Judgment – Light from the Word

The Incomparable Messiah

When He came to earth, the shekinah glory of God opened heavens and angels sang in celebration, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2: 14). Born in a place, where chosen lambs stayed to be used for the sacrifice in the Jewish tradition. They were the ones without spots. No one understood this fact so significant, as if pointing to the reason why He had come: the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Yes, He came as the Messiah, the only one, comparable to none, He came as the Lamb of God to save men and atone them for their sins. There, in that beautiful night, the earth was touched with God Himself, its Creator.

When He was twelve years old, they went up, as was their custom. And when the Feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy YAHSHUA remained behind in Jerusalem. Now his parents did not know this. After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His intelligence and understanding and His replies… And He said to them, “How is it that you had to look to Me? Did you not see and know that it is necessary for Me to be in My Father’s house and Father’s business?… And YAHSHUA increased in wisdom and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). This was just the beginning.

In another time, when His ministry was starting, after forty days and nights, praying and fasting, the enemy came to tempt YAHSHUA. Unsuccessful, he left YAHSHUA until another opportune time. That opportune time was in the Gethsemane Garden, but in vain. Powerless, he was defeated over and over and stands condemned forever. Messiah YAHSHUA conquered eternal death and nailed it on the cross, saving mankind for Himself. YAHSHUA is the source of life and that can never be taken away from Him. He gave it up willing to save the world. Now, we stand free from Satan’s condemnation and we stand justified before the Lord through faith; we have peace with God through our Lord YAHSHUA Messiah. He is Love; For He loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). He restored us and gave us His Spirit to be with us until He comes for us, or He calls us home. Paul advised Timothy constantly to keep in mind YAHSHUA the Messiah [as] risen from the dead, descended from David, according to the good news (I Tim. 2:8). “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things have been created through Him and for Him; He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together; He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything, for it was the Father good pleasure for all fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:13-20); “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3-4).

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God’s Final Judgment to Come on the Earth

It started with our forefathers Adam and Eve, when they transgressed God’s law and fell into disobedience. God’s judgment in the form of a curse fell on the entire world as a result. Generation to generations to come have experienced and seeing the misery sin brought to all of us, even before we were born! Condemned, we were! It was a judgment that only YAHSHUA, God’s Son could ransom us from eternal condemnation. With that, His image was restored with the presence of His Holy Spirit given to us. The world, however has rejected this gift and remains under God’s condemnation. In the days of Noah, the people also rejected Noah’s message. They were swept away under the fury of God’s judgment. Noah witnessed the severity of the wrath of God while safe in the ark. Nature revolted against the sin of the people and responded with force against them, until they were gone, as God directed it. In another time, when the sins of men reached God, He brought judgment to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the days of Lot. Only he and his family were saved. In this case, God’s judgment was isolated to those cities, not to the entire world. But God showed mercy to the righteous Lot and his family.

The Apostle Peter has warned us that this present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people. It is a fact, we must consider, for it will happen against the ungodly people. Peter left a warning for us to take: to be found by YAHSHUA without spot and blemish and at peace (II Pet. 3). The book of Isaiah chapter 24 is a mini book of Revelation without seals and bowls: The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently; the earth shall stagger like a drunken man and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; its transgression shall lie heavily upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again… said, Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you are carried away by the error of lawless and wicked and fall from your own firm condition (II Pet. 3). Come my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past. For Then the moon will be confounded and the sun shamed, when the Lord of hosts, Who will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, will show forth His glory (Isa.24). It will be days of divine vengeance. No one will escape. Behold, the Lord is coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain and conceal her guilt (Isa. 26:20-21). This perhaps seems too far away from you in your frame of time. However, a thousand years in God’s sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night (Ps,90:4). Peter confirmed Moses words and warned us saying, Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (II Peter3:8). So, where does it leave us as we are waiting for our Lord? We must be prepared all the time. Scoffers are asking, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the forefathers fell asleep, all things have continued exactly the as they did from the beginning of creation (II Peter 3:44). This is a position of disbelief in the Word of God. Therefore, if we remain in this position, we will be left behind to suffer all the consequences of our disbelief. When the disciple Thomas doubted the resurrection of our Lord, He told him, Reach out your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side, Do not be faithless and incredulous, but believe! Then Thomas answered Him, My Lord and my God! (John 20:27-28). Thomas repented and was saved. If you do not repent of your incredulities, you will be found condemned to eternity out of the presence of God. For it is a fearful thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God! (Heb.10:31).

When God’s judgment comes it will be merciless. We all know how patient He is, but He is also holy; when our sins reach His holiness, He will stand to defend it by destroying the earth and its inhabitants. Chapter 6 of Revelation starts with the opening of the seals of judgment. When the Lamb broke open the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, the moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky dropped to the earth like a fig tree shedding its unripe fruit out of season when shaken by a strong wind and the sky rolled up like a scroll and vanished, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place. Then the kings of the earth and their noblemen and their magnates and their military chiefs and the wealthy and the strong and everyone slave or free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and they called to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand before it? (Rev. 6).

When God’s holiness touched Mount Sinai, it was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly (Exod. 19:18). We have no idea how serious it is when we disrespect the holiness of God! We might not be aware of it, but in time, continuing in this path, you know soon or later how holy He is. The Egyptians were judged for having many gods and mocking the Israelites God. They were judged with several plagues and at the end, they were drowned in the Red Sea in pursuit of Israel. Israel, experienced and witnessed God’s judgement in many ways while in their journey to the Promised Land. They always seemed to have touched the holiness of God. And in their life time as a nation, they continued with their wicked ways. Many did not make to the Promised Land and were killed in the desert. The writer to the letter to the Hebrews confirms saying, Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion and their provocation and embitterment in the day of testing in the wilderness (Heb. 3:7-12). God’s time frame for judgment will come when many do not expect. For the nation of Israel, God’s plan is to refine her as gold and silver. The Prophet Zachariah says, I will hear and answer them, I will say, It is My people; and they will say, the Lord is my God! And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be out off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive; and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people: and they will say, The Lord is my God. (Zech.13:8-9)

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God Will Swallow Up Death

O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (I Cor. 15).

When our forefathers heeded to the voice of the enemy of their souls, death came to them as a curse and was carried out to all born of men. Disguising himself through a serpent, who was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made, (Gen. 3:1), he tempted Eve to doubt God’s reason for not letting them eat the fruit from the tree of the middle of the garden. He succeeded when Eve fell to his temptation. The seed of death entered into the world and from then on, humankind was subjected to condemnation of physical and eternal death, with Satan their master. However, in spite of all his power, Satan is resistible. James wrote, “Be subject to God, resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you” (4:7). God has provided us His spiritual armor in order for us to wrestle with Satan. In the epistle to the Ephesians, Paul admonishes us to put on the armor of God, for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood but with Satan and his hosts. Satan manifests himself as an angel of light, changing his appearance in the auspice of good, when he is the prince of darkness, according to Scripture (Eph. 6). Satan is a liar, a deceiver, a tempter and an accuser of men. He was not happy when God created men; so, he became men’s enemy with the purpose to destroy them physically and eternally. His sting of death has taken many with him to hell, because men rejected God, choosing him, instead.

Satan was called the anointed guardian cherub. We read this in the Bible about him: “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and your settings and your sockets and engravings were wrought in gold, On the day that you were created they were prepared; You were the anointed cherub that covers with overshadowing, and I set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire [like the paved work of gleaming sapphire stone upon which the God of Israel walked on Mount Sinai].” (Ezek. 28:13-14). What more did this angel want? He wanted to be God. In his pride, Satan rose against God and corrupted the beautiful garden God had created. Not only the garden, but the entire world. The Bible says, “All have sinned and became short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Separated from God and His mercy, goodness, and love, men were destined to eternal death, for there was none that had not sinned. Men’s heart is perverse and contrary to God’s laws. The Prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). The world in its entirety suffered the consequences of sin. It left a stain only YAHSHUA could wash away. The stain of physical and eternal death; nature was also subjected to decay as Paul so said in Romans chapter 8:19-22: “For even the whole creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known, for the creation was subjected to frailty, not because of some intentional fault on its part, by by the will of Him Who so subjected it with the hope that nature itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. We know that the whole creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.”

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America, in the Hands of a Righteous God

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually, and the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart; so the Lord said I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground- not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air- for it grieves Me and makes me regretful that I have made them (Genesis 6). However, Noah was found righteous before the Lord; he and his family were saved from the flood which destroyed the entire earth. Many years of Noah’s warning the people of the coming judgment from the Lord, didn’t turn their hearts to God. Consequently, God destroyed everything, man, vegetation, and animals through a great flood. He preserved the animals, which came to Noah on the last days before the flood came. After Noah and his family, together with the animals entered the ark, the rain started to fall; people assembled together to plead with Noah to open the ark; Noah then answered them with a loud voice, saying, “Have you not all rebelled against the Lord, and said that he does not exist? Therefore, the Lord brought upon you this evil, to destroy and cut you off from the face of the earth” (Jasher 6:18-19).

The Bible says that the Lord is longsuffering and compassionate. Amazingly so! Reason why the world has not been destroyed. Time and time again, God sends prophets, preachers, and messengers to warn of coming judgments, so men will repent and be saved from the destruction. He spared Nineveh, an Assyrian wicked city at the last moment, in which more than 120,000 persons did not know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle (Jonah 4:11). God was concerned even for His creation as in the animals, not accountable for sin. Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities became exceedingly wicked before the Lord. They provoked Him through their abominations; their wickedness was great before the Lord. The time came when the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heavens. He overthrew, destroyed and ended those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But God saved Lot and his family by removing them from the path of the city’s destruction.

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It Was at the Cross Where Judgment and Mercy Met

In the Garden of Eden, the first judgment was pronounced to our parents for their disobedience to God. Sin, spreading to Adam’s and Eve’s children, their first son committed the sin of disobedience, as in his offering of fruits and vegetables to the Lord, instead of offering Him a lamb, as was commanded. And as a result, he committed murder by killing his brother. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” Life is in the blood. The lamb was pointing to the Son of God, Who was to come in the far future as the Lamb of God to be sacrificed to redeem the world with His blood. There is life only in the blood. And the blood of YAHSHUA never dies, never lost its power to save and give life to all who seek Him. Cain misrepresented God’s future plan; he in his pride, offered of what he represented, not what God commanded him. It is when one tries to be saved through his own effort, disregarding the Word of God. The Bible says that we are saved by grace; it is not based on our work, it is a gift from God, and this gift was His Son, Who sacrificed His life, so we can live eternally with Him. God pronounced judgment to Cain and for the rest of his life he was a wonderer. (Gen. 4:11-12). God said to Cain, and now you are cursed by reason of the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. A wonderer, Cain became separated from the rest of his world as a result of his disobedience and homicide.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read about God’s judgments on His people because of their practices of infidelity against God’s covenant “You shall have no other gods besides Me.” The Lord God takes very seriously the sin of infidelity. In Ezekiel 14:13-14,20 it reads: Son of man, when a land sins against Me by committing a trespassing and I stretch out my hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they would save but their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God… Though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live says the Lord, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would but deliver their own lives by their righteousness. To transgress is to act contrary to God’s law. It is infidelity to the covenant God made with them, through the law, which requires both parties for its validity.

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They Begged Him to Depart From Their Town

That day, was a very busy day for YAHSHUA. When He came down from the mountain, great throngs followed him (Matt.8:1). The people’s physical needs were many. On that day, He healed a leper, who worshipping Him said, Lord, If You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me. YAHSHUA, with great compassion, reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed (vs2-3). When going to Capernaum, He was met by a centurion, begging YAHSHUA to heal his servant. So, YAHSHUA healed the centurion’s servant. At Peter’s house, He found Peter’s mother-in-law lying ill with a fever; He touched her hand and the fever left her; she got up and began waiting on Him (vs.14-15). And thus, He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, He Himself took our weaknesses and infirmities and bore away our diseases (Isa.53:4). YAHSHUA’S life was the Word of God; He lived the Word, He preached the word. All prophecies coming from Him were fulfilled or will be fulfilled. Even before His trials, He fulfilled the Isaiah’s prophecy. People ran after Him to be healed and to hear Him teach. He was the most popular man on earth in His days. Perfect in all He said and done, yet, He was hatred by the Jewish authorities, even today many of them continue hating Him for no cause.

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God’s Trumpet and the Last Trumpet of Revelation

The Jewish Feast of Trumpets has nothing to do with the new covenant of blood YAHSHUA established for all who will believe in Him- His church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles. From God’s command to blow trumpets, it derived its name. The word teruah in Hebrew has its meaning in English a shout or a blowing. The significance of the blowing of trumpets in the Jewish tradition is:

Time to move on

Time to gather the people and call an assembly

To mark a sacrifice on a feast day

Warning of war or danger

To praise

To declare a procession or feast

To proclaim a king

Assemble the troops for battle

To declare victory.

We see here the blowing of trumpets as God commanded Israel, has great significance for that nation in the formation of their tradition, in setting them apart from other nations, as a guide and many other reasons. The blowing of trumpets does not necessarily serve the church of the New Testament, as it embraces all nations with different traditions and life-styles. It connected the nation of Israel to God’s command as in the practice of a feast, although the meaning of gathering the people for an assembly, is relevant to the church, because God’s calling His bride to assemble to heaven will be through the sound of His trumpet, according to the words of Paul, which read, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God… (I Thess. 4:16). The trumpet mentioned here clearly shows a difference from the trumpets of Revelation 8-9, whose purposes are for judgments. These seven trumpets are angelic trumpets and not defined as God’s trumpet. For those who believe that the last trumpet mentioned by Paul has to do with the last trumpet in Revelation, remember one thing: that seventh and last trumpet is not the trumpet of God. Not one of the seven trumpets in Revelation is defined as the trumpet of God. In God’s coming judgment there will be seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls each carrying that which was determined to fulfill God’s judgments on the wicked. One more thing, the last trumpet of Revelation is not the same last trumpet Paul mentioned in I Corinthians, since the book of Revelation had not yet been written. Someone has said that Paul was drawing his tradition from the Old Testament in referring to the summoning the congregation of Israel to set out (Numbers 10:2-5) Paul called it the last trumpet to show the completion of God’s redemption embed in the number seven.

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For the Lord Is Our Judge

(Isaiah 33:22-24)

When we think of the word judge with all that it represents in the courts of law, we come to honor such title with respect. When having to face him for some reason or other, at his mercy, as the person who determines our destiny- winner or loser in the case presented to him, we fear that he will determine us to be guilty, even though innocent. It is our fear that it will happen upon the false evidences presented to him, as many who were innocent, found themselves serving life in prison, even sent to die, for the crime they did not commit. When this elected official, with authority to decide cases in a court of law is God fearing, we feel confident that he will be spiritually discerning to make the right decision, according to his faith in God. Today, however, judges have great political power over the people. They can reverse decisions to bring about chaos in the country to conform to the agendas of those who are wicked, for they have been bought out through bribes. It is a thing of money that compels them not to take the stand for righteousness’s and justice’s sake. We have experienced it firsthand in this country and others. But Our God, the Lord is God of gods and Lord of lords, He is the Great, the Mighty, and awesome God, Who is not partial and takes bribes (Deut. 10:17); He is the Judge of all judges; someday all judges will have to face Him for judgment. So, it will be the judges being judged by the Sovereign, the Almighty Judge of all the earth. To Him they will give accounts of all the injustices they performed in the courts of law, destroying lives to no end. God, Who established the law, said, You shall not do injustice in court; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor (Lev. 19: 15).

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Uncleanness Works Destruction

(Micah 2:10)

Physical uncleanness, sometimes, is the picture of the soul in turmoil. It can indicate depression, sadness, grief and so on. It shows spiritual and emotional problems within. It happens because the person does not want to face reality. In that mode, he becomes blind and insensitive to his surroundings. I don’t care, sort of attitude. In the hardness of his heart, he goes on. That is also a picture of a guilty person, wanted to escape the guilt by making it easy on himself. However, what does the Bible mean by “uncleanness that works destruction”? In the battle of Jericho, the Lord instructed the people to keep themselves from the “accursed and devoted things.” That constituted idolatry. Idolatry is the excessive devotion to or reverence for some person or thing (Webster dictionary). It is a sin that brings destruction to a nation, for forsaking the true God, as it was the case of the nation of Israel. Idolatry is a sin that leads the nation astray to immorality, to confusion and to alienation from the true God. The Lord describes Israel’s spiritual condition by saying, From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness or health in but wounds and bruises and fresh and bleeding stripes; they have not been pressed out and closed up or bound up or softened with oil; your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land- strangers devour it in your very presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens (Isaiah 1:6-7). This seemly is the spiritual condition of the United States of America. Blessed, as it has been, has long time embraced the position of idolatry and gone far away from the Lord’s blessings. Lately, America has speedily experienced spiritual decline of all times, as it waits for the Lord’s judgment to fall upon her.

Considered as the “Mystery Babylon,” America has taken her position of power in the world as it has influenced many countries to follow her ungodly life-style, destroying some that stood in her way. Powerful and proud, she stood tall above all to see; but the time is rapidly approaching for her fate to be known. Her uncleanness is beyond the norm one can understand and accept. Her glamourous life-style is nothing but filthy, rotten rags under all that jazz. Lights, painted eyes, fancy dresses, in Jezebel’s styles, Hollywood crowd, deeply in sin, is under God’s judgment for all that they represent. Judgment from God has already started. Do you see the multitudes invading this country? That’s just the beginning of America’s ordeal. Her uncleanness has reached heavens, God’s longsuffering has ended for this nation. As it were in the days of old when God brought judgment against the nation of Israel, so it will be for America, for God has heard the crying of the innocent children being carried to their slaughter, as He heard the blood of Abel crying for vengeance against his brother. We see, but we do not perceive, we hear, but we do not believe the graveness of the sins of this nation. God’s people are asleep in the pews of the churches, while their children are brainwashed through the teachings of public schools, they trusted their children to. It is all happening right before their eyes, but their spiritual condition keeps them from perceiving. Their babies are taken from their womb for their own freedom and killed for businesses purposes as babies’ body’s parts for the make of makeup. Do you know what kind of meat Macdonald fast food is offering you? Do you think for a minute that God has fallen asleep, not to consider this immoral uncleanness, against them? He who formed the eyes and the ears, will not see and hear? He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if His judgment will not fall to this nation and the world, for following America’s unclean life-style. How can His church escape His judgment, if it continues inert to the sins of this nation? God’s patience is not to be confused with His holiness. The severity of His coming judgment upon this nation should be the reason for His church to be on her knees.

Micah 2:10 says, “Arise and depart, for this is not the rest, because of uncleanness that works destruction, even a sharp and grievous destruction.” We are living in an unclean society. Television, and other media are like a magnet, like gravity, pulling down those who follow them to the pit of infidelity, while they watch the satanic worshippers from Hollywood perform immorality to please their god-the devil. Entwined with them, they become one with them, and before they know it, idolatry in the form of pornography, takes control of their sexual desires, leaving them powerless. As a result, divorce abounds and families are destroyed. God continues calling all out of it before destruction strikes, as He always does and has done in the past “Arise, and depart, for this is not the rest, because of uncleanness that works destruction…” Depart, depart. Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her [Babylon]; cleanse yourselves and be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord (Is. 52:11). What the world is experiencing today is described in Isaiah 64:6: “For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags or polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction].” Thus says the Lord: Flee out of the midst of Babylon! Let every man save his life! Let not destruction come upon you through her sin and guilt. For it is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render to her a recompense (Jer. 51:6).

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Time to Keep Silent, For the Days Are Evil

(Micah 7; Amos 5:13)

What constitutes evil days, if they weren’t for mankind? When God created the world, He created a beautiful world for man to enjoy and take care of it. There was no presence of evil anywhere, all were in harmony with the Creator. The animals weren’t violent toward one another and they did not eat one another. Peace was the harmony that kept them together, heard in a bird song. Music filled the air of that garden- the garden of Eden with happiness and innocence. It was the world God created. I can’t tell how long did the world of yesterday enjoyed perfection in every side, neither can I tell you how long it was before our parents messed it up by doubting God’s word and falling into temptation. That must have been one dark day in the lives of Adam and Eve, which changed the destiny of the world and theirs too. The door was then opened for evil to permeate the garden and take control of the lives of men and animals. They no longer behaved peacefully toward one another. The sweet fragrance of love and peace vanished and the world started to experience evil, hate, jealousy instead. As a matter of fact, the first-born son of Eve, committed the first homicide. From there, it went from bad to worse, until God destroyed the yesterday’s world by means of water in the days of Noah. Those were truly evil days!

The psalmist cried to God, Help, Lord! For principled and godly people are here no more; faithfulness and the faithful vanish from among the sons of men. To his neighbor each one speaks words without use or worth of truth; with flattering lips and double heart they speak (Psa. 12:1-2); and Isaiah prophesized, The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; and merciful and devout men are taken away, with no one considering that the uncompromisingly upright and godly person is taken away from the calamity and evil to come (Isaiah 57:1); Micah echoes by saying, the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; each hunts his brother with a net; both their hands are put forth and are upon what is evil to do it diligently; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire. Thus, they twist between them; the best of them is like a brier; the most upright or the straightest is like a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even of [God’s] judgment and your punishment, has come; now shall be their perplexity and confusion. Trust not in a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom…But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me (Micah 7:2-5,7). Therefore, he who is prudent will keep silence in such a time, for it is an evil time (Amos 5:13).

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