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The Suddenlies of God - part 2 of 3 (Amplified Bible) In Acts 13:8-12 we read of Elymas, a false prophet and self-proclaimed “wise man” used as a vessel of satan to prevent Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, from hearing and receiving the message of salvation. Operating in both discernment and prophetic declaration, Paul pronounced the evil condition of Elymas’ heart and the swift judgment which the Lord was about to execute: “You master in every form of deception and recklessness, unscrupulousness and wickedness, you son of the devil, you enemy of everything that is upright and good, will you never stop perverting and making crooked the straight paths of the Lord and plotting against His saving purposes?” {v 10}. Here we see the history of evil intent that Elymas had amassed to warrant so dramatic and yet temporary a judgment. “And now, lo, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind [so blind that you will be] unable to see the sun for a time. Instantly there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he groped about seeking persons who would lead him by the hand” {v 11}. This sudden manifestation of judgment sealed the proconsul’s belief in the power of the risen Christ. “Then the proconsul believed – became a Christian – when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished and deeply touched at the teaching concerning the Lord and from [Him]” {v 12}. Whether or not the incident further hardened the heart of Elymas or led him to repentance we are not told. In Acts 12, Luke records God’s judgment upon King Herod, an instrument of satan with an even more extensive and extreme history of evil than Elymas. Herod had “stretched forth his hands to afflict and oppress and torment some who belonged to the church (assembly)” {v 1}, had “killed James the brother of John with a sword” {v 2} and had arrested and imprisoned Peter {v 4}. Before God’s final earthly judgment upon Herod, He miraculously and suddenly sent an angel to deliver Peter from prison. “On an appointed day Herod arrayed himself in his royal robes, took his seat upon [his] throne, and addressed an oration…And the assembled people shouted, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!” {21-22}. How full of meaning the phrase “on an appointed day”; for indeed it was God’s appointed day to execute judgment upon one through whom the enemy had wrought so much destruction against the Church. “And at once an angel of the Lord smote him and cut him down, because he did not give God the glory –that is, the pre-eminence and kingly majesty that belong to Him as the supreme Ruler, and he was eaten by worms and died” {v 23}. In this account, God’s angels act as agents of sudden deliverance as well as sudden judgment. Those who call good evil and evil good often react to Divine judgments, whether of individuals or nations, not with repentance but with blasphemy against the God of heaven for their anguish {Rev 16:11}. “For man also knows not his time ‘of death’; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when calamity falls suddenly upon them” {Ecc 9:12}. Those whose hearts continually refuse to acknowledge God’s sudden judgments as calls for repentance do not turn from their sin. They feel “…no regret, contrition, and compunction for their waywardness, refusing to amend their ways] to give Him glory” {Rev 16:9}. Are not even what men call “calamities” or “natural disasters” God’s use of “suddenlies” meant to turn them toward the Savior and Sovereign Lord? That “suddenlies” occur, Psalm 91 does not deny. Though these may originate from the enemy, they are allowed by God for His purposes; but to those hidden and dwelling “in the secret place of the Most High” the promise is given: “You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow [the evil plots and slanders of the wicked] that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday…” {v 5-6}, for “Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked” {v 8}. -Ruth French May Newsletter 2005 | Drawing Water | Recognizing the Blessings Pastor's Journal May 2004 | Growing Up is Hard to Do part 3 of 3 | The Suddenlies of God part 2 of 3 |
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