The inhabitants of the Caribbean islands are very accustomed to the bulletins of the relevant agencies that warn about abrupt changes in the climate. Every islander knows what a flash flood warning means, or a tropical storm warning, and so on.
The terms are handled very well and depending on their meaning, so the population has to make preparations.
One night of these, reflecting on these terms and how knowing them help us to establish safety protocols for handling emergencies, I thought at the moment that in matters of spiritual life must happen exactly the same, there must be a system of “warnings” to prepare the public about the coming judgments, only unfortunately no one can notice the meaning of the “warnings”.
How is it possible that humanity cannot understand God’s “warnings” of imminent judgment hovering over the regions!
Maybe it’s because these kinds of “warnings” have fallen under the heading of religious fanaticism, and just thinking about the idea makes people turn around and walk away uncomfortable because the subject has been addressed.
But if for a moment we think about it carefully we will realize that the matter must awaken us to properly verify what is happening around us. Things never happen by chance, there is too much mathematics in the development of events to see in them a simple “chance”.
We all know the story of Jonah, for example, who refused in the first instance to carry a “warning” to the inhabitants of Nineveh, a city that was not godly or interested in spiritual things; in fact, the reason why the city had fallen into perversity and God’s judgment hovered over it. And though they were not a godly city, they believed, and their action of repentance averted the evil announced.
We also have the case of the apostle Peter who the night when Jesus was betrayed received the “warning” that Satan had appointed him to “shake him” like wheat. Contrary to the case of the inhabitants of Nineveh who attended the “warning,” Peter did not attend, and at the end of that night, tells the story, Peter “wept bitterly.
And we could keep quoting. These cases reveal to us that God does not rejoice to see suffering, nor to see anyone afflicted, who in advance discovers the imminence of the coming judgments. Why doesn’t He stop them? Someone will ask. He does it, it is the answer, He does it by warning. Not that He can avoid it, because God is not a servant of men, He warns it so that people understand that the only ones who can change the course of events is man himself.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve decided in the absence of God, and from there they relegated God with whom they had had a close relationship, to a position of announcer of the things that would happen to them, because of the decisions that each one makes, of course. God warned Adam and Eve that from then on the earth would be cursed, and that she would make them see how hard it is to live without God: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.[1]
God does not rejoice to see suffering, nor to see anyone in pain, but before misfortunes happen He takes it upon Himself to warn men to prepare themselves, and to be able to change things when it is still possible, but men do not understand. I found in the Holy Scriptures a text that shows the pain in God for the ignorance that exists in people,
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isaiah 5:13
The prophet Hosea also wrote in the same terms,
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6
The earth is responsible for executing the judgments of God because of the decisions of men, for running rampant toward evil and for practicing satanic practices seeking fame, wealth and power. An earthquake, a cyclone, a drought, a famine, a plague, a barren land, dates repeated in different years for national misfortunes to happen, etc., are “warnings” of an action that must be corrected by the inhabitants of the regions where the events occur. Moses stated that the earth has the capacity to be a witness before men of God’s good intention to bless and guide men, and of their wickedness when they do not want to listen to God.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. Deuteronomy 4:26
God does not rejoice in human pain, but warns, only that men do not understand God’s warnings. The apostle Peter writes about God’s love, and stated that God does not want anyone to perish,
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2nd. Peter 3:9
We are under a warning of imminent judgment, how do you know? Because God warned by a tremor, by a drought, by a famine, do we understand? What is the safety protocol that proceeds? Repentance, and seek of God.
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation) 2nd. Corinthians 6:2
All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Pastor Pedro Montoya
Twitter: @pastormontoya
https://earthenwarevessels.com
[1] Genesis 3:17b
Treasure in Earthen Vessels 