Dreadful Judgments

"when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments - sword and famine and wild beasts and plague...you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord."       Ezekiel 14:21, 23 NIV

The judgment of God is most commonly viewed today as an archaic idea with no relevance to modern society. Our  modern "god" is kind, forgiving, accepting of our sins and quite all right with our own definitions of morality. Not so the God of the Old Testament who brings harsh judgment down on his people when they wander off after idols and engage in terrible violence and sexual immorality. Do we believe in a god who intervenes in the world, sometimes with the severe discipline of war, famine, wild animal attacks and disease? How do we reconcile that with a god of love? We reconcile it by realizing that He only does it to drive us back to him because only with him can we find true joy and love and peace. He hates to see us destroying our civilizations with our deluded ideas of self-importance, pride, greed and lust. We are blind to the end result of our rebellion against God, but He knows that it leads to hell on earth. Look at the worst that is in the news and you get an idea of how bad things can get. God always starts by prodding us gently but if we don't listen, He will bring his dreadful judgments on us - to save us.

I pray for our countries, our political leaders and our spiritual leaders.  I pray that they will look to God for guidance. I pray that people will see that God is good! But also that He is powerful and the Sovereign Lord.