Wednesday, January 20, 2010

For A Small Moment

Isaiah 54:7 KJV
For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

Gill says of this passage,
"...Some interpret this of the seventy years' captivity of the Jews in Babylon, which was but a very short time; others of the times of ignorance in the Gentile world before the coming of Christ, which God winked at, when he overlooked them, and took no notice of them; but I choose to understand it of the time and state of the Christian church, during the ten persecutions of Rome Pagan, when it seemed to be forsaken of God, and to be triumphed over by her enemies..."

What an encouraging promise this is the the believer in his time of trouble. Sometimes a moment seems like an eternity for us. Seventy years was a lifetime for some Jew
Those Christians who endured the tortures of Pagan Rome were oftentimes taken to their deaths in that moment.

But these things are true even in the midst of the trouble
First, God has not truly forsaken His own. It only feels like that in the time of purging and refinement. It is in reality God's hand molding us into a far better image.
Second, a lifetime here is but a moment of eternity. Any degree of suffering here is nothing compared to the blessings of heaven. Paul said
Romans 8:18 KJV
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
The second half of the verse is reminiscent of the rapture. What a glorious day that will be when the saints of God, both those who have entered into rest from their sufferings and those who are still suffering in life on this planet, are gathered together to meet the Lord in the air.

Even so come, Lord Jesus!

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