Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 21 : 8-19 "DEAL WITH DEEP-SEATED FEARS!"
Day 261 – Luke 21
Text: Luke 21 : 8-19
DEAL WITH DEEP-SEATED FEARS!
Remember what we read about cultivating an eschatological understanding as we read the prophetic statements of the Lord Jesus Christ? We will have to exercise the greatest sense of consciousness and carefulness when we study today’s text about “earthquakes in various places”.
Let us not allow ourselves to hit the panic button every time we read about an earthquake occurring in various places. Let us not read into every earthquake all our fears that we have in our hearts concerning the end times.
The fact is that many harbour deep fears concerning the end times. Thus each time a natural disaster like an earthquake occurs, guilt feelings are spewed out! Let’s deal with our fears, rather than allow them to affect the way we understand natural disasters!
On the other hand, there are people who will use every report of an earthquake to preach messages of doom! Let us avoid this kind of approach when we study the Scriptures. They are unworthy of those who are supposed to be believers of the Lord!
Do we have deep-seated fears? Do we fear that we would be left behind when Jesus comes again? Are we afraid that the Lord would judge us for all our failings and our sins?
The Scriptures teach us how we should respond to the Lord. Jesus came preaching, “The Kingdom of God is at hand”. That message is still true and relevant! While we still have breath, and while the Lord Jesus tarries, let us not wait one moment longer!
Let us seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Let us seek the Lord while He may be found. Let us bring to Him all our fears. May the Lord allay our fears and give us His peace that passes all understanding.
“AND THERE WILL BE GREAT EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES…” Luke 21:11
The words of the Lord Jesus to His Disciples were truly sobering! He foretold the destruction of the Temple! As if that was not frightening enough, He went on to warn them that the spectre of war would remain a very real threat!
As if that was not enough “bad news” Jesus also warned that there would be “earthquakes in various places”. How do we understand this awesome statement?
1. The fact is that earthquakes have always affected the earth. Geologists have confirmed that there are faults in the earth, and whenever there are movements in the earth, earthquakes can and will occur.
2. The mentioning of earthquakes must have a theological rather than a geological significance. Once again, we thank God for the Scriptures. The best way to understand and interpret Scripture is to let the Word of God explain itself. This principle is often called, “The analogy of faith”.
Let us take time to look at a prophecy from the Book of Nahum. That would probably shed quite a bit of light for us. Nahum was a prophet who proclaimed that God would deal with the wicked Assyrians. God would personally deal a humbling blow to the pride of the Assyrians.
“The Lord has His way
in the whirlwind and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers
The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His Presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.”
Nahum 1:3-6
Jesus spoke plainly, and he used the word “earthquakes”. Nahum used descriptive language to describe “earthquakes”. An earthquake may indeed be described as the earth heaving!
Nahum warned the Ninevites (Nahum 2:8; 3:1) concerning their sins. He proclaimed a powerful message of the fact that the God of Israel was in fact the God of the universe. He was the Creator God and He was also an holy God who would take vengeance on His adversaries (Nahum 1:2).
God would one day come and judge the Assyrians. In His Presence, the very “mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves”. He would not acquit the wicked (Nahum 1:3)!
What was the point of Nahum’s prophecy? Like all the other prophets of God, though there was the preaching of disaster, they did not preach doom but redemption!
Nahum cried out, and proclaimed this glorious message,
“The Lord is slow to anger
and great in power…”
Nahum 1:3
He also went on to say,
“The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.”
Nahum 1:7
Earthquakes help us understand who God is. He is a powerful God indeed. Shouldn’t the prophecy of earthquakes in the End Times cause us to draw nearer to God?