lation, the Jewish people will have to flee to the mountains in order to es cape the ravages of the invading armies (Matt. 24:15, 16). Theyffi not have time even to pick up their be longings or to salvage their cher ished possessions (Luke 17:31). The Lord cautions solemnly, “Remember Lot’s wife” (v. 32). These are im portant reminders for our lives as well! P art F ifteen I N A day and age when man seeks to show his scientific strength and knowledge, we’re thankful that we serve the God of the miraculous. How insignificant is human achieve ment in the light of what He can do! In Acts 10:38 we have received Pe ter’s sermon in the house of Corne lius, as he forcefully declares that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. The testimony is that He “went about do ing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” As this Roman centurion prayed, God answered his petition through Peter. Read this entire section to catch the full significance of the message. Jesus didn’t abuse the privilege of living by using it sel fishly. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. He taught, and rightly so, that it was more blessed to give than to receive. Our Saviour certainly recognized the presence of evil in the world. He does in our day as well. He never ig nored the grim tragedy of sin. He saw more clearly than any other the terrible sufferings of mankind. He has always looked upon man’s deep est desperation. He knows our terri ble alienation from God. This is why he came. He died, the just for the unjust, that He might redeem us to God. While the Bible view of sin is re garded by some people as pessimis
There are prophecies that are a curse upon false religion. To strengthen his new kingdom of the ten northern tribes of Israel, King Jeroboam devised a man-made reli gion with worship centers in Dan and Bethel (I Kings 12:26). He himself wickedly officiated as high priest at the altar (13:1). We stud ied earlier about God’s judgment through the unnamed prophet. We may wonder why God puts up with much of what we hear today carried on in the name of religion. How peo ple have the audacity to offend a holy God by their false worship is a sign of the times in which we’re living. Think of the curse the Sav iour pronounced, as He walked with His disciples from Bethany to Jeru salem, just a few days before His crucifixion. Jesus saw a single fig tree in full leaf which gave promise of a delightful breakfast of figs (Mark 11:12, 13). But though boast ing a luxuriant growth, the plant was entirely without fruit (Mark 11:13). Christ pronounced a curse upon the barren tree, saying that no man could eat of it again. The next morning the group passed by the same tree and noticed that it was completely dead from the .roots up (Mark 11:20). The fig tree was sym bolical of Israel. The lush foliage typified the nation’s outward profes sion of religion. The lack of fruit stood for her inward barren spiritual condition without the Lord. The curse was a gracious symbolic warn ing concerning the rejection of the Messiah. In A.D. 70, Titus, the Ro man, swept into Jerusalem and com pletely ravished the land. Jesus knew what He was talking about. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, it was all men who crucified Him there. It wasn’t only the Jewish people. We all had a spiritual part in what took place because of our lost condition. God pronounces fearful prophetic curses upon faint-hearted, cowardly religions. During the tribu- 28
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