WITHOUT A VISION
Scripture: Proverbs 29:18
INTRODUCTION
This is an old revival theme. I have heard numerous sermons from this text; however, I believe the wrong emphasis is often placed on the message. Sermons from Proverbs 29:18 usually tell me about the terrible sinners of this world who are going to perish because they have no vision of God.
It is true that sinners do need to catch a revelation of God. But this verse was not written to sinners; rather, it was written to God’s people. The word perish in the original means, first of all, "to make naked." In other words, garments or ornaments are taken away and the person is exposed to shame, or armor is removed and he is open to danger.
Next, perish means people will become idle. When there is no revelation, no call to God, no challenge to godliness, the people sit idly by.
Further, perish means the people will be scattered abroad. Jesus saw the people as sheep having no shepherd. When there is no focal point, there is no rallying point.
The word perish also carries the meaning of Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Proverbs 29:18 is a message for the church, a message for you and me. It is simply this: Without a constant revelation of God’s power and glory in and through us, we shall perish AND the world with us! God is simply reaffirming a basic tenet of faith-before anything great can ever be done, somebody has to catch a vision of it.
God says that any way other than His is futile. In Ezekiel 7:15, He says that without God you’ll only find a famine within and a sword without. Unless we see as God sees and understand as He would have us, we will perish. I would like to point out three times in the Bible when there was no vision or revelation from God.
THREE PICTHRES OF PEOPLE PERISHING WITHOUT A VISION
And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision (I Samuel 3:1).
The scene surrounding this verse is pitiful. Eli, the aged priest in the house of the Lord, is old and going blind-physically and spiritually. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who serve also as priests in the temple, are so low that they commit sexual acts with the women coming to offer sacrifices. The Bible calls them "sons of Belial."
God sent a man to tell Eli about his sons and what the future held as his house would be cut off, but Eli had no influence over the boys.
The Philistines came to fight against the people of God, and when it looked as if they would overtake the land, Hophni and Phinehas remembered how the ark of the covenant seemed to always insure victory for God’s people. They took it to the field of battle; however, God was not with them because of their sins. Although the Israelites shouted when they saw the ark, they soon learned that spiritual things in the wrong hands are of no avail.
The Philistines conquered Israel that day. Thirty thousand Israelites were killed that day, including Hophni and Phinehas. The ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines. A man ran from the battle back to Shiloh to tell Eli the sad news. With torn garments and dirt upon his head, the man sorrowfully related the deaths of Hophni and Phinehas. Then he reported that the ark had been taken. When he mentioned the ark, Eli fell backwards from a wall, broke his neck, and died.
The messenger then went to Phinehas’s house, where Phinehas’s wife was about to deliver a child. When he told her the sad news, she went Into labor. A boy was born and the mother died, but before she died, she proclaimed, "Name the child Ichabod, saying, The glory Is departed from Israel."
Talk about terrible conditions! Without a vision, there Is nothing but desolation, destruction, and death.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find It. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst . . . . even they shall fall, and never rise up again” (Amos 8:11-14).
God continued to declare that there would be no escape for them. If they climbed up to heaven, He would bring them down. On top of Mt. Carmel or in the depths of the sea, they would not escape His wrath. Whether they were in captivity or free, the sword would slay them. His stern rebuke was, "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us" (Amos 9:10).
Notice that He said, "All the sinners of my people." Tragic, isn’t it? God’s people without a revelation of God become laws within themselves and are destroyed.
The third time in the Bible where there is no vision of God is in the period between the Old and New Testaments. There were over 400 years without a word from God. During those years Jerusalem was invaded 27 times by alien armies. As soon as they rebuilt the walls, an enemy would tore them down again. They tried to restore the Temple and it was burned.
The Maccabees and others tried to point people toward God but they had little or no success. Everything moved toward that awful day when Antiochus Epiphanes came Into Jerusalem and killed 40,000 Jews In one day. He then went into the house of God and killed a swine, a sow, on the altar of God, thereby desecrating the house of God.
But the saddest thing that came out of this time of spiritual darkness was a religious organization that was so far from God that they could not recognize His Son when He came. It produced the people who crucified the Son of God.
For too long we have seen prodigal sons wandering away, coins lost in the dust, sheep going astray, and other lost men and have chosen to call this a vision. But this is not the vision the church needs. You can tell the sinner he’s living In torment, but It will not set him free. You can tell men they are bound, but that will do them no good. They already know they are held In sin’s strong sway.
The revelation we need today, if we’re going to minister to the needs of the world, is a revelation of a God who has the answer to the world’s ills!
THREE PICTURES OF THE GOD WHO HAS THE ANSWER
God is a deliverer. When Eli strayed so far from God and Israel was under attack by the Philistines, a little lady began to pray. Her name was Hannah, and I think she said something like this to God: "0 God, there’s no one here who listens to You. If You’ll give me a boy, although I am past the years of having a child, I will give him back to You so You’ll have a servant to listen to You all his days." Her burden was so heavy and her concern so great that she staggered like a drunk woman.
But God heard that cry from her heart and gave her a son. She called his name Samuel and later took him to the house of God. She told Eli that Samuel was the answer to the prayer she prayed years before when he thought she was drunk. She left Samuel at the house of God as she had promised.
You can almost see Samuel walking around his new home as If looking for something or someone. Under his breath, you can hear him saying, "I know You’re here. Mom told me to search diligently for You. I’m here to hear from You, I was born for that purpose. Speak to me, 0 God."
Then It happened! One night after he had gone to bed, Samuel heard someone calling his name. He rushed to Eli to see why he had called. Eli said he had not called and sent the boy back to bed. Twice more the voice came and he ran to Eli. Suddenly, it struck the old priest. He was so far from God that he had not recognized what was happening. But now he senses that God is about to reveal Himself. He instructs Samuel to answer the next time, "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth thee." Samuel did as he was told, and God revealed Himself and told him of the end of Eli’s family.
When the ark was taken to Philistia, these enemies of Jehovah experienced God’s judgment.
The ark was sent to Gath where the results were the same. Death and sickness come upon the land. The citizens of Gath said, "Take it away to Ekron." But the men of Ekron were ready to send it home: "They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people," they said.
When the ark was finally returned to Israel, Samuel had been raised up as a prophet and judge. He called the people together and said, "If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." (1 Samuel 7:3).
The people responded and served the Lord only. They gathered to Mizpeh for prayer. While they were there, the Philistines came against them again. But Israel was different now. They were praying, they were open to God, they were serving Him. God thundered with a great thunder against the Philistines and they were smitten before the Israelites.
Samuel set a stone between Mizpeh and Shen and called it Ebenezer, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." We are told in Verse 13 that the Philistines were subdued and came no more. There was peace in the land, according to verse 14.
The vision the church needs is of our great God’s ability to deliver out of every circumstance of life. He is the Deliverer!
God is a restorer. Let’s return to Amos. The people were scattered, running to and fro, thirsting, dying, being destroyed by the sword because of their sins. But God was not finished. He was not about to desert His people. He would not allow the prophet to stop without declaring the restoration He would bring to Israel.
Amos proclaimed that God would raise up the tabernacle of David and close up the breaches thereof. He would raise up the ruins and build them as of old. The people of God would possess the land and the blessing would begin to flow. The reaper would be overtaken by the plowman. The treader of grapes would overtake the sower of seeds. The mountains would drop sweet wine and all the hills would melt.
God would bring again from captivity His people Israel, and they would return to their land. The wasted cities would be rebuilt and inhabited. The people would plant vineyards and make gardens and eat the fruit of them. They would be planted upon their land and be pulled up out of it no more.
I’ve watched that happen in my lifetime. On May 14, 1948, Israel came Into existence under the leadership of David BenGurion. A nation was born in a day. The official census showed a population of 872,678 in 1948. In 1971, Israel reported 2,991,000 people. The restoration Is underway. God is bringing His people home and we don’t need to worry about them ever being plucked up again!
In the same manner, He Is able to restore all things to the way He desires them to be. He is a deliverer and a restorer!
Our God is a Savior. The Inter-testament period, as the spiritual dark ages, was a dismal time for the world. Humanity needed help; men needed a Savior! One night on the Judean hillside, a bright light penetrated the darkness. A multitude of the heavenly host began to sing of a Savior. They spoke of good tidings of great joy, which would be to all people.
The message revealed the birth of Christ the Lord. Jesus, the One who came to take away the sins of the world, had arrived. Those who sat in spiritual darkness saw a great light. He came to bring light and life through the gospel. He came to be the Light of the World.
An old man at Jerusalem, Simeon, was just and devout. He waited on the consolation of Israel. He had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Christ Child. I believe the Spirit woke him one morning, saying, "Rush to the temple. This Is the day you’ve been waiting for!" I can imagine him getting dressed and shuffling along to the Temple. It was the day that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to follow the custom of the Law.
When Simeon saw the child, he took Him in his arms and blessed God. He said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).
Simeon did not want to die before he embraced the Savior! What a vision of the answer needed by this world! He not only is a deliverer and restorer, he is our only Saviour!
CONCLUSION
Oh, what a Savior! John saw in Him the answer to the searching heart. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
This is the answer we need today! Oh, my friend, if you think a vision is catching a glimpse of all the terrible things of this world, you are wrong! That’s not vision. The vision God wants us to have is one that makes us stand with solid assurance and faith to declare: "I know the God who is able to deliver out of every circumstance. I know the God who is able to restore. I know the God who is able to save unto the uttermost those that come to Him by Christ Jesus."
Paul saw it and was never disobedient to the heavenly vision. There is a loss, an eternal loss, that comes with the failure to keep your eye upon Him. The arm of the flesh will fail you. The world will overtake you.
Setting your affection on things above will save you. Having a clear vision of the God who is able to deliver, restore, and save will keep you. Through your life, the needs of others will be met and Jesus Christ will be glorified!
