Monday, 22 September 2008

• Praying "Maranatha!"

  
  "...in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.  So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications..." Daniel 9:2-3
  
  maranatha - our Lord cometh or will come
  

  
  This passage in Daniel has been dear to me for years. I do not remember who was teaching or when I learned it, but its concept always stokes my desire to study and to pray.
  
  Daniel's been studying the Word, and he realizes the assigned interval for Israel's Babylonian captivity is ending. Jeremiah had written that Israel would be away from the land for 70 years (punishment for worshiping false Gods and for not letting the farm land rest on the sabbath years).
  
  Anyway, Daniel realizes time is up, and his reaction is to pray, "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.""
  
  Now, the context of Daniel's prayer is repentance for the sins that resulted in captivity. But the principle here, for us in Jesus today, is to see that the interval of Satan's dominion over this Earth is drawing to a close. Jesus Himself gives us the signs of the end in Matthew 24. In verses 4 through 8, he gives us the beginning of the birth pangs. I believe that is what we're seeing today. Starting in verse 9 is the description of the Great Tribulation (it matches  similar descriptions in Revelation and Daniel).
  
  I'm not talking about the rapture or the timing thereof (so let's not debate that right now). All believers in Jesus should believe that He is returning for us. That is not in dispute.
  
  So, then, we see the birth pangs have been in full swing for more than a 100 years, I would say (two world wars, catastrophic earthquakes and hurricanes and more). And in that time, Israel has become a nation again and her people are regathering in their land.
  
  So, then, we should see that the time for Jesus' return is very near, and we should pray that He comes. Why? Daniel tells us in  9:19:
  
  

  "O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
  

  
  We bear His name. We are His image on this Earth. The world knows that we believe He will return. They mock us for it. Pray that the Lord proves Himself to them with all certainty.
  
  Yes, we must pray first that they see God's mercy, God's salvation as offered in Jesus and his death and resurrection. That is why He tarries. Yet, He will not wait forever. There is an appointed time of judgment. Those who trust Jesus will be declared not guilty and the rest will be declared guilty and be banished from the Kingdom  and from God forever.
  
  I do not wish any to perish, either. I pray for my unbelieving friends, that their eyes are opened. But Earth and its groanings tell me time is nearly up, and I long to see my Lord face to face. So, nearly every day, I say: "Maranatha! Lord, come!"
  

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