How Long?

Reposted from one of my other blogs.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Rev 6:10 KJV)

How long O Lord? It’s a question often uttered by all saints at one point or another in this life. We get weary in well doing, weary in our work, weary in our lives. Someone once said, “The problem with life, is it’s so daily...” It’s true. We become so wrapped up in the mundane aspects of life, we often miss many of the more important issues. We are assailed on every side, it seems by the wickedness of the world. It wears us down.

John the Revelator penned the words in the verse above some 2000 years ago. The cry of ‘How Long?’ is voiced by those believers martyred for their faith. It tends to put into perspective the hardships we face. In America we as believers have not faced the intense persecution of the folks portrayed in this peek into the future. We have not had to endure the hardships of our forebears, when first century Christians were hunted down and murdered, simply for professing Christ.

Yet my mind ponders another aspect of the question. How long, O Lord will you suffer the evil of our generation? Be sure that although God is patient and longsuffering, there are very definite limits to His forebearance. He gave The nation of Canaan approximately 400 years before He ordered the children of Israel to eliminate them. Indeed when God’s own chosen, Israel fell into the same wickedness, judgement was sure. It came after many, many years, but it was as inevitable as a juggernaut.

It may be alarming to those who are unaware that there are parallels between the wicked societies that exixted in that day, and our own modern cosmopolitan times. One of the most abhorrent practices that God punished Canaan for was causing their children to “pass through the fire”. (Lev 18:21, Deu 18:10, 2 Ki 16:3, 17:17, 21:6, 23:10, 2 Chron 33:6, Jer 32:35, Eze 16:21, 20:26, 20:31) Without being unnecessarly graphic in it’s description, this refers to the ancient practice of offering one’s own children up to an idol by burning it alive. The ancient Canaanites were notorious for it. Worse yet, the Israelites later fell into this practice. You can check the above scripture references for yourself.

What has that to do with us today, you might ask? We are living in a time when infants have been slaughtered by the billions. Are they being offered up on a flaming altar to a pagan deity? Perhaps the mechanics differ, but the dynamics are the same. There is little difference between burning alive, and dismembering alive. Is the altar of self or convenience any more acceptable in God’s sight than the altar of a pagan god? I submit to you that He is a sickened by it now as he was then, and that His sure judgement is on it’s way. The shedding of innocent blood has always demanded justice.

Another case in point is that old familiar story of God’s judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah. There is no real mystery as to the sin of the Sodomites. The very name has been preseved in our modern language to describe practitioners of homosexuality. Their level of defiance of God’s law was such that the men of that city actually tried to rape two angelic visitors when they came to warn Lot of impending judgement. It indicates that they were so morally depraved that they would not only commit this abomination, but that they would force those unwilling around them to accede to their ways.

Sound familiar? There was a time in America when debate as to whether homosexual marriage is acceptable or not, had no place in the public arena. Don’t be fooled. This issue is not about love and acceptance, it’s about a small group of morally bankrupt activists trying to force us and our children to legitimize their chosen lifestyle. Sadly, they have enjoyed success. God has forbidden this type of behavior many times in scripture. There is no law, whether legislated or adjudicated, that can ever legitimize it in God’s eyes. Judgement is surely on it’s way.

Do you feel despair for our nation? I do to at many times, but for the hope that God himself gives in his Word:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2Ch 7:14 KJV)

Did anyone catch that? If my poeple humble themselves, and pray. Whoa! Wait a minute! We’re not the ones practicing all that evil! Why do we have to humble ourselves and repent from our wicked ways? The scriptures are replete with examples of Godly men repenting on behalf of the nation. God hears and answers these cries. We can never stem the tide of evil by chaining ourselves to the doors of abortion clinics. We cannot stop sexual perversion being force fed to us and our children by activism alone. But prayer changes things. With God, all things are possible. I can actually see a day when Roe vs. Wade is overtuned. I can see a day when a constitutional amendment is a reality, defining marriage as a union between on man and one woman.

How do we do it? First, we get on our knees and cry out in repentence on behalf of a wicked and perverse generation. We pray for our leaders. God requires it of us, and we are remiss in our duties if we neglect to do it. Vote. God has given us this nation where we have the freedom to choose our leaders. Many have died defending that freedom. It is our duty to vote. Perseverence. Don’t quit. Don’t succumb to the weariness and merely cry out, “how long?”

Too many times, Christians ask, “how long?” In reference to the rapture of the church. Make no mistake, He’s coming, and soon. But in the meantime, we have work to do. We do not have to cede all territory to the enemy before He comes. Remember, He is coming for a “glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, (Eph 5:27 KJV)

How ought we behave? Remember, like Christ, love the sinner, hate the sin. We do not hate or disabuse those that have commited the sins of abortion or of homosexuality. We have all been saved out of sin. How then can we judge the souls of those who have yet to make that decision. If you know someone who is chained in these sinful lifestyles, love them as Jesus does. And above all, Pray. Pray. Pray!