Extraordinary Obedience

 Hosea 1:2

When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”

I wonder which emotions flowed through Hosea when he heard this command from the Lord. It must have really shocked him, since he was a God-fearing man who lived to please the Lord, and marrying someone living in sin would never have been an option for him.

Jeremiah similarly received instructions from the Lord which led to him experiencing and enduring great loneliness in a culture where marriage and having children were very much the norm– Jer 16:1-2  1The word of the LORD also came to me saying, 2“You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.”

Likewise, Ezekiel’s instruction from the Lord would also have puzzled many who witnessed it. Ezekiel 24:15-17 ¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶ “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. ¹⁷ Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.” The very next day God took away Ezekiel’s wife, and he was instructed not to mourn for her. This would have caused quite a stir in a culture where mourning rituals were rigidly fixed and continued for a few days.

Three ordinary men, but displaying extraordinary faith and obedience to God, functioning as His prophets, and therefore speaking for God to a culture that had increasingly distanced itself from the Lord and started worshipping idols. All three men therefore were asked by God to live through the conditions that He Himself was experiencing, so that they could feel His own emotions about it as it played out in their own lives. This would keep their focus on those emotions, so that they could persevere to witness to their fellow countrymen about how deeply God was being affected by their sinful behaviour.

Hosea had to mirror the reality that God still deeply loved and cherished Israel, even though she was following after other gods and lavishing her love on them, hurting her Husband by her unfaithfulness. Jeremiah had to show that God now had to live as a Bachelor without a wife, as Israel had rejected Him. Ezekiel had to demonstrate how, even though God would desecrate His sanctuary, the people would not mourn for Him because their hearts were so far removed from Him.

Points to ponder:  To what lengths are you prepared to go to be obedient to God’s instructions? Do you evaluate those commands by comparing them to your cultural background, and only then deciding whether you will obey or not? Take to heart Jesus’ words to the Pharisees: Mark 7:7-8 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

Obedience

Knowing in part

 1 Peter 5:8

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

We sometimes recall only parts of verses in the Bible, not realizing that what we remember is not the entire verse, but often only the segment that many sermons have been given on, or has been quoted widely.

The first part of the above verse, often not mentioned with the rest, is important to the understanding of the second part – it gives two principles we must follow that will help in protecting us against the roaring lion: we need to be aware of the spiritual strategies from our enemy working against us; and we need to keep our minds free of intoxication of whatever kind, whether it be substances or lies that we believe.

Ps 91:1

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This is another example of where the first part of the verse is often not given the weight it deserves. It sets the condition that must be met before the whole of the rest of Ps 91 becomes active. The person who is protected in this way is the one who has an intimate relationship with the Lord, the one who does not only know of Him, but dwells with Him, sharing their lives with Him, acknowledging Him in everything they do.

1 Chronicles 16:22

Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

In the broader church community, this verse is often misquoted as meaning that teachers, pastors, evangelists, apostles, and prophets are above reproach and may not be rebuked for errors in their teachings or ministry. This is of course not the case - in Matt 18:15-17 Jesus outlines the steps ordinary believers must take to manage the situation where fellow believers (and this includes church leadership) are in the wrong. The verse in Chronicles quoted above refers to the nation of Israel if you read it in context, and we know from their history that their anointed leaders and prophets suffered greatly at the hands of others, in fact God Himself often sent them into situations where they had to endure physical and verbal abuse. There is no special threat implied in this verse against people who identify wrong teachings or ministry practices and treat it in the biblical way, which is: First talk to the Lord about it; when He gives His go-ahead, do it in His way; and keep searching your own heart to make sure there is no hidden agenda of judgement or pride to be found there. This verse points to those times when Israel’s prophets were on occasion specially protected by God.

Points to ponder: In these times of deception, it is more important than ever that we read our Bible for ourselves, to ascertain that we are believing the actual Word of God, and not the words that we, or others, have put into God’s mouth. A half-truth is even more dangerous than an outright lie.

Be Someone Who Accepts the Truth

Countering accusations

 

Matthew 27:12

But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.

As part of their campaign against Jesus, the chief priests and the elders of the Sanhedrin bound Him and took Him to Pilate, where they falsely accused Jesus of all manner of wrongdoing with the intention of getting Him sentenced to death. Jesus did answer Pilate when he wanted to confirm a truth and asked Him if He were King of the Jews. But whenever false accusations were thrown at Him by the priests, He kept silent.

This was in fulfilment of the prophecy made by Isaiah in Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth – yet another clue given by God to affirm that Jesus is the Messiah which the Jewish priests should have picked up on, seeing as they knew their Scriptures so well.

There are two other insights we could derive from this situation. The first is that Jesus Himself said that He only did what His Father told Him to do (John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will). Clearly Abba Father had not told Jesus to answer these accusations. We are promised that He will also tell us what words to say in the same circumstances (Mark 13:11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit).

And secondly, the life of Jesus and His works clearly show that He is the Messiah, He did not need to verbally confirm this fact. This is why Jesus did not answer the disciples of John the Baptist directly when they asked Him if He were the One they had been waiting for – He answered them indirectly by pointing out the works He had done – in Matthew 11:5 He told them to tell John in prison that the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”  Why would John instantly recognize Him for Who He is when he heard this? Because of the prophecies made by Isaiah about the works the Messiah would do: Isa 35:5-6 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. And Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

Points to ponder: When we look at how we conduct our own lives, is it obvious to everyone that we are followers of Jesus? Do our deeds speak for us when necessary, or do we need to vehemently defend ourselves and our beliefs when confronted? And if falsely accused, is it clear to any fair judge that these accusations just cannot be true, so that they are obliged to wash their hands of the matter and declare us innocent?

Living for Jesus