SABBATH THOUGHT 2024-10-12—CRY OUT TO GOD

May God bless you on His Sabbath day!

The Day of Atonement, like other holydays, begins with the sound of a trumpet. But this is a special and unique declaration when this trumpet is blown:

LEVITICUS 25:9 ‘Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.

This trumpet announces the start of the Jubilee year which is a year of ‘returning’:

LEVITICUS 25:10 ‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return [H7725 = shuwb] to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.

The Jubilee is a year when debts are forgiven and bondservants are released to return to their homes, lands, and families. Someone who could only repay a debt by indenturing himself as a bondservant must have looked forward to Atonement and the Jubilee as one of the most joyous events in their life. Oh, to be liberated from debt and servitude!

But there is coming the greatest Jubilee yet—the rescue and return of the captives out of the Tribulation and Day of the Lord:

EZEKIEL 20:33-34 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34 “I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.

ISAIAH 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD [the Atonement Jubilee], and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

Having endured the most devastating conditions since the creation of mankind, the people that survive are crushed mentally, emotionally, and spiritually:

PSALMS 107: 2-7, 10-14, 16-20, 23-28 Let the redeemed [rescued captives] of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, 3 and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way [desert]; they found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. 7 And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city [Jerusalem] for a dwelling place. … 10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons– 11 because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High, 12 therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. 13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. … 16 For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two. 17 Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. 18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. 20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. … 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, 24 They see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. 25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. 26 They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.

Even their will to live is gone (v. 18). So is it any wonder that they CRY OUT to God? In this state, God encourages them to turn back to Him:

JOEL 2:12-13 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn [H7725 = shuwb] to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” 13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; return [H7725 = shuwb] to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.

The Hebrew word translated turn literally means to turn back or return. It is also used in Leviticus 25:10 (mentioned earlier) that describes the Jubilee of the Day of Atonement as a time when all return “to his possession, and … to his family”. So, Atonement and the Jubilee is when Jesus Christ rescues the remnant of the earth from death who are captives during the Tribulation and Day of the Lord’s vengeance. These people are so distraught that they cry out to God and are WEEPING, FASTING, and MOURNING! But God will hear them and save them:

ISAIAH 49:7-9 Thus says the LORD [God the Father], the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One [Jesus Christ], to Him [Jesus Christ] whom man despises, to Him [Jesus Christ] whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He [God the Father] has chosen You [Jesus Christ].” 8 Thus says the LORD: “In an acceptable time I [God the Father] have heard You [Jesus Christ], and in the day of salvation I [God the Father] have helped You [Jesus Christ]; I [God the Father] will preserve You [Jesus Christ] and give You [Jesus Christ] As a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; 9 that You [Jesus Christ] may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ [out of captivity] to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “They [the captives] shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

All those rescued by Jesus Christ are then brought to Jerusalem:

ISAIAH 27:13 So it shall be in that day: the great trumpet [of the Jubilee] will be blown; they [the captives] will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

These people are the ‘seed’ of the Millennium. The 1,000 year rule of Christ begins with these surviving captives. One can barely imagine the devastation, hurt, distress, and grief of these people. They are saved because they CRY OUT to God for deliverance because they are starving of hunger, have tears running down their faces, and grieve for all their family and friends who died. The end of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord truly is with a people who are fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Atonement and the Jubilee can be hard to understand since the fulfillment of it is still something in the future. For most, life is still very peaceful even though we personally suffer all manner of afflictions. The majority of God’s children are not captives who are tormented and tortured by wicked men. So what does this day signify for us?

I believe Atonement can only truly be understood in terms of “CRYING OUT to God” whenever we are troubled by afflictions, persecutions, poverty, illness, and grief. Whether we of the Body of Christ have endured terrible sorrow or suffering or witnessed it in others, we can understand the depths of grief and sorrow that bring about an attitude of fasting, weeping, and mourning. If we are truly children of God, we certainly cry out to Him during these times. It is not something we can withhold from doing. It is a natural response because Jesus Christ truly knows our sorrows and sufferings—“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isa. 53:3).

The Psalms reflect this more than any other books of the Bible. There are almost twice as many mentions of the Psalmists “CRYING OUT to God” including in Psalm 107 (above) where the captives cry out to God four times. Here are a few others:

PSALM 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.

PSALMS 22:5, 24 They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed. … 24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.

PSALMS 30:2, 8 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me. … 8 I cried out to You, O LORD; and to the LORD I made supplication:

PSALMS 34:6, 15, 17 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. … 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. … 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

PSALMS 61:1-2 Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock [Jesus Christ] that is higher than I.

PSALMS 88:1-2, 13 O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. 2 Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. … 13 But to You I have cried out, O LORD, and in the morning my prayer comes before You.

PSALM 145:19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.

This life is sure to bring upon us times of great distress and grief. Those who survive the Tribulation and Day of the Lord will experience this to the core of their being. Crying out to God in the depths of fasting, weeping, and mourning absolutely gains the attention of our Father who promises to hear our prayers and attend to our needs. But sorrow, affliction, and grief will not continue forever because we can hold on to this promise:

REVELATION 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Jesus Christ is called the Rock because He is an anchor for us to hold on to in the worst of life’s storms. But Jesus also makes a promise that will make it all worthwhile:

JOHN 16:20, 22 “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. … 22 “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

May God’s grace and peace be upon you!

Steven Greene

https://sabbathreflections.org

sabbathreflections@gmail.com