And He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing; but do not perceive.’
“Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
And He answered:  “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
Isaiah 6:9-12 NKJV

Well, today marks our 9th day without electricity. I am grateful that we have a generator and God has so graciously provided for us during this time. And I will admit that I keep thinking, “How long we must endure this?”

We live in a time when evil wicked behavior is glorified and Christian behavior is mocked and discouraged. Do you think God is grieved in His heart right now? We are living in a time when Isaiah 5:20 which says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” is being fulfilled. I’m just going to use one of many examples here of the doublemindedness of this lost world. When it comes to abortion, they like to say that it’s a woman’s body and therefore her choice. When it comes to the vaccine, many businesses are telling their employees that they have no choice.

Back in Genesis 6, God was so grieved in His heart by man’s wickedness that He decided to destroy man with the flood. He found favor in Noah and spared him and his family and a pair of each of the animals so that life could go on after the flood. If God was that mad back then, can you imagine how upset He must be now?

When I looked at the vast amount of damage around my home and the towns surrounding ours, it looked like a home that had been ransacked by someone who was furious. How angry must God be with us? We murder babies, saying that it’s a person’s body and a person’s choice, but that falls flat when people are forced to get a vaccine. It is no longer their body or their choice. Interesting how things work.

The pandemic with its ever mutating variants, the storms that have destroyed many people’s home and even cost some their lives. These are perilous times as we near the end.

We are told in 2 Timothy chapter 3 that in the last days, we will face perilous times. Men will exhibit evil behavior and these evil people should be avoided. It tells us that these are the kind that will creep into homes and prey on vulnerable women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. That kind of sounds like someone who is seeing and not perceiving and hearing and not understanding, doesn’t it?

We often like to optimistically quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Now back in those days, Solomon had built a temple and God was telling Solomon that he had heard Solomon’s prayer and had chosen this place for Himself as a house of sacrifice. God was accepting of Solomon’s temple and was telling Solomon that when his people, the Israelites messed up, and His wrath was upon them that if they would turn to Him, He would hear them and heal their land.

But when we fast forward to 2 Timothy 3, we are told that these last days will be perilous times. There is nothing that says we won’t suffer. But there is hope found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This morning a friend sent another verse from Isaiah 43:2 which says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

So to answer the question, “How long with this keep going on? Well, I think until each and every person gets down on their knees and turns to Christ. But these days more and more people seem to oppose Christ. This means that this will go on until Jesus comes back for those of us who are saved.

That’s the bad news, but the good news is, He will be with us. If we trust in Him, He will protect us. If you don’t understand this, turn to God. Ask Him to open your eyes so that you may see and perceive and open your ears that you may hear and understand. Then you may return to Him and be healed.

Have a great day!