9.29.25 ~ The Latter End

Good morning!

As we head into the final days of the 10 days of awe, let me encourage you to remember a few victorious thoughts: "it's not how you start, but how you finish (2 Tim. 4:7,8).  Always do your best and remember what you plant now you'll harvest later (Gal. 6:7-9)! Never accept defeat! It's not over until you win (1 Cor. 9:24-27). Before you can start a project you need to finish it (Isa. 46:10; Deut. 6:23-25). Truly, it’s all about the latter end.

In this week's Torah portion of Moses' song, Ha'azinu, we find sad reality for those who don't consider the latter end (Deut. 32:29).

O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end/laharitam! (Deut. 32:29)

Moses' instructions never stop on this side of the earthly horizon; but, as many of us can testify, maintaining that disciplined focus is the most difficult part about living.  Can you imagine the difference between the individual who thinks and acts according to a time when God’s justice will reign completely?  As we have learned in previous studies, things don’t always look so good, and because we tend to view life within the confines of current situations, we, (speaking of me, myself and I)  can easily get discouraged.  We give up hope when we are pressed by what looks like we've come to the end of our 'rope'.  But it’s not!   The 'latter end' is when the trumpet sounds and the King returns (1 Thess. 4:16,17; Matt. 6:33).  Until then, we must live by trusting that God’s purposes will one day be a present reality and with that mindset you can patiently endure to the end (Matt. 10:22).

"He who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matt. 10:22)

"Surely there is a latter end, and your hope will not be cut off/Lo-hikareh" (Prov. 23:18)

It's promises like this that come on the tail end of a bold assertion that sets the stage for Yahweh's final judgments to line up as He intended (Isa. 11:3-10; Jn. 724). Nothing can prevent His plan from becoming reality!  It is only a matter of time.  Of course, if we get trapped in the perspective, bound by our lifetime, these truths don't provide much consolation.

Most of us want immediate  solutions now for present problems.  Fortunately, for our own growth, God doesn’t share that perspective.  Of course, my present concerns are important to Him.  He loves me.  But His purposes are much, much greater than mine.  My goal is spirit led patience.  His goal is that I'd mature and reach completely, being conformed into the image of His dear Son (Rom.8:28,29).
"And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose...to be conformed to the image of His dear Son." (Rom. 8:28,29)

The older I get, now 29 with a whole lot of years of experience (lol), the person who has eyes fixed on the latter end prize guarantees that the hopes of fulfillment, dreams of intimacy with God, the desire to be pleasing to Him (Heb. 11:6), the wishes to see justice done  (Mic. 6:8)– and much more – will come to pass. NOOO, I don't like the waiting game, especially when the motivation is pure, but with the correct frame of mind...I know my hope won't be cut off. As Solomon said,

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Prov. 13:12)

There are many days when I need to place both feet on this solid footing.  There are days when I need to cling to its truth.  Those are the days when this world attempts to deny my confidence in God’s promise.  Those are the days when things just don’t seem to get better, when all I can see ahead is sorrow and grief.  Days that 'feel like' I am "Joseph" with brothers that threw him down into a well, sold him as a slave or cast him into prison.  In the darkest days, I need to remind myself to  cry out to my God, “I believe in the latter end.  Your justice will prevail.  I will wait.”

The Bible is a book about living life now with a mind fixed on the future.  But it is not a future that I design.  It is a future that must be injected into the present evil days by maintaining the hope in the True God Who's plan can never be thwarted.

I'm waiting, but not idley. How about you?

Chag sameach!
Shalom!
Alan

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