Inasmuch as none of the political and religious leaders of our nations will repent of their sins and stand in the gap to tell the people to repent of their sins and turn to the true God, calamity will follow. What a contrast to the king of Nineveh who, responding to Jonah’s warning, repented of his evil deeds and told the people to do likewise.
Notice God’s pronouncement in Isaiah 63:4-5:
“For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come. I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me.”
God’s Church must be different. A warning must be given, and God expects and requires of His Church to do so. And so, God demands of His Church to plead the cause of the needy and to show the leaders of our nations and the people following our leaders their sins with the hope that they will repent and turn. Isaiah 58:1 says:
“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.”
He continues to list some of those sins—brutal and violent conduct; disregard of the poor and needy; as well as Sabbath-breaking. This warning message of impending disaster, because of the sins of the leaders and the people, is to be proclaimed by God’s Church, like the blowing of a loud and mighty trumpet.
We read in Ezekiel 33:2-7:
“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.”
Today, the task of the watchman has been given to God’s Church, and we had better fulfill God’s command to warn the leaders and the people of coming disaster, unless they repent. This warning is being proclaimed today for everyone who is willing to see, hear and read. Again, God’s commission to His Church is stated in Ezekiel 3:17-19:
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
Jeremiah repeats this commission to God’s Church, but also points out that most will not listen. We read in Jeremiah 6:17-19:
“Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people– The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words, Nor My law, but rejected it.”
Also notice Isaiah 48:6, charging His Church with declaring what God reveals to it: “You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.” Also note verse 20: “Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare, proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth…”
Yes, God’s people are commissioned to leave the evil systems of this world, and to admonish others to do likewise. God’s people are not supposed to be part of the world. But they are in this world, shining as lights among an evil and adulterous generation.
When God told Jeremiah that He had ordained him a prophet to the nations, He commanded: “Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land– Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to deliver you’” (Jeremiah 1:17-19).
Jeremiah spoke first to the people, but they did not listen. So he concluded: “Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God. I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have known the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.’ But these have altogether broken the yoke And burst the bonds” (Jeremiah 5:4-5).
A devastating example of the rebellion of the leaders and the people of our nations can be found in the end-time prophecy in Psalm 2:1-12. We read:
“Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD [God the Father] and against His Anointed [Jesus Christ; in Hebrew: Messiah], saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens [the Father] shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King [Jesus Christ] On My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD [the Father] has said to Me [Jesus Christ], ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son [Jesus Christ], lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
We see how the leaders and nations of this world are in total defiance of God—the Father and the Son—and none of that will change until Christ returns to this earth to establish the Kingdom and government of God, thereby replacing all human kings and rulers. They had received the warning and admonition from God, but as it is prophesied, they chose to ignore them.
Still, God told Jeremiah—and He tells us today—to continue warning the rulers and the people of terrible disaster which would strike them (Jeremiah 5:20-21: “Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying, ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not…’”).
The rejection from the leaders and the people did not stop Jeremiah or the other prophets to continue proclaiming God’s warning.
The prophets of old were charged to tell the leaders with whatever means available to them that they were doing wrong. John the Baptist did the same later when he told Herod that he was living in adultery. In Revelation 10:11, John is given a little book with the admonition, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” This verse can also be understood that he had to proclaim a warning message before, concerning and against many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. Inasmuch as this is an end-time prophecy, this commission is given to God’s end-time Church.
This includes, preaching against fighting in war. We read in Isaiah 28:6 that God gives “strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.” Also note Isaiah 54:15: “… they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” The Good News Translation says: “Whoever attacks you, does it without my consent; whoever fights against you will fall.” This is why Christ says that we will perish by the sword if we take the sword to fight (Matthew 26:52; also note Revelation 13:10).
It also includes not voting in elections for our leaders. This should be self-evident when considering how God views them, and we are admonished to abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Note also Hosea 8:4: “They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them…”
This end-time commission to warn the leaders and the people has been given to God’s Church today. But of course, it is prophesied that most will not listen, as they refused to listen to the prophets of old in ancient times. In fact, we read in Micah 2:11: “If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying, ‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’ Even he would be the prattler of this people.” In other words, he would be the kind of prophet whom the people would like to have and listen to.
Also note God’s words in Ezekiel 33:30-33:
“As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Still, this must not discourage or prevent us from proclaiming what we are called to do, thereby following God’s direct commission to the Church—realizing that this is part of the Work of God which God has given us to carry out.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link