30. “Their feet run to evil”

 

Matthew 2:16  Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

 Proverbs 27:3-4 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.  Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

Daniel 3:13  Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.

 Daniel 3:19  Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

 2 Kings 8:12   And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.”

 Proverbs 28:15   Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

 Isaiah 59:7   Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways.

We never understand the minds of those who carry out very wicked acts of violence. It is if they have no regard for others or the pain they are causing. Across history, there have been leaders and individuals who give no thought to the lives they are destroying. It is as if their hearts and minds have been incased and filled with hatred, anger, and unyielding fury. There is no compassion or love other than for fulfilling the destructive desire of their deep-rooted anger. Pride, selfishness, and self-worth drive them.  No life has meaning other than theirs. Their acts are cruel. There is no thought of God or the power of God, or judgment of God. They are lost and doing things that the most wicked of the lost do. 

We can think we are better than these wicked people and if we used human judgment our conclusion is true, but in the eyes of God, all are lost.  The eternal judgment for the lost is all the same – eternal punishment and torment forever and ever. Our human thoughts might say this is not fair, but who are we compared to God, the creator, and author of all there is and all there ever will be. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, and is full of love, mercy, and grace. All of His judgments are right and true. The lost – those who have not trusted in, relied upon, followed, obeyed, and humbly surrendered to His offer of salvation and redemption – all end up lacking and will be cast into eternal hell.  There is no partial ground with which to stand. No reliance upon our own good and good things we have done that will make us right before God, only faith and trust in Jesus Christ. There are no degrees of “lostness” in the eyes of God. Being separated from God has the same end for all without Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

1.y. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

2 Chronicles 13:1   In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down, and he died.

Psalms 22:4-5   In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

Daniel 3:28    Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Nahum 1:7     The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

Psalms 146:5    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Ephesians 1:12   so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

To hope in God in a time of trouble is a wise decision/choice.  In life, we more than likely will come up against a trial or some trouble that is very real and much bigger than we can handle either physically or mentally.  We see Abijah faced with almost certain defeat being outnumbered 2 to 1.  To get this in perspective, Abijah had 400,000 valiant men that went to defend against Jeroboam’s 800,000 chosen mighty warriors.  What thoughts would be going through your head if you were faced with this?

Abijah called out Jeroboam’s sin and disregard for God, warning him that God was on their side and to fight them was to fight against God. But Jeroboam did not listen and such it is with those who disregard God and serving Him.  Abijah and those 400,000 men called on the Lord and were given success over Jeroboam and the 800,000 warriors.  500,000 men lost their lives that day following after false gods and idols.

Power, financial stability, and worldly wisdom do not give us success. In fact what is more than likely going to happen is a harden heart, deaf ears, stiff neck, and blind eyes to the things of God.  These all come at a cost to your soul if you have not chosen in your heart and mind to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ.  It seems as though we give a nod toward Jesus on Sunday but then lose sight of living for Him soon after.  Neglect of His word and complacency are certain to happen when serving and honoring Jesus is not our intentional heart and mind choice.  We pretend we are ok and we try to perform good things to act as though we honor and serve Him but His word and the want of His word is not first in our heart and mind.  Shallow thoughts will never lead us to honoring Jesus Christ.  Partial obedience will never honor Jesus Christ.  Sporadic time in His word will never grow us into mature Jesus honoring followers.

Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ is a heart and mind choice that is so more than a one-time commitment at the time of seeking forgiveness and repenting of your sin to Jesus Christ.  It is so much more than a one-time event.  It is a conversion of the heart and mind and then a daily surrender of self for the single purpose of Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  Why this daily surrender?  If we don’t we certainly will not find the heart, mind, and soul-deep satisfaction that comes through intentionally and purposely surrendering each moment of each day for the purpose of honoring Jesus Christ.  Without this intentional choice, our heart and mind will be led by self and all of its meaningless follies in search of satisfaction.

I will send an angel before you

Genesis 24:39  I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way.

Genesis 24:54  And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

Exodus 23:20    “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

Psalms 91:11    For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Exodus 33:2    I will send an angel before you

Daniel 3:28   Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Hebrews 1:14    Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Revelation 22:8    I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me,

Revelation 22:16    “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

It is good to notice God’s sovereignty and works in the common events of human life. Those events which to us seem the effect of choice, skill, or chance, are “appointed, directed, and purposed“ by God.

Satan will tell us to believe it is by our choice or by our skill which leads us down a path of pride and way from God.  He will tells us another lie, that it is by coincidence or chance which leads us down a path of complacency and neglect.

God tells us of His steadfast love, protection, plans and purpose for us.  He has told us of angels guarding our ways, preparing our destination, and bringing us safely through and to where and what God has planned.