God Whistles

 

 

Isa 5:26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. 27 No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken; 28 Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses' hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. 30 In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds.

The catastrophic earthquake didn’t get their attention, so God uses another one of His judgment cards. He whistles for a conquering army and they do His bidding. If this doesn’t convince one of the sovereignty of God, I don’t know what will. I remember growing up on a farm and when I wanted my dog to come to me I would simply whistle and he would come running.

 

God is able to do this with an army of any nation that He chooses. Indeed He eventually whistled for the Babylonian army to come and carry the Israelites off into captivity.

What a fearful thing to hear the sound of an approaching disciplined army with the latest in weaponry. The very noise of their approach similar to that of the roaring sea drowning out all semblance of normalcy in the lives of the conquered.

 

The very land itself testifying of the darkness and sorrow of conquest! Isa 8:22 says, “Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.”

“But God, how could you let such a terrible thing happen to Your people?” And the answer is given way back in the Book of Deuteronomy when God warned His people of what would happen when His children refuse to obey. What would happen when His people became a joyless, thankless people.

 De 28:45 "Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 "And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. 47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 "therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.

 

God warned the people of this judgment when the people entered the promised land and over 800 years later….it was fulfilled.

We have been blessed as a nation in that we have not experienced such a conquering, but that’s not to say it couldn’t happen if God so chooses. For our part then, let us seek to be joyful, glad, and thankful servants of God, seeking to obey His commands. And if we are to be yoked, let us be yoked to Jesus. As He said in Mt 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."