Holy Arousal

"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation." Many things come to my mind as I reflect on these words.  One is when parents call out to a disobedient child, "Don't make me come in there!"  Another is the song I learned throughout early "church-life" and has beautifully stuck with me: "The Lord is in His Holy Temple".  Although based on Habakkuk 2:20, it sounds similar to this verse from Zechariah: "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord" is a call to man to contemplate an awesome and powerful God.  And if they do not keep silent; if they rage against Him or His people, then what?  He will be aroused from His holy habitation!!

To be aroused is to be evoked, awakened, or provoked.  Our anger is something in view here but our raging and fury is nothing compared to what will occur when the same is ignited with God.  You don't want God to be aroused from His holy habitation unless of course, like I said in the last post, you are the "apple of His eye."

And for this post today, while, yes, I thought of parents, the song, and the awesomeness of worshipful silence before a holy God, my major thought and the depth of emotion came from Acts when Stephen was stoned.  "He gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  Here was this wonderful example of godliness in the beauty of his compassion to his people as he boldly proclaimed the truth, arousing in them unholy fury and in turn, their unholy fury, aroused in our blessed Savior love beyond understanding as He stood from His holy habitation to receive this unforgettable saint saved by His own grace and welcomed him into his eternal dwelling.  Powerful, amazing, awesome word of God!!!