Free to choose — BUT…

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” (2 Samuel 12:7–14)

Every choice I’ve made, including every sin, has consequences. Obedience to God generally results in good things, for that is His intention. He tells me what to do that will bless my life.

However, if my choice comes from “I know better” or “I want something different” the results can vary greatly. If I confess the sin, God forgives…

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

But confession and forgiveness may not change the consequences of what I said or did. David’s confession did not bring Uriah back to life, nor did it keep the baby from dying. Yet unlike Saul, God did not removed David from the throne because of his disobedience.

The NT promises that those who put their faith in Jesus Christ have a guaranteed eternal hope. I may lose rewards but not the everlasting life. It is a gift of grace based on what Jesus has done, not on what I have done or failed to do.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

Why then the consequences? For me, they show me why obedience is important, wake me up to the importance of God's will, and teach me that I am not as wise as I thought I was. 

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5–11)

Jesus, consequences are seldom easy, but they are not a punishment as much as they are a classroom and a tool to teach me humility and lead me into deeper faith. In them I see Your great determination to transform my life but also they reveal Your awesome holiness.

Why is the world in such a mess?

 

READ Jeremiah 27–30

We visited with family and talked about the state of the world. One person struggles with the evil and thinks if we could be rid of current politicians and elect better ones, then life would improve. Others pointed to biblical history and how God used enemies to discipline His people. That He is still doing this is not a popular idea.

When reading parts of Jeremiah this morning, I substituted names of current leaders and despots and sensed God’s instruction of how to live under unpopular political leadership. I can identify false prophets like those who opposed God and Jeremiah and understand why some people listen to them. No one wants to live in or serve ungodly governments! However, God had reasons for this . . .

In the beginning of the reign of . . . the Lord said to Jeremiah: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to the kings . . .  This is what you shall say to your masters: “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ” (27:1–11)

I also can imagine the reaction if a man of God said something like this to those who criticize today’s governments. How would they respond to this?

Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are telling you, ‘You shall not serve the (leaders of your country)’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” (27:14–15)

Jeremiah challenged one false prophet by telling him that God would remove him for telling people to rebel against the Lord and “in that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.” (28:15–17) Going against the Lord’s sovereign wisdom is dangerous!

The OT people were told to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare . . . . Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them . . . . When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (29:7–14)

After those years in exile, the people of God actually abandoned idol worship. His plan worked. As He promised, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God” and His fierce anger “executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.” (30:22–24)

I’m not happy with this messy world, but since much of it has turned away from God, it seems He is using it to bring folks back to Himself. Rather than be upset with His methods, I must comply with His plans.

 

Don’t be a ‘miserable comforter’

 

 

READ Job 5-8

Two truths come to mind through reading the words of Job’s ‘friend’ and Job’s reply. One is the difference between conviction by the Holy Spirit and accusations from our unholy enemy. The Holy Spirit is specific. He points to the sin, my sinful motivations, telling me exactly what I have done or not done that I should have done.

The enemy of my soul is vague in his accusations. I feel guilty but am not certain why, or think I have done something against God but I don’t know what it is. He also makes me feel like I must earn/deserve God’s favor.

Eliphaz started out with praise for the good things Job has done. However, he soon begins to talk of how God disciplines His people, then brings them back to prosperity and even says, “You shall come to your grave in ripe old age” after telling Job, “As for me. I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous thing without number . . . .” with words following that seem based on the assumption that Job was suffering because God was trying to make right a problem in his life.

This ‘friend’ told truth in a general sense yet he was vague about the nature of the problem. He did not have a clue about Job’s sin, either what it was or even the certainty of it. He was moralizing to a very troubled man rather than comforting him. Given the tendency of human nature to easily take credit for good things in our lives and blame ourselves if that goodness fails, these words could have put Job into deeper despair. He could have responded to this speech with, “Yes, I must have erred, otherwise God would not let all this happen to me” as if he was earning all his blessings by his own goodness.

Job did not do that. He knew that what he was going through was not discipline or punishment. His response was a challenge to his ‘friends’:

“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray. How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove? Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind? You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend. But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face. Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?” (Job 6:24–30)

He clearly knew that if God was rebuking him, then God would be specific and not hide it from him. Job was deeply suffering for reasons unknown. He needed comfort, not accusations, words of trust not ‘try harder.’ He knew God would not speak vaguely and would pardon him had he actually done wrong, but his situation felt like death without reason. He was dismayed at God’s silence.

The other truth that pops out at me is that when others are deeply suffering, to watch out for a reaction of fear. Job realized his ‘friends’ came to him sure of themselves, but that didn’t last long:

“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place . . . . They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid. Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? Or ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’? Or ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? Or ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’? (Job 6:14–23)

Job did not ask them to ‘fix’ his problem, yet when they saw his anguish, they could not deal with it. At first they were silent (see 2:13) and maybe should have stayed that way, yet they could not bear it with him. Job wanted comfort and struggled to understand what was happening. He also wanted them to believe God was not punishing him. But they were in fear. My experience with fear is that it opposes sound thinking. How could friends’ tell this man who had lost everything including his children that it must have been his own fault?

Sometimes we do bring calamity on ourselves, but Job teaches the folly of making assumptions then trying to solve the problems in another person’s life. This can be unkind if based on “I will fix this because I cannot bear it” — a very selfish reason.

These ‘friends’ did not have a clue why Job was suffering. Unless it involves others, God does not tell others the reasons for what He is doing in my life either. To be a friend, I must not stick my nose where it does not belong. Instead, Christ calls me to “suffer with those who suffer” and remind them of His unconditional love and mercy. He is still with us even if the sense of it gets lost because of our helpless condition.