Elattoo

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

- Isaiah 55:6-7

“‘…They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness.”

- Jeremiah 33:5

Reading the passage from Isaiah, it’s easy to take it as theoretical, or to gloss over the “while he is near” part. Israel found out that continuing in wickedness forces God to have no other choice but to display his wrath. He hid His face from them and refused to hear their cries, after years of mercy and pleading for them to return to Him. 

People today don’t want to think about God as a God of wrath, requiring righteousness. What kind of loving God would pile up bodies of people that he loves?  Yet, the Bible is full of examples where God was forced to deal with sin. America today is very similar to Israel and Judah during this time. We are drunk with what we perceive as our own greatness. We live in abundance, safe and secure due to centuries of blessing from God. We have turned to serve the creation rather than the Creator, even to the point of denying He even exists. In times of tragedy, we turn briefly to the Lord as a temporary crutch. When we are facing a change, we may call to Him like a lucky rabbit’s foot. But once the occasion has passed, we quickly go about our lives until the next time He is needed. We continue this way, but steadily spiral downward into darkness and sin, moving the standard of righteousness in our own eyes.

The good news is that once God’s wrath is satisfied, He is quick to bring “health and healing” and to “restore”, as in the following verses.  However, the time for this nation to return to the Lord is now. Why wait until we find ourselves in bondage and destruction? We cannot continue to push Him away without consequence. We need to “seek the Lord while he may be found.”