I’m not a huge fan of reading biblical prophecy. Quite honestly, Leviticus and Numbers make more sense, and are much easier to read than the prophets. What is Ephrathah? Where is Bashan?

But I’m trying to see what’s in there, so i need to read it all. Today I’m in Micah 3. —>

—> "Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; —>

—> "its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, 'Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.'
Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins...”
- Micah 3:9-12, ESV
—>

—> This was preached to a nation that existed 2500 years ago. And the words jumped off the page as if I was reading a newspaper (or... the news app on my tablet...).

These words describe the world in which we live!

Until this morning, my approach to prophecy was, —>

—> “So long as I’m on the right side, none of this will happen to me.”

Reading this, I’m not so sure. I think about godly men such as Daniel and Jeremiah, who were hauled off to Babylon along with the rest of the exiles. They weren’t exempt from doom that was prophesied. —>

—> So, why would I be exempt?

Truth is, the only thing that makes me “on the right side” is the blood of Jesus. It’s nothing I have done. And He told us, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
-John 16:33, ESV —>

—> So I pray for my neighbors, my city, my state, my nation, and my world. I pray for God to reveal Himself to the lost before it is too late. I pray that He will raise up a deliverer, like in the time of the Judges. I pray that the coming judgment will spare those I love. —>

—> And I remember that my true citizenship is in a Kingdom not of this world.