"...when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8
This question that Yeshua presented to His disciples has been ruminating in my spirit for days now. I believe it came to me when listening to several recent accounts of terrorism in Middle Eastern countries where Muslim terrorists killed Christians after they refused to speak the faith statement of Islam, thus renouncing their faith in Yeshua. They did not stutter, they did not hesitate. They refused boldly, immediately. And they were killed boldly and immediately.
Perhaps Yeshua is challenging His disciples to think about the kind of faith that will be needed on the earth when it causes their lives to be taken. In the verses just prior to His question He says, "...will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:7-8
This Scripture is all about the persistent widow who pestered the judge, asking for justice against her adversary. Even the earthly, unjust judge finally gives in and grants her request for justice, since he is weary of her bothering him. So Yeshua makes the point that God, the Righteous Judge, will bring about perfect justice for His "chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night."
So, we may be thinking, "What kind of justice was this, Lord, when they held fast to their faith in you and then got their heads cut off?" Let us follow it through. What happened when they refused the false creed of Islam? I tell you that what happened is that our God saw that they got justice and quickly...as He carried their spirits immediately to Himself! In the moment that they professed true faith, they were with the Lord of Faith.
In Hebrew the word faith is emunah. This Hebrew word is defined not only as faith, but also as steadfast, established, stable. Jonathan Cahn wrote, "The more faith you have, the more steady and the more established you become." True faith establishes us on the Rock of Yeshua, who is immovable.
Yeshua is telling us in Luke 18 that we should be like the widow, crying out to Him day and night. You may be thinking, "Yes, I've been crying out to Him day and night for a long time, but it doesn't seem like He's hearing me." What you are missing is that the consistent communication you have with the Lord is building relationship, trust, and faith. You are never bothering God! As you continue to speak to Him and cry out to Him, He is writing your name and your faith in His Book of Life. We don't cry out to one we cannot trust. We cry out, trusting that His timing and His understanding of all things in our life is perfect and complete. We cry out, believing that when it matters most, He will see that we get justice and quickly!
Pray for faith that makes you steady, strong and established in Messiah. Then if you come to a day where your faith is challenged and your life threatened by your adversary, you will not hesitate and you will not fear. You will remember your Righteous Judge who will see that you get justice and quickly!
