I wonder: would we have the faith to do what this heathen Pharaoh was about to do? Would we have the faith to hear from God that a time of terrible tribulation was nearing, and that we needed to prepare by putting aside some of our time, our riches, our labors, our interests, ourselves? Could we intentionally deprive ourselves when we were in the midst of abundance, when life was good? Could we do it on FAITH, and not by what we see with our eyes? Could we do it when the best and brightest minds, and our most prestigious religious leaders, tell us that the future is unknowable…except as they can discern it from their positions of authority?
Beloved, I sure hope we can; because we HAVE been told. We are right now in that time of relative abundance and plenty, just before the onset of the greatest trial mankind has ever, or will ever, experience. How do I know this? God has revealed it to us. He has shown us in his Word what signs to look for; and they have happened, and are happening. He has told us unequivocally that when Jerusalem is back in the hands of the Jews, that that generation will see the coming of the Lord. He has also told us that a few months before Jesus once again sets His feet on the Mt. of Olives, there will be a time so terrible that we cannot possibly comprehend it. He has told us to prepare; prepare by giving over our lives to Him. By following the wisdom that comes from God: living within our means, getting out of debt, seeking Him instead of personal pleasures, learning to rely on Him and nothing else. Trusting Him, believing Him, and not what our fleshly senses and corrupted intellect tells us. For, those of us in our time who do not prepare will experience devastation many fold more than what Egypt was about to experience.
It doesn’t matter that most of our religious leaders are blind to it. It doesn’t matter that our academic elite scoff at it. It doesn’t matter that our government sees everything in terms of geo-political realities, and our lawmakers see things in terms of attaining and maintaining personal power. For most of our secular and religious leaders are as oblivious to reality as were Pharaoh’s wise men and magicians. You see, God has not entrusted the truth to them: He has entrusted it to US…His true Church. Not the façade of Church institution, with its bureaucracies and man-made doctrines; rather His people, His followers, sanctified through the blood of Christ.