This morning our Tuesday pastor's prayer meeting began as it always does, with a meditation by one of the pastors. Today's presenter talked about some of the popular prophetic teachings that have been making the rounds lately. He spoke of Blood Moons, seven year cycles that correspond with the ancient Jewish feasts, relating them to some of the significant world events in recent years. He correlated these cycles with the birth of the modern state of Israel, the 1967 Six Day War, the attack on the Twin Towers, and the rise of ISIS.
It took me back to when I was a teenager. I remember the Six Day War, and the evangelical press aftermath. Books and articles by the hundreds hit the shelves and magazines, all of them relating the then current events to the "prophetic calendar," and positing our entry into the Last Days. That was nearly fifty years ago! The popular authors of the day wrote prolifically about eschatological events that were supposedly happening right before our eyes. Hal Lindsay and Tim LaHaye led the charge, but there were many others beating the same drum.
I respect our morning's presenter, and all those gathered in the room who seemed to be in complete agreement with him, and I almost spoke up, but others were quicker to chime in, and I didn't get the chance. I appreciate the different gifts God has given to the Church, among which are scholars, people fascinated with obscure Biblical events and interpretations. The fact is however, that I am not among this crowd. I find it hard to get excited by such stuff, I suppose because I've seen it all before. On the other hand, they may be right, and we could be staring The End in the face. My grandfather fully expected to see the Lord's return in his lifetime. He didn't, but the Scriptures do tell us to stay awake, to read the signs of the times, and be ready at any time for Christ's return.
Today's presenter suggested that as pastors, it was our responsibility to make sure our people know these things, in which case I've failed miserably. It would have been somewhat of a guilt trip for me except I remembered the 131st Psalm, which was written for simple people like myself.
It is titled, "A Song of Ascents," which means it was sung as God's people processed up the hill to worship at the temple. It was a time of remembrance and of joy, this being just one of many praise songs the melody and lyrics of which would have filled the air as the people climbed the hill. John Michael Talbot wrote a beautiful song based on this psalm for his 1980's album "Come to the Quiet." It was this song that prompted me years ago to take this psalm seriously. It goes like this:
"LORD, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever."
George Washington Carver is said to have prayed for God to allow him to make some great scientific discovery that would bring world peace. God told him that was too big for him, so he prayed to be able to discover the cure for some horrible diseases. God told him even that was too much for him. So he asked God what was more his size. "How about the peanut?" God answered.
I am grateful for those fascinated by these prophetic teachings, but as I say, I can't get interested, much less worked up by them. There are great matters in the world today, but God hasn't called me to concern myself with them. It takes all I can do to calm and quiet my soul before God, but this I must do if I am to be of any use to God and his Kingdom. So I listen politely, then go back to my own calling. And I remember that my hope (and yours) is not in whether we understand the latest teachings about blood moons or prophetic correlations with current events. Our hope is in, and only in the LORD, now and forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment