The Shrill Voice vs The Still Voice
Meditation for the week of May 22, 2011
1 Kings 19:11-12 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Recently, the big news was that the Lord was going to rapture the faithful and then judgment day was going to begin. It didn’t happen! This came from the camp of a man called Harold Camping. I am a Christian in the Biblical sense and I do not believe that we can know when the events associated with the Lord’s return will begin. However, my work has been made more difficult because many people think that the Bible teaches what Harold Camping teaches.
Years ago, I decided to see if I could sort out the Truths of the Bible for myself without a theological degree and without a great knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages. There are so many people telling us contradictory things about what the Bible says that I personally needed to satisfy myself about its message. I have found out that for the most part the only reason the Bible is confusing is that people don’t understand the difference between the old testament and the new testament. Because of this, they don’t understand the difference between promises made to the Jews and the promises made to the church. In addition, people read what other people say the Bible says instead of reading the Bible.
That brings us back to the recent pronouncements of Mr. Camping. Mr. Camping is a shrill voice and he got a lot of publicity. Back in 1988, a similar thing happened. A man wrote 88 reasons why the Lord would come in 1988. He didn’t! Lately, we have had earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. Some are telling us that these are the signs of the end times. Since the events of this nature that are predicted in the Bible occur after the Lord’s return for the church, these disasters should speak to us about our need to be ready for death or the Lord’s return NOW, but they are not the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy about the end times.
I am convinced that most people sort out their relationship with God when they are alone with God rather than in a moment of shrill panic. This may occur when they are in a crowd or at a meeting. They may get alone with God because of a calamity, but they need to be ALONE with God listening to His still small voice when they trust the Savior. I was brought face to face with my mortality, my sin, and God’s love for me in sending His Son to be my sin bearer while I was alone in my room. The death of President Kennedy caused me to think about my need of the Lord just as current natural disasters should make us all be aware that we need to be right with God. However, I trusted the Savior when God spoke to me in my room through the words of a Gospel pamphlet using that still small voice. Professions of faith made simply as a result of a calamity that do not involve hearing that still small voice often last only as long as the calamity lasts. When peace and tranquility are restored in the person’s life, they often forget about God once again.
The Truth is that Christ does not have a calendar of events for the church. He tells us to always be ready for His return (Matthew 24:44). When the second coming is going to occur is simply not revealed. What is revealed is that today is the day of salvation and we need to be ready for death and for the Lord’s return now. Either could happen at any time.
Obviously, the Truth doesn’t get the publicity that the shrill voice gets. The Truth is that Christ, died and was buried and was raised again the third day in order that we might be saved eternally. The Truth is that, "He who believes in Him (the Lord Jesus) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).”
That is truth that we all can understand and trust.
Bruce Collins