I want to continue on from where I left off on Monday when I touched on this idea that God’s ‘wrath’ is already here today...being unleashed...and much of the world is blind to it. They have eyes...yet do not see, they have ears...yet do not hear. John the Baptist warned the prevailing religious order of the day that they better ‘flee from the coming wrath’ (Matt. 3:7), even declaring that the ‘ax is already laid to the root of the trees’ ... using the words “even now...” (10). And what kind of ‘trees’ were in the process of being ‘cut down’? Every tree that did not bear ‘fruits of repentance’, or 'good fruit'. (8-10)

Couple John’s warning with what Paul wrote in Romans 1:18 saying: “For the wrath of God IS...being revealed...from heaven against ALL...ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...”and you begin to sit up and notice, as more scriptures line up, that just maybe this gospel message we all ascribe to is a tad more serious...and urgent that what many in the ‘church world’ have been led to believe. Is it possible that we have either ‘fallen asleep’ or ‘grown at ease in Zion’? (Matt. 25:5; Amos 6:1). No wonder God used Joel to declare the ‘blowing of the trumpet in Zion (type of the church) and to ‘sound an alarm on His holy mountain.’ (Joel 2:1- and you should read the next 13 verses there while you are at it)

I have seen of late, several news stories and articles posted about how quickly the newly elected president is acting by sending troops down to the southern border and how the construction of the ‘wall’ is going to be resumed in order to get control of the flow of people coming across the border into our country. One post I saw seemed to be celebrating this welcomed news with a comment that “the invasion is being stopped!”.

Friends...and I am speaking to those who claim to be followers of, or believers in Jesus- If you think that getting control of our ‘natural’ borders is going to usher in a new era of peace and safety, then you might want to grab your Bible with pen and paper and take some notes here. There is no military might in this world, nor any formidable barrier to be constructed that can stop or slow down the invasion...that God Almighty is bringing to the land. Yes, you read that correctly.

I’m not here today to take on or debate failed and complicated immigration policies that is consuming the attention of many in our country today. But if your focus is leaning more towards the ‘natural’ events that dominate our news cycles, then it’s time to wake up and redirect your attention to what God is doing in the earth today. He is gathering a remnant and calling His people to repentance and urging them to ‘get in the Ark’, which is a picture or type of being ‘in Christ’. (2 Cor. 5:17; 1 John 2:3-6) A similar alarm was raised at midnight which awoke the sleeping virgins (church) to finish getting 'ready'. (Matt. 25:1-13)

Yes...I realize for many, that I may sound like an overly-dramatic, religious-nut-job who has gotten carried away on his keyboard. Say what you will, but I am reminded that the preaching of the cross (and all that is associated with that message) is “foolishness to those who are perishing...but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18)

Can we spend the remaining few minutes of the study today and discuss this idea of a ‘wall’, a ‘protective barrier that is designed to keep ‘foreign enemies’ out? Please turn to Isaiah 5. And for those of you who have any questions as to why I refer back to the OT writings often times, may I remind you of what Peter declared in Acts 3:24 saying “Yes, all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have foretold THESE days...”. He would later exhort us to “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets knowing...in the last days...” (2 Pet. 3:1-2)

Look at this word picture written out about a 'well Beloved who has a vineyard’ (Isa. 5:1) and how there was an expectation of good grapes (fruit)....but it yielded only wild/bad fruit. (2). Then the Lord poses this question: “What more could have been done to My vineyard...when I was expecting good fruit and in brought forth bad fruit?” (4). But it’s verse 5 that we need to pay close attention to:

“And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard; I will take away its hedge (protective barrier) and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.”

He then enlightens us as to who He is referring to in vs. 7, and what the vineyard and the ‘house of Israel’, (which is a picture or type of the ‘church’), is about to experience. You might spend some time reading through the rest of this chapter on your own; and please note where once again we see this idea of God’s people going into ‘captivity’...lacking knowledge (13) and how armies ‘from afar’ are coming at a great speed to lay waste of the land. He mentions the sound of ‘roaring lions’ (29) which is how Peter would later describe our enemy today, the ‘devil’. (1 Pet. 5:8)

So when I suggest that people are being lulled into a false sense of security because some physical wall is being erected at our southern border...it is because our attention and concern should not be focused on Latinos coming up from South America. It is not ‘flesh and blood’ that we are contending with. (Eph. 6:12). I hope you can join me back here tomorrow, Lord willing...of course.