A Day of Visitation
We have now come to the passage that invites a response to the offer of "COME"...
6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found.
Call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him,
to our God, for he will freely pardon.
...and it suggests some startling realities of the walk to which we have all been invited to join:
- If we are told to 'Seek Yahweh while He may be found' then it also reveals that there will be a time where HE WILL NOT BE FOUND.
- If we are told to 'Call on Him while He is near.' Then it is also true that there will be a time when HE WILL NOT BE NEAR.
Hosea 9:7 describes a people unprepared and unrewarded for their lack of faith in the pending visitation of their Elohim (GOD):
7 The days of visitation have come.
The days of reckoning have come.
Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,
and the man who is inspired to be insane,
because of the abundance of your sins,
and because your hostility is great.
This is no camp in which I would want to be, but it definitely foretold how the Messiah would be viewed and treated.
There is a Day of Visitation for each and every one of us, and happily the potential of being many - for HE is patient and kind, not wishing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance. ...
[2 Peter 3]
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
A Moving Target
YaHWeH does not not stay still. As was illustrated plainly by the movement of His Son.
While in seminary, I fell into a trap set by Greek Professor. We were charged with selecting one of the four Gospels and reading them - making note of every occurrence in which the Messiah moved from one place to another. Knowing this to be a long assignment, I (and others) selected the shortest gospel by number of chapters - Mark. I clearly was ignorant to the fact that He was ALWAYS on the GO in Mark, with descriptions of His travels in verse after verse and chapter after chapter. Trying to avoid a tedious assignment multiplied my task by at least fourfold, had I instead selected Matthew or John. Mark faithfully illustrated the words of the Messiah when he said in John 5,
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
So when we are told to 'SEEK HIM' and 'CALL TO HIM' it is clearly implied that we are to FOLLOW HIM.
And the path upon which we are to follow HIM is referred to in the Former Days Scriptures (OT) as TORAH. Torah means 'the WAY' or 'the GUIDE'. It is a miserable understatement to think of it as just meaning 'the LAW'*. Our 'WALK' is to be along a PATH, and the WAY is found in the GUIDE.
*[for a deeper dive into this concept, I would suggest you consider watching this VIDEO or reading this ARTICLE.]
Let's read these words from Isaiah 55 again...
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him,
to our God, for he will freely pardon.
There is a WAY of wickedness - a GUIDE to sinfulness - a LAW of unrighteousness. It can be ingrained in our minds as thoroughly as can the Word of God. But there is HOPE. One can TURN AROUND (repent), WALK (follow from even a shrinking distance) and be PARDONED and RETURNED to FELLOWSHIP. May this be the experience of all.