About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

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Looks Like Judgment To Me

As 2023 comes to an end I look around me at Canada where I live, at the United States and the rest of the West.  What I see is far from pretty.  I see cultural chaos everywhere, people in all sectors of society opposing one another.  I see immature politicians, government stagnation, and ineffective governance.  I see Sodom-like sin being paraded in the streets.  I see a lack of skilled labourers, broken supply chains, empty store shelves, and more.  It has all happened before, but it seems these cultural ills have escalated in recent years, and why? 

Is there a spiritual element to what I see?  Might God be involved?  Is He still sovereign over nations, causing them to rise and fall (Daniel 2:21, 4:17)?   Read Isaiah 3:1 through 9.  Maybe you will agree with me that Judah resembles our western nations today. 

"See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,  the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.   'I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them.'   People will oppress each other— man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored.  But in that day he will cry out, 'I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.'   Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom ; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves."     

I realize this prophetic scenario was directed towards Jerusalem and Judah in Isaiah's day.  I am not applying a secondary meaning to it.  I simply see hints at what a nation looks like as it collapses under God's judgment.   

Note the lack of food, water, effective supply chains, a victorious military, wise professionals, effective courts, and skilled labourers.  Note that the young, whether young in age or immature adults, are national leaders.  Note that people from all sectors of society oppose one another. The cry is heard for qualified leadership, but none are found.  Instead, the nation staggers in a stupor of drunken darkness as it parades its Sodom-like sins in the streets, and why? 

God is behind the cultural chaos.  As the text states, "the Lord Almighty is about to take away."  He "will make mere youths their officials."  God then says, "Woe to them.  They have brought disaster upon themselves." 

The ungodly nation forces God's hand of judgment, and as a result, it falls.  Yes, God Almighty is behind it all.  It is my belief that He is still sovereign over the nations and He still causes them to either rise or fall, and that includes our nations today.  What I see around me, then, looks like judgment to me. 

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