LET’S TRY DIGGING A HOLE TO GET IN
Isaiah 2:19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.
It seems from the very earliest of times even with Abraham, the land of Israel or as it was known earlier of Canaan, was constantly at war. Even when Joshua led the Hebrews into their Promised Land there was great loss of life. Those that were not killed were often made slaves. Because of the idol worship the Assyrians attacked and sent into exile most of the Northern Kingdom. Now as we see in Isaiah there is prophecy concerning the Babylonians and the return of the Lord. For those living in what was left of the Northern Kingdom and certainly the Southern Kingdom there was great fear. Babylon was a mighty war machine that little could be done to stop it. And now that the Southern Kingdom had turned from the Lord, they couldn’t even turn to him for help. It had become a time of desperation and for most. All they could do was to hide and hope for the best even if they had to hide in caves or holes in the ground.
I am almost 69 years old now, but I can still remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was in my early teens and although our family didn’t watch much TV it was obvious to even me that times were scary. I can remember going to the local National Guard Armory with my parents to see all the bomb shelters that were available to place in your basement or backyard. Schools and many other public buildings had stacks of supplies of water, canned food and health items. Everyone knew that at a moment's notice war could break out, and much loss of life could come about by a nuclear attack. Fortunately we were never attacked, nor did we attack anyone else. While the immediate danger was over the bomb shelter and supplies were still there as a reminder of what could have been or what could still happen without warning. I can’t imagine how the people of the Southern Kingdom must felt when they knew that Babylon was now even greater than the Assyrians and were headed to conquer them. Now all they had were some idols made out of stone, wood or metal to protect them. They had given up on the one true Almighty God for something they could hold in their hand.
Today we can see on TV all kinds of programs about the end of the world and people called preppers, and how they are preparing to survive the great destruction they feel is coming. It is said that there are 3 million preppers in the United States alone that feel a looming apocalypse will happen in less than 20 years. They are buying stockpiles of weapons with large amounts of ammunition. They are storing food and bottled water. One man even put 1,000 fish into his swimming pool. Gardening and medical supplies along with ancient practices of erbs and the like are being learned. There are some underground facilities they are very elaborate and can hold several families. As wise or foolish as some may see this, it seems that little is being done in regards to learning to seek help from Jesus. Churches are becoming less attended while people are digging more holes in their backyard to bury their survival shelters.
My question for them might be, “How long can they stay underground?” There will be a time when they have to all come out, and if they don’t have Jesus there certainly won’t be much to come out for.
Today’s verse certainly points to the reason for the tribulation that drove the people underground was the dread of the Lord. It seems to me that if they were smart they would stop trusting in man, and start getting right with the Lord. The preppers have one main flaw in their end of time preparation, and that is they tend to leave Jesus out. If the Jews had not left the Lord to trust in things made of wood , metal and stone, the Lord would have protected them. Instead they dug holes in the ground that would become their graves.
Where does your hope come from? Are you trusting in the things of life that you can provide to get you through? Is Jesus your shelter in times of blessing and times of trouble? If he is not you are only in for loss, failure and ultimately great regret. In some ways the preppers are certainly right in being ready. The thing is if you are not prepared correctly you might as well not be prepared at all. There is only one way to get rid of the dread of standing before the Lord, and that is get right with Jesus now before it is too late. Jesus even gave this illustration in Lk 12:58 where he say to get things settled before going before the judge. Our greatest preparation for our future is to stop trusting in what we or other people can do to help us, and turn to Jesus for ur help. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. It is a matter standing firm in our faith in Jesus. Isaiah 7:9b says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” It makes more sense to stand with Jesus than against him and be in a hole hoping he will go away.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to always trust in Jesus, and not let the things of this world pull us away. We love you Holy Spirit, and ask this in Jesus name.
