How
long, O Lord? This cry has gone up from
the mouth of humanity since sin began to poison the earth. Eve brought forth her first born son and
hoped this was the promised seed "from the Lord" who would crush the
serpent's head. As the horror of sin
began to be felt in the earth, and the difference between those who serve God
and those who do not became more pronounced, our Heavenly Father heard this
cry. God told Cain that his brother's
blood "cries out to me from the ground". (Genesis
4:10), In Revelation 6:10 we hear this
cry of all the untold millions who have given their lives because of their
faith: "How long O Lord?"
Does it seem like a long time
coming? The promise of the coming of
Jesus is our hope, the hope of the whole world.
Christ's return will bring the end of sin and all its resultant misery
and pain. Does your heart cry out in
frustration: How much longer must we wait, O Lord? Are we justified in our complaint in the
"delay" of our hopes?
How would you live if you were told by
God it would be 120 years till the righteous would be saved and the wicked destroyed?
Would you think: "I have plenty of
time. Another 100 years and then I will
get ready". Or would you, like
Jonah, be angry at God for waiting so long?
Would you complain that a merciful God would give that much time for
repentance, especially with all the mental and spiritual advantages they had
back then?
Noah lived in a perverse and wicked time. It was so bad God said He was going to have
to destroy the people He had created. He
told Noah to build a boat to ride out the flood that was coming. And God said it would happen in 120
years. I am sure at first there was a
flurry of excitement and revivals. The
Spirit of God worked with those people under the preaching and working of
Noah.
But the years went by. The message and the boat became "old
news". The Bible says "they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage". In other words, life went on as normal. The feeling wore off, excitement cooled. It had never rained, so scientists explained
how impossible it was for rain to fall and cause such a destructive flood. Religious leaders talked about how a loving
God would never destroy people.
After 40, 60, 80 or even 100 years,
with life continuing as it always had; and the whole world laughing and
ridiculing him, did Noah cry out "How much longer, O Lord? Is this flood really going to happen?" "By faith Noah built an ark for the
saving of his house. In this way he
condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is by
faith." (Hebrews 11:7)
What if you knew it would be at least
500 years till "the Messiah" would be born, and over 2,000 years
before the end of the world? The prophet
Daniel was given this message in vision.
He says it caused him to faint and be sick a few days. (Daniel
8:27) The apostle Paul understood this
prophecy too. In chapter 2 of his second
letter to the Thessalonians, he reminds them that they were not to expect the
return of Jesus in the near future. He
reminds them that he had explained to them before, that there were things that
were going to happen first. His words
make it clear he understood the prophecies of Daniel.
Daniel, Paul, and untold millions of
God's faithful believers down through the centuries, knowing the prophecies
were not yet fulfilled, still lived faithfully for God. Their lives gave the truth to the fact that
it is better to live for God here on this earth, knowing they would not live to
see the fulfillment of those prophecies, than to "enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a brief time". Affliction
with God is better than pleasure without Him. (Hebrews 11:25)
The next time you are tempted to cry
out "how much longer, O Lord?"
Remember how much better we have it.
We are living when there are no more time prophecies to be
fulfilled. We are living in the end of
time. We are in the time when the only
message we are given is: "behold I come quickly".(Revelation
22:7,12, & 20)
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