Tag: quilty of sin

42.w. “Wilderness” – 7.e. Sinai – You Shall not bow down

 

Exodus 20:5  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Joshua 23:7   that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them

 Joshua 23:16    if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

 Judges 2:19   But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

 2 Kings 17:35    The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,

 Numbers 14:18    ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

 Job 21:19    You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

 Isaiah 65:6-7    Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap  both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”

 Jeremiah 2:9   “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children’s children I will contend.

 Jeremiah 32:18     You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts,

 Romans 8:7     For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

 James 4:4    You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

 John 15:23-24    Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

Thou shall not bow down thyself to them,…. Perform any worship to them, show any reverence of them by any gesture of the body; one being mentioned, bowing the body, and put for all others, as prostration of it to the earth, bending the knee, kissing the hand, lifting up of hands or eyes to them, or by any outward action expressing a religious esteem of them, as if there was divinity in them: nor serve them; in a religious manner, internally or externally, by offering sacrifice and burning incense to them; by praying to, or praising of them; by expressing love to them, faith and trust in them, hope and expectation of good things from them, and the like. The reason of this second command, relating to the making and worshipping of images, next follows:

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God; jealous of his own honour and glory, and will not give it to another; even to graven images, nor suffer it to be given to them without resenting it; and jealousy is fierce and cruel, and breaks forth into great wrath, and issues in dreadful scenes oftentimes among men. (Gill)

If God is first in our lives there should be no room for other things to which we serve, honor, and give reverence. No room should be given to make something more reverent than God. We should not allow something to take place of God or the honor and glory due Him alone. We may not make images of gold, silver, or wood and place them in our homes and take time to worship the form or bow down to it, but in essence, we do allow things to become an idol of sorts. Take a look at where your TV is placed and how much time it is given. It may not be an idol, but certainly, it is given more time and reverence than God. How would your lives be different if there was no TV being watched, no internet to surf, and no iPhone available?  I would like to think there would be more time for God’s Word, more time for reverence to Him, more time to communicate face to face, and much less being told what to think, how to act, and what to say by the narratives being spewed out day by day, minute by minute. Do we not discern that these narratives proclaim what is contrary to God and things of God? Do we not understand that what we take in will have an effect on our hearts and minds? 

What would our lives be like if we studied God’s Word in equal amounts of time that we spend on social media, yet alone watching TV?  How much time would we have to meditate on God’s Word and the things of God? Would we live differently, think differently, and speak differently?  

Obviously, we all know the answer to this, but are we/you willing to intentionally choose to live life differently than how the world indicates you should?  Try it for a week – no TV, social media time reading, or posts on computers or phones or iPads, in the home or away from home.  Try using this time for reading, communicating, and discerning things of God. I think there may be a big change in your thought pattern, speech, and actions.  

Do not bow down to what this world has to offer. Give God the reverence, honor, and glory through how you spend your time.

32.a. “Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.”

 

Matthew 8:28   And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

 Job 21:14   They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

 Job 22:17   They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

 Mark 5:17-18    And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

 John 15:23-24   Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

The work of Jesus had unified the whole city, and they had all come out to meet with and to talk to Jesus, but it was not in a good way. “Here was a whole city against their own blessing… Horrible was their decision, but it was heard, and Jesus departed out of their coasts.” (Spurgeon)

We would think that the people of the region would be happy that these two demon-possessed men had been delivered. Perhaps they were more interested in their pigs than in people. Certainly, the delivering power of Jesus did not make all men feel comfortable. (Guzik)

Their conduct directly from their lips…” leave, depart from our region”, makes me wonder what it is that causes man to reject things of God. Unbelief in God, unbelief in a living God, unbelief in an all-powerful God, unbelief in an ever-present God, unbelief in all-knowing God, comfortable in living after the flesh and reliance in their own power and will for their lives, and having no room in their heart or mind for things of God. They are content with their current way of life and do not see any reason to change. Could it be their prosperity, position, power, the comfort of life and not wanting to rock that boat in any way? 

Whatever the reason, they chose as individuals and corporately to ask the Son of God to leave them and their region. These people have seen first hand what Jesus had done and what the herdsmen told them…that the two demon-possessed men were no longer possessed and the demons fled into a herd of pigs which after being possessed red off a cliff and died. They knew this. They knew something had transpired that no human could do. They knew that person was Jesus and they begged Him to leave. 

How many times have we read the Word of God and get uncomfortable with something we have read? How many times has the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit been pushed out of our minds?  We may not specifically ask it to leave our minds but certainly, the rejection of it in our life is just the same as “leave, depart”. 

It is an intentional choice to proudly defend selfishness, reject, deny, turn away from, cast aside, go your own way, and disobey things of God. Likewise, it is an intentional choice to humbly surrender, invite, seek, desire, believe, trust, follow, and obey. Are you desiring and seeking or firmly asking all influence of God in your life to leave and depart?

Signs and Wonders

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 4:48  So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

John 2:18     So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

John 12:37    Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,

John 15:24    If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

Numbers 14:11    And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

Matthew 16:1  And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Luke 16:31     He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

1 Corintians 1:22  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Unbelieving souls are everywhere.  The field is ripe and ready for harvest.  Yet there are some plantings that just did not take and grow.  The seeds were planted and watered but did not grow.  This metaphor was given multiple times to try to explain the stumbling block of those looking for signs or finding Christ through wisdom/philosophy.  Unbelieving unbelievers.  And then there are those who “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” However there is more to being a believer than believing.  Imagine you have been given $10 million.  You place it securely in the bank.  You are a millionaire.  If someone asked you if you were a millionaire you would say yes but other than that no one would know other than the one who gave you the millions and where you deposited it.  You spend none of it and for all of those around you none would know you’re a millionaire.  Some make come by your house and see a bank statement if it was left out but other than that no one would know.  What good is this money? What benefit does it have?  It has little to no value to you and certainly does not meet the expectations of one who gave it to you.  I fear the christian walk of many are similar.  Our purpose this side of eternity is more than believing.  Learn to humbly server, honor, follow and obey our Heavenly Father.