Hearken To The Thunder
Of His Voice
Hurricanes and Natural Disasters
“Whether for correction,
or for his land, or for love, he causes it to happen.” –Elihu
Feast of Trumpets / Day of Atonement / Seven
Thunders
Snyder
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Father, make
possible for us by grace what is impossible for us by nature. You know we’re not able to endure much, and
that we’re downcast by the slightest difficulty. Grant that for your sake we may come to love
and desire any hardship that puts us to the test, for salvation is brought to
our souls when we undergo suffering and trouble for you. Amen. Thomas à Kempis (1379 – 1471)
Revelation 10:4. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I
was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write
it down.”
The seven thunders
are numbered and described in the following passage:
Job 36 :1-4,22-33; 37:2-13 {read in
the message – go there now}
Psalms
77: 14-20. Thou art the El
who workest wonders, who hast manifested thy might among the peoples. Thou didst with thy arm redeem thy people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah.
When the waters saw thee, O Elohim,
when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave
forth thunder; thy arrows flashed on every side. The crash of thy thunder was in the
whirlwind; thy lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and
shook. Thy way was through the sea, thy
path through the great waters; yet thy footprints were unseen.
Thou didst lead thy people like a
flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (UMH
798)
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Luke 3:1. IN THE fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of
Luke 16: 31. “He said to him, ‘If
they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some
one should rise from the dead.’”
Luke 6: 46-49. “Every one who comes
to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man
building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a
flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it,
because it had been well built. But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built
a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and
immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
The epic of Job is one of the oldest and
most well known in the world. Job is a
righteous man, a worshipper of Yahweh, a commandment-keeper. He’s also a man of great family and means. But Satan challenges Job’s g*d, claiming that
if he can only strike at the things Job considers precious, Job will
betray his g*d and abandon his faith.
Yahweh gives Satan permission to do as he will to test his theory, but
to spare Job’s life.
So Satan starts his evil commission by
fixing Job’s family – his sons and daughters and their clans were making merry
at the lavish home of Job’s eldest son when four catastrophes befell:
the Sabean bandits attacked the servants’ quarters and killed everyone there;
then a meteorite hit the field and burned up the shepherds along with all the
sheep; then the Chaldean terrorists swept in and stole the camels and killed
their tenders; finally a bombastic whirlwind came out of the desert and struck
the pillars of the house: it fell in and crushed Job’s family. A few servants escaped to tell the incredible
tale.
Yet afflicting Mr. & Mrs. Job’s minds
wasn’t sufficient. Satan began to
afflict Job’s body – with
loathsome
sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself, and
sat among the ashes. Then his wife said
to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse Elohim, and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the
foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of Elohim, and
shall we not receive evil?” In all this
Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:7-10)
Please note that calamity of the highest
order came upon this righteous man.
Demonic forces, bereavement and loss, terror, financial ruin,
devastating weather, disease – even his wife comes against him – all without sufficient
cause. No, Job hadn’t sinned; on the
contrary, Job had “hearkened to the thunder of His voice” and thus pleased the
Almighty in every way. So why Job?
Job’s Friends
Word gets out, and along come Job’s
friends. They don’t even recognize the
wise man as he sits in sackcloth and ashes.
They do, however, behold a man blasted with the sands of disaster, and
they sit in the shadow of his grief for a week without saying a word. Job’s was an age of hospitality, so we expect
that as his friends ministered silence to Job, his good wife saw to
their needs.
Finally Job breaks the stillness – he
curses the day he was born.
Job 3:11-19. “Why did I not
die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the
breasts, that I should suck? For then I
should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have
been at rest ... Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that
never see the light? There the wicked
cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.”
This speech opens the door for Job’s friends
to opine about his dilemma. Each is sure
he knows the reason for Job’s judgment – be it a sin or a character flaw or
just that Job was rich – well – that was reason enough in itself for him to
lose everything, one guy thought. The
poems that comprise their theological musings continue on for 35 chapters. Some of the language is so obscure that
translators are stumped. One thing’s
certain, though. Neither Job nor his
friends gain the treasure of their speculation in all that squawk– none
discover the correct reason that Elohim would afflict a righteous man or even
allow trouble of any kind to befall him.
¿Isn’t blessing for the good and trouble for the wicked? Job must have sinned, they all reason.
Aren’t We Blessed?
In this time of wind and rain, are we not
all like Job and his friends? Are we not
righteous, commandment-keeping people?
Do we not love the L*rd and revere the Son of the Most High? Are we not the Spiritual Israel that we
claim? Do we not live in the “Bible
Belt”? Then why have four of the most
devastating hurricanes in history, named Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne and
Dennis, come upon us, spawning hundreds of deadly tornados, and felling
thousands of trees? Why have our homes
been damaged, some destroyed; and folks in our community even killed? What sins have we committed to allow for this
mess, or by what omissions have we caused it?
Has Yahweh judged us, or is it not nice to fool Mother Nature?
What science lies behind the façade, and why
couldn’t some smart scientist or flashy meteorologist stop it? Why couldn’t we pray it away, or why didn’t
we receive early warning so we could get away?
Why did the good get stung right along with the evil? And why is it that some folks got off better
than others? Luck? Or are some more divinely blessed? Or are some better commandment keepers or
lovers of humankind? Or are some more
loved by the Almighty? Or are some just
luckier? Do you feel lucky?
Admit it: we are like Job’s
friends. Every friend here has pondered
these same questions. Many with whom
I’ve spoken have boiled the whole “Jobic” diatribe down to a few noble words –
“It could have been much worse. We are
blessed.” And indeed, we are
blessed.
Another Man – Elihu
In Job’s evil day, another man wandered into
the ashes. Unlike the rest, he was
young, uninvited and no friend of Job’s.
As a youth, he patiently waited for the others to speak their pieces
before he uttered his voice. But when
his turn came, he was bold in his exhortation, for he was there on Yahweh’s
behalf, speaking for the Almighty. The
man’s name was Elihu, which means, “He is my El.” We take up part of Elihu’s speech from Job,
chapters 36 & 37.
Job 36
:2. “Bear with me and I
will show you, for I have yet something to say on El’s behalf. 3. I
will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. 4. For
truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. 22.
Behold, El is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? 23.
Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, ‘Thou hast done
wrong’? 27. For he draws up the drops of water, he
distils his mist in rain 28. which the skies
pour down, and drop upon man abundantly.
29.
“Can any one understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings (thunder
1) of his pavilion?
30. Behold, he scatters his
lightning (thunder 2) about him, and covers
the roots of the sea. 31. For by these he judges peoples; he
gives food in abundance. 32. He covers his hands with the lightning (thunder
3), and commands it to strike the mark. 33.
Its crashing declares concerning him, who is jealous with anger against
iniquity.
Job 37: ... 2. “Hearken to the thunder
(thunder 4) of his voice and the rumbling that
comes from his mouth. 3. Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his
lightning (thunder 5) to the corners of the
earth. 4. After it his voice roars; he thunders (thunder
6) with his majestic voice and he does not restrain
them[*] when his voice is heard.
5.
“El thunders (thunder 7) wondrously
with his voice; he does great things which we cannot comprehend. 6. For
to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’; and to the shower and the rain, ‘Be
strong.’ 7. He seals up the hand of every man, that all
men may know his work. 8. Then the beasts go into their lairs, and
remain in their dens. 9. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and
cold from the scattering winds. 10. By the breath of El ice is given, and the
broad waters are frozen fast. 11. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the
clouds scatter his lightning. 12. They turn round and round by his guidance, to
accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
13.
“Whether for correction, or for his land, or for love
(רסח, checed, kindness
or reproach; eleoV LXX, mercy), he causes it to happen.”
The Wisdom of Elihu
Elihu shares several remarkable knowledge
nuggets regarding not only the events that befell Job, but also what’s been
happening to us. Elihu tells us first of
all that El is present – along with his perfect understanding of the
situation. Yahweh should understand
the elements, because he created them.
Yes, the storms are his doing – the rain, snow, wind, ice, clouds,
whirlwinds, lightnings and thunderings: they are His voices. (In fact, if you read closely,
you can find the seven thunders of Revelation 10:4 “sealed up” here.) Yes, these
weather disturbances are the means by which Yahweh speaks the loudest to us –
and to all humanity – be we in covenant with him or not.
All may hear the voice of
skies and seas. All will
quake at the rumblings of thunder and be blinded by the explosive
lightning. All are
affected by whirlwinds and the driving rains – even beasts seek refuge. His voice is a roaring explosion, and he
tells his voice, “Be loud and strong.”
The winds and clouds whirl around because he commands them, “SPIN!” Why? So
he will surely be heard in the midst of all the eating, wine drinking and
merriment of an unconcerned, disobedient and rebellious world. His purpose must be accomplished and He must
make that purpose known: that takes hurricanes.
“He causes it to happen,” exclaims Yahweh’s
messenger, Elihu. “HE causes it!”
Flushing Out the Bad
What has Elohim been trying to tell us with
all this rumbling, cracking, booming and fearsome noises? If G-d caused hurricanes to destroy – or – if
that’s too strong of stuff for you – if G-d allowed hurricanes to
destroy – then why here, why among us god-fearing folks? Three reasons are found in probably
the most curious line of Elihu’s poem: “Whether
for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it” (Job
37:13).
Let me first speak regarding “his
land.” Unfortunately, humans are in
the way of the renewal of land and waterways. Hurricanes
and great storms are vital to the natural process of cleaning up land and
flushing out waterways of debris and detritus. Hurricanes distribute seeds of native
vegetation while destroying plants that aren’t indigenous to an area. Hurricanes redistribute sand and dirt and
create new dunes and habitats, making safer places for wildlife to live. Also, big winds bring in fresh water. Obviously, Elihu was an environmentalist. He tells us that Yahweh restores creation
when it’s groaning. Sometimes that
restoration requires desperate measures – an Opal or an Ivan or a Jeanne.
But more apropos to our concern is that
Yahweh brings storms upon “the habitable world” (Job
37:12) –for “correction.” Some versions say “judgment.” The debris and detritus of the human heart
needs a good flushing by “acts of god.”
What He’s given, He may reclaim.
What is His, he may take. Yahweh is uttering his voice, calling those
who think they’re already among his chosen to turn back to him and learn from
him. He’s warning all that
they must no longer look to that which is destroyed, but seek out the Living
instead. He’s strongly cautioning that
his commandments are forever and, at the final trumpet, he means to
enforce punishment upon those who’ve not heeded.
Trumpets
Speaking of trumpets: Did you know that
Hurricane Ivan crashed into this area on the Feast of Trumpets (September
16, 2004)?
Leviticus
23:24,25. “Say
to the people of
The Feast of Trumpets is also known as the
Day of Awe (Yom Teruah). Your Bible also calls it “The Day of the LORD.” It’s that
one day of the year set aside to remember that Yahweh will judge
disobedience. Those who say His
commandments are no longer valid forget that Jesus, Paul and all their
disciples observed Trumpets, and that Paul and the Revelator wrote Trumpets
into many passages – especially the Great Trumpet – when the holy will descend
and the wicked be judged. Yet 99% of the
people around here know nothing of that – nor care. But Yahweh forced the observance of Trumpets
this critical year with a sky-trumpet – a hurricane. Most were in great awe on that day; only the
fool did laborious work; and every soul sacrificed whether they intended to or
not.
Believer, take note. Write TRUMPETS on your 2005 calendar now –
October 4th – so you will observe it properly next time and not
incur His wrath. From the Feast of
Trumpets next year, you can follow your Bible on to the Day of Atonement.
Atonement
And speaking of that: Do you realize that
last Friday sundown (September 24, 2004) began the Day of Atonement?
This is a fitting observance to follow such a calamitous Feast of
Trumpets.
Leviticus
23:26-32 excerpts. And Yahweh said to Moses, “On the tenth day
of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy
convocation, and you shall fast[†] and present an offering by fire. Whoever does not fast on this day shall be
cut off. Whoever works I will
destroy. It is a statute forever
in all your dwellings.”
The commandment is to fast and do no
laborious work on one day every year in honor of the tremendous work
of reconciliation accomplished for you through Yahshua’s blood. The Day of Atonement was YESTERDAY. Did you fast and pray as you’ve been
commanded? Or do you believe obedience
to the Word of Yahweh is no longer necessary for Chr-stians? Do you accept the plain voice of your G-d or
do you prefer the pronouncements and omissions of some inconvenienced
preacher? Yahweh says, “It is a statute forever in all your dwellings.”
Are you a Bible believer? Then how plainly do you read that? After such Trumpet Blasts on the 16th,
how could we not observe Atonement on the 25th? Yet the ninety and nine neither knew nor
cared about His name or His commandments, and most scoff at those who do. On the last Feast of Trumpets in the
World of Today, many will be cut off from the World of Tomorrow. Why?
Because they’ve been inconvenienced by Yahweh’s voice or led
astray by the shepherds of churchianity.
We of the Covenant can’t afford to be lax
concerning eternal things anymore. Your
obedience now may be the safety net for those in your household who are, in
that day, eating and drinking wine as if nothing were happening. Your stand for Bible truth may save your
entire family in that day. (You’ll
thank me then.) And if you say now that Job’s
family wasn’t spared by his righteousness, remember that he gained his
family back – through the resurrection of the dead. And you may also if you’re careful.
The Mercy of Yahweh
Elihu has one more reason for inclement
weather that’s perplexing: that Yah causes disasters to happen “out of love” (RSV
only).
(The word checed is better translated as “mercy”
than “love.”) How can such terrors be “out of love,” or merciful? Here’s how.
Yahweh is compassionate and merciful (Exodus
33:19). He gave us creation to view – and in it we
can see his handiwork. He assembled
prophets to convey His word over several millennia, and others to lead his
people into true paths of righteousness.
Yahweh sent His son as a serpent on a pole to convey His will to the
world in a way the world will never, ever forget. And after His Son’s passion, Yahweh sent
him back from death to comfort the beloved and warn of the wrath to
come. He sent his Spirit, the Paraclete,
to woo all humanity into an atoning relationship with the Creator. And he’s sent a multitude of undeniable,
latter-day signs to warn the whole world of His Day (Isaiah
2:12).
What more can he send? What more can he give? What more can he do to warn a world of people
whom he loved so much that he sent his own Son as a ransom (Job
36:18)? He can do one more thing. He can still send forth his mighty
voice.
Job
37:3-5. El thunders
wondrously with his voice. Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his
lightning to the corners of the earth.
After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he
does not restrain them when his voice is heard.
That’s one of the reasons that, in his great
mercy, Yahweh sent Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne – to warn the
people He loves with his breath – people like you and me – our families
and our kind – that there’s mercy and safety in the Blood of Yahshua and the
Covenant of Yahweh. My friend, you can
be the salvation of a multitude, if only you’ll hear the voice of Ivan, and
come into the fullness of Yahweh’s hurricane shelter or mercy. You may not simply stand in an open door and
wait out the storm there. You must be
totally covered.
A Literary Note on the Name “Ivan”
By the way, Ivan is the English
pronunciation of the Russian name Ivan.
It’s a Bible name. In English,
it’s John. In the language of the Bible,
it’s Ya’chan. That’s why I picked the
Gospel reading about the great voice of IVAN the Baptist crying in the
wilderness, “Prepare the way of Yahweh, make his paths straight.” And what does Ivan mean? Ivan – John – means, “Yahweh is Merciful.”
Dennis is the name of the Greek god of
revelry and drunkenness (Dionysius). Katrina
means “cleansing” (catharsis).