disobedience

Angry at God

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God called Jonah to travel to Nineveh, and Job decided he had other plans. He didn’t want to go to Nineveh and warn the people that their city would be destroyed if they did not repent and turn from their evil ways. So, instead, he went as far as he could the other way. He boarded a ship headed for Tarshish, which is approximately 2,500 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh. If it hadn’t been obvious to God before he boarded the ship, Jonah’s attempt to get as far away from Nineveh said it all. He refused to go.

After Jonah was swallowed by a whale and laid in its belly for three days, he had a change of heart. He repented of his foolishness and told God he would do what God asked of him. So Jonah went throughout the city warning the people of God’s coming judgment on them. And lo and behold. The people repented, and the king sent out a decree that everyone must mourn and turn from their evil ways.

Jonah was angry that they had actually listened to what he told them. He wanted them to suffer. He wanted them to pay for their sins. He was mad. And he went outside the city and sat under a shelter to see if God would really destroy them. But God taught Jonah a lesson. He caused a great plant to grow up quickly to shade Jonah from the heat, and Jonah was relieved. But God also sent a worm to destroy the plant, and the next morning the plant withered. This angered Jonah even further. But God told him that just as Jonah felt sorry about losing the plant, God also felt sorry for the people of Nineveh.

You can read this story in more detail in the book of Jonah.

What if God had treated Jonah the way Jonah wanted him to treat the people of Nineveh? Was living in the belly of a whale for three days something to laugh about? God punished Jonah, but he also saved his life when Jonah repented and promised to go to Nineveh. God gave Jonah a second chance to preach God’s message to a nation that hated Israel, so why wouldn’t God also give Nineveh a chance to repent? Jonah begged for mercy and forgiveness, so why didn’t he want the Ninevites to do the same? He wanted them to suffer and pay for their sins. He wanted retaliation for being an enemy of the nation of Israel.

And just perhaps Jonah was afraid for his reputation. If he warned Nineveh to repent or be destroyed and they survived, what kind of prophet was he? He wasn’t considering that God’s mercy for the Ninevites was greater than his prophecy not being fulfilled. After all. There was a condition to the prophecy. If they repented, they would be saved. If they didn’t repent, they would be destroyed. He wanted them destroyed. And he wanted to gloat about it.

Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:20

It’s easy for someone to speculate on the reason Jonah didn’t want to do what God wanted.  But it sure is a great reminder to point the finger back at ourselves and ask why we don’t want to do the things God asks of us. Why do we fight God? Does the task he’s asking of us seem too hard? Will there not be enough fanfare and applause for us after the fact?

The question is. Do we have a legitimate reason to be angry with God when we only know a small part of his plan? What do we expect of God, anyway?

Why would Jonah not want the Ninevites to experience repentance and forgiveness? Why would he want them to suffer? It seems he didn’t love his neighbors as himself. After all, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and history tells us that Assyria was an enemy of Israel and Judah.

Jonah knew that if the Ninevites repented of their sins, the spotlight would then turn to the wickedness of his people. The Israelites had turned from God and were worshipping false idols. If God showed mercy to Israel and Judah’s enemies, would he be merciful to them, as well? Perhaps they wouldn’t even repent as Nineveh did.

What Jonah didn’t know was that God was storing up punishment for the Ninevites. Sure. They repented of their sins that day, but God would later punish them for their revenge on God’s chosen people. The Ninevites were an evil and extremely cruel nation. They would later be destroyed, but Jonah didn’t know that part of their future. God kept his full plans hidden from Jonah. We can’t expect to know all of God’s plans for ourselves or for anyone else. What we must remember is that nothing goes unnoticed by God. He will repay everyone for the good and bad they do.

The story of God’s punishment of Nineveh can be found in Isaiah 10 and the book of Nahum.

Perhaps we need to consider the difference in retribution and retaliation. Retribution is motivated by justice, while retaliation is driven by a desire for revenge. Jonah’s anger reflects a deep seated desire for revenge, and God acted in retribution when he later wiped out the Assyrians.

The story of Jonah and the Ninevites is an example of God’s justice and mercy. We should pay for our sins, but the death of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the ultimate price for our sins. We still have to live with the consequences of our sins, but our sinful slate is wiped clean with the forgiveness that only comes from God our Father. Let’s let God decide who to punish and how to dole it out. Let’s not take matters into our own hands, but trust that God can and will do his job very thoroughly in his own time.

Crabgrass Invasion

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The Israelites were at it again. They were disobeying God. Oh. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, but he left a remnant of Jews in the land. God had sent him to destroy the city of his favored people, because they had ignored his commands and disobeyed him for generations. They worshipped false gods. They lived in wickedness and even sacrificed their own children to these false gods.

Then when their lives were devastated by the destruction of their city and country, they ran to the prophet Jeremiah asking him to pray for them. They wanted a message from God. They wanted God to tell them what to do and where to go. And they told Jeremiah that they would do whatever God told them to do. Even if they disagreed with God’s command, they would still do it. Scouts honor.

Ten days later, Jeremiah came back to them with a message from God. And the one thing they didn’t want to hear was what they heard. Oh. They had already made up their minds that they were going to run to Egypt and escape the hardship of living in their desolate homeland of Judah. They wanted an easy life, and they thought they would find it in Egypt. But God said no. Stay in Judah. Do not go to Egypt. So they got mad and accused Jeremiah of lying. They were furious. How could they be expected to stay in a land they wanted to leave?

The remnant of people left Judah and went to Egypt, in full knowledge that they were disobeying God’s direct command. They had heard the warning that if they went to Egypt they would never leave there alive. They heard how they would die from war, famine or disease. Their stubborn hearts would not consider surrendering to God’s invitation to rebuild their lives in their homeland. Their hardened hearts would not allow them to believe God when he told them they no longer had to fear the king of Babylon. They didn’t listen when he told them that he would be merciful to them by making the Babylonian king kind to them. So they left knowing full well that God’s anger and fury would follow them to Egypt. They heard God’s warning that they would never see their homeland again. And they went anyway.

God knew the Judeans would disobey him when they said earlier that they would obey him even if they didn’t want to. He knew they had their hearts set on going to Egypt. He knew they would disobey him. And he allowed them to disobey. He allowed them to go and destroy their lives even further.

You can read this part of Judah’s story in Jeremiah 42-44.

So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? Luke 6:46

I did some weeding in my flowerbed one morning while it wasn’t too warm outside. I had been noticing that crabgrass had begun forming a border along the driveway and sidewalk. It wasn’t a look that spoke to my heart, so I set out to remove the unwanted weed. As I pulled on the weeds, they came up easily. But I noticed in a couple of places where I pulled up the crabgrass that the concrete was damaged. I’m no expert of weeds, so I don’t know if crabgrass would damage a sidewalk. Or, does crabgrass thrive in concrete areas that are already weak or cracked? I don’t know.

All I knew was that I needed to get control of the crabgrass before it fully invaded my yard. I couldn’t let even a little bit stick around or it would soon destroy any remaining grass. Weeds left untended will take over an entire space. The ugly, unsightful weeds will cause harm where least expected. Not only crabgrass but any other weed left to its own devices will take control.

The problem was that I didn’t remove all the crabgrass that day. The sun was shining, and it became warm. I was uncomfortable, so I didn’t finish the job. And I didn’t walk far enough down the sidewalk to see how far the crabgrass had spread. I went indoors to my cool air-conditioned house knowing full well that I had left some crabgrass to grow freely. I didn’t seem to bother me, or I would have stayed outside and removed it.

God won’t force obedience on anyone. He won’t force us to do anything we don’t want to do. But if he requires something of us, then not doing so is an act of disobedience. God knows what is best for us, even if we don’t like his plans. He won’t lead us down some dark and dusty path and leave us all alone. And if we allow the weeds of disobedience and sin to grow in the corners of our hearts and minds, then we leave ourselves open to moral and ethical rot and decay. Sin separates us from God.

God never condones sin. He never approves of words or actions that he has already said go against his will. But he will punish disobedience. And that disobedience if left untouched will lead us to death and destruction for eternity, if we don’t remove it from our lives.

But the good news is this. He will forgive our sins when we confess them.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13

Sin’s Deception

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I’ve begun reading about sin. Sin. It’s an ugly word. But it looks beautiful. It is attractive and desirable. Sin makes you acceptable to people who ignore God, and it makes them comfortable when they’re with you. But sin separates us from God.  What do we want most? To be acceptable by everyone surrounding us? Or do we want to be found acceptable to God? It’s our choice.

In his book, Know Your Enemy, Graham Beynon gives us some pointers about sin. I thought it would be helpful to stop and consider what sin really is and what it does to us.

Sin is disobedience to God’s Word.  We do not want to be governed by God’s law.  We make ourselves the god of our lives when we take away God’s authority.  We live as if we know what’s best for us, rather than seeking the will of our perfect Heavenly Father, who sacrificed his only Son for our sins.

In any form of sin, we are acting in open hostility to God. It seems harsh to say that, but participation in a sinful life is not an act of loving God. How can it be? We can’t say we love God and then intentionally disobey him. Sin is outright rebellion.

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.  1 John 3:4

Sin involves losing faith in God. Satan sows seeds of doubt about God and his commands for how we are to live.  Satan twists and distorts God’s word, so we will doubt God’s character.  For example.  God says he loves us, but then he allows hardships to come into our lives.  Why would a good and perfect God do that?  If God is generous, why does he restrict us from doing certain things? I must ask myself.  Have I ever questioned God’s goodness?  If so, what caused me to doubt?  Am I willing to turn the tables on those doubts and study the Bible until I’m reconvinced that God is always and forever good even when my circumstances may not be? How can we say our faith in God is strong if we deliberately choose to sin against him?

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11

It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31

Sin involves believing lies.  In order to separate us from our belief in God, Satan has to distort the truth.  He has to convince us that what we once thought was truth isn’t.  Satan has to win our confidence.  At times, it’s a hard sell for him.  Other times.  He’s got an easy job.  How hard do we make it on Satan to convince us that his lies are the truth?

We can believe that our disobedience is actually good for us. That sin is right. It can be easy to convince ourselves that our actions or our words or even our intentions are good. But if we’re truly honest with ourselves, we know that we’re rotten to the core. We know that we’re self-centered, but we won’t admit it. And we definitely don’t call it sin. We believe the lie that sin has told us. We resist the truth, because the lie seems easier to live with. Until it isn’t.

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Sin will always be attractive.  If sin was actually ugly, would we be interested?  Honestly?  We want to look at beauty.  We want to be involved with beautiful people.  We want to drive fancy cars and wear the latest fashions. We want others to want to know us. We long to be part of the in crowd.  We want to be attractive to others, so we look for things that attract us.  We don’t have any interest in ugly.  So, Satan knows how to attract us to his evil schemes.  Make wrong look right and make right look wrong. 

Sin won’t look live an ugly man with glowing eyes, dressed in a red robe and carrying a pitchfork. Oh. No. Sin will be pretty and easy. It will be more appealing than not sinning. Because not sinning means denying ourselves something that seems so right and good and beautiful. But sin will lead to eternal death.

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.  James 1:14

Sin never delivers on its promise. When we sin, we believe something about God that isn’t true. And once we’ve committed that sin, it loses its allure. Suddenly, the shiny apple has dulled. The new has worn off. And we’re left feeling used and worn. Maybe not at first. But, after awhile. After believing the lie that sin has told us, we’ll realize that the lie isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

What was once appealing has now been exposed as a lie. The happiness we thought we would find didn’t last. And we find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation. How can we get back to where we once were? How can we regain our innocence?

We have the option to believe truth or lies. And once we’ve lived with believing lies, we can turn back to the truth. We don’t have to believe lies and live in sin all of our days. We can turn back to belief in God. God keeps all his promises. All the time. In his time.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:23

All or Nothing

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It was his first year on the job as king of Israel, and it was unremarkable. Oh. It wasn’t a job he asked for. It was one his fellow countrymen had been asking for. They wanted a king. So God gave them a king. And when Samuel warned them that their desire for a king was sinful, they said they didn’t care. They wanted to be like every other nation around them.

This king, Saul, was chosen by God. And Saul failed early on in his reign. He failed because he was not a man after God’s own heart. He was after his own selfish ways. Never mind God. Saul would do what Saul wanted. And pay the consequences later, if need be.

And during his second year in power, he received a horrible performance review. Samuel told him that because of his disobedience to God, he would lose the kingdom. Saul’s early sin of offering a sacrifice that only the priest should make cost him his kingship. Oh. He remained in power, but none of his sons would inherit the throne. It would go to another.

And so the downhill decline started. So early in his reign, Saul saw his kingdom and legacy faltering. He was not a man of God. It didn’t have to be this way. But Saul made poor decisions early on in his reign that began a downward slide of continued disobedience to God’s commands. Saul led the nation of Israel poorly, and it showed. His monarchy would come to a screeching halt after his lifetime. It would not be carried down to the next generation. And he knew it.

I wonder how often Saul relived that day Samuel anointed him in private to be king of Israel. Didn’t he walk away a new man? God had given him a new heart. Once afraid, he was filled with boldness and bravery. He was now a statesman appointed to lead a nation. Oh. Saul did some good things. He won some battles. He rescued people from their enemies. He even prophesied. He was humble as he began his reign. But oh. How the tide turned.

Over the course of his reign, Saul’s sins were many. He was impatient, foolish and jealous. He attempted murder. He was vengeful. He consulted with a witch and disobediently offered sacrifices. When Samuel helped him guide the nation, things went well. Once Samuel stepped aside to let Saul lead the country on his own, Saul appeared to be awkward and weak. When left to his own devices, he made poor decisions.

Saul had a bent for disobeying the God who had chosen him as the first king of Israel. God rejected Saul, because he saw that Saul’s heart was set against him. Saul was self-centered and proud. He told himself he was being self sufficient when he took matters into his own hands, instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive and perform his priestly duties. Saul acted as his own priest. Because. Why not? He was king. He could do everything the priest could do. But that act of rebellion didn’t go down well with Samuel or with God. Saul thought he didn’t need God to instruct him. If only he obeyed God, his reign would have been a powerful statement of God’s grace. Instead, it was a powerful statement of how powerful men can be broken by sin and disobedience.

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9

I wonder if King Saul ever stopped to examine his life and his decisions. Did he ever feel guilty about turning his back on God? Was he ever regretful for the many attempts to kill David? Did he realize he didn’t have to lose the kingdom to David? If only he had obeyed God, his family would have remained in power. But Saul was bent on having his way in his own way.

We never know how our lives will be impacted by responding wrongly to God’s will in our lives. Do we stop to think about how one decision can turn our lives in a totally different path with our disobedience? Or do we just go merrily about our business without a care? Disobedience doesn’t come out of nowhere. It starts in the heart. A turning of desires from pleasing God to pleasing self. It may start small. With just a glance. Or a thought. And it builds from there. Until one day, the desire to please God is a far distant thought.

Disobedience becomes easier the more often it happens. The conscience eases. The guilty twinges subside. Until disobedience becomes a lifestyle of comfort and selfishness. Our self sufficient attitude becomes an act of defiance to an all-sovereign God of the universe. And not a thought is given to pleasing God. Disobedience grieves the heart of God. Nothing about it pleases him.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We know that. Hearts can change. Hearts can be turned back toward God. Hearts can still be convicted if they are open to hearing God’s truth. Repentance can happen. Forgiveness is open to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Those who seek forgiveness will be saved. God is working in hearts and lives today. But we must seek him while he may still be found.

According to 1 Samuel 12:14-15, blessings await those who obey the commands of the Lord, while troubles are in store for those who disobey. Choose you this day whom you will serve.

Pride Comes Before A Fall

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King Saul was a hot mess. He had strict orders from God himself about the battle he was to fight. He and his army of 210,000 men were to kill every man, woman and child, along with all the animals of Amalek. Kill. Every. Living. Being. Leave. No. Survivors.

 It was a harsh command. But God had a reason. 400 years earlier, the Amalekites had attacked the Israelites out of greed. With God’s help, Israel won that battle. But God didn’t forget how his chosen people were attacked. He vowed to pay back the Amalekites. And he took his sweet time in doing it.

 Now that Saul was king, God wanted to test Saul’s obedience. And wow. Saul failed miserably. He partially obeyed God. He killed all of the Amalekites, except for their king. And he killed all the weak and useless animals. But he kept the best animals as plunder. Saul was proud of his accomplishment.

And after he did that, he rewarded himself by setting up a monument in his own honor.

When the prophet Samuel confronted him about it, he proudly announced that he had carried out the Lord’s commands. Then why do I smell and hear animals? Samuel asked. 

Have you ever disobeyed God and then have someone else point it out to you? Has another believer confronted you about the smelly plunder that you have brought into your life? And you deny the sin?

Saul was dumbfounded to learn that Samuel was accusing him of disobeying God. He had killed people and animals. He had won the battle. What had he done wrong? He couldn’t believe that Samuel thought he had tried to play God.

Here’s the thing. A partial lie is a full lie. A partial disobedience is a full disobedience. A partial sin is a full sin. It doesn’t matter if you’re King Saul or John Doe. 

Saul was more willing to offer a sacrifice to God than to obey Him. Sure, it’s easy to perform a legalistic ritual than it is to obey God’s command. But what does it get you? It’s still disobedience. It’s still sin.

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

But Saul. His heart had grown cold. He lived as though he was his own god and only needed to follow his own decisions and plans. He cast God aside and replaced Him with Saul as god. This battle was not his to win. This was a battle that God had planned and prepared for. It was retaliation on a country who were sworn enemies of God and Israel. There were to be no survivors of any kind.

Did Saul forget that he had disobeyed God’s command? Did he not hear the words spoken to him to spare no life? Human or animal? Pride comes before a fall. That’s what they say. And oh. When the mighty fall, they fall hard. Because of Saul’s lack of obedience and respect for God’s command, Samuel told him that he would lose his kingdom. His family line would not inherit the throne. No son of his would ever be king of Israel. Oh. How the mighty have fallen.

Once we start living with lies, we become immune to right living. We get to the point that we have lived in lies for so long that we no longer recognize the truth. We dishonor God by continually denying his existence. We reject his invitation to join in his family of believers. Saul was blind to his sin. He acted as if he was obeying God. But he either failed to realize, or ignored the fact, that partial disobedience equals full disobedience.

God says he wants our full obedience. He says if we aren’t hot in love with him or cold disobeying him, then we are lukewarm. We aren’t God’s children if we are lukewarm. We can’t be half in a relationship with him. It’s all or nothing. God wants our full heart. Our full allegiance.

Sure. It will be a sacrifice on our part. It will be an intentional act of walking away from behaviors and activities that seem pleasant, but are out of line with God’s commandments. It will mean that we say no when we’ve said yes in the past. Or perhaps, we say yes when we’ve always answered no before.

Has your heart grown cold toward God? Or do you recognize that you’re in a lukewarm state? God wants your whole heart. Obedience at all costs. Let’s do what is right. Let’s love mercy. Let’s walk humbly and obediently with our God. We won’t regret it.