Effective Words

Anyone who has spent time visiting government offices will know all that is needed for a visa, work permit or other document. Authorization must come from exactly the right people. A marriage is not legally valid unless it is signed in the presence of an authorized registrar. Yet, when the right person signs, the permission given is binding. Their words are effective! Every now and again some, perhaps well-intentioned, person declares that by studying Scripture they have determined the date of Christ’s second coming. Often, many people are convinced and sometimes suffer considerable financial loss when the prediction turns out to be false. Mark 13:32 tells us only the Father knows that day and verse 25 in today’s reading also warns against making predictions of that kind. Such “diviners” do not have the authority to speak, and God will “make fools” of them and of any who take notice of their words.

On the other hand, God himself, the One who created the world, is also the One who can proclaim the future, the One whose words are always effective (consider also Isa. 41:22-24; 55:10,11). God does have authority, and what he says goes. Yes, he does sometimes speak through messengers (26), but both they and their hearers need to be very sure that it really is the Lord’s words they speak. In this instance God says that he is using Cyrus as his messenger and the effective words are that Jerusalem and its Temple will be rebuilt. We may not know when Christ will come again, but we can be absolutely sure that he will, absolutely sure that those who belong to him will be with him, absolutely sure that God’s words will not fail.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and think about other effective words God has spoken. Resolve to encourage at least one other person with those words this week.