Tag: disobedience

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Exodus Devotions

Though God is patient

Moses

Our God is patient. That is true.

But ultimately, there is one thing he will not tolerate: willful disobedience.

We see that twice in this passage.

When God first called Moses to go to Pharaoh, Moses started making all kinds of excuses about why he couldn’t go.

But in the end, those excuses were merely excuses. And when God answered each one, Moses finally said, “I don’t want to go. Send someone else.”

At that, God got upset.

Now, by his grace, God made allowance for Moses’ weaknesses, allowing Aaron to be his spokesman.

But he did not allow Moses to simply walk away from this task he had given him.

Then we have this curious incident where God is about to kill Moses. Why?

Apparently, God had commanded Moses to circumcise his son. It was something God had commanded Abraham and all his descendants to do (Genesis 17:9-14).

And as Israel’s leader, Moses had to set an example for the people.

But for whatever reason, he didn’t. From his wife’s reaction, it’s possible she had been against her son being circumcised.

Again, God is patient and gracious. But never mistake his patience and grace for indifference to our sin.

He does not take willful disobedience lightly.

Neither should we.

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Mark Devotionals

The teaching we hold to

Mark

Jesus’ words strike me in this passage. Quoting from Isaiah, he says,

This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.

They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines human commands. (Mark 7:6-7)

And then he said,

“Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition…You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition. (8-9)

Nowadays, many Christian churches seem to be going down this path. Instead of following the commands of God, they are following the teaching of the world.

They invalidate God’s command in order to follow the world’s teaching on what’s right and wrong, and how we should live.

How about you? Are you abandoning the commands of God in order to follow the teaching of the world?

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Hebrews Devotionals

Striving…to rest

Hebrews

I’ve been reading these chapters over and over, and as I do, I wonder, how much do we rest in Jesus?

The writer of Hebrews says,

Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.

Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

So many people still act as if they somehow have to prove themselves to God. For many, they think that God is pleased with that attitude.

But actually, God calls it sin. He calls it disobedience.

Why?

Because God’s work of salvation is already done.

Just as God rested after creating the heavens and the earth, when Jesus finished his work on the cross, ushering in the path towards a new creation for us all, he sat down on the Father’s side…and rested.

There are no more sacrifices he needs to make, unlike the priests of the Old Testament who had to continually make sacrifices year after year. When Jesus died on the cross, he cried out, “It is finished.”

And it is that rest that we are called to enter into. A rest instituted by Jesus because of what he did on the cross.

For us to say, “But I still don’t feel right before God. I need to do something more to prove myself,” does not please God, it insults him. And it spits on the cross of Christ and all he did for us.

We’re saying, “Jesus, I know you said the work of salvation is finished. But I don’t believe you. I have to do something more to earn the Father’s favor.”

It’s that kind of distrust in what God said that led to a whole generation of Israelites perishing in the wilderness. They never did enter the rest God had planned for them.

And so the Holy Spirit tells us,

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. (Hebrews 3:7-8)

And again,

Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)

So let us not insult Jesus by telling him, “What you did is not enough.”

Because of what Jesus did, he is now the source of our salvation. (5:9)

What he did is enough.

So let us trust. And let us rest.

To do anything else is nothing short of disobedience.

Categories
Isaiah

Stubborn

Isaiah

When I received my training for teaching children, my instructor taught me that if you really want to get a point across, you should repeat it at least three times. 

The first time, they’re usually not really listening, the second time, they’re kind of listening, but by the third time, it’ll most likely stick.  With some children, though, even that’s not enough. 🙂

Anyway, three times certainly wasn’t enough for the people of Judah. 

Under king Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, they continually sought alliances with Egypt in order to keep Assyria at bay. 

King Hezekiah was a good king (one of the best ever in Judah, actually, as we will see later), but there were times during his reign when he faltered in his faith.  And instead of trusting God, he put his trust in his military alliances.

Time and again Isaiah warned him against this. 

In chapter 20, Isaiah even goes so far as to walk around naked for around three years.  (Whether fully naked or not, I’m not sure.  I hope not.) 

This was to be a sign of what would happen to the very people Hezekiah was trusting in.  That they would be taken as captives by Assyria, and that Judah and anyone else who put their trust in Egypt would also be put to shame.

In chapter 30, Isaiah warns them again, and calls Hezekiah and the people obstinate for going through with their alliance with Egypt, saying,

Woe to the obstinate children…to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin put sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. (Isaiah 30:1-2)

Finally, in chapter 31, he warns them that Egypt will fall, and that if Judah continued to cling to this alliance, they would fall right along with them.

It was only when Hezekiah came to the end of his rope and Egypt proved to be a “broken reed” that he put his full trust in God.  And when he did, God delivered Judah.

The question is, why was he so stubborn?  More than that, why are we so stubborn? 

I really don’t know.  Maybe it’s pride; we feel we can deal with our own problems without God.  Maybe it’s fear that God won’t come through for us.

But how much better would our lives be if we would just trust God from the start.  How much better would it be if we would listen to him the first time and obey him.

Let us not be stubborn.  Let us not be obstinate as Hezekiah and the people of Judah were, clinging to their own plans, and sinning in the process. 

Rather, let us heed the warnings and admonitions of God the first time, and obey him.

Categories
2 Kings

Disobedience, blood, and defeat

2 Kings

At this point, we’ll take a brief break from Isaiah and stick up our heads to see where we are in the book of 2 Kings.

In short, it was the beginning of the end for the northern kingdom of Israel.

Jeroboam II was now dead, and with his death, ended Israel’s prosperity.

They went through 5 kings over the next 32-33 years or so.

Considering that one of the kings managed to reign for 10 years, and a second for 20, you can see the massive instability they went through as a nation.

Of the remaining three kings, one reigned six months, the next one month, and after ten years under the next king, the fourth king lasted only 2 years.

This period in Israel’s history was marked by three things.

First, it was marked by disobedience.

The account of each reign started basically the same way for four of the five kings, and probably the only reason nothing is said about the fifth is that his reign lasted only one month.

But for each king, it’s noted that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord and that they continued in the sins of Jeroboam I.  That is, they continued their worship of the golden calves.

In doing so, the people worshiped as they saw fit.  Put another way, they rejected God’s law, doing what was right in their own eyes.

This resulted in the second thing that marked the northern kingdom:  blood.

Four of the five kings were assassinated during this time.

The only king that succeeded his father was assassinated within two years, and the length of their “dynasty” was a mere twelve years.

There was no respect for the king (although admittedly there was little to respect), and anarchy was the result.

The third thing that marked the northern kingdom was defeat.

Assyria started to attack Israel, first exacting tribute from them and then ultimately capturing Israelite towns and deporting them to Assyria.

What can we learn from this?

When we turn our backs on God and start living our own way, it leads to chaos and defeat in our lives.

You only have to look at the divorce rate, the poverty rate, and the instances of child abuse, crime, and violence in our country to see that.

Because we have turned our backs on God and instead live according to what we think is right, our society is going to hell.  Literally.

And the result is many defeated, broken people.  People whose lives are torn apart by sin and are captive to the kingdom of darkness.

This was what God told Isaiah would happen.  That the people would close their eyes and ears to him until their lives were absolutely devastated.  (Isaiah 6:11-12)

How about you?  Are you living in disobedience to God, and find yourself with a life that’s broken?

It doesn’t have to be that way.  If you turn to him, you will find forgiveness and healing for your life.

It is not God’s desire that anyone perish, but that they should find life.

But it starts with one simple step.  Turning to God and saying, “I’m done with doing things my way.  Forgive me for my sins.  I want to start living your way.  Be Lord of my life.”

And as Paul wrote,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  (Romans 10:9)