yet, it is in the midst of our blessings, that we often forget the source of all our comfort and blessings.
Our predecessors gave us this oft quoted one-line which comes from the Bible
'Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall'
Proverbs 16:18
Asks Satan, he epitomises pride and is living out his follies still.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
A little testimony
God brought me into a wonderful new abode a month ago. The price was right, the ambiance were perfect and the many needs we had were met.
Yet, the last one month has been a bit of a challenge in terms of my thankfulness. My greed took over and I spent most of the last one month warring with myself as to why all my other financial investments weren't doing as great.
I knew God wanted me to be contented and sell most of my blue chip portfolio, it is prudent when one just took on a big property investment.
Yet, why must it be that what you sell goes up, what you buy drops. It is a common experience, I know God, but why still the blessed me. Can't I be an exception?
Today, with the announcements of the market boosting measures in the Singapore property market, I have been praised by some for my impeccable timing in my property purchase, if only they know about my quibbles with God and my inherent tendency to be always almost wrong.
God works in ways we do not see nor understand.
The only thing I did right, despite my petty grievances, was that down in my heart, having experienced God's unmitigated grace, that He knows better.
I willed myself away from my understanding, to look to Him and that is, by His Grace, my only one and right action the last one month.
In closure, should I be very blessed financially, as I have already been, do remember to prick that ballooning pride in me, which prayerfully should not occur, but will, if I turn away from God.
I am no Nero, nor do I want to end up with zeros.
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