Storm on the Horizon:

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT What many thoughtful people think and fear about the USA, and other Western nations, Isaiah new for sure about Israel 2,800 years ago.  Though times were still good, catastrophe was on the horizon.  Isaiah and his countrymen grew up in a time of peace, but now threats were growing like storm clouds.  Here is one example:  Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.  When it was reported to the house of David, saying, "The Arameans have camped in Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.  (Isaiah 7:1-2, emphasis added) I wouldn't say that people around me are shaking like leaves in the wind, but many people are concerned, and many of the folk who are concerned are the kind of people whom I respect--thoughtful, careful people.  Isaiah spoke as God's prophet.  He had irrefutable information that disaster was coming.  My contemporaries, of whom I speak, have no such sure word.  Still there are parallels.   Almost universally, the people of Isaiah's time looked to the wrong sources for solutions and safety.  We'll explore some of these in the days to come, but basically they looked to things on the outside, when in reality the basic problems were matters of the heart.  ". . . this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. . ." (Isaiah 29:13) What the people of Isaiah's time, and my time need is to respond to the message of another Old-Testament prophet, ". . . rend your heart and not your garments."  Now return to the LORD your God. . . ."  (Joel 2:13) It's STTA.   http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html