Is It Time, Yet?

“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:1 NIV)

Through the prophet, Jeremiah, The Lord speaks and tells him to share with the people that there will come a time when He will be the God of all the families of Israel and they we will be His people.
Now, at the time this was spoken, the children of Israel were in captivity, trying to survive. God tells them all who survive will find favor in the wilderness and He will build them up again into a great nation--when they realize who He is and obey (to keep this context, one must read all of Jeremiah). They could not see it then pretty much the same way people don't understand what God is saying now.

Before the appearance of Christ--the prophets spoke to the literal children of Israel. Now, that we who believe have been adopted into the family, the prophets yet speak--to the literal nation of Israel as well as spiritual Israel--those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

And yet, we have not reached a place in history where all the families of Israel (natural and spiritual) have chosen to obey God, so can we say--the time is now? With all of the dissidence and chaos in the Middle East, Asia, and seemingly all of the earth, I don't think we have reached that time yet. Of course, I've drawn this conclusion based upon the current events that are constantly indicating a lack of reverence for the ways of God in how we treat people.

For as long as people are influenced by the enemy more than they are influenced by Holy Spirit, we have not reached the time, the prophet reveals. When people choose to kill spouses and children rather than just leaving--it's not time. When children are abused and killed by parents--it's not time. When living in opposition to everything God says in His Word is promoted from the highest authorities (wickedness in high places)--it's not time. Just as those in Israel are being persecuted and killed for their faith because they do not want to harm others, and being brought into captivity, so are those who are influenced by the enemy--that grandmaster of hate--Satan--who influences others to obey the lusts of their flesh more than the Word of God.

But there is hope for those who refuse to cave to the political agenda to undermine The Word of God. We must hold fast to His Word, obey His Word, and watch as His Will is revealed in all the earth. For those of us who are willing to obey, promote the Gospel, and love as God loves--we will see this time come to past--when all will recognize that our God is God! We will receive our just rewards for obedience and allegiance to Him rather than Satan and all of his cohorts. We will spend eternity in heaven while all the rest will spend eternity with their master in the lake of fire. We will be victorious over the influences of the enemy and we will watch him--as he sees his own demise exposed for all the world to see.

Is it time, yet? Not yet, but soon and very soon, we will see our Risen Savior coming in all His glory to take us to be with Him.