Tag: confounded

42.v. “Wilderness” – 7.d. Sinai – “You shall not make for yourself a carved image”

 

Exodus 20:4  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 Leviticus 19:4    Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

 Leviticus 26:1    “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.

 Deuteronomy 4:15  “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully.

 Deuteronomy 4:23  Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you

 Deuteronomy 27:15   “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’

 Psalms 97:7    All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols;

 Isaiah 42:8   I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

 Isaiah 44:9   All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.

 Isaiah 45:16    All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.

 Jeremiah 10:3  for the customs of the peoples are vanity. 

 Jeremiah 10:8-9    They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!

 Romans 1:23   and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 Revelation 9:20    The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,

God would have no likeness made of Him, no representation that might cloud the conception of His entire separation from matter, His purely spiritual essence. (Ellicott)

As the first commandment forbids the worship of any false god, seen or unseen, it is here forbidden to worship an image of any sort, whether the figure of a false deity or one in any way symbolic of Yahweh. (Barnes)

“After declaring in the first commandment who was the true God, He commanded that He alone should be worshipped; and now He defines what is His lawful worship” (Calvin). “Thou shalt not make to thyself a likeness and any form of that which is in heaven above,” etc. עשׂה is construed with a double accusative, so that the literal rendering would be “make, as a likeness and any form, that which is in heaven,” (Brown)

There is no God but Me. Don’t worship or place in worship anything but Me. Also, don’t make an image of Me or anything else, and indeed don’t worship it. We may find this type of worship foolish and even a bit old fashion. No one in the western world would do anything like this.  Maybe some satan worshipers or others hope to find peace of mind through some eastern religion. For the most part, we think this is foolish to fashion an idol and place it in our home or church to worship it. The western world is far above this, but I might say, much further away from knowing God. The western world, for the most part, denies God, things of God, and the Word of God. They say there is no God and then live a life that is void of Him and any worship of Him.  The idolaters at least try to have a god to serve – howbeit ever so wrong and God-defying.  No, the western world is a place of self-reliant enlightenment.  In this, they find what the world has to offer pleasing and though it never seems to satisfy an inner hunger, they keep chasing after it. Their idol is things of this world and what it has to offer. Though they may not make it an animate object of worship, it is an inanimate object of worship.  

Note the verses above to those who deny and reject God and His commandments.

35.f. ” Your nakedness shall be uncovered”

 

 

 

Genesis 2:24  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

 Isaiah 47:3   Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.

 Isaiah 54:4   “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth,

 Jeremiah 6:15   Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD.

 Jeremiah 17:13   O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

 Mark 8:38   For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

This is corroborated by the statement contained in Genesis 2:25. “They were both naked, and were not ashamed.” Of nakedness in our sense of the term they had as yet no conception. On the contrary, they were conscious of being sufficiently clothed in a physical sense by nature’s covering, the skin – and, in a spiritual point of view, they were clad as in a panoply of steel with the consciousness of innocence, or, indeed, the unconsciousness of evil existing anywhere, and the simple ignorance of its nature, except so far as the command of God had awakened in them some speculative conception of it. Hence, they were not ashamed. For shame implies a sense of guilt, which they did not have, and an exposedness to the searching eye of a condemning judge, from which they were equally free. (Barnes)

To wit, of their nakedness, as having no guilt, nor cause of shame, no filthy or evil inclinations in their bodies, no sinful concupiscence or impure motions in their souls, but spotless innocency and perfection, which must needs exclude shame. (Poole)

And they were both naked, the man and his wife,…. Were as they were created, having no clothes on them, and standing in need of none, to shelter them from the heat or cold, being in a temperate climate; or to conceal any parts of their bodies from the sight of others, there being none of the creatures to guard against on that account: and were not ashamed; having nothing in them, or on them, or about them, that caused shame; nothing sinful, defective, scandalous or blameworthy; no sin in their nature, no guilt on their consciences, or wickedness in their hands or actions; and particularly they were not ashamed of their being naked, no more than children are to see each other naked, or we are to behold them: besides, they were not only alone, and none to behold them; but their being naked was no disgrace to them, but was agreeably to their nature; and they were not sensible that there was any necessity or occasion to cover themselves, nor would they have had any, had they continued in their innocent state: moreover, there was not the least reason to be ashamed to appear in such a manner, since they were but one flesh. (Gill)

The sense of shame is the shadow which temptation to sin throws across the pathway of purity. (Cambridge)

Mankind’s original purity and innocence of good and evil was a blessed state. Living in harmony with God and unashamed. How far mankind has fallen from their original state.  Knowing good and evil has given mankind a choice to choose one or the other. Many of our choices leave us ashamed in the light of God’s Word and our purpose of Honoring and Glorifying Jesus Christ in all we thing, say, and do; at least it should.

4.z. They are ashamed because they were confident

Job 6:20   They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed.

Jeremiah 17:13     O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

Isaiah 45:16-17   All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.  But Israel is saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.

Romans 5:5    and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 9:33    as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

There is a hope that drives people into confidence.  Depending on what this hope is will lead a person to eternity with God or eternity apart from God.  The difference is where their hope is. If their hope is in Jesus Christ and their heart desire is to honor, serve, follow, trust, and obey Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength all the days of their life, Eternity with God is promised.  If their hope is in or on anything else they will spend eternity in Hell apart from God and in torment.

The problem with confidence is that it can blind us to things of God.  It places other things in front of or in place of God.  You can be confident in a lie because you do not seek out the truth.  You can be confident in something that is not of God because you have chosen to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to Him.  You can be confident in a lukewarm, neglectful, and complacent life of service to God because things of this world have captured your heart.  “They are ashamed because they were confident.”  The Gospel of Jesus Christ leaves no room for our confidence to be in or on anything else.  Yet, we live like this, don’t we?  We desire and chase after things of this world that will not last and do not strengthen our walk with Jesus or mature us in knowledge and understanding of Him.  In this chasing, we water the flame of hope in Jesus Christ to something less than a spark from an ember.  The world has a way to entice and draw our hope away from Jesus Christ.  It tries to get us to place our hope in other stuff, activities, and shiny things of this world.

When our hope is in Jesus Christ we will find peace, rest, joy, strength, courage, and love.  We will never be ashamed.  We will have confidence in Him who has promised great things to those who trust in, rely on, and cling to Him.

3.t. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great

Ezra 8:24   Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

Job 5:19-24    He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.  In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.  You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.  At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.  For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.  You shall know that your tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

Acts 26:22   To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great,

Isaiah 41:10-14    fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.  You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.  For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”  Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Psalms 91:9-14    Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—  no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.  You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.  “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.

Do you ever think about the hand of God being on you?  Do you know when you have been delivered from a potential attack of sickness, financial, physical, or relational harm?  Do you know it was by the hand of God?  How can you know?  Being aware of obvious, in your face, confrontation is one thing but how about those times when there are no attacks, physical or emotional, in your life?  Do you immediately think about God’s hand being on and over you?  Do you realize this at all?

Being aware of God’s hand should be the first thing on our mind but all too often the busyness of life and our lack of commitment result in our thinking that either we are very lucky or that of pride in thinking that in our own great wisdom and knowledge we were able to affect the outcomes in our lives in ways only the hand of God could produce.  You see when our time in His word is limited so is our thoughts on it and on Him.  When our time in His word is neglected so is our mind’s eye being able to see and reflect on the awesome steadfast love, power, and blessings from God.  When our time in His word is more of a burden than living water then our eyes become blind to see the hand of God at work in our lives.

The lukewarm, neglectful, complacent, and self-satisfied will never see the hand of God at work in their lives.  They will not know how to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, praise, follow, trust, and obey Him.  This can only happen when our whole heart, mind, and soul are turned to and committed to and rely on, cling to, and trust in Him.  This is not a part-time commitment.  It is every day, every moment intentional choice.  Make this commitment, be in His word continually and meditate on it and have it open the eyes to your heart and mind to see the awesome steadfast love and mighty hand of God in your life.

2.l. But with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles

2 Chronicles 20:15  And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

Exodus 14:13-14     And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Deuteronomy 1:29-30    Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.  The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

Isaiah 41:10-16    fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.  You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.  For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Psalms 17:1-2   Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!  From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right!

Isaiah 43:1-2    But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Deuteronomy 31:8    It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

2 Chronicles 32:8    With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The battle is not ours.  We may not be fighting a typical war but we do have battles don’t we?  We battle with addiction, greed, pride, complacency, lust, hate, coveting, health, relationships, finances, employment, sickness, self-centeredness, etc…..  We may not be facing an overwhelming army but the battles we face are none the less overpowering and seemingly uncontrollable.  We are made aware of some of these battles as we read God’s word, those that reside inside of our heart, mind, and soul.  The battles with self and our yielding to its sinful desires.  We also battle with attacks from Satan and his deceptions, lies, temptations.

Other battles come into our lives very forcefully and are not necessarily brought on by something we did or didn’t do.  Some of these are just because we live in a fallen world filled with fallen people, but that does not mean they are not unknown or purposed by God.  We never fully understand and know the plans and purposes of God but we do know that  God says; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” and “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  God’s love is steadfast.  His grace, love, and mercy are unconditional.

We fear the unknown, overwhelming, and overpowering.  We play many scenarios out in our head and most of them have very bad outcomes.  We seem to play this tune in our head over and over again thinking that we might find some way out of our troubles.

God tells us to believe, trust, and rely on Him.  The battles are all His. If we truly believe they are His, what do we have to fear?  This is so easy to say but harder to put into practice.  Why is that?  If we are void of Him, for most of our daily lives it is very very certain He will be hard to believe in when the battle is at our door.  Living in a void of Him throughout most, if not all, of the day or week does not grow us into a mature, thankful, reliant, hopeful, faithful, obedient Christians.  In fact, living in a void of Him allows us to live and do what seems right in our own eyes.  We end up traveling far down the path of life alone and in our own wisdom and power for so long that when the battle lines form we are overwhelmed, powerless, angered, and afraid.    This is sin and sinful. So what are we to do?  How can we get off of this destructive and unfruitful path to a path of victory?

Recognize it, confess it, turn away from it, and cling to, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Purpose with all your heart, mind, soul and strength to seek, desire, honor, follow, obey, and trust Jesus Christ.  Feed on His word, think hard on it, live in His presence, and keep your heart and mind focused on Him continually.  Do not let the world entice you away from the blessings, courage, power, might, and strength found in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Shine Your face upon us

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us”

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.”

“LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Psalms 80:3  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 85:4    Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

1 Kings 18:37    Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Jeremiah 31:18  I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God.  For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Lamentations 5:21    Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—

Psalms 4:6     There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

How do we know if our hearts are not in line with God and His plans and purpose?  What does it take to turn our hearts back to God?  How far do we have to drift away from Him before we realize the need to turn back to Him?  Tough questions to answer.  Let’s look at it another way.  What if we chose to stay close and continually grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him, Jesus Christ.  What if we determined to commit each day to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.  What if we devoted time each day to know Him more.  What if we listened for His whispers of guidance and leading?  What if we ?????  There is so much we can and should do to keep from drifting away.  The first of which is to have a heart desire each day to know and love and honor and obey and listen and follow Him.