Judgement, then No More Denial

Ezekiel 38:18-23

This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red rain
Ohhhh
Putting the pressure on much harder now
To return again and again
Just let the red rain splash you
Let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defenses down
With the trust of a child

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

And I can't watch any more
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this

"Red Rain" written and recorded by Peter Gabriel from "So"

What in the world has Israel done? They have done something so bad that Magog of Gog has been dragged from his pit by the Lord by hooks in his mouth to lead a great and dreadful army against the nations of Israel. Does Israel have any idea what's coming? Let's face it, if they thought something bad was coming down the pike they had no idea this was coming.

Israel has returned again and again to the Lord. Read the books of Judges and Kings sometime. Good judge or king rules. Everybody's happy. The nation sins. Bad judge or king takes over. Everybody's unhappy. Israel repents. Good judge or king rules. Wash, rinse, repeat. They come with defenses down with the trust of a child and the red rain keeps coming down.

Sometimes, judgement keeps coming down.

And sometimes...

No more denial. When we repent we come to know what we have received, the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is real. When we can't watch any more, when we can't deny the devastation that is wrought upon our world, we must turn from it. That is when we are ready. To feel the truth that God's grace has been present all along. The red rain continues to fall, it is hard to lay down in all of this, but it is so much better when we do.

The chaos that overwhelms our lives is the judgement which rains down on us. Is that judgement of God or does it just seem that way? Either way, it rains down. Then in the words of Ezekiel, "Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

In the words of Peter Gabriel, "No more denial."