As you consider the answer to this question, remember that God the Father, Jesus, The Holy Spirit and You; all know the truth.
Have you ever called God a liar? Have you ever wondered in your heart if God’s Words are true? Have you ever called God a murderer? Have you ever called God a thief? Have you ever judged God to be negligent and unfeeling in His dealings with you and with others? Have you ever said or thought that it is unprofitable to serve God? Have you ever accused God of allowing bad things to happen to good people? Have you ever called God a tempter or tester of people?
Have you ever made a decision to believe that God has ignored your prayers? Have you ever thought or spoken that God heard your request and denied it? Have you ever thought in your mind or spoken that God is in charge of all things good and bad; therefore, Aids, Cancer, Murder, Homosexuality, Adultery, Paganism, Theft, Destruction, Corruption, Nastiness, Gossip, Unbelief and every other bad thing are of Him, because He is in control?
For most people the answer to all of the above is …Yes! Jesus was tempted with blaming God, Himself. It happened at the moment He took on the sins of all mankind. For the first time ever, he was separated from God. I do caution you about judging God that the consequences even through grace are significant according to Jesus:
” Judge not lest you be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever standard of judgment you use, you shall also be judged.”
(Matthew 7:2)
Most people who know this scripture believe that it is regarding judging other people. That is certainly one of it’s meanings. Clearly, though, Jesus meant it about judging God as well. If we judge God with a performance standard, it is not fair then that we should be judged by Him in the same way. Here is an example of how that works:
“God did not give me my pony for Christmas so He does not love me. Therefore, I will refuse to believe Him.” “My son couldn’t see the pony I gave him for Christmas so He must not love me. Therefore I refuse to believe him.” Yipes!!!!!!!
Let’s take this one step further. Suppose we have judged and condemned God for murder or say, destruction by neglect of our personal affairs, or our business, job or ministry. How then would the above scripture be applied to us?
Don’t feel as though you are the first to fall into these temptations and false beliefs. The oldest book in the Bible; Job, is all about this very thing. Job was a man blessed more greatly than all other men with health, wealth and family. Yet he lost it all. While mourning the loss of his things and in the middle of his pity party, God spoke into Job’s mind the answer to his troubles. Even after Job had spoken the truth from his mouth, it took him much longer to understand what had caused his destruction. Here in Job’s own words is the cause of his losses.
” For the thing that I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
(Job 3:25)
Our unbelief takes God out of the game completely. Unbelief is a realm in which God can not operate. Job believed his fear more than he believed God. By the way, Job turned from his unbelief, fear and blaming of God and praised Him. And, all of the stuff he lost was returned to him many fold.
God knows the heart of all people. He knows our thoughts. When the Israelites murmured in their tents against God, He heard them and was hurt! He swore to destroy them. Yet, Moses a man who loved God and was in no way perfect, convinced Him to repent of the evil that was in his heart to do. Don’t get upset by this writing, it is a direct quotation from the eyewitness account of Moses, here are his own words:
” And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and it is a stiff necked people. Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee (Moses) a great nation.”
“And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?”
Pardon this momentary drift away from the substantiating scripture. Have you ever fallen to this temptation? God had just freed His people from 400 years of slavery to works. They had been under the bondage of works, slavery to the Egyptians. God did many powerful miracles that caused His people to be made free by the Pharaoh. Not only did God cause His people to be made free, they left with great prosperity. They were given the Gold and Silver and wealth of the land of Egypt to take with them.
I know many people whom God has made free by performing great miracles in their lives. Yet, the human memory for such power is weak. Soon, they forget the land that God delivered them from. It is almost as if it never happened. Quickly, they forget the place from which they came and how God saved them with dignity.
That thought was provided by the Holy Spirit in case you were quick to judge the children of Israel. But, now let us continue with the discussion between Moses and God. Remember that Moses is pleading for the very continued existence of the children of Israel, who have angered God to the point that He has vowed to destroy them. Please note at this point that God clearly explained in the scripture that you just read, how he can legally destroy the children of Israel and keep the Abrahamic covenant, by starting all over again with Moses. Read Moses plea for his people:
” Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.”
“Remember Abraham, Issac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit forever.”
“And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto His people.”
(Exodus 32:9-14)
Pay very close attention to what is going on in this scene! The children had made a golden calf and worshiped it, they had committed every evil sexual and behavioral sin that could be committed. Yet, the thing that evoked the wrath of God, was not their sins of the flesh. It was their rejection of Him and their unbelief. Here are the exact words the newly freed people uttered. Can you blame our loving God for being hurt?
” And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you done this to us? Why did you take us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than we should die in the Wilderness?” (Exodus 14:11&12)
In other words, we would rather trust the Egyptians than God. We would rather be slaves to the bondage of works than to trust in the unseen God. When we put ourselves under a works based relationship with God, we are saying the same thing. When we put God under works, we are doing the same to Him.
More from the murmuring children:
” And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2 and 3)
Has God ever used His servant to try to lead you out of bondage or to a new and different place or way of thinking, a place where you are required to trust God and or His servant because you can not see where you are being led?Then, at the signs of hardship or discouragement or, you have not received what you wish, you have turned and blamed the servant or God himself? If the answer to this question is yes, then you know what provoked God to “let my wrath wax strong against them”.
More from the murmurers:
” And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Where then are you taking us, that you have taken us from Egypt, to kill us and our children and out cattle with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3&4)
Have you ever been tempted to accuse the servants of God of leading you to a place of destruction, because you could not see the glory of the promises of God yet manifested in your life?
This murmuring and unbelief went on until the children of Israel had come into full blown rebellion against God, they rejected God, His servants, voted to elect a captain to lead them back to Egypt and threatened the lives of those who chose to believe God REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY SAW. Those would be Caleb and Joshua.
It is interesting that when the 12 spies were sent into the land and reported their findings, only two reported the unseen. The other ten spies reported that their were giants in the land and that in the eyes of the giants, the ten were as grasshoppers. They all saw the exact same things. Yet Caleb and Joshua reported on the unseen. Here is what God’s favorites reported, that made them His favorites:
” And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and posses it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we.”
“And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying, The land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants there of; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, We wish to God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or wish to God we had died in this wilderness!”
An interesting note: The murmurers got their wish. They told God that they would rather die in the wilderness than trust Him and His servants and move in the unseen. So, God gave them the desires of their hearts. Many people think that God unmercifully punished them by making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until they died. Not so, he granted them the desires of their hearts, which were clearly against His plan. Learn by this that God is not in control!
” And why has the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be prey? were it not better for us to return to the land of Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt?”
Many people having begun to walk in the grace and faith covenant with God, are frightened by the things that they imagine or can not see and quickly return to the land of works and unbelief.
” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, tore their clothes: And they spoke unto all the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it is an exceeding good land. If the lord delight in us, ( If you have made a decision to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you have confessed with your mouth that He is Lord, you are saved and under a different covenant than these people. Regardless of your behavior, God is delighted in you, because of Jesus. Romans 10:9) then HE will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land flowing with milk and honey. Only rebel not you against the Lord, Neither fear you the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defense has left them, and the Lord is with us, fear them not.”
“But all the congregation wanted to stone them (Joshua and Caleb) to death.” This is the point where we began. God heard this threat and entered into the Tabernacle and told Moses that He was going to kill these murmuring stiff necked people.
Here is God’s final judgment on the believer and the non-believers:
“Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times,and have not listened to and obeyed my voice: Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it.”
“BUT MY SERVANT CALEB BECAUSE HE HAD ANOTHER SPIRIT WITH HIM (ushered in by his decision to believe God beyond the shadow of any doubt) AND HATH FOLLOWED ME FULLY, HIM WILL I BRING INTO THE LAND INTO WHICH HE WENT; AND HIS SEED SHALL INHERIT IT.” (Numbers chapters 13 and 14)
Let’s switch to the New Covenant teaching of Jesus. Jesus taught us everything that we need to know about the character of God. Here are a few scriptures that explain why we should not blame God for the evil that is in the world:
“The thief (that would be satan, the evil one, the enemy) comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd; The good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” (John 10:10&11)
Jesus in this one teaching has clearly explained who attacks us. He also has explained that He came to bring abundant life, not death. So, let’s stop blaming God for the consequences of our unbelief, or for the acts of the enemy.
Many people ask me the following question: If God is good and the evil one is bad, why do bad things happen to good people? Why do Christians have bad things happen to them? The answers are in Scripture:
1.) Unbelief
Writing about Jesus’ own home town, Matthew wrote: ” And they were offended by Him. But Jesus said to them, ” A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” And HE DID NOT MANY MIGHTY WORKS THERE BECAUSE OF THEIR….Unbelief. (Matthew 13:57&58)
Jesus teaching us about prayer clearly explains that all of our problems begin with doubt in our hearts:
” For Verily, I say to you that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be you cast into the sea; and does not DOUBT IN HIS HEART, but believes that the things that he says shall be done for him, he shall have whatsoever he says.” (Mark 11:23)
(2) Placing ourselves back under a performance based relationship with God is a clear decision to reject the full work of Jesus on the cross and devalues His blood, to the point of nullification in our lives:
Paul teaching the church at Galatia wrote:
“For as many as are under the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continues not in ALL things that are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by faith.”
” And the law is not faith; but the man that does them, shall live by them.” ( Galatians 3:10-11)
Oh by the way, if you have made a decision to try to work God by your behavior; you are back under the law. You have then made a decision to make yourself responsible for keeping all of the Commandments, and their 600 attached ordinances, and all those that were added by the Levitical priests and…oh yes, How are we doing on that first one? ” Thou shalt have no other God’s (including your business, money, sex, power, prestige, political correctness, cars, tv, internet, movies, sports etc) before me!
Here is another humdinger from Paul on this subject:
” Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)
God has given all people free will. That is why Lucifer, an angel, led the revolt of the angels in heaven and was thrown to earth by Jesus. At that time even angels had free will. That is why when you pray for something that involves others, even though God answered your prayer and commanded that person to do something, they have the right to disobey Him. They may also be therefore missing His best plan for their lives.
Is God putting you through a process or a test? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is not God’s way of doing business. Why would God test you if He made you perfect in His sight through the blood of Jesus?
” Let no man say when he is tempted/tested, I am tempted/tested of God. for God can not be tempted/tested by evil, neither tempteth/testeth He any man.” (James 1:13)
So God is not tempting us. He does not do bad things to good people. Good people frequently place themselves under the curse of the law, voluntarily. God does not allow bad things to happen. He has given men free will. God is not withholding our blessings. He has already given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness. We have a difficult time choosing to believe God and not doubt in our hearts. We, therefore walk away from the things that God has freely given us.
Finally, if God has purchased with the blood of Jesus the New Covenant for us. And has therefore placed us under a grace based relationship with Him, is it fair for us to put Him under a works based relationship with us?
Pastor Allen
www.throneofgraceministries.com
I pray that this teaching has blessed you. If it has, please pass it on to another who will be blessed.
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