Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The winter solstice occurs tomorrow evening here in California, an event loved by our pagan forebears in Europe, especially in Ireland and England. Now the dark winter days begin ever so slightly to lengthen; yes, there will be a spring! Time to celebrate!
By December 25 the lengthening of the day could be detected even without clocks or watches. Known as the "wild winter solstice," pagans in the Roman Empire frolicked without restraint. The celebration was taken over by the popular Church along with other pagan customs, the sincere idea being to make it easier for pagans to be "converted."
But there's some good news involved here that may encourage us in our "global warming" fears. The precision and never-failing repetition of the winter solstice remind us of the promise that the Lord God made after the Flood of Noah. All these thousands of years He has been faithful; His love for the human race has been revealed "in Christ." He will not permit again any global disaster to repeat what happened in the Flood: "The Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, ... nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done'" (Gen. 8:21).
No matter how severe to mankind are the results of "global warming," there will be no more universal disaster. The Flood was permitted because "the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence ... for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth" (Gen. 6:11, 12). It was so bad that the Lord said, "every intent of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil continually" (vs. 5).
As terrible as evil is today, Scripture does not repeat that analysis; Noah "became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" and warned the world of the coming Flood (Heb. 11:7), but the Lord tells us in Revelation that there is now a worldwide potential for understanding and receiving the "Loud Cry" of purest gospel truth proclaimed by His repentant last-days' "remnant" church (cf. Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 18:1-4).
The Lord will not gloss over or despise this universal hunger in sincere hearts. "The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Psalm 145:14-16). Blessings are coming!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 21, 2007.
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