Tag: allotted

36. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

 

 

 

Genesis 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

 Acts 17:26    And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

 Ecclesiastes 11:9    Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

 Psalms 2:1-4    Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

From the confusion of tongues the city received the name Babel, according to divine direction, though without any such intention on the part of those who first gave the name, as a standing memorial of the judgment of God which follows all the ungodly enterprises of the power of the world. (Keil/Delitzsch)

Observe the wisdom and mercy of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop these proceedings. If they could not understand one another, they could not help one another; this would take them off from their building. God has various means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that set themselves against him, and particularly he divides them among themselves. Notwithstanding their union and obstinacy God was above them; for who ever hardened his heart against him, and prospered? Their language was confounded. They left off to build the city. The confusion of their tongues not only unfitted them for helping one another, but they saw the hand of the Lord gone out against them. It is wisdom to leave off that which we see God fights against. God is able to blast and bring to nought all the devices and designs of Babel-builders: there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. The builders departed according to their families, and the tongue they spake, to the countries and places allotted to them. The children of men never did, nor ever will, come all together again, till the great day, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him. (Henry)

The imagination of man can take a person to places of personnel sin or to places of corporate sin (one mind, one purpose). Paul stated that we ought to take every thought that comes into our minds captive. He is saying that we ought to put it in a clear sealed box and then observe it through the lens of godliness, holiness, God-honoring, God-glorifying, and the Word of God, examine it, listen for the whispers of discernment given by the Holy Spirit, and then rightly choose to open the box and put effort into its contents or to discard it, never to think of it or dwell on it again.  You might not be able to stop unholy and sinful thoughts from popping up in your mind, but you surely can decide what is done with them.  How many have fallen headlong into sinful behavior by allowing an unholy sinful thought room in which to dwell in their mind? As we mature in our understanding of God’s Word, capturing thoughts and the use of proper discernment become easier and easier. The thought pops into your mind and you immediately say, “where did that come from?” and then just as fast as it is recognized it is cast out of your mind.  

Be mindful of what thoughts you allow to be resident in your head.

32.e. “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins”

 

Matthew 9:16  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

 Psalms 125:3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.

With this illustration of the wineskins, Jesus explained that He did not come to repair or reform the old institutions of Judaism, but to institute a new covenant altogether. The new covenant doesn’t just improve the old; it replaces it and goes beyond it. Jesus came to introduce something new, not to patch up something old. 

Jesus reminds us that what is old and stagnant often cannot be renewed or reformed. God will often look for new vessels to contain His new work, until those vessels eventually make themselves unusable. This reminds us that the religious establishment of any age is not necessarily pleasing to Jesus. Sometimes it is in direct opposition to, or at least resisting His work.

Sometimes it is our lack of understanding Scripture that allows us to add our own thoughts to what is right and wrong. These thoughts of ours, being influenced by worldly and fleshly ideals, do nothing to add benefit to the Honor and Glory of Jesus Christ. We take the new wine and pour it into worldly and fleshly bags of thoughts and ideas thinking it will somehow become better tasting and more easily drank by those who hear it. Or, we try to tack on a piece of worldly and fleshly thoughts and ideas to God’s Word, hoping to make it easier to follow and obey God’s Word. We do well to humble ourselves before God and His Word seeking to rightly divide the Word of Truth and apply it in our lives for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.

The internal fight

“This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

John 13:21  After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

Joh 13:27  Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

John 13:2    During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

John 13:18     I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me

Luke 22:21    But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.  For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

Acts 1:16    “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.  For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

1 John 2:19    They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

James 1:13   Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

 

Note  “the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live” and “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” and “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” and “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” and “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” There is a common thread to this and it is our sinful nature.  It lurks deep within and wanting to manifest itself above God and His plan and purpose for our life.  We need to be mindful of this and the battle that exists between our sinful nature and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life.  Knowing this ought to make us run to God and seek His word with all of our heart mind and soul.  I think we become confused and falsely cling to the idea that once we have been born again all is good and our sinful nature is gone.  It is not.  Lust, hate, pride, coveting, rumoring, hoarding, keeping, divisiveness, self-seeking…….. all reside within and are threats to our walk with God.  Putting on the full armor of God requires us to stay in His word, pray, and seek to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.  Only then will we be prepared for this internal fight for our soul.