Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah —Psalm 46:8-11
Like this psalm by the sons of Korah, Isaiah also wrote of a time when the Lord’s House will be established and He will be worshiped above all. People will throng to honor Him on the “Mountain of the Lord.” Wars will have ceased. There will be no more weapons. God will be exalted among the nations (See Isaiah 2:2-4).
What kind of wonderful dream is this? Well, it won’t happen during the current age. There is much more that must ensue before this beautiful scene will be realized. The time is coming when there will be a great war such as the world has never seen. It will be a time when the armies of the earth will gather in collective revolt against God and fight against the Lord Jesus himself!
We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God, humble, gentle, meek, silent when accused. But it won’t be the Lamb against whom they will wage their battle. This time He will meet them as the Lion of Judah on the plains of Megiddo, where they will meet their demise.
Christians make a huge mistake these days in their efforts to make Christianity appealing by catering to the whims of man and adapting the message to his desires. People want the “ends” (meaning peace and prosperity) but not the “means” that will bring that about. They want peace without the Prince of Peace and they want the Millennium without having to repent. They claim that they want a world in which righteousness dwells, but they want righteousness redefined.
Doing the work of the Lord is to bring about a kingdom in which true righteousness dwells, and this can only come about through God bringing disasters unlike anything seen before to this earth (see Zephaniah 1:14-18). When someone believes that wars can cease without God breaking the bow and cutting the spear in two by punishing the wicked, they have essentially dethroned God and taken His place.
Our psalm today tells us that God will be exalted among the nations and exalted in all the earth! People don’t want to honor and worship God, because Self has the throne in their hearts. And yet they want to believe that heaven is still in their future someday. Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do the things which I say?” He continues by comparing them to the man who built a house upon the sand without a foundation that was destroyed when the flood came.
We need to search our hearts. We must accept God for who He says He is and believe that He will do what He said He would do. Whether one believes it or not, it will come to pass. Merely saying, “Praise the Lord” but not obeying Him is merely to give lip service to Him. The highest praise is seen, not merely sung. Jesus is coming soon, ready or not, and He will break the bow and cut the spear in two and burn the chariots in fire, then we will have peace. But before that, we need to make certain that when we share this beautiful truth with nonbelievers we also warn them of what will come first and not be afraid of their possible rejection. Those “who have an ear to hear” will hear, and their lives will be changed for much better things than they experienced when their own “self” sat upon the throne that rightfully belongs to our Maker.
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