Lots of words, same conclusions

Judges 1; Jeremiah 14; Matthew 28; Acts 5

These days of reading four passages and listening for God’s rhema word to me, I often struggle with hearing truth upon truth and cannot narrow it to a specific thought. I’ll write what I hear today and see if it comes together at the end.

Judges is a history book. God’s people vowed to follow Him but this book has a pattern. They didn’t keep their vow, God sends an enemy to put pressure on them, they cry out to the Lord for help and He sends a judge to deliver them.

The phrase, “Every man did what was right in his own eyes” is common throughout. However, the first chapter begins well. Two of the tribes conquered enemies in the land God gave them. I noticed that what they did to one of the kings was his pattern of dealing with those he conquered. He said, “As I have done, so God has repaid me.”

“Paradise Lost” is an imaginary description of hell. In it the author describes levels of torture that matched the major sins of those in that level. If they were adulterers, they lived in a constant state of adultery but never being satisfied. A liar would be with liars and never hear anything true.

That makes me think of Satan, the Father of lies. He dwells in darkness and cannot ever know or see the truth. In our world right now with the contradictions and media reports, people are saying “they are all liars” yet not having truth is unsettling like a ship without an anchor. Thinking about “getting what we deserve” comes to mind and I shudder.

Jeremiah speaks sharply to God’s people because they have been listening to false prophets who tell them in so many words that they are God’s so don’t worry, be happy, nothing will happen to you. This attitude is an assumption that they can do what is right in their own eyes and God will allow it, even bring them peace and comfort as they do it.

I think of two news items. One was a choir in a church that defied government guidelines about large gatherings. Instead of obeying Romans 13, they wound up with most of them getting Covid-19. The other was a video of police trying to convince church-goers that it was not safe to gather. One woman yelled at them with, “I’m covered by the blood of Christ. Nothing bad will happen to me.” Was that the same line Jesus heard in the Garden of Gethsemane, “You are the Son of God; nothing bad can happen to you?”

Matthew 28 is the climax, the time in history where God stepped in to rescue us rebels. The women who loved Jesus were at His tomb. An angel appeared and said to them:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5–7)

At that everything changed . . .  or did it? God’s people are now those who follow Jesus with new life and the aid of the Holy Spirit to obey Him. Yet our wars go on in a different venue. Our battles are not on the hills of Galilee but in the attitudes of our hearts. The desire to do my own thing resists the Spirit who loves me into wanting the will of God.

This shows up in Acts where two people lost that battle and their lives. They wanted to look good and lied to do it. The realization of their sin stopped their hearts. This is a warning to not play around with ego-protection. This same chapter show how the Lord empowered His workers; they defied those who came against them, not with lies or pretense but with the truth. Jesus was their Messiah who came to die for the sin of the world and bring forgiveness and hope to those who acknowledged their need for it and confessed their sin to Him.

Besides hearing God in these readings, I found a quote that says, “Confession no more creates forgiveness than a cheque creates money that you don’t already have in your account . . . it just releases it.” This also speaks to me. He has filled my account with Jesus and because of Him, I can choose to faithfully follow Him.

APPLY: Before salvation, my account was without any resources. But now Jesus is here. He is all that I need to stop sinning and to trust and obey Him even when life is tough and full of tests. I know my way does not work well because Jesus is full of grace, always showing me what is far better. He tells me to keep listening and knowing that He is God and I am not.

 

Can no one connect the dots?

So much of the world seems to have lost its bearings. This morning, I read an article where a company has been denied ability to do random drug and alcohol testing of its employees even though their statistics prove that coming to work impaired by these substances is dangerous and sometimes deadly toward all workers. That seems crazy enough, but the reason given by the courts is that: “such testing violates human rights.”

Right after reading that story, the television news told of a man who crosses the border to buy beer, which is cheaper in the next province than his own. The courts heavily fined him. Apparently, it is not okay to buy beer wherever you want, but it is okay to go to work drunk or drugged? The law tells people they must wear a seat belt when driving to protect themselves or others, and smokers must butt out in no smoking zones. However, if this trend continues, human rights activists will soon be insisting those laws be repealed also.

My husband, who has spent years supervising large construction projects, says that at least 1/3 of the incident reports involve drugs or alcohol. Not only that, the person who is impaired is not always the person who is injured or killed. Further, most of these ‘causes’ are not made known to the general public.

This prompted a discussion at the breakfast table about biblical prophecy. The Bible says that people will behave with a defiant manner:

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

I can hide in my home and avoid some of this, but more and more notice the difficulty of avoiding such people. These behaviors are the results of ignoring God and His Word. When these standards are gone, the Bible says people start “doing what is right in their own eyes” and lose the ability to see the contradictions and incongruities of their decisions.

Today’s devotional gives the following passage as suggested reading. It refers to the Second Coming when Jesus will return to judge those who have refused His salvation and continued to do what is right in their own eyes.

“Then I (John) saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, ‘Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:11–21)

I was teased as a younger person by my brother who called me a ‘fire and brimstone’ preacher. I cannot remember doing it, but if I was, here I go again. There is a God who hates sin, but He loves people and reached out to us with a wonderful plan of salvation:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

This verse is well-known and blesses many, yet many people walk away from it to their peril. The verses following it explain why:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:17–20)

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, we are watching our society crumble into lawlessness. Most people do not see or acknowledge that this is what happens when You are shoved out of their lives. For a time, Your common grace has preserved and blessed, but changes are happening. You are allowing people to go their own way and do their own thing, and we are reaping the results. Have mercy, oh Lord, have mercy.