God Sent Wake-Up Calls to Israel
The Lord’s first wake-up call to Israel came in an invasion by Assyria. This arch enemy attacked two Israelite provinces, Zebulun and Naphtali. Fortunately, the attacks were limited to these two points, and the damage was minimal. Yet God was clearly speaking to his people. The Lord’s chosen nation lost their sense of security. Yet they still missed the message God was speaking. Israel then received a second wake-up call. This one was very severe. Two nations whom Scripture calls the “enemies of Israel” — the Syrians and the Philistines — combined forces for a sudden attack. According to Isaiah, this attack came from both “before, and…behind” (Isaiah 9:12). This means the invaders came from the east and the west, surrounding Israel. And their sudden attack was totally devastating.
Now we come to the heart of my message, and to the question most Americans are asking: Where was God in this sudden invasion of his chosen land? What were his people to make of the disaster that had come upon them? Isaiah tells us God was faithful to speak to his people: “The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel” (Isaiah 9:8).. God spoke a clear word. And he sent the message to the whole nation.
Beloved, this verse tells us something very important at our own time of devastation. It says simply, “God always sends his word.” Never in history has the Lord left his people clueless in a time of calamity. He has never abandoned us and forced us to figure out things on our own. He always provides a word of understanding.
Even now the Lord is raising up godly watchmen to speak for him in these times. These shepherds are grieving, weeping and repenting as they seek God’s face. And I believe they’re hearing and understanding the Lord’s message behind the present events. Moreover, they’re not afraid to proclaim dire warnings, because they know they’ve heard from God. They’re compelled to speak of his purposes behind our calamities.
There is a lesson to be learned for a great many, who don't even think God is there. They think of themselves as so wise and so superior to 'primitive superstition' that it is all nonsense, and inscrutable to their supposed 'intelligence' and 'knowledge'.
It is self-righteous folks such as this that Jesus was expressly not interested in saving--when he talked about healing the sick, and not the 'healthy'. These 'healthy' folks would not accept any such healing... nor was he inclined to cut them any slack if their hearts were not truly seeking. Hence he taught in parables:
As in Matthew 13:
"And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
And as for teaching from disaster, the bible is replete with such, from the eating of the apple in the Garden of Eden, with the following eviction of Man from the Garden, and being barred from the Tree of Life, the Great Flood and Noah's Ark, to Pharaoh, and so on, up to the great and minor recorded prophets included therein. Just as TruthandLife describes with Isaiah. And the use did NOT stop in the Old Testament if you think there is some sort of disconnect between the New Testament and Old. Jesus himself pointed to disasters, as in Luke 13:3-5
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
I.e., we will ALL die, someday, and the lesson is, that death will be permanent, without salvation, unless we repent.