You Can't Barter With God and You Can't Challenge Him or His Ways

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An Enemy to Your Enemies

Exodus 23:22-23: “But if you will truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.  For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.”

Isn’t it amazing how whenever God asks us to do something for Him or about Him or with Him, He always promises to do more in return for us? You can check this out throughout Scripture and this is just one such case here in this chapter of Exodus. Here He says, “Obey the angel I send before you and I will do much for you, even more than “guard you on your travels; bring you to the place I have prepared for you; and pardon your transgressions” (all from vs. 20-21).

[Just as an aside, please note: God can do that with us for He has the right as Creator, but we can’t do that with Him.  We can’t barter with Him like He can with us. Live with it; that’s the way it is. Just as you can do that with your children, but heaven help them if they try to do it with you.]

But here’s the part I love if we do what God says, He will be “an enemy to our enemies”. Boy, are there ever days (like the one I had yesterday) when I need to know that. My God will fight my enemies for me. Again, notice that we are to “love our enemies” but that does not apply to God – He has the right to do whatever He wants to them when He wants to. That is so challenging and unacceptable to the liberal mind. Liberals want God to behave they way they think He should behave or at least the way He wants them (us) to behave. I say again, “Live with it.” This is a most difficult fact for a lot of Christians to grasp, let alone liberals. We keep asking, “Why? Why? Why?” and we apply that question to every aspect of life that we do not like or want to have happened. It could be my looks, my poverty, my disease, death in my family, loss of job, divorce, election outcomes, even rain when I wanted to have a picnic in the park or to have my child’s birthday party outside. Yet if we truly know God and Who He is, we would know that while as human beings we may have the right to ask that question (as we all do), we really have no right to expect an answer. And here’s the deal . . . Happy is the man or woman who learns that early in their life. And happier is the man or woman who accepts it.

Notice also that first God talks about being an “enemy to our enemies” and then He talks about being an “adversary to our adversaries”.  I wondered what the difference was, so I looked the two words up. Here’s what I generally discovered:

·      Enemy – a person (or nation) who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something or another nation (especially in time of war).

·      Adversary – one’s opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute.

As I reflected on these two definitions, I thought how wonderful it is that God’s promises are so thorough.  First of all, the dictionary tells us that one can be one’s own worst enemy. Now that’s as if God is saying He will be an enemy to our own natural self (the one that wants to do wrong and to sin) if we let Him. Secondly, I realized that the word ‘enemy’ is more applicable to major antagonists in our lives or that of our family, town, country or world (enemies of war, disease, family breakdown, imprisonment, torture, etc.) whereas adversary applies more to the everyday type of challengers that we face (temperature, slow drivers in front of us, ridicule, etc.).  Each one of us can draw the enemy vs. adversary line wherever we want on the continuum.  That’s not the point. The point is that God will fight them all for us – big enemies and smaller adversarial opponents. It is also interesting that Satan (the Devil) is commonly referred to sometimes as the Enemy and sometimes as the Adversary. Which one are you fighting today?

This short passage (vs. 22 and 23) ends with God first listing every single one of the enemies or adversaries that the Israelites will face in their journey.  The lesson for us is simply this: this is not a one-time thing that He is promising the children of Israel.  It is therefore also meant for us to know that God can and will, if we want Him to, and if we let Him – defeat all our enemies and adversaries in our own personal journey through the desert of this life.

And secondly, God says He will “completely destroy them.”  And you thought only your children could do that on their video games. God alone can only do it for real. And that’s a promise I can claim if I’m prepared to turn each and every one of my enemies and adversaries over to Him. How about you?

Author's Note: A few hours after posting this blog, as I was reading another book, the thought came to me that there are several people out there that feel they can and have made deals with God.  The best example is the type of person that says, "If you save me from this calamity God, I will serve you forever" or something to that effect.  I perfectly understand how you feel, but I am not sure that is exactly what I was talking about above.  In the circumstances I was referring to -- God is giving us a choice.  In the circumstance of "save me and I'll serve you" -- you and I really have no choice.  There is nothing for us to walk away from.  We are desperate.  God still may or may not save us.  We only hear about the ones that were saved and made that promise; not the ones that weren't.  We don't say to God as He says to us or as we say to our children, "It's up to you; take it or leave it."  That was my point.

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Some Things You Are Not To Mix Says God -- Exodus 23:18-19

“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning. You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. You are not to boil a kid in the milk of its mother.”
 

Only those who wear earplugs and blindfolds would disagree with the idea that the world is continuing to speed downhill towards a very calamitous self-destruction.  If Rome and Athens fell, why not us?  Even the small-l liberals are not happy with many things such as global warming (assuming it is true), famines, human rights, inequality, etc.  At the same time, armed with political correctness, they push for more freedom with respect to abortion, alternative lifestyles, drug use, euthanasia, and so much more that drives them further and further from the kind of world intended by its Creator, not to mention the Creator Himself. Many of our western politicians do not see the Islamic State as a serious threat to their own freedom and way of life.  Just how did we get to this point?

I believe four Factors are at play here:

1.     The fall of Adam and Eve, the originators of sin, continues to impact all of us in the human race.

2.     The Church of Jesus Christ, for the most part, has had and continues to have, great difficulty in walking in His steps, often crossing over into paths that He would not lead us to, regardless of the issue or circumstance.

3.     The Enemy of God or Satan is having a hay day now causing as much confusion among believers resulting in both total and partial apostasy.

4.     The plan and time schedule established by God for the return of Jesus Christ to earth is right on target and everything that is going on is all part of it.

All four of these factors are interwoven and known to God. Factors 1 and 2 were clearly in the domain of man to avoid – Adam did not do so back then; and we do not now.  In the absence of a strong desire not to fall into the traps of these two factors, Factor 3 is given free reign – Satan is indeed very busy and feels most successful. When all the first three factors are in play, Factor 4 is only a matter of time – but time known only to God.

In fact, God warned His people about Factor 2 in our passage above from Exodus 23.  He wanted His people to learn certain lessons, certain ways of doing things. And it was to start with some very simple things.  They were not to mix the “blood of His sacrifice” (the blood of the animal sacrificed to Him) with the leavened bread. That was a no-no. The two were not to be mixed. And the fat from the animal being sacrificed to Him was not to remain overnight. It had to be dealt with right away. It had to be burned up. Finally, God’s people were not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother. Boil it in something else.

And at the same time, they were to bring the best first fruits of the ground to God as well.

Once again, I am convinced that I have to leave the world’s current situation to its Creator. I can only worry about getting myself right before Him, and even that, I can only do with His help and power.

So, where do WE (you and I) stand?
Do we agree the world is in a mess?
Do we accept that we as humans are a race fallen to sin?
Do we admit that oftentimes, and sometimes by preference, we, as Christians, are naturally inclined to stray from the path that God would have us walk?
Do we realize that Satan is doing all he can to destroy our relationship with God, not realizing he is just pushing us closer and closer to the time when God will say, “Enough!”?
Do we eagerly await the return of Jesus Christ?

I hope you can join me in answering “yes” to all these questions.  If so, live your life as an individual who knows what is happening, knows what we can expect to happen, realizes he/she has to remain faithful to Christ, actively fights the Enemy, and rejoices in the very certain hope of His return.

If you cannot join those of us who can say ‘yes’ to these questions, I invite you to write to me and tell me which one you have difficulty with and why.  I do not have all the answers, but I may have some that could change your mind if you’re open to it.

Next time we’ll look at what God will do to help us for His part. In the meantime, we all need to be aware of the fact that “certain things do not mix in God’s life-laboratory”.  So, watch out for personal explosions.

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Christians and Our Attitude to Physical Healing . . .

I believe many Christians struggle with the issue of "healing".  Why do some get healed and others do not?  Why am I sick and he is not?  Or vice-versa.  Why do some get better and no one seems to have prayed for them while another person dies after a whole church prayed for them?  And the list of questions can go on.

I had occasion recently to reread the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3 and I came upon these words in verses 17 and 18 that the three young Hebrew men uttered to king Nebuchadnezzar.  They said them just before he cast them into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire as he had promised he would do to any who were caught not worshiping a golden image:

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

"But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

As I read these words, I thought -- isn't this exactly how God wants us to react to the matter of physical healing?  I believe it is.  Take a look at what advice we can apply to physical healing from Daniel's writing:

1. A belief that God can heal.  "Our God . . . IS ABLE to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire," or the infirmity we are praying about.
2. A requirement that our faith be in "Our God, whom WE SERVE. . . "  The delivery, or in our case, the response to a request for physical healing of our own or on behalf of someone else seems to come best when the request is made by one who 'serves' God and knows God intimately.
3. Although God is able, He may choose not to deliver us from this condition, but in any case, He definitely "WILL deliver us out of your hand, O king" or out of the hand of the Enemy in our case -- or maybe, out of the hand of spiritual death.  God may not heal, although He is able to heal, but He will deliver us from the Enemy -- whether it be that He will be with us through the rest of our lives with this infirmity or whether He takes us home to be free of it.
4. "BUT even if He does not (deliver us from the fire or heal us in our case)," we will continue to serve Him and not give in to atheism or idolatry.  We will accept what He chooses to do as being best for us.

As I have struggled with the questions that I raised above, I see that only by this approach as practiced by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with respect to being thrown into the fiery furnace, can we deal with them.  I have that kind of confidence in my God -- He will deliver me out of the hands of the Enemy.  I pray you do as well.  But I'd like to hear of your experiences and thoughts on this topic.  Just go to the comments section at the bottom of this blog and share them with us.

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Saturday Morning Musings -- January 29, 2011

Hurricanes: Here's something new I learned about these wild ocean storms.  According to veteran weather expert Brian Sussman, hurricanes are "God's great gifts to the earth. . . Among other benefits, hurricanes are an efficient conduit for hot equatorial air to be transported to colder parts of the planet, thus balancing out earth's average temperature."

Civil Unrests as of January 29th: Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Aleria, Jordan, Yemen.  That's seven. What's going on?

Egypt: Four o'clock curfew on Saturday in Egypt is being basically ignored.  Mubarak holding on, but people insistent.


Turning Enemies Into Friends:  It is interesting that as we face a world of "enemies", the New Testament gives us perhaps the only proven methodology for turning enemies into friends.  It says, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you."  Wow.  That's in Matthew 5:44.   We are told, "if you do this, God will reward you."   So, how does all this play out with respect to what is going on in the world today -- in Egypt, in Israel, and everywhere else?  Charles Stanley has a suggestion.  He says, "(do what the verse says) Even if your enemy continues to persecute you and do evil to you, God will find a way to bless you."   So that's it.  We won't necessarily be blessed by man, or what we expect in term's of physical blessings, but we will be blessed by God.  That's so hard to live by but yet, it may, in this world where God's arch-Enemy, Satan still is allowed to wield his power, it may just be the only salvation.  I encourage you to think about it.

Egypt's New Vice-President: Omar Suleiman, Egypt's spy chief appointed as new Vice-President of the country.  Could he take over from Mubarak?   Remains to be seen.   Also, Ahmed Shafiq, the minister of civil aviation, has been named the new prime minister.

 

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