Get Your Thoughts In Order--Engraved Invitations

"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel."

Zephaniah 1:7-8

Have you ever given a back-yard barbecue? Maybe you have hosted some sort of banquet or dinner party?  Then I am sure that you have noticed that there are two classes of people in relation to your meal.  There are those who are invited and then there are those who are not.  Would it be any different with the Lord?  Zephaniah houses much of his work in the context of a sacrifice feast.  Strange!

Nearly all of the commentaries and study helps referenced through the years make light of this allusion to a feast.  However, nearly all of them have God as inviting guests and then "sacrificing" them.  That doesn't seem too hospitable.  Possibly, there is another thought here.  The word for "hath bid", qadash, has the following meaning: to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate.  Again, many commentaries see God as sanctifying the world for a sacrifice.  If his guests are the sanctified offering who then is enjoying what the Lord has prepared?  It seems that there may be two groups involved in the LORD's sacrifice also--the invited and the uninvited.

Remember Zephaniah 2:3?  It was a part of the text that this whole series started on.  It says, "Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger."  Surely those hidden in Christ are those who are separated (sanctified) for the dinner feast.   Maybe God is saying that there are those uninvited who feel they deserve a place at the table of the Lord?  Yet, God chose to invite the meek, humble, and righteous clothed in the imputed righteousness of YHWH Tsidkenue--the LORD our Righteousness.  

Let's get straight to the point.  Zephaniah seems to explain a sudden hiding--a rapture. Those hidden are separated from the world which is being prepared as the sacrifice.  While God's wrath is poured out His hidden ones are gathered together feasting in the presence of the LORD.  Their invitations to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb were given with engraved invitations.  They were engraved in the bloody, nail scarred hands of Jesus Christ.  Are you ready?  God's day of sacrifice is quickly approaching.

The signs of the Marriage Feast and a trumpet blast are all around us.  John McTernan (whose blog is linked to the right) pointed out many of the disasters we have recently faced.  These are news events that I have been following as well.  China is facing its worst drought in history with major crop loss. New Zealand just had a major city destroyed by a series of earthquakes since September. The Arab nations are spinning in chaos. Australia has had the worst flooding in its recorded history with huge crop loss. Gas prices are skyrocketing giving ominous warnings of a possible deepening economic crisis. Many Middle Eastern countries are on the verge of war. The streets of the US are in an uproar over unions. Russian fields are ablaze with thirty percent of their crops lost. Now Japan has been hit by a cataclysmic earthquake that threatens to destroy their economy that is in worse shape than ours. Finally, we have just entered a solar maximum period that some experts feel could devastate our electrical grid with one massive flare and ensuing solar wave. This has all has happened in the last few months. Are you looking up?


Earthquakes in Diverse Places
I mentioned that I was not going to post Thursday.  If you remember, I wrote on impending disaster as God tries to wake us up and get our attention.  This was one of several statements from that post made hours before the destruction of Japan, "I was not going to post today, but world news and God's prompting is leading me to share some thoughts about the nations of the world being judged......Truly the nations of the world have aligned themselves against the LORD and His Christ.  We will soon see many more judgments against the world as the rebellion intensifies." When I wrote that I did not know that the nation of Japan was to be hit with a historic and devastating earthquake just hours later.  



 Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis - CNN.com


Rescuers scramble to save lives as aftershocks jolt Japan - CNN.com


YouTube - Incredible HD Footage of Japan Tsunami


Explosion Occurs at Japanese Nuclear Plant While Quake, Tsunami Death Toll Rises - FoxNews.com


Godlessness and Apostasy in the Last Days


Maryland Gay Marriage Bill Dies With No Final Vote - FoxNews.com


Gay Male Secretary for the White House - NYTimes.com


Megan Quinn: Visiting minister separates Jesus from Christ - Boulder Daily Camera


Hollywood's War On America Eurasia Review


Indiana Church Behind Provocative Sex Billboard - FoxNews.com  How about a strong focus on winning the lost?  ???????


AFA Threatens Boycott if ABC Airs 'Good Christian B*tches', Christian News, The Christian Post


Israel and the Middle East


MK Danon to Netanyahu: Do Not Cede Land to Arabs - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News


Jean-Jacques Jihad - Andrew C. McCarthy - National Review Online


Syria Wants Libya's UNHRC seat


Sen. Graham Wants Intel Chief Gone After He Claims Russia, China Pose 'Mortal' Threat - FoxNews.com


Netanyahu blames Palestinian incitement for Itamar attack