When the Enemy Comes in Like a Flood
As I talk to
Christians today I hear expressed a handful of common concerns. Many of the words I hear express concern,
disbelief, and discouragement. It seems
as though Satan has come in like a tidal wave drenching everything in his path
and bringing about mass destruction and chaos.
Many believers have become discouraged and some are expressing grave
concerns about the future.
It seems like
such a short time ago, the concept of “gay marriage” was totally
unthinkable. Yet, in 2014 we find the
remaining barriers to this cultural phenomenon being dismantled on practically
a daily basis. In 2012, Barak Obama
running for re-election, became the first setting President in American history
to openly express support for “gay marriage.”
Also in 2012, the Democratic Party became the first major political
party in American history to have marriage equality (same sex marriage) as a
plank in its national party platform.
Politicians such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, who previously publicly
rejected the notion, said they were “evolving” on the issue and now supported
this new take on marriage equality.
Other politicians have followed suit.
Additionally there have been a significant number of actors and
actresses, athletes, and other well-known individuals who have thrown in their
support.
The rapidity
of the change in this “politically correct” culture has been overwhelming. Some have commented it is as though we are
now living in a Twilight Zone
episode. Nothing is as it should be. Nothing is the way we had come to expect. Most all the episodes of the original Twilight Zone were scary because they
stretched and tickled the imagination and forced viewers to focus, if only
briefly, on the eccentric and bizarre.
When we
consider the character of the world in end times, or last days, many Scriptures
come immediately to mind. The obvious
ones are those which actually alert us to the fact they are describing end
times, but some are far less obvious. I
would argue that any verse which explicitly or implicitly describes or
otherwise gives insight into human nature is telling and revealing. The key characteristics of end times are really
nothing new, but instead the same old characteristics operating without
their former societal restraints.
We live in a
darkening culture that is running as fast as it can from any memory of its
Christian past. The changing attitudes
concerning marriage are among the chief ways of illustrating this reality. In a recent article entitled “Same-Sex
Marriage and the Future” Russell Moore, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist
Convention, says the short-term prospects for God-honoring marriage do not look
so good; at least where popular culture is concerned. Marriage has been attacked on many
fronts. However, he reminds that the
long-term prospects concerning marriage are excellent. When the Lord returns he will set all things
right and restore the foundations which appear to be crumbling under the weight
of this ungodly culture. (Read
Moore’s full article at http://www.russellmoore.com/2014/04/15/same-sex-marriage-and-the-future/ )
Many verses
give us hope in these perilous times, but as I consider the things which are
happening and the severity of the attacks launched by “the enemy of our souls,”
I think of the words of Isaiah the Prophet. In chapter 59 of his prophesy he is writing
concerning “The Redeemer of Zion” promised to come. But the people of the day were caught
somewhere in the middle. Their “glass
half full” side wanted to believe there was hope and that God would do all the
great things he had promised and that he had not forgotten about them and their
struggles. But their “glass half empty”
side tended to watch the signs of the times and political climate and get
really distraught. It was exactly to
those battered and discouraged people that Isaiah wrote “So shall they fear the
name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when
the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard
against him.” (Is. 59:19) John N. Oswalt
commenting on this verse writes “The wrath of God against sin will be like a
stream thundering through a narrow canyon, pushed on by a roaring wind; and
those who choose to ally themselves with sin, no matter where they are in the
world, will have good cause to be terrified.” (John N. Oswalt; New International Commentary; Is. 40-66; 530) Really, in a nutshell, what is being promised
here is that God will fight and overcome the forces of evil that attempt to engulf His people.
The Apostle
Paul, writing to his young protégé Timothy, in his second letter stated “But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without
self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
(2 Tim. 3:1-4) Every one of the
descriptive terms used by Paul fit either totally or partially with the current
race for “gay” pride, “gay” rights and “gay” marriage here in these “perilous
times” and/or “last days.”
There is no
doubt the enemy Satan, has come into this culture like a mighty, roaring,
destructive, wall of water leveling destruction and devouring anything and
everything in its path. We may look at
those massive flood waters and feel powerless – and indeed we are except for
one thing; our Redeemer! Remember the
words of tremendous assurance written by The Apostle John “He who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4)
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
