Wicked – Page 5 – Praying Pint

14.a. “They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression They set their mouths against the heavens”

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Psalms 95:9-10     when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

Isaiah 43:24     You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

Jeremiah 15:6    You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Ezekiel 16:43    Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

Psalms 73:3-15    For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.  Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.  Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.  And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”  Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

Ecclesiastes 8:11    Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Do you ever wonder if we are just continually asking things of God and forgetting to honor, worship, and glorify Him? Don’t get me wrong it is good to seek the Lord with all those troubles and concerns that affect us or the ones we love. Is it possible in all of this asking we lose sight of honor, glory, and praise to Jesus Christ? Do we weary Jesus with this continual asking and minimal praise and worship? Do we spend enough time in His Word to know of His greatness, power, knowledge, wisdom, might, grace, mercy, and love? Do we spend enough time in His Word so that we recognize that which is worldly and that which is holy, true, just, and right? Do we put God’s patience to test by confusing worldly cultural beliefs with those of God? Is our heart astray? Are we always going backward? Are we calling evil good? Think about this. Many across our country approve of abortion, protest riots and looting, gay lifestyle, pornography, gay marriage, etc….. Is our country going backward? Have our leaders abandoned Jesus Christ? Has our country become ice-cold to Jesus Christ? There can be no compromise in our hearts and minds. There cannot be room for the cultural beliefs of what is right and wrong to coexist with things of God. Our foundation, rock, and steadfast truth are found in the Word of God, Jesus Christ’s redemption, and the indwelling Holy Spirit. When we neglect God’s Word, deny honor and worship to Jesus Christ, and resist the Holy Spirit’s leading, that which is worldly is given space to root and it will easily confuse us in our understanding of what is right and wrong. Just take a good look at what people are calling right and wrong right now and compare it with the Word of God and what it calls right and wrong. We will do well to continually worship, honor, praise, and glorify Jesus Christ, studying His Word, and following, trusting, obeying, and relying on Him every day.

12.l. “He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Zachariah 7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”

Isaiah 58:1  “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Romans 14:17-18   For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 10:31   So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 5:15    and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Colossians 3:23    Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

The Law of Moses only commanded one fast day, on the Day of Atonement. In addition to this day, during the exile, the Jewish people instituted four more fasts to remember key dates in the tragic defeat of their nation. These additional fasts were not commanded by God, but instituted by man. Yet because they were traditionally practiced for so long (at least 70 years), they developed an authority of their own. God’s word through Zechariah rebuked the people of God for what their fasting had become – indulgent pity-parties instead of a time to genuinely seek God. Their lives were not right when they did eat and drink – that they did for themselves, not for the LORD. A few days of fasting every year could not make up for the rest of the year lived for self. Because their hearts were not right with God, their rituals were not right before God. Everyday obedience would make their times of fasting meaningful, but their neglect of everyday obedience made their fasting hypocritical. Instead of actively performing and pretending, God wants us to focus on active obedience and an active walk with Him. Think about this; these additional fasts were established by man to remember what had happened to them when they were disobedient to God and they became a man-made way of getting right before God. They established special days where they would piously observe fasting and yet the rest of the time they lived for self. This is not obedience but rather ritual. A heart for God will be a heart for God every day, every moment, and in every fiber of the fabric of their soul, not just on special days.

12.r. “Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Zephaniah 2:1 Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Psalms 105:4    Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Isaiah 55:6-7    “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Jeremiah 3:13-14    Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.  Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Hosea 7:10    The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this.

1 Thessalonians 4:1    Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God,

2 Peter 3:18    But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

The announcement of judgment in chapter 1 is understood as a warning and as an invitation to repentance. Gather together as a demonstration of national mourning and repentance. Zephaniah proclaimed; “this is what will happen to you if you do not repent.” There was a sense of urgency and a call to repent before it was too late. There is nothing worth showing for all we accomplish in a day if we neglect what is most important: getting right and staying right before God. It is a seemingly easy life to let days pass away day after day without giving much of a thought to living for and humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, and trusting God. One of Satans most powerful lies isn’t that there is no God, or no bible, or no truth – often the most powerful lie that affects and entices so many is that there is no hurry or urgency to humbly, repent, seek, desire, serve, follow, and grow in understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Warnings from God to a nation needs to be heeded by both the humble and the proud. It would be easy to think this warning does not concern me. Rest assured that at times of national danger and crisis even the meek and humble must urgently seek the Lord.

When we look around at what is happening in our country it is clear God is sending a strong message to return to Him. How much more confusion, chaos, disease, rioting, hate, and division need to take place before our hearts humbly seek and call out to Jesus Christ. In times of prosperity, many fall away from seeking and desiring Jesus Christ. Their hearts and minds get consumed with things of this world. Ease of life has led them astray and down paths of neglect and complacency. Tell me it is not true. Tell me you have not neglected or been complacent in your walk with Jesus Christ. Look around and tell me all that has happened in the last 6 months. This did not happen by chance it is the Hand of Jesus Christ at work. These are more than subtle warnings. They are actual judgments upon the world and our nation. Through this many hearts will turn to Him but a greater number will harden their hearts and minds even more. Many will just see this bad luck and not even give Jesus Christ a second thought. May Jesus Christ open our eyes to the work of His hands and give us a clear vision of our need to repent and seek Him.

12.n. “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah: Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord, “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests— those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”

Psalms 10:4    In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Isaiah 1:4     Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Jeremiah 2:17     Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Jeremiah 15:6     You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Hebrews 10:38-39    but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

2 Peter 2:21-22   For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.  What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Zephaniah was almost certainly born during the long, wicked reign of Manasseh, whose reign began 55 years before the start of Josiah’s reign. Josiah was a godly, young king who brought great revival and reform to Judah but Josiah reigned for 10 years before he led his great revival. Zephaniah was likely written in the years before the revival, and God used this prophecy to bring and further revival. Zephaniah didn’t waste any time getting to the point. Delivering the message of the LORD, he warned of harsh and complete judgment that would consume everything before the LORD. God addresses the royalty of Judah in a way they aren’t used to hearing. He tells them to “shut up” and listen to His pronouncement of judgment – a sacrifice of judgment made against a wicked nation. Our ability to proclaim our innocence when we are deep in sin is pretty amazing, but through it all God tells us to be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD. This warning came to a godly king during a time of reform. God warns Josiah and the whole royal community what will happen if they don’t follow through on their turning to God. (Enduring Word)

The bible is clear in its warnings of judgment and the reason for it. Why do we insist on our innocence and act as though we are not guilty? Why do we shun the true words of warning and cling to lies of self-assurance? Be silent and listen! We are born again, a new creation, adopted children of God. Our new birth requires food and water for growth. The food and water of this new birth is the bread of life and the living water of Jesus Christ. How often do we come to the table of Jesus Christ and eat and drink of Him and with Him? How is there growth without this bread of life and living water? There isn’t. There is only stagnation, withering, drying up, and weakness. Zephaniah, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Paul, Habakkuk, Solomon, Peter, James, John, and nearly all of the writers of the Word of God give the warning to neglect, complacency, being lukewarm, trueing away from fully committed to following, obeying, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, and trusting Jesus Christ. Our ability to proclaim innocence when we are clinging to and dancing with sin is a direct result of the intentional choice to live this way. Renew your commitment to Jesus Christ. The warnings are clear. Judgment is certain. It is close at hand.

12.a. “They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,”

Habakkuk 1:12 Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

Psalms 90  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Revelation 1:8   “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Lamentations 5:19   But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.

Isaiah 40:28     Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

1 Timothy 1:17    To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 1:10-12     And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,

Isaiah 57:15    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Almighty, Everlasting, Holy One, Rock, Righteous, Alpha and Omega, Creator, Unsearchable, Immortal, Invisible, and Unchangeable, is our God!!!!!!!!! It is hard to touch the edge of understanding of how great God is. The Mighty One who reigns in eternity is the same one who dwells with those who are repentant. “The One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Our God reached out to His creation in love through Jesus Christ, to redeem those who come to Him in a contrite spirit. It was not as though He needed to do this. He is God and could have destroyed His creation and started over but He chose to send a redeemer into this world to rescue those who would respond to His offer of redemption through Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve chose to defy God’s warning. They chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I do not know how this all worked but at this point sin and our sinful nature took birth. Every birth from this moment forward has a sinful nature. This same sinful nature that drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden is the same sinful nature that drives us to willingly continue to separate ourselves from God. This sinful nature wants us and entices us to look at what this world has to offer more than the Word of God and His promises. This sinful nature wants us to water down the Good News of Jesus Christ to the point where it has no effect on the way we live. It wants us to water down the Good News of Jesus Christ so that the need for forgiveness, repentance, reliance, obedience, and humbly serving the King of Kings is not required. This should not be. Things of this world will never fully satisfy, but will surely disappoint. Things of this world will never give us lasting peace, but will surely rob us of rest for our souls. Things of this world will never give us lasting hope but will fill us with confusion and fear. Things of this world will not save our souls from eternal punishment and torment in hell but will fill us with a worldly wisdom that there is no punishment, torment, or hell. The grace, mercy, and love of God reached out to save us from our sinful nature. The Creator demonstrated this grace, mercy, and love by sending His only Son and placed our sins on Him as the only perfect, once and for all sacrifice. This perfect redemption came at a very high cost and yet, Jesus Christ paid the price willing for our redemption and forgiveness of sin. Our daily lives ought to be lived out in humble thankfulness and gratitude, full of worship, obedience, and reliance. Be mindful of your sinful nature and what this world is offering, they both lie. Turn your hearts, minds, and souls to the Almighty, Everlasting, Holy One, Rock, Righteous, Alpha and Omega, Creator, Unsearchable, Immortal, Invisible, and Unchangeable, God!! In this turning to God and away from self you will find purpose, meaning, peace, and rest. Eternity awaits us all. To some it will be eternity Heaven and others it will be an eternity in Hell. The choice is all yours and be assured that this choice has eternal consequences.

11.z. “He has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.”

Habakkuk 1:2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

Psalms 13:1-2    How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Revelation 6:10     They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Psalms 94:3    O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?

Psalms 74:10     How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

Psa 22:24  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Habakkuk prophesied and cried out “how long shall I cry for Help?” He saw iniquity and asked, “why do you make me see this and then sit idly by?” David cried out “how long?”, “Will you forget me forever? Those who were martyred for faith in Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period cried out “how long before you judge and avenge our blood?” David cried out “how long will the wicked be exalted?” If you are a believer and God has opened your eyes and ears to the wicked things of our society that are called and believed to be alright to do, Pornography – (which the thesaurus uses words like improper, indelicate, crude, vulgar, dirty, filthy, corrupting and immoral) for which our society calls “Adult Entertainment”, Abortion – (which is child murder, assassination, homicide, depraved execution, fetal homicide) for which society calls “Women Rights”, Petaphilia – which is called alternative sexual preference, LGBTQ – which is called progressive lifestyle. These are just a tip of the iceberg of what lost souls are being temped with and are buying into it. How long oh Lord? We can see it and be appalled by it but we seem powerless in of ourselves to do anything about it. Remember this “Jesus Christ died for sinners!!!!” He died for each of these with the same amount of grace, mercy, and love He has given to us. Were it not for the Holy Spirit softening our hardened hearts with the Good News of Jesus Christ, we too would be as guilty as any of these. Are they so far lost that they cannot be saved – No they are not. I think we would do much better praying for them and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ rather than calling on God to judge and avenge. That time will certainly come but for now let us remember “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” and keep our focus on advancing the body of Christ by living and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Who knows what the Holy Spirit will do. A heart and soul may be softened and the person repents, seeks forgiveness, and trusts in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

11.h. “The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might”

Micah 7:13 But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, and they shall be in fear of you.

Job 4:8    As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

Proverbs 1:31    therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Isaiah 3:10-11    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Jeremiah 17:10    “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 21:14    I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the LORD; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.”

Galatians 6:7-8   Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

There is a time coming when all mankind will be held accountable for their deeds. Some will see in their lifetime the fruit of their deeds falling back on them. Others will pass on into eternity and it will be seeming to us that they beat the judgment due them. God is not mocked and their deeds will catch up to them in eternity at the Great White Throne Judgment. They are the ones who reject redemption through Jesus Christ, reject their sin, reject their need for repentance and forgiveness, and reject the gracious and merciful gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. They have chosen wisdom of this world over the understanding, knowledge, and truth proclaimed in God’s Word. We all were in this state before God, but He somehow softened our heart to the message of the gospel. We were just like those who still reject Jesus Christ. It is hard to say how God’s Word and Gospel cut straight into our heart but it most certainly did. I still don’t know how a person could have had their eyes, heart, mind, and soul opened up to the gospel and the need for salvation, forgiveness, and redemption and then reject it. But scripture is clear that there are those who do exactly that. For those born again, their deeds should all be for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. Our Savior bought and paid for our sin at a great price and we should ever be mindful to live to honor that great sacrifice and gift of eternal life.

11.d. “Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness”

Micah 6:9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: “Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it! Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”

1 Kings 16:25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.

1 Kings 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

Do you ever think about what “counsel” you are walking in? What counsel is guiding your thoughts and actions? What counsel do your heart and mind listen to? Where are you finding direction for your life? In the times of Omri and Ahab, the people took counsel from their king even though what the king was doing was wrong in the sight of God. They blindly followed and eagerly joined in. Such is what happens when the Word of God is neglected, abandoned, disregarded, undervalued, unappreciated, and replaced by the counsel of the wicked. It is not as though you made a conscious choice to seek wick counsel but you did make a conscious choice to stay out of His Word. In the absence of God’s Word, what is it that fills our hearts and minds? I can tell you, it is worldly counsel. Counsel void of God’s Word. When there is this void, mankind will fill it with whatever seems right in their own eyes. Do you ever wonder how long God should wait until He calls into account all who have shunned Him and disregarded His Word? Godly counsel will fill a hunger in your soul. Godly counsel from God’s Word will revive your heart and soul. Godly counsel from God’s Word, that is obeyed, will bless your heart, mind, and soul. God’s Word is counsel to the wise and foolish to those who reject it. Spend time in His Word.

10. h. “The people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’”

Obadiah 1:1 Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!” Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.

Proverbs 16:18    Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23    One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Jeremiah 48:29-30    We have heard of the pride of Moab— he is very proud— of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.  I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.

Malachi 1:4    If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’”

Obadiah wrote this shortest book of the Old Testament probably soon after the armies of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (586 b.c.). During this conquest, the people of Edom helped capture fleeing Israelites and turn them over to the Babylonians. They even took up residence in some Judean villages. This angered the Lord, for the Edomites, as descendants of Esau, were related to the Israelites (Gen. 25:21-26, 30) and therefore should have helped them. Obadiah prophesied that Edom would be repaid for mistreating God’s people. Obadiah also asserted that God is sovereign over the nations and that the house of Jacob would be restored because of God’s covenant love for his people.

The spirit of pride is a parasite upon the souls of men. It never forgives. Nor will it receive forgiveness. So the human hearts over which it rules remain “unforgiven”. The Edomite nurses his anger; he “keeps his wrath forever”. And he never surrenders to God. He remains “unforgiven”. He never finds peace with God, peace with his fellow man, or peace with himself. Unless he repents, he cannot be saved from the wrath to come. He goes to the judgment shaking his fist at God. And descends into the fires of hell in a torment that will last forever.

9.d. “The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast”

Joel 1:15 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.

Psalms 37:13     but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

Isaiah 13:6-9     Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!  Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.  They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.  Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.

Ezekiel 7:2-12   “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.  Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.  And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD.  “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.  An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes.

Zephaniah 1:14-18    The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.

Revelation 6:17    for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The “Day of the Lord” is in contrast to man’s day or Satan’s day. His “Day” is coming. We see glimpses of what He is able to do and what it will be like throughout scripture. We see some of His judgments executed here in Joel. The locust, drought, and fire, but the “Day of the Lord” coming will not be like anything ever seen before. This day will begin right after the rapture of the believers. This day will come like a thief in the night, unexpected. It will come upon the whole earth and is given a great deal of detail in Revelation. We see prophets throughout scripture warning of this “Day”. And yet, people go about living as though it is not coming. How long has it been since you have heard someone say “that man / woman is a “God Fearing” person? Doesn’t is seem like that “God Fearing” is gone? Living in a soft prosperous culture has a way of getting people to take their eyes off God and more on self and what the world has to offer. The time of salvation is now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when convenient. Nos is the day of salvation but a time is fast approaching when the “the Day of the Lord” will come. Believers expectantly look for this day for they will be ushered into His presence forever and ever more. When God is not given thought, sin is not given thought, redemption and salvation is not given thought, repentance is not given thought, honoring Jesus Christ is not thought, reliance is not thought, obedience is not thought…… Each day we must deny self and intentionally choose to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow, obey, and trust Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, and soul, and strength. The “Day of the Lord” is coming soon and with it the rapture of believers and wrath, anger, and judgment on those who have rejected His call to repentance and belief in and through Jesus Christ.