Not Hidden

Jeremiah 23:24 “Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.”

The Raven Rock Mountain Complex is a highly restricted military installation complete with an underground nuclear bunker. Located in Pennsylvania, RRMC is part of a continuity-of-government plan incorporating remotely-located, hardened and secured facilities that could be used to run military operations and even the entire country in the event of a national emergency such as a nuclear war.

It is in some ways an open secret; this 650-acre installation is an underground nuclear bunker and emergency operations center. Located near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, RRMC is part of a system of bunkers including Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado and the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center in Virginia. 

In 2016, Forbes magazine highlighted an underground community shelter in South Dakota: “The rambling, green hills of Fall River county located near the Black Hills in South Dakota, is the location for a spectacular new underground survival community featuring individual bunkers for 575 families and a total underworld population of 5,000, it is the world’s largest shelter escape.”

Throughout the world, there are bunkers in hills, rocks, and canyons that people have decided would be necessary in the advent of nuclear war or as a protection from attack.

I have bad news for all those who think they have punched their ticket to survivability…..

In the last days, during the tribulation, no rock will be able to hide people from the wrath of God.

Revelation 6:12-17 “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The question of “who is able to stand” is rhetorical in nature. The answer is, no one will stand when the judgement of God falls upon the world, all will succumb to the crushing weight of sin.

Sin has Weight

Traditionally, sin was perceived as doing wrong, the question was always, what does wrong look like? In an ever changing society that attempts to redefine sin, it seems the need to change the boundary occurs so regularly that eventually, there will be no boundaries.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

For those who embrace a world philosophy, they must likewise embrace the consequences of where that philosophy leads.

1 Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”

The bunkers that were designed to save lives in the advent of disaster will be the graves of those who think they will provide salvation. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, the letter to the Romans was a stark reminder that everyone who has ever lived, lives under the condemnation of God’s laws.

World Philosophy

Have you ever heard the philosophical question that was meant to stump those who hold a belief in God?

“Can God make a rock so big that He can’t lift it?”

This question, like many questions about God have a catch to them that draws conclusions before leading the ones scrambling for an answer, confused. The mockery is an attempt to show that the ‘concept’ of God doesn’t work, if God can make a rock so big He can’t lift it, He is limited by His own power and is therefore not Omnipotent. If God can’t make a rock that big, He is likewise limited in His power and thus negating the fullness of His power.

The hidden conclusion is that God is bound by physical limitations just we are.

Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.”

Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

Acts 17:24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.”

The conclusion is that God is not bound by things temporal, He is Spirit, and therefore the answer to the question about the rock is simply…the question does not apply to Him.

Just as the world attempts to box God into a framework that they can control and subsequently, deny, they will also do all they can to subvert His plans.

God’s Plans

The judgement that is coming upon this world will occur, regardless of what mankind attempts to do to stop it.

As the Lord is not bound by the rock, mankind cannot hide in those rocks either.

The presence of the Lord fills Creation….

There is not a place you can go that He is not there….

Just as those who refuse Him cannot hide, we who are called by His name need not fear that we might be separated from Him.

Psalm 139:7-12 “Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

When the awesome day of the Lord arrives, He will search the farthest reaches of Creation to bring His people home.

When the judgement that follows begins, there is not a place a person can hide that will allow them to escape the tribulation that is to come.

A Decision

Just as the children of Israel rebelled in the desert before God, many continue in that same rebellion today. God’s love is revealed, His power cannot be disregarded, and in the midst of His presence is great fear.

Knowing Jesus brought us into a right relationship with the Father, brings peace in the midst of the fear.

For those who have rejected Christ, the fear is substantial. If you think mankind is scary, wait until the world realized the fullness of God’s wrath. He has been holding it back for thousands of years, in the last days it will be released upon the earth and a time of great trial will be unlike anything the world has ever seen.

The people think Jesus has delayed in His return…so they rebel.

Exodus 32:1 “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

See what happens when people think there is no judgement. Left to their own vices, mankind will fall away quickly, forming god’s into images that suit them, ones that will not hold them responsible for their actions.

But the Lord does not delay…He is not slow in keeping His promises as some think.

Just as Moses came down from the mountain and held the law up before the people, Jesus will return and everyone will be held against the law as well.

The law of God is written in stone…it will never change.

Exodus 32:15-16 “And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.”

Moses made atonement for the sins of the people, an atonement that was incomplete.

Jesus has made atonement that is perfect.

For those who have received His atoning sacrifice, we look forward to the coming King. Why live in fear of God as a sinner that is unjustified? Embrace the King of kings, allow His grace to cover you and be accepted as a son and daughter of the King.

We as God’s people have much to look forward to in hope. Maybe we can lead some from the disaster to come before it’s too late.