Great Tribulaltion

God's people were not taken out of, but spared, while yet in Egypt.

They were kept safe  from the judgments that fell on the unbelievers.

Even those Egyptians that regarded the word of God through Moses

were kept safe while those that did not behaved themselves as they always had.

And he that regarded not the word of the LORD

left his servants and his cattle in the field.   Exodus 9.21
                                                                                                                   
Hail came and destroyed those who believed not with their servants and their cattle.

But the children of Israel and those who regarded the warning were safe.



Likewise Noah and his family were kept through, not out of, that which fell of God's wrath

on the ungodly in his day. They were lifted up to safety by that very thing

which destroyed those who regarded not the word of God that came through the preaching of Noah.


 ... he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,

but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others... 2 Peter 2.5 niv


Joseph through much tribulation came to power in an occult steeped Egyptian monarchy and he 

saved many souls alive preserving the Jews and Abraham's seed.


Esther in a time of great threat from evil men became queen

in the midst of a godless empire and kept many souls alive

when there were those who would destroy the Jews.



And then there were those whom Daniel chose to help him in the land of his captivity.

These men honored God and would not bow to the idols of the day thus enraging the king.



And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.    Daniel 3.20


These men were delivered though their fiery ordeal but they still went through it.



Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace,

and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God,

come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

came forth of the midst of the fire.     Daniel 3.26

God delights to show his saving power and how he marks a difference in all ages between the clean

and unclean between those who serve God and those who serve him not.



Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,

between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.    Malachi 3.18

We are living in a day of separation, of sharp contrasts,

and an intensifying of conflict between different factions.

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another,

as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats...  Matthew 25.32

God is not taking his people out. He is saving them through.

He keeps his people from the hour of temptation that comes on the world

by holding his people in his own almighty hand.



And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,

neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.   John 10.28

The Bottomless Pit Syndrome

The reality of "the bottomless pit"

is not a future reality, nor obscure or distant.

It is the reality of fallen hearts

immersed in their own emptiness.



All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it:

the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.   Ecclesiastes 1.8



Truly the chasm is so deep, the perception so staggering,

that it challenges utterance.



The power of the pit is life controlling- heart laboring and you don’t want to find yourself there.



My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.    Job 30.17



Sometimes we try to fill the void.

Or we might try to run from it

And sometimes we jump right into it looking for some kind of unadvised release.

And there is a brief rush with the freefall

but soon we find demons are there.



And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,,

whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon,

but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

                                                           Revelation 9.11

No, the bottomless pit is a most horrible and present reality

for many lost and hurting souls.



There is good news to be had however.

There is an ex drug addict who heard it and embraced it and proclaims,

"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,

and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."   Psalm 40.2



Yea, “He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing ....”

                                                                                    JOB 33:18