REBELLIOUS PEOPLE

“Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen" (2 Chron. 24:19 NKJV).

When we are persistent in our rebellion against God, He will bring judgment. Such was the case with Judah. Although God tried to rescue them from their sin, they continued to rebel against Him by spurning His rescue efforts. This is the story in our verse. It speaks of the mercy of God, the message from God, and the mistreatment of God.

Mercy of God - “Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord.” In the preceding verse we are told that Judah left the house of the Lord and went to worshiping idols. This resulted in Divine wrath coming upon the people. Yet, in mercy, God sent prophets to call the people back to Him. He could have let them be ruined in judgment. But His mercy endeavored to rescue them from justified judgment. Though He brought judgment upon them, He offered mercy for them to escape judgment.

Message from God - “They testified against them.” The message God gave the prophets to tell the people was a message which rebuked the people’s sins. When people are doing wrong, they have to be told their wrong in order to correct their conduct. However, this is not very popular with people. Today, many want to call sinners to the Lord by just telling them that God loves them. This will never do. Indeed God loves them, but people will never repent of their sin until they become convicted of their sinful conduct. So there must be preaching “against” the people if they are to be brought back to God.

Mistreatment of God - “They would not listen.” The people closed their ears to the message that God had given the prophets to deliver to them. This rejection dishonored God, and added to their judgment. How foolish to reject God’s mercy and still cling to one’s sins. If a person ends up in hell, that person has no one to blame but himself; God has done His part in providing salvation.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“God would never save us by grace so we could live in disgrace!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Display (to disgrace)

In Col. 2:15 we read, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (NASB).

Display (to disgrace) is the Greek word deigmatízō (δειγματίζω = digh-mat-id'-zo). It means to make an example of, to show as an example, expose one to disgrace. Literally, deigmatizō means to make a show of openly and boldly, to exhibit, to expose. In Classical Greek deigmatizō means to make an example of. The word is not used in the Septuagint. In the New Testament, the word carries the idea of exposing to public disgrace.

The idea of deigmatizō is to make a public show or spectacle, such as in a triumphal procession of a victorious general home from the wars, leading his captives and booty in a procession through the streets of Rome. They would exposed their captives and the spoils of the conquered enemies to public view in their triumphal processions. Here in Colossians 2, the Lord Jesus Christ makes a public exhibition of the vanquished forces, not just by proclamation, but by public display, as in a triumphal procession.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would be a Prophet of the children of Israel (Deut. 18:15)

New Testament Fulfillment – Acts.3:22-23

Bible Facts

Incest laws established (Lev. 18:6). To marry near of kin in the ancient world was common. Yet, beginning about 1500 B.C., God forbid this practice. The reason is simple - the genetic mutations (resulting from the curse) had a cumulative effect. Though Cain could safely marry his sister because the genetic pool was still relatively pure at that time, by Moses’ day the genetic errors had swelled. Today, geneticists confirm that the risk of passing on a genetic abnormality to your child is much greater if you marry a close relative because relatives are more likely to carry the same defective gene. If they procreate, their offspring are more apt to have this defect expressed.

Bible Quiz

According to the apostle Paul, what will happen to Christians who live godly in Christ?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: Who said that un-thankfulness would be a sign of the “last days?” Paul (2 Tim. 3:1-3)

That’s in the Bible

"Cast your bread upon the waters”

“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (Ecc. 11:1 NKJV).

“Cast your bread upon the waters” carries the idea that a spontaneous good deed carries no guarantees of reciprocity but that what goes around, comes around. This means we are to give even when it does not look promising as far as reward is concerned. Many folks only give if they are recognized. But we are to give whether we are recognized or not. Casting bread on waters is not promising, but true charity is giving whether or not we are rewarded or recognized.

Did You Know – Christian History

Haldor Lillenas was born November 19, 1885 on Stord Island, near Bergen, Norway. He was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, author, song evangelist, poet, music publisher and prolific hymn writer. Haldor is considered one of the most important twentieth-century gospel hymn writers and publishers, and is regarded as the most influential Wesleyan / Holiness songwriter and publisher in the 20th century.

As a young boy, Haldor was befriended by an elderly woman who taught him English, and told him about Jesus. However, there was something lacking in his spiritual life, and that something was not remedied until he was converted to personal faith in Jesus Christ at age 21. Almost immediately, he felt called to preach. He entered Deets Pacific Bible College in Los Angeles (later known as Pasadena College). Meanwhile, he began to acquire musical knowledge through self-study and correspondence courses.

Haldor and his wife (also a song writer), traveled as evangelists for many years. Among the churches where he held evangelistic services was the Wesleyan Methodist Church in NJ where the father of George Beverly Shea was the pastor. Rich in spirit, Haldor and his wife were poor in possessions. When they were finally able to afford a home, Haldor looked about for an instrument on which he could compose. A neighbor sold him an organ for just five dollars. It was on that organ that Haldor composed his best-known hymn - Wonderful Grace of Jesus. Coincidentally, the sale of Haldor’s hymn brought him just five dollars, the exact amount he had paid for the organ.

Haldor was a prolific composer of hymns, and it is estimated that in his lifetime, he wrote some 4,000 hymns, and supplied songs for many evangelists. After leaving evangelistic work, Haldor pastored churches from 1914 through 1924. In 1924, he founded a music company which later became the Nazarene Publishing Company. He worked as an editor there for 20 years. Haldor died on 18 August 1959 at Aspen, Colorado.

A Little Humor

An industrious turkey farmer was always experimenting with breeding to perfect a better turkey. His family was fond of the leg portion for dinner and there were never enough legs for everyone. After many frustrating attempts, the farmer was relating the results of his efforts to his friends at the general store get together. “Well I finally did it! I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!” They all asked the farmer how it tasted. “I don’t know” said the farmer. “I never could catch it!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“The cross is a symbol of God’s heartbreak over a world that has gone astray!”