The sun will be turned to darkness…before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Joel 2:31
If you are like me, you think you are immune to the shock that comes from the statistics surrounding the porn and sexual exploitation industry. I was wrong, and perhaps you were too. After reading this article by John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute (not a faith-based organization), I have had to, once again, readjust my thinking. But, as I do, two questions always leap to mind:
Q.1 – Why is the church not out in front on this issue?
Q.2 – What is keeping God from judging America?
Admittedly, I do not have dogmatic answers to these two questions, but specific biblical passages come to mind as I ponder this problem. One of those is from Ezekiel 33:1-6, where God tells us that there will be a watchman on the wall to tell us that judgment is coming.
Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and other prophets were watchmen who warned God’s people that a “sword” was coming and that, if they didn’t prepare for coming judgment, “their blood shall be on their own head.”
On August 21, 2017, America experienced a total eclipse, which was visible from coast-to-coast. People gathered at viewing parties to celebrate this rare event. Whether you see spiritual or eschatological significance in such an event can be a discussion for another time. But when I think of it, I am reminded of another biblical passage. It’s the one where the Babylonian king Belshazzar was giving a feast and drinking wine out of vessels stolen from Jerusalem when suddenly, a man’s hand appeared and wrote something on the wall.
It was a message of impending doom. But Belshazzar was having so much fun that he didn’t heed the warning from the watchman Daniel. He died the next day, and the Medes and Persians destroyed the Babylonian Empire.
It seems to me that God is writing on our wall, America. He is saying to the church, “Wake up and prepare your hearts for the coming judgment!” He is saying, “Be the watchman on the wall!” But are we?
Suppose you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ and yet are dabbling in porn. In that case, you are just as drunk and unaware of impending doom as was Belshazzar, and you are just as guilty in God’s eyes as the pornographers and traffickers themselves. If your heart is shrouded in darkness now – blocked from the Light of Life by an eclipse of sexual sin, pray for the Son to once again shine on your darkened heart and take your rightful place on the wall. God help us if we do not!