Rebellion or Repentance...The Wayfarer 5/24/17
Rebellion or Repentance
5/24/17
Genesis 18:16-33
16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. 20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. 22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. 32And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. 33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
Abraham sought to coexist in peace with neighbors who recognized neither God nor peace.
Though he had separated himself and his family from them, he knew that Lot had chosen, instead, to live among them while ignoring their contempt for God and the very reasons for which Abraham and his descendants were chosen to be blessed by a Creator that held the abomination of men's connivance in condemnation.
God honored Abraham's argument and plea, with the promise of mercy for the few, if the few existed, even as that argument decreased in the size of those still in agreement with God from fifty righteous down to ten of that number.
Needless to say, for those who are familiar with the history of Sodom and Gomorrah, the end result was the initial judgement of God that was necessitated by their lack of repentance while having been given the opportunity to do so.
Jonah 3
King James Version (KJV)
3 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
God's mercy and grace were extended to kingdom after kingdom, either to be refuted or accepted their leaders and peoples.
In the instance of Nineveh, a very unwilling and stubborn messenger was chosen to deliver the warning of the necessity for repentance for that mercy to be shown.
That messenger sought to avoid the delivery of the message, only to find that God's will exceeded his own hatred of the people to whom the message was to be delivered, and that that will included mercy and grace for those willing to hear and accept that message despite his own unwillingness to see the result of mercy and grace provided, rather than the condemnation and destruction which was his own expectation.
Men have always attempted to justify their perceptions when those perceptions fall outside the agreement with the perception of God, rather than to accept and attempt to understand a reasoning beyond his own paltry abilities.
Isaiah 55:8-9
King James Version (KJV).
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The common theme of the scriptures, from Genesis through Revelation, is God's willingness to provide mercy and grace to this creature called man, if only that creature will subjugate his stubborn attempts to override what was preordained for him by accepting his place and giving repentance for having been so rebellious to begin with, and continuing that rebellion rather than heed warnings when given.
There comes a point when that rebelliousness can no longer be tolerated, as repentance continues to be refused, and the will of man continues in precedence over the will of God.
That rebelliousness has deposed kings, and has condemned nations as warnings and instructions have been given, yet not heeded as the creature in rebellion continues to place his own will above that of Creator.
1 Samuel 15 King James Version (KJV)
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.
31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Refusal of instruction and warning result in wrath and condemnation rather than the proffered mercy and grace, whether being offered to nation or to individual.
In a world that has run amuck in its denial of both instruction and warning, we continue to have a choice of obedience through repentance that gives way to thoughts and concepts that must and will always remain higher than our own, or to give way to those who continue that denial of both instruction and warning that has been given.
The war that is being denied continues to rage, continues to bring countless casualties, both physical and spiritual, because of its very denial.
That war has a promised ending.
It has a promised outcome for all participants.
Until the declaration of its end, choice remains for those participants as to which side they will find themselves on at its end.
That choice requires consideration of just whose will is being followed, just whose instruction is heard and heeded, whether rebellion or repentance is given.
Both rebellion and repentance cannot coexist, both in combination are not acceptable, both when taken in combination remain in rebuttal of each other.
Those who are at enmity with God, at enmity with His will, at enmity with the very thoughts so lovingly provided throughout the scriptures are at enmity with all who accept and follow the provision of mercy and grace that has been provided by Him, and cannot be provided by any other.
Christ Jesus, crucified, entombed and resurrected remains the means to that mercy and grace, and the only means by which it is available.
That crucifixion was proof of the enmity that exists, the rebellion that exists, and the continued refusal of nations and individuals to accept a mercy and undeserved grace that was and is provided by his sacrifice.
If further proof is required, it is easily found as the spiral toward the conclusion of rebellion is observed through the actions and consequences of actions are observed throughout the nations and races of men that remain in denial, and the misery and lack of either mercy or grace continues among them while they remain incapable of either until capable of repentance.
Revelation 22:10-15
King James Version (KJV)
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Amen and Amen
The Wayfarer
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The common theme of the scriptures, from Genesis through Revelation, is God's willingness to provide mercy and grace to this creature called man, if only that creature will subjugate his stubborn attempts to override what was preordained for him by accepting his place and giving repentance for having been so rebellious to begin with, and continuing that rebellion rather than heed warnings when given.
There comes a point when that rebelliousness can no longer be tolerated, as repentance continues to be refused, and the will of man continues in precedence over the will of God.
That rebelliousness has deposed kings, and has condemned nations as warnings and instructions have been given, yet not heeded as the creature in rebellion continues to place his own will above that of Creator.
1 Samuel 15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.
2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.
31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Refusal of instruction and warning result in wrath and condemnation rather than the proffered mercy and grace, whether being offered to nation or to individual.
In a world that has run amuck in its denial of both instruction and warning, we continue to have a choice of obedience through repentance that gives way to thoughts and concepts that must and will always remain higher than our own, or to give way to those who continue that denial of both instruction and warning that has been given.
The war that is being denied continues to rage, continues to bring countless casualties, both physical and spiritual, because of its very denial.
That war has a promised ending.
It has a promised outcome for all participants.
Until the declaration of its end, choice remains for those participants as to which side they will find themselves on at its end.
That choice requires consideration of just whose will is being followed, just whose instruction is heard and heeded, whether rebellion or repentance is given.
Both rebellion and repentance cannot coexist, both in combination are not acceptable, both when taken in combination remain in rebuttal of each other.
Those who are at enmity with God, at enmity with His will, at enmity with the very thoughts so lovingly provided throughout the scriptures are at enmity with all who accept and follow the provision of mercy and grace that has been provided by Him, and cannot be provided by any other.
Christ Jesus, crucified, entombed and resurrected remains the means to that mercy and grace, and the only means by which it is available.
That crucifixion was proof of the enmity that exists, the rebellion that exists, and the continued refusal of nations and individuals to accept a mercy and undeserved grace that was and is provided by his sacrifice.
If further proof is required, it is easily found as the spiral toward the conclusion of rebellion is observed through the actions and consequences of actions are observed throughout the nations and races of men that remain in denial, and the misery and lack of either mercy or grace continues among them while they remain incapable of either until capable of repentance.
Revelation 22:10-15
King James Version (KJV)
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Amen and Amen
The Wayfarer
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