Chapter Thirty-Two/God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The Gathering to Armageddon - Continue

 Jesus warned of the kind of pressures that this world, saturated with propaganda, would put on Christians. He said: "Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be upon you as a snare . . . keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man." (Luke 21:34-36) "That day" is "the great day of God Almighty." (Revelation 16:14) as "that day" of the vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty approaches, it becomes ever more difficult to cope with the anxieties of life. Christians need to be alert and watchful, staying awake until that day arrives.

What, though, is implied by the warning that those found sleeping would be shamed by losing their "outer garments"? In ancient Israel, any priest or Levite on guard duty at the temple had a heavy responsibility. Jewish commentators tell that if anyone was caught sleeping on such duty, his garments would be stripped from him and burned, so that he was publicly shamed. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two/God's Anger Brought to a Finish - The Gathering to Armageddon - Continue

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