God uses WICKED LEADERS to punish and to draw mankind back into a loving and disciplined relationship with Him.
12/03/2017
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THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE REBUKED BY GOD’S FORSAKING WRATH ARE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR GOD’S CONSEQUENTIAL WRATH ON OUR NATION
To Be a Responsible Citizen we need to live as peacefully as we can with others. It is the will of God that we love others as we love our self's.
As we look to God’s Word, it will lead us farther. We are not only subject to the authority of princes who perform their office toward us uprightly and faithfully as they ought, but also to the authority of all who, by whatever means, have got control of affairs, even though they are not performing the duties of a princes’ office. For despite the Lord’s testimony that the magistrate’s office is the highest gift of His beneficence to preserve the safety of men, and despite His appointment of bounds to the magistrates He still declares at the same time that whoever they may be, they have their authority solely from Him. Indeed, He says that those who rule for the public benefit are true patterns and evidences of this beneficence of His; that they who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by Him to punish the wickedness of the people; that all equally have been endowed with that holy majesty with which He has invested lawful power. I shall proceed no farther until I have added some sure testimonies of this thing. Yet, we need not labor to prove that a wicked king is the Lord’s wrath upon the earth [Job 34:30; Hos. 13:11; Isa. 3:4; 10:5; Deut. 28:29], for I believe no man will contradict me; and thus nothing more would be said of a king than of a robber who seizes your possessions, of an adulterer who pollutes your marriage bed, or of a murderer who seeks to kill you. For Scripture reckons all such calamities among God’s curses. But let us, rather, pause here to prove this, which does not so easily settle in men’s minds. In a very wicked man utterly unworthy of all honor, provided he has the public power in his hands, that noble and divine power resides which the Lord has by his Word given to the ministers of his justice and judgment. Accordingly, he should be held in the same reverence and esteem by his subjects, in so far as public obedience is concerned, in which they would hold the best of kings if he were given to them.
Let us remember: Though this world is truly Babylon the Great (Revelation 18), let us not forgete the examples of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. These men not only lived in literal Babylon, but also served in Nebuchadnezzar's government, giving great honor and loyalty to the king. When Babylon's laws conflicted with God's laws, as in the case of idolatry (Daniel 3), they stood rock solid for God's way, willing to take whatever punishment the civil government gave them. This is the principle we should always follow (“We must obey God rather than men [we have no other choice]. Acts 5:29).
Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
He wants to live our lives in peace not worrying about the things happening around us in this evil world. He wants us to always be thankful and keep ourselves pure for Him.
Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
Job lost EVERYTHING he owned, his family, his dignity and pride; however JOB never lost his FAITH in God. Through it all Job asked God to show him his sins so he could repent of them and be made whole. We should all be more like Job and quit being a bunch grumbling spoiled children who expect God to make all your paths in this journey easy.
In Hosea 13 we see that God will take away the ruler who has condoned the rebellion of the people that have turned their backs on God in favor of idol worship and personal pleasures like the pagan people they live with. God warns that He will destroy everything including the people who turn away from Him. We see here what happens when the people Customize their “RELIGION” to their personal tastes.
Hosea 13 {MSG}
In Deuteronomy 28 {MSG} we learn that God is very generous with His blessings on those who chose to be obedient to His voice. You need for nothing and your enemies will not harm you. On the other hand if you chose to be disobedient you will receive the wrath of God that includes God cursing everything you hold dear. You will be cursed in everything you do every day you chose to live in disobedience.
Psalm 81 {AMP} Here again we see that the people of Israel decided to turn their backs on God once again so of course He unleashes His punishment on them.
Scripture is filled with the proclamation that God is characterized by Holiness, Righteousness and Perfection ( Psalms 93:5; 7:17; 19:7 ); to list His specifically related attributes to the topic of this study. It follows that any violation of those qualities demands adjudication in a way similar to the summons of a human courtroom. The satisfaction of God’s violated Justice is said to be His Judgment, or a manifestation of His Wrath (Deut. 9:7). Predicated by the fall, “God is angry with the wicked every day” states Psalm 7:11(KJV). Ephesians 5:6 states, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
However, God’s Judgment is balanced — often placated — by His attribute of Mercy. States Romans 9:15, (which is a quote of the OT in this regard) “I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Here’s the point: In a chronological sense when God’s eternal Justice is no longer eclipsed by His eternal Mercy — that is to say His attribute of Mercy is expended — His Judgment or Wrath is necessarily manifest.
THE FIVE FORMS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
The last three on the list pertain to the question of whether or not God uses government as punishment, and in that No. 3 is not the wrath we are talking about here today, it is the remaining two that will be addressed and critically evaluated from what Scripture teaches.
A third illustration (now from the NT) in addition to Romans chapter 1, which follows, is when God the Father placed the sins of the world on the shoulders of His Son, so as to be a substitute for sinners. In remaining separated from sin, God the Father in essence abandoned His Son on the Cross. Jesus replied accordingly, “Why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34; 2 Cor. 5:21).
Clearly indicative of God’s Forsaking Wrath is when the abandoned serve the creature rather than the creator.
Romans gods and goddesses of FERTILITY:
Bona Dea - goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women
D. A SECURING OF DEPRAVITY: VS. 28-31
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; In this next portion of the passage
Scripture indicates the direct result — what is secured — is a depraved mind. When restraint is absent this is what God gives people over to. Notice what this passage teaches: The things that are not proper stem from and are a result of depraved minds (adokimos) which means “Not standing the test.” Adokimos was a term referring to metals that did not stand the test due to impurities. Under close examination they lacked internal fortitude, or integrity. Since these metals were rejected, adokimos came to mean that which is worthless and useless.
To illustrate in one of many ways: If a person or a nation sows debt, it will reap in due time the results of financial crisis. Whenever an individual or corporate group of individuals violate the inviolate precepts of God’s Word, he, she, they or the institution will suffer the respective consequences. Most assuredly America is facing this form of God’s Judgment.
Here are 10 Bible verses that governmental employees and politicians can reflect on.
We may not feel like it or we may not believe that they are doing the best that they can but we are commanded to pray for those who are in “high positions” and that most certainly means praying for governmental leaders and politicians. As bad as they may be or as corrupt as they are, this does not relieve us of our responsibility to pray for those who are over us.
We are subjects of the government of the land. This means that we are to be under their authority and this means that we should obey those who rule over us, no matter what we feel about them. God has established those in positions of authority as it pleases him and so we ought always to “be subject to the governing authorities.”
There are those Ministers who lead
you to believe that America is NOTHING like Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-33) because it is “populated by
tens of millions of faithful followers of Christ”; on the contrary “America is
populated by tens of millions of people who are being lead by ministers who
tickle their ears and make them feel good just being good people 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Matthew 7:15-20”
Paul’s final words to Timothy
“Preach
the Word”
I solemnly charge
you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and
the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word [as an official
messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your
sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable,
whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct
[those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and
encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible
patience and [faithful] teaching. For the time will come when people will not
tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with
God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing],
they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen]
to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, and will turn
their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made
fictions [and will accept the unacceptable]. But as for you, be clear-headed in
every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without
flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your
ministry.
False teachers full of lies and
deception exploiting the naïve Church who want to hear anything but the TRUTH
of GOD’S WORD are leading tens of millions of “Evangelicals” down the wide path
that leads to HELL.
“Be wary of false preachers
who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to
rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for
character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine
leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased
trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.”
“But when the Son
of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will
sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him
[for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd
separates his sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right [the
place of honor], and the goats on His left [the place of rejection].“Then the
King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you
favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me
something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a
stranger, and you invited Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and
you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came
to Me [ignoring personal danger].’Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord,
when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to
drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and
clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The
King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you,
to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least
of them, you did it for Me.’ “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me,
you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil
and his angels (demons); for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I
was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did
not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and
you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care].’ Then they also [in their
turn] will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then
He will reply to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the
extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these [my followers], you
did not do it for Me.’ Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into
eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right
standing with God [will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending)
life.”
THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE REBUKED BY GOD’S FORSAKING WRATH ARE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR GOD’S CONSEQUENTIAL WRATH ON OUR NATION
First
of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions
(prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people, for
kings and all who are in [positions of] high authority, so that we may live a
peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This [kind of praying] is
good and acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wishes all
people to be saved and to come to the knowledge and recognition of the [divine]
truth. For there is [only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and
mankind, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom [a substitutionary
sacrifice to atone] for all, the testimony given at the right and proper time.
And for this matter I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the
truth, I am not lying [when I say this]—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
truth. Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands,
without anger and disputing or quarreling or doubt [in their mind].
To Be a Responsible Citizen we need to live as peacefully as we can with others. It is the will of God that we love others as we love our self's.
Be a
good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and
order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re
irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold
you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re
trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.
Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen
and you’ll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if
you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there
just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping
order, and he uses them to do it. That’s why you must live responsibly—not just
to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live. That’s also
why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill
your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your
leaders. Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each
other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all
along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take
someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you
don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of—finally adds up to this:
Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love
others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love. But
make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all
your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off,
oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake
to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation
work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must
not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in
sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight.
Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very
last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
As we look to God’s Word, it will lead us farther. We are not only subject to the authority of princes who perform their office toward us uprightly and faithfully as they ought, but also to the authority of all who, by whatever means, have got control of affairs, even though they are not performing the duties of a princes’ office. For despite the Lord’s testimony that the magistrate’s office is the highest gift of His beneficence to preserve the safety of men, and despite His appointment of bounds to the magistrates He still declares at the same time that whoever they may be, they have their authority solely from Him. Indeed, He says that those who rule for the public benefit are true patterns and evidences of this beneficence of His; that they who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by Him to punish the wickedness of the people; that all equally have been endowed with that holy majesty with which He has invested lawful power. I shall proceed no farther until I have added some sure testimonies of this thing. Yet, we need not labor to prove that a wicked king is the Lord’s wrath upon the earth [Job 34:30; Hos. 13:11; Isa. 3:4; 10:5; Deut. 28:29], for I believe no man will contradict me; and thus nothing more would be said of a king than of a robber who seizes your possessions, of an adulterer who pollutes your marriage bed, or of a murderer who seeks to kill you. For Scripture reckons all such calamities among God’s curses. But let us, rather, pause here to prove this, which does not so easily settle in men’s minds. In a very wicked man utterly unworthy of all honor, provided he has the public power in his hands, that noble and divine power resides which the Lord has by his Word given to the ministers of his justice and judgment. Accordingly, he should be held in the same reverence and esteem by his subjects, in so far as public obedience is concerned, in which they would hold the best of kings if he were given to them.
Let us remember: Though this world is truly Babylon the Great (Revelation 18), let us not forgete the examples of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. These men not only lived in literal Babylon, but also served in Nebuchadnezzar's government, giving great honor and loyalty to the king. When Babylon's laws conflicted with God's laws, as in the case of idolatry (Daniel 3), they stood rock solid for God's way, willing to take whatever punishment the civil government gave them. This is the principle we should always follow (“We must obey God rather than men [we have no other choice]. Acts 5:29).
Often times believers get so caught up
with what is happening around them, they forget they are just passing through
this life unto a life full of joy. The burdens of this world like finances,
work, school, politics and sometimes even “Church” become so heavy believer
becomes a complainer. God does not want us to be complainers or groaners; he
wants us to rejoice at all time –
Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
He wants to live our lives in peace not worrying about the things happening around us in this evil world. He wants us to always be thankful and keep ourselves pure for Him.
Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
When
the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people
groan.
We
learn from Job that groaning about the things that come against us in this life
gets us nowhere with God. It is through continual praise, thanksgiving and
adoration that God gives us the strength to persevere. No matter what the enemy
of God, Satan brings against you, you can rest assured that God has already
made a way for you to get around or through it. There may be battle wounds when
all is said and done but it is worth the fight knowing that God our Heavenly
Father has prepared a place for all of us who endures until the end.
Blessed [happy, spiritually
prosperous, favored by God] is the man who is steadfast under trial and
perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he
will receive the [victor’s] crown of life which the Lord has promised to those
who love Him.
Job lost EVERYTHING he owned, his family, his dignity and pride; however JOB never lost his FAITH in God. Through it all Job asked God to show him his sins so he could repent of them and be made whole. We should all be more like Job and quit being a bunch grumbling spoiled children who expect God to make all your paths in this journey easy.
Elihu
continued his discourse and said, “Hear my words, you wise men, And listen to
me, you who have [so much] knowledge. “For the ear puts words to the test as
the palate tastes food. “Let us choose for ourselves that which is right; Let
us know among ourselves what is good. “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous [and
innocent], But God has taken away my right; Although I am right, I am accounted a liar. My
wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ “What man is like Job,
Who drinks up derision like water, Who goes in company with those who do evil and
walks with wicked men? “For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing when he
takes delight and is pleased with God and obeys Him.’ “Therefore hear me, you
men of understanding. Far be it from God that He would do wickedness, And from
the Almighty to do wrong. “For God pays a man according to his work, And He
will make every man find [appropriate] compensation according to his way.
“Surely God will not act wickedly, Nor will the Almighty pervert justice. “Who
put God in charge over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? “If
God should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself [that is,
withdraw from man] His [life-giving] spirit and His breath, All flesh would
perish together, And man would return to dust. “If you now have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.“Shall one who hates justice [and is an enemy
of right] govern? And will you condemn Him who is just and mighty? “God who
says to a king, ‘You are worthless and vile,’ Or to princes and nobles, ‘You
are wicked and evil’? “Who is not partial to princes, Nor does He regard the
rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands. “In a moment they
die, even at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, And the powerful are
taken away without a [human] hand.“For God’s eyes are on the ways of a man, And
He sees all his steps. “There is no darkness nor deep shadow where the
evildoers may hide themselves. “For He sets no appointed time for a man, That
he should appear before Him in judgment. “He breaks mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place. “Therefore He knows of their works, And He
overthrows them in the night, So that they are crushed and destroyed. “He
strikes them like the wicked in a public place, Because they turned aside from
following Him and would not consider or show regard for any of His ways, So
that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And He heard the cry of
the afflicted. “When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? When He hides His
face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make
supplication to Him], Whether it be a nation or a man by himself? — So that
godless men would not rule nor be snares for the people. “For has anyone said
to God, ‘I have endured my chastisement; I will not offend anymore; Teach me
what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned]; If I have done wrong
(injustice, unrighteousness),I will not do it again’? “Shall God’s retribution
[for your sins] be on your terms, because you refuse to accept it? For you must
do the choosing, and not I; Therefore say what you [truthfully] know. “Men of
understanding will tell me, Indeed, every wise man who hears me [will agree],
‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom and
insight.‘Job ought to be tried to the limit because he answers like wicked men!
‘For he adds rebellion [in his unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God] to
his [unacknowledged] sin; He claps his hands among us [in open mockery and
contempt of God], And he multiplies his words [of accusation] against God.’”
In Hosea 13 we see that God will take away the ruler who has condoned the rebellion of the people that have turned their backs on God in favor of idol worship and personal pleasures like the pagan people they live with. God warns that He will destroy everything including the people who turn away from Him. We see here what happens when the people Customize their “RELIGION” to their personal tastes.
God
once let loose against Ephraim a terrifying sentence against Israel:
Caught and convicted in the lewd sex-worship of Baal—they died! And now they’re
back in the sin business again, manufacturing god-images they can use, Religion
customized to taste. Professionals see to it: Anything you want in a god you
can get. Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods —
kill living babies and kiss golden calves! And now there’s nothing left to
these people: hollow men, desiccated women, Like scraps of paper blown
down the street, like smoke in a gusty wind. “I’m still your God, the God who saved you out of Egypt.
I’m the only real God you’ve ever known. I’m the one and only God who
delivers. I took care of you during the wilderness hard times, those years when
you had nothing. I took care of you, took care of all your needs, gave you
everything you needed. You were spoiled. You thought you didn’t need me. You
forgot me.“I’ll charge them like a lion, like a leopard stalking in the brush.
I’ll jump them like a sow grizzly robbed of her cubs. I’ll rip out their
guts. Coyotes will make a meal of them. Crows will clean their
bones. I’m going to destroy you, Israel. Who is going to stop me? Where is your
trusty king you thought would save you? Where are all the local leaders you
wanted so badly? All these rulers you insisted on having, demanding, ‘Give me a
king! Give me leaders!’? Well, long ago I gave you a king, but I wasn’t happy
about it. Now, fed up, I’ve gotten rid of him. I have a detailed record of your
infidelities—Ephraim’s sin documented and stored in a safe-deposit box. “When
birth pangs signaled it was time to be born, Ephraim was too stupid to
come out of the womb. When the passage into life opened up, he didn’t show.
Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain
death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the
end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow, Even though Ephraim ran wild, the
black sheep of the family.“God’s
tornado is on its way, roaring out of the desert. It will devastate the
country, leaving a trail of ruin and wreckage. The cities will be
gutted, dear possessions gone for good. Now Samaria has to face the
charges because she has rebelled against her God: Her people will be killed,
babies smashed on the rocks, pregnant women ripped open.”
In Isaiah 3 {MSG} we learn of the demise of a people
who have turned to all kinds of wickedness, turning to customs of the people
God them to stay away from. Because the people continued to disobey God He took
everything important to them away from them.
The
Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is emptying Jerusalem and Judah of all the basic necessities, plain bread and
water to begin with. He’s withdrawing police and protection,
judges and courts, pastors and teachers, captains and generals, doctors and
nurses, and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all-trades. He says,
“I’ll put little kids in charge of the city. Schoolboys and schoolgirls will
order everyone around. People will be at each other’s throats, stabbing
one another in the back: Neighbor against neighbor, young against old, the no-account against the well-respected. One brother will grab another and
say, ‘You look like you’ve got a head on your shoulders. Do something! Get
us out of this mess.’ And he’ll say, ‘Me? Not me! I don’t have a clue. Don’t
put me in charge of anything.’ “Jerusalem’s on its last legs. Judah is soon
down for the count. Everything people say and do is at cross-purposes with
God, a slap in my face. Brazen in their depravity, they flaunt their sins
like degenerate Sodom. Doom to their eternal souls! They’ve made their bed; now
they’ll sleep in it. “Reassure the righteous that their good living will
pay off. But doom to the wicked! Disaster! Everything they did will be
done to them.“Skinny kids terrorize my people. Silly
girls bully them around. My dear people!
Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley. They’re sending you off on
a wild-goose chase.” God
enters the courtroom. He takes his place at the bench to judge his people.
God calls for order in the court
and hauls the leaders of his people into the dock: “You’ve played havoc with
this country. Your houses are stuffed with what you’ve stolen from the
poor. What is this anyway? Stomping on my people, grinding the faces of the
poor into the dirt?” That’s what the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
says. God
says, “Zion women are stuck-up, prancing around in their high heels, making eyes at all the men in the
street, swinging their hips, tossing their hair, gaudy and garish in cheap
jewelry.” The Master will fix it so those Zion women will all turn bald—Scabby,
bald-headed women. The Master will do it. The time is coming when the Master will
strip them of their fancy baubles—the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets,
combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces, the rings on their fingers
and the rings on their toes, the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes
and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes, all the world’s finest in fabrics and
design. Instead of wearing seductive scents, these women are going to
smell like rotting cabbages; Instead of modeling flowing gowns, they’ll be
sporting rags; Instead of their stylish hairdos, scruffy heads; Instead of
beauty marks, scabs and scars. Your finest fighting men will be killed, your
soldiers left dead on the battlefield. The entrance gate to Zion will be
clotted with people mourning their dead—A city stooped under the weight of her
loss, brought to her knees by her sorrows.
Isaiah 10 {AMP} God uses Assyria to accomplish
His will against godless nations only to have the King of Assyria in his pride,
brag the he accomplished all those mighty victories by his own hand. This of
course angers God who in turns sends a plague upon him.
Woe
(judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes, And to those
[magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions, So as to
deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,
So that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the fatherless. Now what will you do in the day of [God’s]
punishment, And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away? To
whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth [for
safekeeping]? Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives or fall [dead]
among the slain [on the battlefield]. In spite of all this, God’s anger does
not turn away, But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment]. Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!
I send Assyria against a godless nation and commission it
against the people of My wrath To take the spoil and to seize the plunder, And
to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it is not Assyria’s intention
[to do My will], Nor does it plan so in its heart, But instead it is its
purpose to destroy and to cut off many nations. For Assyria says, “Are not my
princes all kings? “Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the
Euphrates]? Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]? Is not Samaria
[in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]? “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of
the idols, Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of
Jerusalem and Samaria, Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her
images just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].
So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on
Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I
will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the
arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.” For
the Assyrian king has said, “I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and
by my wisdom, for I have understanding and skill. I have removed the boundaries
of the peoples and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought
down those who sat on thrones. “My hand has found the wealth of
the people like a nest, And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have
gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened
its beak and chirped.” Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops
with it? Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it? That
would be like a club moving those who lift it, Or like a staff raising him who
is not [made of] wood [like itself]! Therefore
the Lord, the God of hosts, will
send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria; And under his glory
a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. And the Light of Israel will
become a fire and His Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour Assyria’s
thorns and briars in a single day. The Lord will consume the glory of
Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be
as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of Assyria’s forest will be so few in
number that a child could write them down. Now in that day the remnant of
Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely
on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a
remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be
as the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; The destruction
is determined [it is decided and destined for completion], overflowing with
justice (righteous punishment). For the Lord, the God of hosts will execute a complete destruction, one that
is decreed, in the midst of all the land. Therefore, the Lord God of hosts says this, “O My people who
dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and
lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did. For yet a very
little while and My indignation [against you] will be fulfilled and My anger
will be directed toward the destruction of the Assyrian.” The Lord of hosts will brandish a whip
against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff
will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight
from] Egypt. So it will be in that day, that the burden of the
Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The
yoke will be broken because of the fat. The Assyrian has come against Aiath [in
Judah], He has passed through Migron [with his army]; At Michmash he stored his
equipment. They have gone through the pass, saying, “Geba will be our lodging
place for the night.” Ramah trembles, and Gibeah [the city] of Saul has fled.
Cry aloud with your voice [in consternation], O Daughter of Gallim! Pay
attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth! Madmenah has fled; The inhabitants of
Gebim have fled [with their belongings] to safety. Yet today the Assyrian will
halt at Nob [the city of priests]; He shakes his fist at the mountain of the
Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. Listen carefully,
the Lord, the God of hosts, will
lop off the [beautiful] boughs with terrifying force; The tall in stature will
be cut down and the lofty will be abased and humiliated. He will cut down the
thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon (the Assyrian) will fall
by the Mighty One.
In Deuteronomy 28 {MSG} we learn that God is very generous with His blessings on those who chose to be obedient to His voice. You need for nothing and your enemies will not harm you. On the other hand if you chose to be disobedient you will receive the wrath of God that includes God cursing everything you hold dear. You will be cursed in everything you do every day you chose to live in disobedience.
If you listen
obediently to the Voice of God,
your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high,
high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on
you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:
God’s blessing inside the city,
God’s blessing in the country;
God’s blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young
of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and
bread bowl;
God’s blessing in your coming in,
God’s blessing in your going out.
God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one
road and run away on seven roads. God
will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land
that God, your God, is giving you.
God will form you as a people holy
to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has
shown you. All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe. God will lavish you with good things:
children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land,
the land that God promised your
ancestors that he would give you. God
will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on
schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but
you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. God
will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the
bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you
today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command
you today by going off following and worshiping other gods. Here’s what will
happen if you don’t obediently listen to the Voice of God, your God, and diligently keep all the commandments and
guidelines that I’m commanding you today. All these curses will come down hard
on you:
God’s curse in the city,
God’s curse in the country;
God’s curse on your basket and
bread bowl;
God’s curse on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s curse in your coming in,
God’s curse in your going out.
God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on
everything you try to do until you’ve been destroyed and there’s nothing left
of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me. God will infect you with The Disease,
wiping you right off the land that you’re going in to possess. God will set consumption and fever and
rash and seizures and dehydration and blight and jaundice on you. They’ll hunt
you down until they kill you. The sky over your head will become an iron roof,
the ground under your feet, a slab of concrete. From out of the skies God will rain ash and dust down on you
until you suffocate. God will
defeat you by enemy attack. You’ll come at your enemies on one road and run
away on seven roads. All the kingdoms of Earth will see you as a horror.
Carrion birds and animals will boldly feast on your dead body with no one to
chase them away. God will hit you
hard with the boils of Egypt, hemorrhoids, scabs’ and an incurable itch. He’ll
make you go crazy and blind and senile. You’ll grope around in the middle of
the day like a blind person feeling his way through a lifetime of darkness;
you’ll never get to where you’re going. Not a day will go by that you’re not
abused and robbed. And no one is going to help you. You’ll get engaged to a
woman and another man will take her for his mistress; you’ll build a house and
never live in it; you’ll plant a garden and never eat so much as a carrot;
you’ll watch your ox get butchered and not get a single steak from it; your
donkey will be stolen from in front of you and you’ll never see it again; your
sheep will be sent off to your enemies and no one will lift a hand to help you.
Your sons and daughters will be shipped off to foreigners; you’ll wear your
eyes out looking vainly for them, helpless to do a thing. Your crops and
everything you work for will be eaten and used by foreigners; you’ll spend the
rest of your lives abused and knocked around. What you see will drive you
crazy. God will hit you with
painful boils on your knees and legs and no healing or relief from head to
foot. God will lead you and the
king you set over you to a country neither you nor your ancestors have heard
of; there you’ll worship other gods, no-gods of wood and stone. Among all the
peoples where God will take you,
you’ll be treated as a lesson or a proverb—a horror! You’ll plant sacks and
sacks of seed in the field but get almost nothing—the grasshoppers will devour
it. You’ll plant and hoe and prune vineyards but won’t drink or put up any
wine—the worms will devour them. You’ll have groves of olive trees everywhere,
but you’ll have no oil to rub on your face or hands—the olives will have fallen
off. You’ll have sons and daughters but they won’t be yours for long—they’ll go
off to captivity. Locusts will take over all your trees and crops. The
foreigner who lives among you will climb the ladder, higher and higher, while
you go deeper and deeper into the hole. He’ll lend to you; you won’t lend to
him. He’ll be the head; you’ll be the tail. All these curses are going to come
on you. They’re going to hunt you down and get you until there’s nothing left
of you because you didn’t obediently listen to the Voice of God, your God, and diligently keep his
commandments and guidelines that I commanded you. The curses will serve as
signposts, warnings to your children ever after. Because you didn’t serve God, your God, out of the joy and
goodness of your heart in the great abundance, you’ll have to serve your
enemies whom God will send against
you. Life will be famine and drought, rags and wretchedness; then he’ll put an
iron yoke on your neck until he’s destroyed you. Yes, God will raise up a faraway nation against you, swooping
down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you can’t understand, a
mean-faced people, cruel to grandmothers and babies alike. They’ll ravage the
young of your animals and the crops from your fields until you’re destroyed.
They’ll leave nothing behind: no grain, no wine, no oil, no calves, no
lambs—and finally, no you. They’ll lay siege to you while you’re huddled behind
your town gates. They’ll knock those high, proud walls flat, those walls behind
which you felt so safe. They’ll lay siege to your fortified cities all over the
country, this country that God,
your God, has given you. And you’ll end up cannibalizing your own sons and
daughters that God, your God, has
given you. When the suffering from the siege gets extreme, you’re going to eat
your own babies. The most gentle and caring man among you will turn hard, his
eye evil, against his own brother, his cherished wife, and even the rest of his
children who are still alive, refusing to share with them a scrap of meat from
the cannibal child-stew he is eating. He’s lost everything, even his humanity,
in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified
towns. And the most gentle and caring woman among you, a woman who wouldn’t
step on a wildflower, will turn hard, her eye evil, against her cherished
husband, against her son, against her daughter, against even the afterbirth of
her newborn infants; she plans to eat them in secret—she does eat them!—because
she has lost everything, even her humanity, in the suffering of the siege that
your enemy mounts against your fortified towns.If you don’t diligently keep all
the words of this Revelation written in this book, living in holy awe before
This Name glorious and terrible, God,
your God, then God will pound you
with catastrophes, you and your children, huge interminable catastrophes,
hideous interminable illnesses. He’ll bring back and stick you with every old
Egyptian malady that once terrorized you. And yes, every disease and
catastrophe imaginable—things not even written in the Book of this Revelation—God will bring on you until you’re
destroyed. Because you didn’t listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, you’ll be left with a few
pitiful stragglers in place of the dazzling stars-in-the-heavens multitude you
had become. And this is how things will end up: Just as God once enjoyed you, took pleasure in making life good for
you, giving you many children, so God
will enjoy getting rid of you, clearing you off the Earth. He’ll weed you out
of the very soil that you are entering in to possess. He’ll scatter you to the
four winds, from one end of the Earth to the other. You’ll worship all kinds of
other gods, gods neither you nor your parents ever heard of, wood and stone
no-gods. But you won’t find a home there, you’ll not be able to settle down. God will give you a restless heart,
longing eyes, a homesick soul. You will live in constant jeopardy, terrified of
every shadow, never knowing what you’ll meet around the next corner. In the
morning you’ll say, “I wish it were evening.” In the evening you’ll say, “I
wish it were morning.” Afraid, terrorized at what’s coming next, afraid of the
unknown, because of the sights you’ve witnessed. God will ship you back to Egypt by a road I promised you’d
never see again. There you’ll offer yourselves for sale, both men and women, as
slaves to your enemies. And not a buyer to be found.
“But My people would
not listen to My voice, And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.“So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk
in [the path of] their own counsel.
Psalm 81 {AMP} Here again we see that the people of Israel decided to turn their backs on God once again so of course He unleashes His punishment on them.
Sing
aloud to God our strength; Shout for joy to the God of Jacob (Israel). Raise a
song, sound the timbrel, The sweet sounding lyre with the harp. Blow the
trumpet at the New Moon, At the full moon, on our feast day. For this is a
statute for Israel, An ordinance of the God of Jacob. He established it for a
testimony in Joseph when He went throughout the land of Egypt. I heard the
language [of One whom] I did not know, saying, “I removed the burden from his
shoulder; His hands were freed from the basket. “You called in [the time of]
trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I
tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah. “Hear, O My people, and I will
admonish you—O Israel, if you would listen to Me! “Let there be no strange god
among you, Nor shall you worship any foreign god. “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up from
the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. “But My people
would not listen to My voice, And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me. “So I
gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in [the path of] their
own counsel. “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in
My ways! “Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemies and turn My hand
against their adversaries;Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and
cringe before Him, And their time of punishment would be forever.“But I would
feed Israel with the finest of the wheat; And with honey from the rock I would
satisfy you.”
Scripture is filled with the proclamation that God is characterized by Holiness, Righteousness and Perfection ( Psalms 93:5; 7:17; 19:7 ); to list His specifically related attributes to the topic of this study. It follows that any violation of those qualities demands adjudication in a way similar to the summons of a human courtroom. The satisfaction of God’s violated Justice is said to be His Judgment, or a manifestation of His Wrath (Deut. 9:7). Predicated by the fall, “God is angry with the wicked every day” states Psalm 7:11(KJV). Ephesians 5:6 states, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore
become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved
children [imitate their father]; and walk continually in love [that is, value
one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for
others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering
and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.But
sexual immorality and all [moral] impurity [indecent, offensive behavior] or
greed must not even be hinted at among you, as is proper among saints [for as
believers our way of life, whether in public or in private, reflects the
validity of our faith]. Let there be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse
[obscene or vulgar] joking, because such things are not appropriate [for
believers]; but instead speak of your thankfulness [to God]. For be sure of this:
no immoral, impure, or greedy person—for that one is [in effect] an
idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a
person places a higher value on something other than God]. Let no one deceive
you with empty arguments [that encourage you to sin], for because of these
things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [those who
habitually sin]. So do not participate or even associate with them [in the
rebelliousness of sin]. For once you were darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord; walk as children of Light [live as those who are native-born to the
Light] (for the fruit [the effect, the result] of the Light consists in all
goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn [by experience] what is
pleasing to the Lord [and letting your lifestyles be examples of what is most
acceptable to Him—your behavior expressing gratitude to God for your
salvation]. Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of
darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral
courage, and godly character]; for it is disgraceful even to mention the things
that such people practice in secret. But all things become visible when they
are exposed by the light [of God’s precepts], for it is light that makes
everything visible. For this reason He says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from
the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.”
Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and
courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but
as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of
your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and
using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.
Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp
what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is
wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly
guided by Him. Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
[offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks to God the Father for all things, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ; being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
However, God’s Judgment is balanced — often placated — by His attribute of Mercy. States Romans 9:15, (which is a quote of the OT in this regard) “I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Here’s the point: In a chronological sense when God’s eternal Justice is no longer eclipsed by His eternal Mercy — that is to say His attribute of Mercy is expended — His Judgment or Wrath is necessarily manifest.
Since God is Just and
sin must and will be paid for, Wrath — the Righteousness of God revealed
against sin — is an inevitable consequence.
God’s Judgment can be summarily
categorized into five areas:
Five forms of God’s
Judgment are repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. They are as follows:
THE FIVE FORMS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
1. Eternal Wrath:
|
Hell
|
2. Eschatological Wrath:
|
The
Day of the Lord
|
3. Cataclysmic Wrath:
|
The
Flood, Sodom & Gomorrah
|
4. Forsaking Wrath:
|
Removing
Restraint
|
5. Consequential Wrath:
|
Sowing
& Reaping
|
The last three on the list pertain to the question of whether or not God uses government as punishment, and in that No. 3 is not the wrath we are talking about here today, it is the remaining two that will be addressed and critically evaluated from what Scripture teaches.
THE FIVE IDENTIFIERS OF NO. 4: FORSAKING WRATH
This is also referred to
by theologians as the Wrath of Abandonment. In Romans 1:18-32 notice the
following five identifying characteristics that surface when God pulls back and
allows a person or group of people to go in the way of their wicked desires.
I.e. God no longer restrains the fallen nature of man as He usually does.
A vivid portrayal of
Forsaking Wrath, of God giving someone over, is furnished in Hosea 4:17, Ephraim is joined to idols, Let
him alone. Ephraim was the largest tribe of the northern 10 tribes of
Israel. You would think the prophet Hosea, in speaking for God, would call them
to repentance. He does not. Herein is God forsaking — which He does when
sinners are determined to pursue what was right in his own eyes ( Judges 17:6). Another OT illustration is Psalm 81:11-12, wherein God speaks through the
Psalmist:
“But My
people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them
over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices.”
A third illustration (now from the NT) in addition to Romans chapter 1, which follows, is when God the Father placed the sins of the world on the shoulders of His Son, so as to be a substitute for sinners. In remaining separated from sin, God the Father in essence abandoned His Son on the Cross. Jesus replied accordingly, “Why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34; 2 Cor. 5:21).
Given those three
similar-subject illustrations, Romans 1:18 begins: For the wrath of God is
revealed . . . This depicts the main subject of the passage that follows.
Notice more specifically the three-time repeated phrase through the end of the
chapter: God gave them over. The phrase provides the skeletal structure
for the outline that follows; it serves to identify, evidence, and illustrate
when Forsaking Wrath — the Wrath of Abandonment — is present. What follows then
are biblical descriptors that serve to help us recognize when this kind of
Wrath is present.
A. SUPPRESSING IN SELF: VS. 18-22
This first identifying
characteristic that the Apostle Paul lists is not preceded by the phrase God
gave them over but it is nonetheless part of the profile.
For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is
evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of
the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they
are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as
God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their
foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.
The first evidence of
the presence of God’s Forsaking Wrath is that people suppress (katecho) meaning
“to hold back” that which they know is the truth. I am always amazed when
people say, “I don’t believe in God,” or “I don’t believe in the Bible.” In
personal loving refrain I am thinking, “Aren’t they lying per this passage?” It
is not that the unregenerate don’t know there is a God and His Word – it is
that they suppress these truths (cf. Rom. 2:15). There is a big difference! In the OT,
David declared, The fool has said (lied) in his heart, ‘There is no God’
(Psalm 14:1). The simple reason for this
suppression is summarized by Jesus in the NT, . . . men loved the darkness rather than the light ( John 3:19).
Further down in this
section of the passage suppressors became futile in their speculations
(dialogismo). Speculations is perhaps better translated into the English
understanding of “argumentation or reasoning.” The Greek sentence structure
here carries the idea of the vanity that results from godless reasoning.
Accordingly, professing to be wise they became fools (moraine). It is
not difficult to figure out the meaning of moraino given its English
transliteration: moron. In summary, Forsaking Wrath is evidenced when a person
or people suppress the truth which means their subsequent engagement ends in
futile dialog and reasoning. Such communications are moronic, or roughly
equivalent to an intellectual level of a 7-12 year-old.
The next recognizable
characteristic of God’s Forsaking Wrath is:
B. A SWAPPING FOR ENVIRONMENTALISM: VS. 23-25
. . . and exchanged the
glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and
of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave
them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would
be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen.
Man is created in the
Image of God whereas the remainder of the created order is not (Gen 1:26). Therefore mankind is separate, special
and superior as it relates to all God has made. It explicitly follows from Genesis 1:26 that mankind is not equal or
subservient to all that God has created; conversely he has preeminence over
creation and the environment. Properly understood, God has appointed man to be
His steward over the earth.
Then God said, “Let Us
(Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not
physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have
complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle,
and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the
earth.”
Clearly indicative of God’s Forsaking Wrath is when the abandoned serve the creature rather than the creator.
C. Worshiping of the fertility gods and goddesses: VS. 26-27
For this reason God gave
them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function
for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the
natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another,
men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the
due penalty of their error.
Indicative of Forsaking
Wrath is a proclivity toward hedonism, sexual orgies used in worship of false
gods and goddesses for Fertility. Here is a list of some of the FALSE gods and
goddesses worshiped during these SEXUAL ORGIES involving men and women who were
MARRIED to EACH other yet chose to worship in the shrines of these FALSE gods
and goddesses to try and conceive children.
Greek gods and
goddesses of Fertility:
Aphrodite - goddess of love, beauty and sexuality
Dionysus - god of wine and festivity, associated with
fertility
Eros - god of sexual love, fertility and beauty
Hera - goddess of the air, marriage, women,
women’s fertility, childbirth, heirs, kings and empires
Lilthyia - {also called Eileithyia} goddess of
childbirth and midwifery, likely Mioan or earlier origin
Pan - god of shepherds, flocks, mountain wilds,
hunting and rustic music; associated with fertility
Phanes - primeval deity of procreation and the
generation of new life
Priapus - rustic god of fertility, protection of
livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia
Rhea - goddess of fertility, motherhood and
mountain wilds
Romans gods and goddesses of FERTILITY:
Bona Dea - goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women
Candelifera - goddess of childbirth
Carmenta - goddess of childbirth
Ceres - goddess of agriculture, grain crops,
fertility and motherly relationships; equated with the Greek goddess Demeter
Diana - goddess of the hunt, wilderness, the moon
and childbirth; equivalent to the Greek Artemis
Fascinus - embodiment of the divine phallus
Inuus - god of sexual intercourse
Juno - goddess of marriage and childbirth;
equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera
Liber - god of viniculture, wine and male
fertility, equivalent to Greek Dionysus; in archaic Lavinium - a phallic
deity
Libbera - goddess of female fertility and the earth
Lucina - goddess of childbirth
Mutunus Tutunus - phallic marriage deity associated with the
Greed god Priapus
Partula - goddess of childbirth, who determined the
duration of each pregnancy
Pertuda - goddess who enables penetration
Picumnus - god of fertility, agriculture,
matrimony, infants and children
D. A SECURING OF DEPRAVITY: VS. 28-31
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; In this next portion of the passage
Scripture indicates the direct result — what is secured — is a depraved mind. When restraint is absent this is what God gives people over to. Notice what this passage teaches: The things that are not proper stem from and are a result of depraved minds (adokimos) which means “Not standing the test.” Adokimos was a term referring to metals that did not stand the test due to impurities. Under close examination they lacked internal fortitude, or integrity. Since these metals were rejected, adokimos came to mean that which is worthless and useless.
It’s not as if depraved
minds do not know the right things to do. Later, in chapter two of Romans, the Holy Spirit reiterates
the principles of this lesson’s first point: They show the work of the law
written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts
alternately accusing or else defending them (2:15). Men and women inherently know what
are the right and wrong things to do. A good understanding of the flow of this
passage, and what depravity means is summarized by this thought: the mind that
finds God worthless becomes worthless itself. It is debauched, deceived, and
deserving only of God’s wrath. Lastly, in regards to evidences of God’s
Abandonment in the life of a person is this:
E. A SANCTIONING IN OTHERS: VS. 32
And although they know
the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death,
they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice
them.
Here is the last of the
five characteristics. When God is pulling back His restraint, those who
practice the aforementioned approve of others who do likewise: but also give
hearty approval to those who practice them states this passage.
These five
characteristics provide the mature-in-Christ Christian Public Servant with enormous
insights and discernment in order to wisely identify the presence of Forsaking
Wrath in those around him.
IDENTIFYING WRATH NO. 5: CONSEQUENTIAL WRATH
Consequential Wrath is
best understood through the parallel idea we commonly refer to as sowing and
reaping. Galatians 6:7 states, Do not be deceived, God
is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Brothers,
if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are
responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a
spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness],
keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry
one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the
law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. For if anyone thinks he is
something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own
eyes], he deceives himself. But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work
[examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal
satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing
himself to another. For every person will have to bear [with patience] his own
burden [of faults and shortcomings for which he alone is responsible]. The one
who is taught the word [of God] is to share all good things with his teacher
[contributing to his spiritual and material support]. Do not be deceived, God
is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with
contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man
sows, this and this only is what he will reap. For the one who sows to his
flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will
reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the
Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged
Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged
in
doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in. So then,
while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all
people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their
spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household
of faith (born-again believers).
To illustrate in one of many ways: If a person or a nation sows debt, it will reap in due time the results of financial crisis. Whenever an individual or corporate group of individuals violate the inviolate precepts of God’s Word, he, she, they or the institution will suffer the respective consequences. Most assuredly America is facing this form of God’s Judgment.
Here are 10 Bible verses that governmental employees and politicians can reflect on.
- Acts 13:22 And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’
God proves to the people
that He is the ONE who removes kings and replaces them with a man after HIS own
heart that will do His will for His people.
- Daniel 4:17 “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, So that the living may know [without any doubt] that the Most High [God] rules over the kingdom of mankind and He bestows it on whomever He desires and sets over it the humblest and lowliest of men.”
Here again we see God
sending a clear message to mankind that He is the ONE in charge. Since He is in
charge it would be wise for mankind to wake up and PRAY, NOT MY WILL but YOUR
WILL be DONE LORD; when you are voting for government authorities. We see here
that God will rise up the humble man to rule. He lets mankind know all
throughout Scripture that He holds the humble in high esteem. These Scriptures
reveal how God feels about the humble: Psalm 147:6, Matthew 23:12, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6-7.
- First Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
We may not feel like it or we may not believe that they are doing the best that they can but we are commanded to pray for those who are in “high positions” and that most certainly means praying for governmental leaders and politicians. As bad as they may be or as corrupt as they are, this does not relieve us of our responsibility to pray for those who are over us.
- Romans 13:1 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
We are subjects of the government of the land. This means that we are to be under their authority and this means that we should obey those who rule over us, no matter what we feel about them. God has established those in positions of authority as it pleases him and so we ought always to “be subject to the governing authorities.”
Daniel 2:21 “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”
We might think that we have control over who runs the government but actually God is the One Who plucks up and puts down leaders. He is the One Who removes and sets up kings and kingdoms, including those who have authority over us. Their day of justice will come so we must trust God to execute His righteousness in time and not take it into our own hands.
Romans 13:7 “Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Those governmental employees with the IRS deserve the same respect as those in the judicial system, in congress, and in the White House. We should give them the honor to which they are due. If respect, then give respect, if honor, then give honor, and if taxes are due, pay them and by doing so, we are living in obedience to God.
Psalm 75:7 “but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.”
God does use men and women to help establish governmental powers but in the end, God is the One Who will execute the final judgment on all who have been given much responsibility. It might even be us. He is the One Who sets up kingdoms and tears them down, He exalts one and brings others down…always according to His will.
Proverbs 8:15 “By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth.”
Whoever is in power in a nation, it is by no accident. Even issued decrees are under God’s rule. It is by God that princes govern, nobles rule, king’s reign, and issues are decreed. Our job is to simply obey.
Romans 13:4 “For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
If you pay your taxes, obey the laws, and give respect to those in authority, you have nothing at all to worry about but if you do not, then be afraid says Paul. God’s servants don’t bear the sword (authority) for nothing but are God’s agents doing His bidding.
John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].”
When Jesus was brought before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus where he was from and Jesus did not answer him. Pilate then told Jesus he had the authority to release Him or Crucify Him. To which Jesus replied only because God allowed it to be so.
You see
even thought Pilate who was not a man of God, wanted to release Jesus it was
the will of the people that lead Pilate to hand Him over to them to be
crucified. Jesus already knew the plans God had for His life so He did not
resist. So you see God will use even the ungodliness of a ruler when need be to
do the job the people want even if it is against God Himself.
Mankind
has proven over and over again throughout history that is would rather live in
the sins of the flesh instead of adhere to the Holiness of God. Time and again
God forgives mankind only for mankind to turn its back on Him again and again.
So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged (flogged, whipped). And
the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put
a purple robe around Him; and they kept coming up to Him, saying [mockingly],
“Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the
Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face. Then Pilate came out again and
said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I
find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].” So Jesus came
out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to
them, “Look! The Man!” When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they
shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him
yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for
an accusation].” The Jews answered him, “We have a law [regarding blasphemy],
and according to that law He should die, because He made Himself out to be the
Son of God.” So when Pilate heard this said, he was [even] more alarmed and
afraid. He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus,
“Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate
said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to
release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus
answered, “You
would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from
above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who handed Me over
to you is greater [than your own].” As a result of this, Pilate kept making efforts to
release Him, but the Jews kept screaming, “If you release this Man, you are no
friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself out [to be] a king opposes Caesar
[and rebels against the emperor]!” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat
down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew,
Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover
[week], and it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Look, your
King!” But they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him,
crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief
priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then he handed Him over to them
to be crucified.
Read through the following Scriptures to learn what God expects out of His followers. I think you will find that God is actually separating the TRUTH followers from the FAKE ones the closer it gets to His return. We are living in a time when EVIL abounds, DECEPTION abounds, and PREACHERS who make you FEEL GOOD abound instead of PREACHING THE TRUTH so they do not hurt your feelings. It is time for some tough love from our HEAVENLY FATHER.
Just because God has commanded us to be subject to those in authority, does NOT mean we have to agree with those in authority. We are to live our lives according to the statutes of God’s Laws if we are called His Children. If man’s law would cause you to break the Law of God, God’s Law would supersede that law. God’s Law for humanity is the Ten Commandments given to Moses for ALL TIME.
Then
God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery.“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for
yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to
worship]. You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is
rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of
the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the
sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate
Me, but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands
[of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.“You
shall not take the name of the Lord your God in
vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the
character of God]; for the Lord will not
hold guiltless nor
leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence
and its power]. “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart,
dedicated to God). Six days you shall labor and do all your
work,but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest
dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son,
or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your
livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city]
gates. For in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested
(ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].“Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and
your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.“You shall not commit murder
(unjustified, deliberate homicide).“You shall not commit
adultery.“You shall not steal [secretly, openly, fraudulently,
or through carelessness].“You shall not testify falsely [that
is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).“You
shall not covet [that is, selfishly desire and attempt to acquire] your
neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male
servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor.”1 John 3 {AMP}
Children of God Love One Another
See
what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would
[be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of
God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did
not know Him. Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of
God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know
that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like
Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory]. And everyone who
has this hope [confidently placed] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure
(holy, undefiled, guiltless). Everyone who practices sin also practices
lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or
by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will]. You
know that He appeared [in visible form as a man] in order to take away sins;
and in Him there is [absolutely] no sin [for He has neither the sin nature nor
has He committed sin or acts worthy of blame]. No one who
abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately,
knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has
seen Him or known Him. Little children (believers, dear ones),
do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one
who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in
public—and to conform to God’s precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous.The
one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts
of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his
inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and
violated God’s law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this
purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born
of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s
seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains
[permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually
transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born
again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs
to please Him. By this the children of God and the children of
the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness
[who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God,
nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] love his [believing] brother. For
this is the message which you [believers] have heard from the beginning [of
your relationship with Christ], that we should [unselfishly] love and
seek the best for one another; and not be like Cain, who was of the evil one
and murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? Because Cain’s
deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised,
believers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed
out of death into Life, because we love the brothers and sisters. He who does
not love remains in [spiritual] death. Everyone who hates
(works against) his brother [in Christ] is [at heart] a murderer [by God’s
standards]; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By
this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His
precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved
us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers. But
whoever has the world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in
need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him?
Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with
word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in
truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more
than words]. By this we will know [without any doubt] that we
are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience
before Him whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is greater than
our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him because we are in
His hands]. Beloved, if our heart does not convict us [of
guilt], we have confidence [complete assurance and boldness] before God; and we
receive from Him whatever we ask because we [carefully and consistently] keep
His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight [habitually
seeking to follow His plan for us]. This is His commandment, that we believe
[with personal faith and confident trust] in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and [that we unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, just
as He commanded us. The one who habitually keeps His commandments
[obeying His word and following His precepts, abides and] remains in Him, and
He in him. By this we know and have the proof that He [really] abides in
us, by the Spirit whom He has given us [as a gift].
Loving one another is central in Christian faith and teaching. There are many Bible verses telling us about loving one another, and here are ten of them presented to you as inspiration.
The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another. (1 John 3:11)
And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)
Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)
Above everything, love one another earnestly, because love covers over many sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
Be under obligation to no one—the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law. (Romans 13:8)
My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action. (1 John 3:18)
No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us. We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. (1 John 4:12-13)
Do all your work in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another. Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together. (Ephesians 4:2-3)
To conclude: you must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another, and be kind and humble with one another. Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you. (1 Peter 3:8-9)
God warns us about the FALSE PROPHETS and TEACHERS in Matthew 7:15-20 –
“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.”
Jesus even had to deal with these FALSE teachers in His time on this earth. In the time of Jesus they were the “HOLY MEN” known as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes, because they were well trained in the LAWS of the Old Testament. These men where a constant thorn in Jesus’ side doing everything they could to trip Him up, accuse Him of being a devil and even accusing Him of being a FALSE MESSIAH. It was these very men who claimed to be so HOLY that pleaded before Pilate for the DEATH of JESUS.
Yes, we have multitudes of these FALSE TEACHERS, PREACHERS and PROPHETS in our day. They stand in the pulpits across America teaching FALSE or TWISTED DOCTRINES of Demons deceiving tens of millions of people every week.
The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy. 1Timothy 4:1-5
In Mark 12:13-40 Jesus answers the Pharisees, Sadducee's and Scribes with the TRUTH of God’s Word NOT their twisted version of the Word of God.
Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus in order to trap Him into making a statement [that they could use against Him]. They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and have no personal bias toward anyone; for You are not influenced by outward appearances or social status, but in truth You teach the way of God. Is it lawful [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay the poll-tax to [Tiberius] Caesar, or not? Should we pay [the tax] or should we not pay?” But knowing their hypocrisy, He asked them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a coin (denarius) to look at.” So they brought one. Then He asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were greatly amazed at Him. Some Sadducee's (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, and began questioning Him, saying “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [a law] that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but leaves no child, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first [one] took a wife, and died leaving no children. The second brother married her, and died leaving no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven [married her and died, and] left no children. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven [brothers] were married to her.” Jesus said to them, “Is this not why you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures [that teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [who is able to raise the dead]? For when they rise from the dead, they do not marry nor are they given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the raising of the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken and you are deceiving yourselves!” Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him; and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions. Jesus began to say, as He taught in [a portico or court of] the temple, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said [when inspired] by the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah), “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ David himself calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord’; so how can it be that He is David’s Son?” The large crowd enjoyed hearing Jesus and listened to Him with delight. In [the course of] His teaching He was saying, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and like to receive respectful greetings in the market places, and [they love] the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of distinction and honor at banquets, [these scribes] who devour (confiscate) widows’ houses, and offer long prayers for appearance’s sake [to impress others]. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
Since we have learned the TRUTH from GOD’s WORD that “there is no authority except that which God has established,” it tends to raise some perplexing questions that seem to become a stumbling block for some Christians. Like Jesus we must say get the behind me Satan {Matthew 16:20-25} so we do not get lost along the way. Let us look now at some of those questions that seem trip us up:
- Should we bother to vote if God is just going to elect who he wants, anyway?
- If all leaders are appointed by God, why do they disagree?
- Why does God appoint evil leaders? Why not just appoint righteous ones?
- Must we follow the orders of evil leaders?
1. Should we bother to vote if God is just going
to elect who he wants, anyway?
A few Christians actually say no, and forgo voting in favor of prayer. They believe that since God will divinely appoint the leader he desires anyway, voting is futile. They feel the most important thing is for them to pray that God will rise up a worthy leader.
Other Christians disagree, and some say they vote
because they know how God would want them to vote, but this
is demonstrably false. For example, in this last election, the
majority of the people in America voted for the woman to be rule over them, but
God appointed the opposing candidate. This suggests that God’s will was
actually for the other candidate to win; therefore letting
people know that He is still in control of the governments of this world.
The “Evangelical Church” has claimed the current President is their man sent to them by God. They are absolutely correct in this assumption. God warns His followers to STAY FAR AWAY from EVIL MEN in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 and still those “Followers” of God have chosen to be DISOBEDIENT to GOD’S COMMAND so He gave them the WICKED LEADER they wanted and they will SUFFER the consequences of being DISOBEDIENT to GOD. These “Evangelical Christians” have become just the people described in 2 Timothy 3:1-9:
But understand
this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will
come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For
people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money
[impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving
[devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable,
malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal,
haters of good,traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of
[sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding
to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its
power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.
For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women weighed down by [the burden of their] sins, easily swayed by various impulses, always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres [the court magicians of Egypt] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, unqualified and worthless [as teachers] in regard to the faith. But they will not get very far, for their meaningless nonsense and ignorance will become obvious to everyone, as was that of Jannes and Jambres.
For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women weighed down by [the burden of their] sins, easily swayed by various impulses, always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres [the court magicians of Egypt] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, unqualified and worthless [as teachers] in regard to the faith. But they will not get very far, for their meaningless nonsense and ignorance will become obvious to everyone, as was that of Jannes and Jambres.
2. If all leaders
are appointed by God, why do they disagree?
The Bible not only teaches that God appoints our leaders, it also says He controls their behavior:
The king’s heart is like a stream of water
directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he
would not listen to Moses and Aaron…
If it’s true that all world leaders are appointed and
controlled by God, then we might expect to see better collaboration among
them, as if they were all led by a single unifying force.
There should be no world wars, because all leaders should agree on what needs to be done. They should say things like, “We all feel that Sweden deserves punishment, because they’re a bunch of godless heathens. We should bomb them and instate a Christian theocracy!” Instead, our leaders squabble over everything.
But if a single God were not motivating them all, then we
would expect them to disagree, which is what they do.
3. Why does God appoint evil
leaders? Why not just appoint righteous ones?
Since God is so benevolent, you would think that He would only appoint benevolent leaders. After all, it’s supposed to be man and Satan who desire evil, not God. So we are left with the question; why the evil leaders?
While Christians sometimes admit to struggling with this
question, the suggestions they offer usually fall into two categories: 1)
God does it to judge a people or nation and/or 2) God does it to bring about an
even greater good.
The first possibility is that God wishes to serve up a
heaping spoonful of wrath upon some well-deserving people or nation. Of course,
God could just send a plague or rain down some fire and brimstone, but
sometimes he prefers to let others do his dirty work for him.
Christians sometimes cite the kings of Babylon and Assyria
as examples. God used them to punish the Jews, but for a good reason. And just
to show that God is fair, he later punished Babylon and Assyria for punishing
the Jews… even though God appointed these kings and made them do
it, it was still wrong of them to do what God made them
do (try and wrap your head around that one). But getting back to the point, the
Jews were punished for a reason.
So does God really assign power to evil leaders just
so they can dole out his punishments? I think this is an easy argument to make,
because there is no country that is free from sin, and so a case can be made
for why God would want to punish any nation.
However, if there’s one group that God seems hellbent on
punishing, it’s the weak and defenseless. Evil leaders don’t seem to
discriminate according to God’s will, attacking only those who deserve
it most. Rather, they attack where they can win, in order to expand their
borders and garner greater prosperity and security for themselves, their
families, and their people. If God wasn’t controlling world leaders,
this is exactly what we might expect them to do.
The next suggestion is that God is attempting to bring about some greater good, such as saving souls or bringing about the end of the world. GotQuestions.org cites the persecution of the early church as an example. Clearly God didn’t think the early Christians deserved to be punished, He only punished them so they would scatter, which would help to spread the gospel!
But by the same logic, we could argue that God also persecuted the early Mormons, forcing them from town to town so their gospel could spread as well.
Is God persecuting all these different religions to help them grow? Or is it just typical for new religions to be persecuted by competing faiths?
Ultimately, it’s impossible to prove that any evil leader
isn’t somehow bringing about some event that helps God in His mysterious plan,
or that God isn’t punishing a nation that may have deserved it.
4. Must we follow the
orders of evil leaders?
Imagine being a Christian under Hitler’s Third Reich, when a young Jewish boy comes knocking at your door, begging you to hide him. What is the Christian thing to do? Do you risk your life to hide him? Or do you sell him out to the Nazis?
Being a good Christian, you consult the Bible, which says:
Submit yourselves to [the authority of] every human institution for the sake of the Lord [to honor His name], whether it is to a king as one in a position of power, or to governors as sent by him to bring punishment to those who do wrong, and to praise and encourage those who do right. For it is the will of God that by doing right you may silence (muzzle, gag) the [culpable] ignorance and irresponsible criticisms of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover or pretext for evil, but [use it and live] as bond-servants of God. Show respect for all people [treat them honorably], love the brotherhood [of believers], fear God, honor the king.
Romans 13:2-5 {AMP}
Therefore whoever resists [governmental] authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who have resisted it will bring judgment (civil penalty) on themselves.For [civil] authorities are not a source of fear for [people of] good behavior, but for [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good and you will receive approval and commendation. For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, [you should] be afraid; for he does not carry the [executioner’s] sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject [to civil authorities], not only to escape the punishment [that comes with wrongdoing], but also as a matter of principle [knowing what is right before God].
If you’ve already resigned yourself to accepting that evil and suffering must exist for a reason, then it could logically follow that God appoints evil leaders to make sure such evil continues. If God appointed only peaceful leaders, there would be a lot less evil, negating its purpose.
Recognizing that 1) evil is integral to God’s
plan, and 2) God elects and controls our leaders, and 3) to “rebel against the
authority” would mean “rebelling against what God has instituted,” you must
logically conclude that God wants Christians to support the plans
of evil leaders. Ergo, you must surrender this boy to the Nazis,
who “do not bear the sword for no reason.” Hiding the child would only hinder
God’s greater plan! Absolutely NOT!
God talks about the children all throughout the Word of God and He does not want you to let them suffer if you can keep them from it.
I
would have to say that according to JESUS we should take care of the child for who
is in need for that is the will of His Father in Heaven. Matthew 18:10-14 {AMP}
“See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven. [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost? And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones be lost.
But wait!
As a last resort, believers may try to wriggle out of this conclusion by claiming that God, in fact, does not appoints all leaders, pointing to Hosea 8:4.
They set up kings without my consent; they choose
princes without my approval.
— Hosea 8:4
— Hosea 8:4
The Biblical consensus is overwhelming that God appoints
leaders, and is in control of those in power, and this verse appears to be the
only exception to that rule if you take it out of context like so many do to
justify their beliefs. Let us examine the whole to understand what actually
took place here:
Hosea 8 {AMP}
Set the
trumpet to your lips [announcing impending judgment]! Like a [great] vulture the
enemy comes against the house of the Lord, Because they have broken My covenant And
transgressed and rebelled against My law. Then
they will cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know
You!” Israel has rejected the good; The enemy shall pursue him. They set up
kings, but not from Me [therefore without My blessing]; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it. With their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off. He has
rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria, saying, “My
wrath burns against them.” How long will they be
incapable of innocence? For even this [loathsome calf]
is from Israel. A craftsman made it, so it is not God;
surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces and
go up in flames. For they sow the wind [in evil] And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster]. The standing grain has no growth; It yields
no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow
it up. Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];
They are now among the nations like a
vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless. For
they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey
wandering alone and taking her own way; Ephraim
has hired lovers (pagan allies). Yes, even though [with
presents] they hire allies among the nations, Now
I will gather them up; And [in a little while] they
will begin to grow weak and diminish Because of
the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria]. For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin; They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt]. I wrote for him the ten thousand precepts of My law,
But they are regarded as a strange thing [which does not
concern him]. As for My sacrificial offerings, They sacrifice the meat [as a mere formality] and eat it, But the Lord is not pleased with them and
does not accept them. Now He will remember and
take into account their wickedness and guilt, And
punish them for their sins. They will return [in
captivity] to [another] Egypt [that is, Assyria]. For
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples], And Judah has built many fortified cities; But
I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palaces and
fortresses.
It is a logical impossibility for there to exist “no authority except that which God has established” and for there to also exist authorities that God has not established. Either God establishes all authority, or He does not, you can’t have it both ways. If you would read the chapters before this one you would know that the people of Israel subjected themselves to King Omri and the princes of Samaria instead asking God for a king to be over them. They created for themselves an IDOL which is against God’s Commandment to have NO OTHER GOD BEFORE ME, Exodus 20:3-5. So in going against God’s Commandments and also allowing themselves to be subject to a pagan kingdom God brought His wrath against them once again.
Conclusion
So does God appoint evil leaders?
According to the Bible, the answer is yes, God appoints wicked leaders as well as good leaders.
It is up to the people of God to obey His Commandments, follow His instructions on living a Godly life, and loving one another to receive the BEST LEADER for them.
I pray that lesson on LEADERS has helped you understand why it is in our best interest as Followers of Jesus to follow His example allowing yourself to be under the rule of whoever God has placed in authority. We have seen through the Word of God that the governmental authorities are decreed by God for our own good and not for our harm and even though it is hard to trust any politician or even government employees, we are commanded to show them respect and live a life of obedience that is pleasing to Him because “whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Rom 13:2).
Knowing that God is in control let us rest assured that He will take out the EVIL ONES when He has accomplished His will through using them.
Forever in His Service sharing the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST with ALL GOD'S CREATION.
Peace to all,
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