The Hour Of Destiny...

Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)



(Rev 9:13-15 NKJV) Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, {14} saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." {15} So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.

(John 12:27 NKJV) "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Imagine you were one of the four angels. Bound for centuries by the great River Euphrates.The hour for which God has prepared you comes and you go out to order the slaughter of a third of the world. Your whole life is lived to obey just one command. You have stood at your post - bound there, until the time was ripe. Now think of Jesus who was "perfected through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10) for 33 years to endure 6 hours on the cross without sin and die as our perfect substitute.There is an hour of destiny, an hour when the whole life is summed up and reaches its climax. When Paul stood before Caesar and gave his defense - that was the hour God prepared him for.

[The "hour" is not 60 minutes by a quartz chronometer. It is a unit of time, one distinct event on God's calendar. The "hour" Jesus refers to in John 12 lasted a number of days between when He uttered those words and his death on the cross. An hour is the time of a meeting. Its the time God uses to accomplish just one thing. A "day" has many events in it but an "hour" (when used symbolically) has just one.]

All Christians will have an hour of destiny when Jesus returns and we stand before the judgement seat of Christ and we must be alert and prepared for that. (Mat 24:42-44 NKJV) "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. {43} "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. {44} "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

There seems to me to be a second meaning as well - there is also an "hour" in this life (or a number of such events) when when we completely fulfil a part in His plans and purposes. It seems to me that those who "seek the interests of Christ Jesus" and pray "thy Kingdom come" find themselves swept up into moments of destiny that they could only dream of. They lead people to Christ, start prayer movements or begin a Reformation. Those who are self-absorbed and who have little interest in God's plans and purposes miss out. Their hour comes and goes and they are playing the fool. I cannot prove it for sure but I think God would like each of us to have an hour in which we contribute grandly to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I think God wants our lives to count even more than we do. But the hour comes to those who stick to their tasks and keep to their stations. It is the awake sentry that alerts the town and becomes the hero. The sleeping sentries are shot!

However the hour of destiny is brief and life is long. The preparation for God's hour can seem so dull and pointless. The discipline too arduous and harsh. The waiting to become significant too long to endure. We need to patiently wait until God finally uses us for the grand purpose that He has prepared us for. Patient steady daily consecration is the key to being useful to the Master - a vessel purified and ready for use. (2 Tim 2:20-21 NKJV) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. {21} Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

You do not know when God may have an appointed hour ready for you. Tomorrow someone could ask you to lead them to Jesus - are you ready? You could be called on to speak to a soul in deep pain -will you notice? It is often in the most domestic moments that God's grand purposes arrive - moments like having dinner (as the disciples on the Emmaus road found out) or taking in a stranger "(Heb 13:2 NKJV) Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." Are you consecrated to Jesus? Will you be ready when God's hour of destiny arrives?

Prayer:
Lord awaken our hearts to the grand possibilities of each new day and the surprises that you can bring in the midst of the most mundane tasks. Help us Lord to focus on Your interests and not our own and to be totally consecrated, obedient and ready to do your will when the hour of destiny arrives.

---------------------------------------------------------------
John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
Cults, exegesis, bible teaching, Christian life and leadership.
For the thinking Christian!