Sweet and Bitter

 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

I dreamed a dream. The whirlwind has come. It is a monster. No one will be safe. Judgment has been declared, it is now upon us. As it happens, I have just made a pitcher of lemonade, and I have it in my hands. The LORD tells me that the people will be thirsty, and that I should take it with me. In the next scene, I am back at my childhood home. How to warn the people? I cannot just tell them what I saw - they do not, and will not, see the storm. Perhaps I can remind them of the Palm Sunday tornado of 1967 that just barely missed our neighborhood? Someone has landed a plane. Surely they were able to see the threat from the air? No. The only discussion was the cost of fuel for the plane. The last scene is on Maui. Something about a tour company, and where to start their tours. 

I see what I see. Lemonade is not the first thing people will ask for when they are thirsty, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Yes, the Word of the LORD is sweet to those whom He is calling. They will receive it with joy. But I know that for most, that Word is bitter, and they will walk away. I am not called to preach to a people of a foreign tongue, whose ways are not my ways. No, my call is to my own neighborhood, to those I know, and who know me. When I awake and get up, I set off the car alarm in my pocket. 

Here then is my Word to you, my son. Do not be picky about how, and when, I send you. I will send you indeed to a people whose hearts are dull, and who cannot hear. Be ever hearing, O people, but never understanding. Yet I will fill thy mouth with my Eternal Word. I will cause you to understand. Some will indeed find this Word to be sweet. They will drink, they will be saved. Most will not. They will hate you even as they hated me. Be not afraid, nor let thy heart be troubled. 

I could seem to be the last person on earth He would choose to proclaim this Word. That's the point. When His Spirit comes upon me, my words will be sweet to some. They will not care whom the LORD has chosen to proclaim His Word. Others will mock - who has given that guy the authority to preach? The message begins at home, but where it takes me, I will not know. Maui is the most geographically isolated place on Earth. God's Word is not, and never will be, chained. 2 Timothy 2:9. His Spirit will take me where it will, when it will, as Phillip was sent to the court official of Ethiopia. Then it picked him up and carried him off. 

Where do we go from here?

 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. Ezekiel 33:2-4.

Where is the world headed? Mystery drones fly unfettered in the face of all our leaders. Congress tries to pass laws to make sure they are not held accountable for their lies. An out of control President abuses his power to let his son off. It all seems so dystopian. Even Orson Wells would never have dreamed of this, and he wrote the book 1948. 

The trumpet has been sounded. They have tried to eliminate the watchman, but instead he has been elected leader of the free world. Will we head his warning, and turn away from our sins? Yes, I know, he does seem to be a rather odd person to be calling the nation to repentance, but he has issued the clarion call nevertheless. The least we can do is pray for the man. 

We cannot assume the attacks are finished. The Lord has promised that those who bless Israel, He will bless. I believe He has withheld His hand of judgment against America as He has not yet finished with us. As long as we stand beside the Jewish nation, we will be spared. Once we turn away from them, it's all over. 

I once had a dream. Planes from the USA were attacking Israel. Guess what? They were going down in flames. The world will indeed unite against Ha Eretz, but "He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps". Psalm 121:4. Israel will retake all of her land, and will again be sovereign over all the Promised Land. Then will all the nations of the world attack. Failure. 

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper those that love thee". Psalm 122:6.