As I read these verses found in this week’s reading, I paused to consider my heart. Oh, I long for the rapture, desiring to go home. So many sorrows and trials here on this earth. Yet, consider this. When the rapture comes, what of all those who are left behind? Yes, we long for true justice and righteousness to reign. But do we remember that judgement will fall upon all the earth. Calamity such as never known before.
While we long for Christ’s return, we must be ever diligent to proclaim his name to all we meet along this path. Should there not be a heaviness of heart for those whom we know that do not know him? Or a broken heart for all those drowning in their anti God ideologies. True Justice can only occur through judgement. And true justice should demand my penalty as well were it not for the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ who paid my penalty.
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3 (NET)
True Justice Will Come
This was the message of Amos to the northern tribes of Israel as well as the message Isaiah and Micah brought to primarily Judah. Amos began his ministry a little earlier than Isaiah. Isaiah and Micah were prophets during the same period, albeit Micah’s ministry was for a brief period compared to Isaiah. They all served during the days leading up to the Assyrian invasion of Israel and the Babylonian invasion that overtook the empire of Assyria and all engulfed all of Judah.
These prophets were tasked with an impossible mission. They were to awaken the people to what true justice would look like. We have the same edit to awaken the people to the truth: true justice will come. They pleaded with the people to listen and to take heed to what true justice would look like. They were guiltier than those surrounding them, if that were possible because they had been given so much grace through the years Yet, instead of seeing that grace as an undeserved gift from God, they rather saw it as if they were entitled to it.
Entitlement syndrome is always a sin and leads to destruction. We see it all too prevalent in our modern society and in our children. Yet it was there from the beginning when Eve saw the fruit and thought she deserved it. Or when Cain killed his brother in a jealous rage because he thought himself entitled to worship God his way and not God’s way.
The United States having been given so much also, owes its allegiance to God for all He has bountifully given of grace.
True Justice Will Come- Woe to those who Disregard God’s Grace
This is the message of these three prophets.
The Lord God has sworn by Himself,
The Lord God of hosts says:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob,
And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city
And all that is in it.” Amos 6 (NKJV)
And Isaiah?
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward. Isaiah 1 (NKJV)
Echoed by Micah
2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the Lord God be a witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel. Micah 1 (NKJV)
Because God is perfect righteousness, then He must one day judge. Yet, in His Sovereignty, He provided an escape for all who would believe. That escape also involved, saving a remnant of the Jewish Nation always to bring about the birth of His Son so He could provide the atonement for our sins. This is also foretold by these prophets.
Grace for all Who Accept God’s Gift When True Justice comes
There is a day coming when True Justice will Reign. On that day, all the nations and leaders who denied God’s rule will be swallowed up just as foretold by Obadiah.
15 “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been. Obadiah 1 (NKJV)
The years of the tribulation are to complete God’s cleansing work among the Jewish nation. Out of it will come a multitude of believers known as the martyrs. They will be just as He foretold in Daniel and Revelation as well as the many prophets.
4 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
And) They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God. Amos 9 (NKJV)
One day, when Jesus Reigns on earth.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2
Micah mimics also speaks these words in chapter 4 plus these:
6“In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will assemble the lame,
I will gather the outcast
And those whom I have afflicted;
7 I will make the lame a remnant,
And the outcast a strong nation;
So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever. Micah 4 (NKJV)
But How Can That Be? Do we not all deserve wrath when true justice reigns?
This is the truth that is evident in all the messages of the prophets. Yet all point toward a Savior as has all scripture throughout the Bible. Such a perfect picture of Christ told through all the ages of the scriptures, pointing us to the veracity of it all. Amos foretold of the Lion of Judah.
If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear?
If disaster overtakes a city, is the Lord not responsible?
7 Certainly the Sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared! Who is not afraid?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken. Who can refuse to prophesy? Amos 3(NKJV)
Amos also spoke of the Gentiles who would be saved.
11 “On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing. Amos 9 (NKJV)
Isaiah spoke often of Jesus
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6 (NKJV)
Whenever a prophet saw the Lord, it was the pre-incarnate Jesus as we learned from Moses, no one could see the face of God and live. Only Moses saw His afterglow.
13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel Isaiah 7 (NKJV)
Furthermore, Isaiah spoke of Jesus
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9 (NKJV)
Micah also Wrote of Jesus
Beyond writing a lot about Jesus’ future reign as Lord, Micah also foretold of his birth.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” Micah 5 (NKJV)
But until true justice reigns, what can we expect.
Just as we were told, the days will wax worse and worse.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. Amos 8
Why? Because that is what broken people in a broken world do when given choice.
You have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. Amos 6 (NKJV)
Yet there is no excuse for humanities choices
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. Romans 1 (NKJV)
His righteousness has been known since creation
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1 (NKJV)
This is true of every individual.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Romans 1 (NKJV)
Thereby worshiping the creature rather than the creator.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. Romans 1 (NKJV)
In other words, he allowed them to chase after whatever pursuits and this led to humanity chasing after new and different pleasures. This is no different than in the days of Noah or Sodom and Gomorrah. Unbridled passions seeking to find pleasure however it could be found. Although never finding and never being satisfied. Therefore, when left unchecked, no true justice is found in the hearts of humanity.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1 (NKJV)
Could there have been true justice without choice?
Then we would be puppets and marionettes if there were no choice. Or perhaps like the angels, there is no idea of grace. They either fell with Satan, or they remained true to God. No chance of salvation by grace. But we are given the hope of repentance and salvation from the doom that true justice would bring. We can recognize our sinful state, believe the truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that when we turn to Him in humility, repentant of our sin we can be saved. We can be accounted as righteous because of His righteousness.
With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6 (NKJV)
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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©Effie Darlene Barba, 2024
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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