New Year, 1981 - "Is There Any Word From The Lord?"

About 2,500 years ago fearful king Zedekiah of Judah asked the prophet Jeremiah this question "Is there any word from the Lord?"

Well he might ask! His tiny kingdom was threatened by the mighty Chaldean Empire. The military situation was humanly hopeless. But had not the kingdom been similarly threatened by Assyrian power just over a century earlier? Led by Hezekiah and Isaiah the nation had cried to the Lord and known miraculous deliverance (Isa. 37:36). Was there any word from the Lord now? "There is", said Jeremiah, "Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon" (Jer. 37:17). Again the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, "What seest thou?" He replied, "I see a rod of an almond tree (Heb. shaked)". Then the Lord said "Thou hast well seen: for I watch over (Heb. shoked) My word to perform it" (Jer. 1:11,12).

At the beginning of 1981, how thankful we are still to have a word from the Lord for our guidance as to His purposes among the nations! We watch with growing wonder how God is watching over His word to perform it in modern times. For so much of the word of prophecy in Scripture focuses on the time of the end. As the present age of grace flows swiftly to a close, we can identify developments which are clearly in preparation for the end time crisis.

Through the prophet Zechariah a striking word of the Lord was given regarding Jerusalem:

"I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it" (12:3). How remarkably God is watching over this word to perform it! The prophecy strictly belongs, of course, to the future rallying of the nations against Jerusalem under the military leadership of the Antichrist. But already the city has become like a "burdensome stone" in international affairs; many have been sore wounded" by burdening themselves with it.

In the hearts of many Israelis today there burns a passionate love for Jerusalem as the age-long symbol of Jewish faith, culture and nationhood. This was dramatically illustrated four months ago. The United Nations General Assembly had passed an emergency resolution demanding an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Eastern Jerusalem within three months. This aroused an indignant reaction in Israel. The very next day the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), by 69 votes to 15, gave final approval to the "Jerusalem law", providing that "entire united Jerusalem" is Israel's capital city. This means that East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel as a result of the 1967 "six-day war", is an integral part of the Israeli capital. The vote cut across party lines, and the approval included the majority of the Government coalition and the Labour opposition. It was the more remarkable because members of the Knesset were fully aware of warnings by America that such a law could seriously endanger the Camp David peace process. The Knesset's action has been described as "a shaking of the fist at what they 'regard as a frontal attack on their right to the city of Jerusalem as the focus both of their nation and their faith".

With world opinion even now so largely against Israel's determination to retain the whole of Jerusalem, we can understand the likelihood of this "burdensome stone" being a centre of continuing international controversy. The Lord Jesus foretold that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). When will that be? Not until the Lord returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19). For the times of the Gentiles include Gentile power as represented in Nebuchadnezzar's image (Dan. 2). The feet, part of iron and part of clay, upon which the stone cut out of the mountain without hands will fall, relate to the political union under Antichrist at the time of the end. So although Israel has retained control of Jerusalem for the past thirteen years, the city must yet further be trodden down of the Gentiles. In the last fierce struggle under Antichrist's direction, Gentile powers will bring Jerusalem's defenders to extremity (see Zech. 14:1-4). Much of the city will be overcome, but "there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer" (Rom. 11:26).

At the threshold of 1981 we realize the continuing "distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows" (Luke 21:25). But the Lord has placed the bound of the sea, and "though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it" (Jer. 5:22). As in nature, so in history. God is working all things after the counsel of His will, watching over His word to perform it.

unknown | Jan 1981
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