Reversal of Fortune

This is a theme that runs throughout the Scriptures. In Is 26.5 this morning it is reversal of fortune in a negative sense. Those who are lofty will be brought low. So low that God will bring it (here a city, but applicable to all) to the ground, indeed, smother it in dust.

What man exalts, God brings low. Why? Because anything that is exalted tries to in essence take the place of God. Since God is the highest conceivable being in the universe, it is morally wrong for anything else to try and take his place. This would be like trying to call an ant an elephant. It is laughable and offensive to the true elephant.

God must bring the arrogant low because now they are set into their proper place in relation to the one who created the universe, and it is an act of mercy because being made low is perhaps the only way to open one's eyes to the fact that they are not God. Perhaps then they will look for the one who is indeed God.

Reversal of Fortune

One of the grand themes of the Scriptures is that of reversal of fortune. I came across it again in Ps. 37.35-36 (KJV) this morning. "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree; yet he passed away, and lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

There is the appearance that the wicked are prospering. Everyone sees it; everyone acknowledges it. He is like a gigantic tree that stands over the landscape and everyone who passes by remarks, "What an incredible tree!"

The day comes when the tree dies; the wicked passes away. Everyone looks for the giant tree, but it no longer exists. There has been a reversal of fortune. The wicked had the appearance of prosperity, but it was only an appearance, only for a time. There will come a day when the wicked will be held responsible for their wickedness. God will be justified.

Reversal of Fortune

A reversal of fortune is one of the prominent themes of the Scriptures. We see it again and again. Joseph, stuck in an Egyptian prison and not having a single advocate in all of the land, suddenly becomes the second most powerful person in the country. Naomi—she who would be renamed Mara, or "bitter"—comes home with no prospects of happiness or wealth, and ends up being the grandmother of David. The Jewish people are doomed by the machinations of Haman, until suddenly it is Haman that is destroyed through the efforts of Mordecai and Esther.

Reversal of fortune is the theme in Ecc 7.12: "Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it will be well with them that fear God, which fear before him." "I know that there will be a reversal of fortune," says Solomon. "Evil will not prevail. It will be well with them that fear God."

The ultimate reversal of fortune was at the crux of history. Christ went to the cross and died for sinners. God the father must turn his back on him. Yet three days later, Christ rises from the dead. He conquers death, and suddenly every man has the possibility of turning from death to life in Christ.