A REFUGE FROM THE STORM, A SHADOW FROM THE HEAT, WHEN THE BLAST OF THE TERRIBLE ONES IS AS A STORM

By the prophets and psalmists Jehovah has often been likened to a refuge, a shadow, a covert from the storm. In that other well-known and much loved verse, Isaiah writes, A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’, Isa. 32. 2. He uses very similar language in chapter 4 verse 6, where he says, And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain’.

In every age of testimony for the Lord His saints have suf­fered persecutions and trials and the resort of the afflicted has ever been to flee to Him for refuge. Such persecutions are often compared to tempests and storms, and sometimes to the fierce heat of the sun. Believers of past and present dispensations have learned that the world is a wilderness, a desert place which offers no shelter or solace in trials, but, whether storm or burn­ing heat, Jehovah is a refuge for His people.

The nation of Israel has, nationally, known so much persecu­tion from so many bitter enemies. Some of these afflictions have been fierce; Isaiah here likens them to the blast of a storm against a wall, beating itself relentlessly and ruthlessly against a build­ing. So it has been with Israel, both in earlier and in more recent times. Babylon, Assyria and Rome have each vented their wrath against the nation and in later days that which has become known as the holocaust was a severe tempest which millions did not survive.

One day, the Man spoken of in chapter 32 will indeed be their refuge. He would be so today but sadly they have rejected Him. He lamented over them when He was here, saying, ‘How often would I … and ye would not’, Matt. 23. 37; Luke 13. 34. The Prince of Peace would have ensured their peace but they refused His overtures and neither recognised nor received Him. In that coming day, after unparalleled tribulation, they will gladly wel­come Him and He will be their sure refuge.