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What the Bible says about Disasters as a Wake- up Call
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Amos 3:3

America calls itself a Christian nation. We have churches on every corner, Bibles in every house, Christian scripture and principles in our founding documents and on our governmental buildings, and the Ten Commandments on public monuments. We produce more Bibles and send more missionaries than any other nation on earth. We piously intone Christian principles in our politics and foreign policy. We even say public prayers before auto races! If we are so close to Him, God says, He must hold us more accountable than others.

Then, He asks a series of questions that are designed to get us to think in a cause-and-effect mode, that is, we are to think about why certain things occur. "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" (verse 3). The answer is obviously not. God wants us to place Him and ourselves as the "two," and we must remember that He just said that He must punish for sin. The conclusion must be that God is not walking with us because of our sins (see Isaiah 59:2-15)! There can be no agreement between a righteous God and a sinful nation.

Amos 3:4-5 contain four more cause-and-effect questions, but verse 6 applies specifically to our situation in America: "If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?" God is forcing us to agree with His logic. Do not people fear when they are made aware of danger nearby? Yes, of course. In the same way, if a disaster strikes, is it not true that God had a hand in it? Yes, of course! Especially if it occurs amidst a people who claim to be so close to God.

Later, in Amos 4:6-12, God tells us that we have missed the meaning of all the disasters we have endured in recent years. Using famine, drought, crop failure, epidemics, and "natural" disasters as examples of divine wake-up calls, He says, "Yet you have not returned to Me" (verses 6, 8-11). For a people who know God, calamity is not haphazard! God allows it to happen to inspire repentance and revival of true worship.

Did the nation take the September 11 attacks as warnings to return to God, truth, and right living? Sadly, only a few heeded them. A Barna Research Group (BRG) poll released on September 3, 2002, showed that "an overwhelming majority [90%] admit that 9/11 has had no lasting impact on their religious beliefs." BRG president George Barna reached the proper conclusion: "The fact that we saw no lasting impact from the most significant act of war against our country on our own soil says something about the spiritual complacency of the American public."

Indeed, it does. There is only one solution to this, "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the LORD God of hosts will be with you" (Amos 5:6). Even if the rest of the nation will not heed, we can as individuals put ourselves back in pace with God.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
September 11 One Year On

Zephaniah 1:12-13

The Hebrew literally says, "I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees . . .." What does it mean to be "settled on one's lees"? Is it relevant to us? Could we be guilty of it?

Understanding this figure of speech requires an overview of Zephaniah. Some have called him "the prophet of the Day of the Lord," which is the subject and main theme of his entire book. First, he describes that time in detail, showing that it will affect everybody and everything—nothing will escape it completely. In chapter 2, he calls on us to repent "before the LORD's fierce anger comes upon you" (verse 2), then describes God's judgment on surrounding nations. Chapter 3 begins with a denunciation of Judah and its atrocious sins, but God promises in verses 8-13 that a remnant of faithful people will see the coming of Christ and the Millennium.

Zephaniah, then, is a book about our near future. God includes it in His Word to provide a wake-up call to His people who have fallen asleep. He wants to save us however He can, and if He has to scare us to death to do it, He will! He prefers that we remain awake, watchful, and diligent, but if we start to drowse, He will throw cold water in our faces! Zephaniah is mainly composed of denunciations and threats—God is not being gentle! One commentator, George Adam Smith, writes of Zephaniah, "No hotter book lies in all the Old Testament!" It is like the kick of a booted drill sergeant at dawn!

Yet, even in Zephaniah's name a sense of hope remains: It means "The LORD has hidden." In Zephaniah 2:3, God promises that He will make a way of escape for the godly remnant: "Seek the LORD all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD's anger." In Zephaniah 2:1, He calls for His people to "gather together, O undesirable nation," and in Zephaniah 3:8, to "wait for Me . . . until the day I rise up for plunder." In other words, He advises us to fellowship with other faithful people and wait patiently for God to do His work.

Now that we have some background, what does "settled on their lees" mean? It is an expression derived from winemaking. Lees are what we call "dregs," particles of solid matter that fall to the bottom of the vat, jar, or bottle during fermentation. Back in ancient Israel, they liked to leave their wine on the lees to make it stronger, but there was a time limit to how long they could leave it there. Good wine left on its lees becomes stronger and more flavorful, but if left too long, it can become thick and syrupy—to put it bluntly, it will be ruined. So, a diligent winemaker would periodically pour the wine from one vat to another, straining off the lees.

The illustration shows that a person settled on his lees was at least slothful, maybe even complacent, indifferent, and apathetic. Bad wine left on the lees becomes harsh and bitter. We can certainly understand the metaphor here. What happens to a person who lives with his sins? Does he not become worse? Sin's addictive quality causes him to plunge deeper and need more or worse sin to satisfy him. For example, a person who broods in smoldering anger over some supposed offense eventually becomes bitter and hateful.

Notice that those who are settled on their lees say, "The LORD will not do good, nor will He do evil" (Zephaniah 1:12). They believe in God's existence, but they limit His ability to participate in their lives. They think He is powerless to do anything, good or evil. This is similar to the thought expressed by the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:17: "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." Neither one needs God, they think. This attitude produces slothfulness, complacency, indifference, spiritual carelessness, and destruction, as Zephaniah 1:13 shows.

Generally, the lees symbolize a way of life. For a righteous person, his godly way of life will make him stronger, but he must take care not to become complacent even in this because he could turn thick and apathetic. The solution, then, is to drain off the wine, as it were, into a new vessel periodically. Biblically, this is called "putting on the new man." We must be evaluating ourselves often, replacing worldly values with godly ones (see Colossians 3:1-17). To use a modern expression, we cannot be "resting on our oars" spiritually; we should never become satisfied with our spiritual progress.

What do we have to show for our spiritual lives right now? Or, have we settled on our lees? The Master Winemaker is waiting to pour us into heavenly vessels of honor and glory, so let us not disappoint Him by producing an inferior vintage.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Have We Settled on Our Lees?

Luke 13:1-5

Jesus says that disasters should be a wake up call to repent to all who survive! What we should focus on is our own guilt, our personal failure to live up to God's standards. Those who died are just like us! They paid the price for their sin—death. Do we deserve any less? Only by the grace and mercy of God do we live and have the opportunity to seek forgiveness, repent, and grow in character.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Christian Reaction to Terror


 




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