Tag Archives: disobedience

WHAT IS GOD DOING IN SOUTH AFRICA – 2

Bible Study, ,

Now, let’s examine another record in Scripture to confirm the way in which God accomplishes His will by His dealings with unbelieving rulers … the story of Ahab.

God predicted King Ahab’s death because of his disobedience. He was instructed to defeat the Arameans and kill their king. However, instead, Ahab saved King Ben-Hadad’s life and made a treaty with him.

1 Kings 20:34 NIV
[34] “I will return the cities my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadad offered. “You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Ahab said, “On the basis of a treaty I will set you free.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.”

God’s judgment fell on Ahab.

1 Kings 20:42-43 NLT
[42] “The prophet said to him, (Ahab), “This is what the Lord says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.” [43] So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.”

After this incident, there followed Ahab’s theft of Naboth’s vineyard, bringing God’s final judgment down on his head.

1 Kings 21:18-19 NLT
[18] “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself. [19] Give him this message: ‘This is what the Lord says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”

How did God fulfill this prophecy? I Kings 22 tells the story.

Ahab, together with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, planned a reprisal war against the Arameans.

In order to lure Ahab to his death through a lying spirit, the false prophets of Baal predicted victory against the Arameans. Behind the scenes, God planned, through His divine council, the course and outcome of this battle.

After all the favourable prophecies of victory, God’s prophet, Michaiah, called in to tell the truth about the outcome of this battle, revealed God’s plan to King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

1 Kings 22:17, 19-23 NLT
[17] Then Micaiah told him, “In a vision I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘Their master has been killed. Send them home in peace.’”…

How did the Lord get Ahab to go to war against the Arameans to fulfil this prophecy?

[19] Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. [20] And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’ “There were many suggestions, [21] and finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I can do it!’ [22] “‘How will you do this?’ the Lord asked. “And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’ ‘You will succeed,’ said the Lord. ‘Go ahead and do it.’ [23] “So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the Lord has pronounced your doom.”

Angry and defiant, Ahab disregarded the prophecy, tried to outwit the Aramean army by disguising himself as an ordinary soldier, and was hit by a random Aramean arrow that pierced him through a joint in his armour, killing him as predicted.

1 Kings 22:29, 34-38 NLT
[29] “So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead….
[34] An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at the Israelite troops and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. “Turn the horses and get me out of here!” Ahab groaned to the driver of his chariot. “I’m badly wounded!” [35] The battle raged all that day, and the king remained propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran down to the floor of his chariot, and as evening arrived he died. [36] Just as the sun was setting, the cry ran through his troops: “We’re done for! Run for your lives!” [37] So the king died, and his body was taken to Samaria and buried there. [38] Then his chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, and dogs came and licked his blood at the place where the prostitutes bathed, just as the Lord had promised.”

The conclusion? God did exactly as He predicted through Ahab’s own decision.

And the outcome?

God was glorified – His determined plan in everything He does to accomplish His will on earth in and through people. One thing is sure…

Isaiah 42:8 NIV
[8] “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

What of South Africa?

I see two things happening in the current scene. The whole world is watching little, insignificant South Africa because of two things…

First, South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ.

Egged on and paid for by Iran, so it is alleged, South Africa initiated a massive attack on Israel through the International Court of Justice, sparking global outrage against Israel. Bad decision!

Second, South Africa’s insane internal policies, for example, its NHI plan, its Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) bill, and its foreign policies, alienating the west, especially the USA, and climbing into bed with pro-terrorist countries like Russia, China, and Middle Eastern nations has angered our allies.

Third, by alienating our country from our historical allies, the ruling party is setting us up for isolation from Western trading partners.

With the spotlight on South Africa, God can show the world what He will do with arrogant, stubborn rulers who are espoused to demonic spirits and who refuse to listen to reason and wisdom.

Just as Pharoah entrenched his antagonism towards the Israelites, so our leaders are entrenching their policies against Israel and the poor masses in South Africa, enriching themselves through corruption instead of taking care of the nation.

God’s ultimate plan is twofold, to destroy the gods of the nation and to reveal His glory to the whole world by destroying its wicked rulers just as He did to Egypt and King Ahab.

Habakkuk 2:14 NIV
[14] “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 6

Bible Study, ,

Since Jesus is superior to Moses as the Son over God’s household and the Old Covenant, the writer to the Hebrews warns his readers of the danger of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12-13 NLT
[12] “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. [13] You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

During their journey through the wilderness, the children of Israel repeatedly tested God’s patience by complaining against their hardships…hunger and thirst for example, despite the miracles He did for them.

“Don’t be like them! Through their unbelief, they failed to enter the rest God promised them in the Promised Land.”

Hebrews 4:1-2 NLT
[1] “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. [2] For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.”

There is an even greater rest for those who are faithful in suffering…the rest of faith in Jesus that frees us from the hard work of trying to earn our salvation.

Hebrews 3:14 NLT
[14]”For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

The Israelites who rebelled against God never saw the Promised Land. They died in the desert, leaving behind the next generation that entered Canaan and took possession of the land God gave them. However, what the Israelites failed to understand was that their new life in the Promised Land was to be a life of faith in God and obedience to His commands. They would have rest from their enemies around them and from the struggles of life through their faithfulness to God and in His care.

The Israelites rested from the hard work of travel and war, only to suffer punishment because they failed to trust God. There is an even greater rest for those who believe in Jesus, a rest from the ravages of sin and unbelief.

Hebrews 4:6-7, 9-10 NLT
[6] “So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. [7] So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts…”
[9] So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. [10] For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”

So, the writer urges his readers, “If you go back to Judaism, you will never enter the rest of faith in Jesus.” God’s rest is a rest of heart and conscience from the penalty and power of sin. Don’t miss it through unbelief in God’s Word.

Hebrews 4:11-13 NLT
[11] “So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
[12] For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [13] Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

As the Israelites of old, we cannot dodge the scrutiny of God’s Word. God sees and knows the depth of the human heart. He knows when there is unbelief in our hearts that refuses to obey Him. He responds to those who truly believe His Word and trust in the one He sent to deal with our sin.

As David prayed…

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

… let us, also, willingly invite the Father’s scrutiny of our innermost being. Then we will enter His rest, escape the penalty of our sin, and enjoy all the benefits He has promised us in Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.

To be continued…

GOD’S GOODNESS LEADS TO REPENTANCE

Christian Life, ,

Romans 2:4 NLT
[4] “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

Paul is in conversation with his fellow Jews. He’s on a mission to expose the guilt of the whole human race before God. There are two categories of people in Paul’s world – Gentiles and Jews, separated and at enmity because of their attitude towards God but equally guilty before Him for their disobedience to His Word.

The Gentile word is guilty and the object of God’s wrath because of what they have done with God’s truth… They have suppressed truth by their wickedness, denied and exchanged truth for lies, created their own objects of worship, thumbed their nose at and perverted God’s moral standards and, eventually turned right and wrong upside down. Scripture declares the Gentiles guilty as charged.

The Jews are smug. They are not like the Gentiles. They are privileged people. They have God’s law. They are in covenant with the God the Gentiles have rejected. They belong to God.

“Don’t you understand?” Paul declares. “This is exactly where you have gone horribly wrong!” The Jews believed that having these privileges safeguarded them from the Gentiles’ fate. “It’s not what you have that counts. It’s what you do with what you have that makes the difference.”

The sin of the Jews was, in the main, hypocrisy. They hid behind their possession of the law to cover their disobedience to God’s covenant. .

Romans 2:1, 3 NLT
[1] “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things…
[3] Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?“

Then Paul makes this astonishing statement. “Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

Psalm 73 is the musing of a man who was wrestling with an observation we also wrestle with at times. Why do the ungodly prosper? Why does it seem that nothing can go wrong for them? Even wayward believers seem to get away with their sin. It’s as though God turns a blind eye to what they do.

Trouble is, we don’t think the way God thinks. We think that the way to get the attention of the ungodly or the sinning believer is to turn up the heat on them. God does sometimes get people’s attention through some crisis or catastrophe. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment often helps to confirm their opinion of God. “He doesn’t love me!” or even “God hates me. Look what He has done to me,” when disaster is often a consequence of their own disobedience.

Paul’s reasoning with the Jews who were guilty of hypocrisy was to remind them of God’s goodness. What had He done for them? Exactly what they hid behind to excuse their disobedience! His Word! His covenant! His instructions for living!

Romans 2:17-20 NLT
[17] “You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. [18] You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. [19] You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. [20] You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.”

Possessing God`s law was no protection from their sin. Only obedience to His law would guarantee His favour.

Romans 2:1-4 NLT
[1] “You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. [2] And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. [3] Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? [4] Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

God’s patience with sinners is enough to remind us how good He is. He has every right to take those out who persist in their sin, but he hasn’t. He lets them live to have an opportunity to repent and turn to Him.

The day will come when God confirms the choices people make in this life. Until then, He sustains life and gives breath to all so that they can come to their senses and call on His name.

2 Peter 3:8-10 NLT
[8] “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. [9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

God is patient because of His mercy. However, God will destroy sinners because He is holy. It is up to us to ensure that we live our lives in the fear of the Lord. If we do this, as Peter assures us….

2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT
[10]” So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. [11] Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

REST FROM OUR WORKS

Bible Study, ,

REST FROM OUR WORKS

And again in the passage above He says, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’

Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,

God again set a certain day, calling it “Today”. This He did when a long time later He spoke through David, as the passage already quoted: ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his works, just as God rested. (Heb. 4:6-10)

What is the rest about which this writer was speaking?

If we follow his rather intricate argument, he was using the Promised Land as a picture of the rest into which God invites us when we trust the work Jesus did for us on the cross to fully satisfy God’s justice so that we need not do anything more to be  accepted by Him.

For God’s people in the wilderness it required faith in His promise to go into a land full of giants and walled cities, and drive out the inhabitants. God’s intention was for them to take over the entire land with its buildings and its flourishing agriculture so that they would have to do nothing but possess it and settle down in it. If they trusted what He said, it would have been an almost effortless process because He would have gone before them and fought for them just as they experienced when they took the city of Jericho.

However, in spite of all their experiences during their forty-year migration through the wilderness when God supported them and supplied their needs all the way, they refused to obey Him. Twelve spies went in to check out the land. Twelve came back with a glowing report of the land’s bounty, but only two saw the obstacles as challenges which they could easily over come through God’s help. Ten saw them as impossibilities because they refused to view them through God’s promise.

For forty years, the people had tested God’s patience by murmuring, complaining and threatening every time they hit a snag. They just didn’t get it! They saw difficulties as the reason to get mad at God and at Moses, and to pack their bags and go back to Egypt. God was trying to get them to grow up in their confidence in Him, because a big task lay ahead for them, one that required absolute trust and implicit obedience.

They were not interested in learning to trust God. They wanted their comforts and they wanted them now! They had no idea what lay ahead and how important it was to have confidence in God and to obey His instructions. By doing that, they would have entered into both a land and a lifetime of plenty and blessing. As long as they did what God told them to do, the conquest of the land would have been easy. God would do the fighting and they would gather the spoils.

Just as it didn’t turn out like that for them because they refused to trust God, so the writer warned his readers that they would never gather the spoils of Jesus’s victory over the devil if they refused to trust God. The rest He invited them to share with Him was the rest of entering into a victory already won. They had to do nothing but enjoy it. God required nothing of them but to accept all the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice and live in them.

The time for entering into and enjoying this rest is “today”. That means that every day is “today” as long as the day of God’s grace is still “today”. There will come a “day” when the door of grace will be shut forever, and those who refuse to enter will be shut out. The bridegroom will come and the door to the wedding feast will be closed. “Today” will be gone as time will cease and eternity will be upon us.

‘Don’t miss it,’ he pleaded. ‘Today will not be here forever.’

This is not a message specifically for the ‘outsider’ although outsiders are included in the invitation. This is for the people of God – for those who think that they have to add something to what Jesus has already done. We cannot add anything to His completed work. ‘It is finished!’ No good work, no ritual, no keeping of rules, no anything can complete what Jesus has finished.

Only one thing is necessary for us to do – believe it and . . . rest!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.