THIS SHALL BE A SIGN

2 Peter 3:3-4 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

Lest we forget, God has always given reminders of His faithfulness and Satan always tries to co-opt the same signs to draw our eyes back toward ourselves and our own lusts.

Genesis 9:14 The rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

After the ark came to rest and Noah left to walk on dry ground, God promised that he would never again destroy the earth by water and as a reminder for all generations, He placed a rainbow in the clouds.  Of course that sign has been co-opted by people who mock the laws of God and follow their own lusts.  To those who have an intimate relationship with the God who created the rainbow, joy still fills our heart every time one appears, reminding us of God’s love and faithfulness to His creation.

Matthew 2:2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew 2:10-11 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.

Just last week, Venus and Jupiter came so close together that they appeared as one bright star.  Some called it the “Star of Bethlehem” as it passed through the constellation of Leo, a reminder of the star followed by the wise men in search of the Christ Child, the Lion of Judah.  Many mocked as believers were reminded of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling prophecy by sending a Redeemer who would die to save people from their sins, but to those whose sins are forgiven it brought rejoicing and we worshipped.

Job 38:31-33 Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?
32 Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

Psalms 19:1-3 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

If you study the constellations and what has come to be known as the signs of the Zodiac, you will see the beautiful story of redemption.  But of course Satan could not be silent, so he perverted the study of the stars, constellations and planets into a “science” called Astrology.  Rather than rely on the faithfulness of God to guide his steps, man began to look to the stars and read daily horoscopes to foretell the future and determine his destiny.  Of course man desired not just any destiny, but one that would satisfy all his longings and lusts.  Do you really thing an Astrologist or Psychic reader would last very long if they only foretold doom and gloom? But to we who have put our trust in the One who “guides the Great Bear with its cubs,” we look at the brightness of the each star, feel the warmth of the sun and know that God not only controls the earth on its axis but has a plan for each one that shelter beneath His “wings.”

John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Before Jesus ascended He promised His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for all who believed and obeyed the things He had commanded.  Then one day He would return and take those believers with Him to the place He had prepared.  And lest we forget, grow weary and began to doubt His faithfulness, there would be signs in the Heavens to remind us that we are not forgotten.

Luke 21:25-28 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Satan through humankind, will continue to mock, pervert and use the things set by God for his purpose and his followers may laugh, mock and scoff at the reports of earthquakes, pestilence, blood moons, Shemitah years, eclipses and “Stars of Bethlehem,”  but to the Redeemed they are just reminders of God’s Eternal Faithfulness.  That one day, “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

GOD IS FAITHFUL.  I STILL BELIEVE, DO YOU?

2 Peter 8:3-9 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.