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#DailyDevotion The Day Of The LORD Jesus Christ Will Be Gloom & Darkness

#DailyDevotion The Day Of The LORD Jesus Christ Will Be Gloom & Darkness

Zeph. 114“The LORD’s great day is near. It is near and coming very quickly. Listen! The sound of the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shriek of the warrior will be horrible. 15That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and anguish, a day of wreck and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16a day of trumpet blowing and battle cries against the fortified towns and the corner towers.

It’s natural for the Church to focus on the end of the world this time of year. Even young people will notice the lectionary readings are heavily focused on it. It is because it is the end of the Church year. The beginning of the Church year is Advent in which we look to the second coming of Christ Jesus which is the end of the world. So we go from the end of the Church year to the second coming of Christ and top it off with Christmas.

For the sixth century Jews they were facing their last day, their end of the world. That would be the LORD’s great day for them. The LORD was coming to visit upon them his wrath because they worshipped and served other gods. They gave credit to other gods for all their good fortune. They gave thanks to these foreign gods. Like the demons who were behind these gods they followed these demons into great sin and vice. They became adulterers, robbers, thieves and murderers. They took advantage of the foreigner in their midst, widows, orphans and the poor instead of defending them and taking care of them. They didn’t pay their workers their due. For these and other sins the LORD was going to rain down upon them his wrath.

He was going to bring down upon them the Babylonians to kill, destroy and bring them into exile. It was going to be a bitter day and shriek of the warrior would be horrible. The day would be one of darkness and gloom. The trumpet blowing would announce the enemy coming upon all their towns to lay them waste.

This is a type of the great and terrible day of Jesus’ return. Jesus describes it thus in Matthew 13, 41“The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will take out of His kingdom those who do wrong and all who lead others to do wrong, 42and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and grind their teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. If you have ears, listen!” It will be a time of God’s wrath upon the earth but instead of Assyrians, Babylonians or Romans it will the holy angels of the LORD Jesus Christ executing God’s wrath against all the ungodly.

What should you do then? Daily meditate upon the Ten Commandments and see where you have come up short. Confess your sins and turn from them. Receive Holy Absolution from your pastor. Get baptized if you have not already or meditate what God has given your there. Regularly gather with all the saints and receive our LORD’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of your faith. Show mercy, kindness, and love to the people our LORD Jesus brings into your midst. Trust that Jesus’ work and blood alone will take you from the judgment of wicked into his everlasting kingdom.

Heavenly Father, grant unto us repentance from our sin, give faith in your Son Jesus and give us a genuine love for our neighbor, especially our enemies so we may enter into his eternal kingdom a the end of the age. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Rev. Guillaume J. S. Williams, Sr.

The Reverend Guillaume Williams is the Pastor of Hope Lutheran Chapel of Osage Beach, Missouri. His pastoral ministry with Hope began in 2005 where he preaches the Christ crucified.

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