When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?… But what did you go out to see?… But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.” (Luke 7:24-27)
This was what the Lord spoke deep into my heart the morning following our visit to the Grand Canyon. For a while now my lovely wife and sister in the Lord has desired to see the Grand Canyon, but how would it happen? And I have had an appreciation for this grand “attraction” being so overjoyed with the evidence the Grand Canyon provides believers for the scientific undergirding of God’s Creation account and especially for those indoctrinated in the “faith” of Evolution, that when we had the opportunity to visit on our way to California to attend a funeral, we all agreed to take the time to visit.
We found the entrance to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and made our way to the viewing platform protected by a sturdy metal railing. However, it wasn’t too soon afterward that the boys found the unprotected “rim” where one could stand on the very edge – millimeters from a certain death with a wrong move. They were excited by the view, the adventure; possibly even the challenge of being so close to this razor’s edge.
When I was a boy visiting the Canyon with my folks, apparently I had no fear and rushed toward the edge (as my Mom relates). And this fear of taking our boys to the Canyon used to haunt me. But for some reason, I didn’t have it this time. What I didn’t expect was the reaction from my wife. Seeing her first born peering over the edge took her over the top and she began to weep uncontrollably. But I would later find out that there was a deeper reason for her tears and grief.
A few hours earlier, we visited Sunset Crater – the result of a volcanic eruption 1000 yrs prior. But what was so striking to my wife was the absence of LIFE in this area. It’s one thing to do a controlled forest brush burn which in turn creates fertile soil. But it’s entirely different to see many tens of feet of molten lava covering a vast area. No LIFE after all this time? Wow.
And this was the stage the Lord set at the Grand Canyon. What was it we had gone out to see? Many nationalities were there uncontrollably snapping photos. But what did we go out to see?
The next morning she was able to vocalize her grief. The people. The loss. The JUDGMENT!
We were looking at the result of God’s judgment on a world that in which “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. Here’s the account again for those who haven’t read it lately:
Genesis 6:5-7 (NKJV)
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Yes, it’s true. God promised to never send a global flood again. But God has NOT promised to never send a judgment again. In fact, when John the Baptist came on the seen, it was in Judgment. “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” This was a part of what John preached: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12 (NKJV)
But let us remember that Malachi prophecies John’s arrival in these words:
Malachi 3:1-5 (NKJV)
“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.
“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the Lord,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
If we are heavenly-minded rather than earthly-minded we will see these realities with Kingdom eyes. Is the Grand Canyon a beautiful attraction to “enjoy”? Or is it a type of “prophet” crying out in the wilderness…”Prepare the Way of the Lord!.. REPENT! For the Kingdom of GOD is at hand!!!” (can you hear this echoing through the Canyon?)
We look for new heavens and a new earth! And Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord because he was RIGHTEOUS and preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jesus was sent not to condemn the world, but that through Him we might escape the wrath of God and find SALVATION.
1 Peter 3:18-22 (NKJV)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Look at the HOPE of GLORY found in a photo of the Grand Canyon I shot just last night. Notice the theme: DEATH below; LIFE above.
And lastly, look what I found standing amidst the death and destruction of Sunset Crater… the Old Rugged Cross!
