Time: interestingly, the early saints believed the second coming was going to happen soon because of the language here in this scripture and others:
The hour is nigh
The day soon at hand
It is important to view these phrases figuratively. They are not a reference to time but to urgency.
This life is temporary. Whether at His coming here or at our own death and our arrival there - we will someday face God. If there are matters we know we need to repair, then now is the time to ask God for help. If you had a disease that prevented you from enjoying life, wouldn't you be willing to take whatever medicine would cure that disease - and the sooner the better?
From my own personal experience, chemo and radiation were terrible but so worth the time dedicated to healing from cancer.
I have had other more personal issues that have prevented me from enjoying life. The time and effort to get past those was also a time of healing. I'm grateful that I can take those faults of mine to the Lord and get His help in changing me. I like to say that we don't NEED to repent, we GET to repent. The Lord will help us to change any personal failing that we bring to Him.
Some people like apocalyptic prophecies but not I. The interpretation of such passages is all about the way they are worded. It makes God seem vengeful in some of those prophecies. Do as I say or this is what will happen to you. It is unfortunate that we have to deal with such language and man's inability to " translate" revelation purely. It always goes through and interpretive step.
But what we know of God we must trust. He is our loving Heavenly Father. His relationship to us His literal offspring is not transactional. We don't get a gift every time we do something right nor are we punished every time we err. His plan allows consequences to naturally play out in our lives. He created a moral universe wherein we would learn our lessons.
So I choose to put the language of verses 14 to 21 through that paradigm and also through my own common sense of what I know as a resident of planet Earth
Between the time the Earth was created and when it will end there have been and will still be
days when the sun is dark - when pollutants are so thick we cannot enjoy the sun; days or nights when those same pollutants turn the moon red - we've seen this recently when volcanic ash was blown halfway around the world.
There have been and will continue to be:
Weeping and wailing of people due to hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, holocaust, mass shootings
Hailstorms - destroying crops, automobiles and buildings
Insects in men's flesh
Bodies disintegrating - think Hiroshima and Chernobyl
The Earth is and has always been filled with abominations, atrocities, horrific events.
How much of it is caused by man? That is of course up to interpretation. But two things we know:
1. Natural disasters happen and they affect both good and bad people. They are not sent only to the "wicked".
2. Mankind has been personally responsible for many natural disasters and we know from the past that we have polluted both lakes and air.
Are we "wicked" for this? I would rather say accountable. Accountability suggests we are doing something we can change. Isn't that a basic tenant of the gospel? We humans have agency - the ability to choose our actions, evaluate the results, and change if needed.
If we are doing something that created harm and we consciously choose not to change - well that seems like the perfect definition of wickedness. Collective wickedness perhaps. We create a whole economy based on fossil fuels and change then becomes very difficult and it is hard to blame the individual. But we suffer the consequences nevertheless and some more than others as those who live on the Gulf Coast can attest.
The Lord does not cause bad things to happen - He is the Author of all that is good. Earth life is filled with challenges from many different sources. We can trust that He will now, as He has always done, strengthen us and comfort us in the midst of the storm.
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