So far in this miniseries, we have seen how the love of God and the wrath of God are inseparable in God’s character and how that has helped to explain some of our misconceptions about the worldwide flood and the command by God to have Israel wipe out many of the Amorites in their Promised Land when they went to conquer it. Now, let’s look at the New Testament in this same light.

In the New Testament, we see the love and wrath of God are even more intertwined than we saw in the Old Testament. This is because God’s love for us has taken away God’s wrath from us because God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus Christ rather than onto us. We perceive that as his love for us, which it is, but it was also an act of God’s wrath against sin. His ultimate wrath on the earth is postponed until after he comes for his church, his bride.  Therefore, it is something we have not yet seen because it is still part of future prophecy, but it is something that will come to pass.

Also, God is still inclusionary but requires a reality check. As with most countries, you are happily included with them—if you have a passport. He paid for our sins, but action is required on our part. Just because someone has bought you a gift does you no good unless you accept the gift. Why? We are not in His Kingdom until we agree to be in His Kingdom. Contrary to popular belief and song, we are not all God’s children. Why do I say that?

We are born into Satan’s Kingdom. It is in a time dimension. That means there will be an end to it one day. It can be compared to a sinking ship. It requires action to get out of a sinking ship. Jesus said: … whosoever does not believe stands condemned already … (Jn 3:17, NIV). In other words, without making a decision, although it is really a decision of ‘no,’ we go down with the ship. What ties us to this sinking ship is our sin, which is disobedience, or rebellion. Rebellion sounds harsh for disobedience, but it is saying no to anything God has asked us to say yes to. By disobeying, you are actually rebelling against what was asked of you.

We don’t automatically try to get out of the sinking ship because we are blinded by the owner of the ship we are in that there is nothing wrong with the ship. Paul stated the following: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1Co 2:14, NIV). Therefore, action must be taken to become unblinded to Satan’s lies and get out of his kingdom.

We are transferred from the sinking ship (Satan’s Kingdom) to the Lifeboat (God’s Kingdom). However, action is needed on our part. Just because the boat is supplied doesn’t help us unless we get in it. Faith is needed to be transferred from Satan’s Kingdom into God’s Kingdom. Paul tells us the following: “For he (i.e., Jesus Christ) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness (i.e., Satan’s kingdom, the sinking ship) and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (i.e., God’s Kingdom, the Lifeboat), in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Cl 1:13, NIV).

We find ourselves on the sinking ship of Satan’s Kingdom. When we realize we need and want to be on Christ’s rescue boat and accept his invitation to join him, the Holy Spirit becomes our life preserver which we receive from him. Then he transfers us from our sinking ship, Satan’s Kingdom, into the lifeboat, into God’s Kingdom, where we are now saved from destruction and we can have rest. We use the term “saved” because we have been rescued from destruction, rescued from a sinking ship which is Satan’s Kingdom because his kingdom is this world, and it will come to an end and be destroyed along with all those a part of it. We are transferred into God’s Kingdom which is not of this world, outside time, and therefore will last eternally as will we.

Choice is something God has graciously ensured we possess. The Flood occurred to preserve our God given right of choice. Many of the Amorites were destroyed because of the consequences of their choice. That was true for the captivity of Judah and Israel as well. Christ died on the cross to pay for the sin (disobedience, rebellion) so that choice can be tangible to us once again.

God has given us choice, something Satan does not want us to recognize. He wants us to see choice as something bad, something that infringes upon our rights and makes God look vengeful. Yet, without choice we would be mere robots. Choice comes with obedience and disobedience and comes with consequences. What will you choose with your right of choice? Are you prepared for the consequence? Choose Christ = Everlasting home with Christ where wonderment and joy abounds. Choose our current state (which many look at as not making a choice) = Everlasting home with Satan where regret, chaos, and turmoil abounds.

Bottom line: We need to Choose Wisely.

I trust you do choose wisely if you have not yet done so. Today is the day of salvation (2Co 6:2). The lifeboat is waiting. All you have to do is get in.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We have been looking at how the people of Israel responded to God sending snakes into their camp as they traveled toward their Promised Land because of their rebellion. Moses makes a brass snake and sets it up on a pole in their midst and the people were asked to look up at it for healing. Why?

God now expects a personal response to him. God enacted a national judgment on Israel because of their rebellion but is now going to reward a personal response to him. Israel was to become an ambassador to the rest of the world (Ex 19:6). Israel would be an example of how God punishes and rewards nations but more importantly, God is now showing them that a personal response to God supersedes a national response to Him. Their individual response to the raised serpent on a pole would set the example for how individuals are to respond to Jesus Christ raised up on the cross. Can you now see why Jesus used this as a example to compare himself being raised up on the cross?

Warning! The cross can also become like Hezekiah looked at Nehushtan: it is just a thing. People often revere the cross but not necessarily the one on the cross: Jesus himself. People look at this as a way of coexisting with those of other religions. I’m sure you have seen the coexist sticker before. It has the cross with the other religion symbols. You can have the cross in this sticker, but you can’t have Jesus Christ within this sticker because he is the only way to God (Ac 4:12). It makes being good equal to being righteous; that way no one is offended. Yet what makes one feel good does not make it true. There is only one truth and that is found within Jesus Christ himself (Jn 14:6). Succumbing to such a trivialization of Christianity to other religions takes away the power offered to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ (Ep 1:19-19).

We must recognize that Christ bore our sins (past, present, and future) on the cross for several reasons:

1.      He appeased the wrath of God. Isaiah 53:11c says, “and he [Messiah] will bear their iniquities.” Also, Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

2.      He shed his blood to atone for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 says, “This is how God showed his love among is: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

3.      Through him we can confess our sins and he will cleanse us because his blood has already been shed. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

4.      His act allows God to now declare us righteous—not because of us—but because of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-22 says, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.”

5.      We can now have an eternal inheritance with Christ—something we could obtain no other way.

The good news is that it doesn’t end there! Christ rose from the grave defeating Death and Sheol (Hades/Hell). 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” We no longer go to Sheol upon death but go directly to be with Christ for eternity (2Co 5:8). The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:2, “Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Also, he tells us in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

And what is our reward? Hearing our Lord and Savior say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” He’s Waiting! Just for you. He’s calling out to you. What is your answer? I trust you say “yes” to him today.

(Note: all scripture references are from NIV Bible version)

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Although we read about the “wrath of God” in the Bible, a closer look shows it to be the consequence of sin. One of the most brought up scenarios of God being wrathful is his command for Israel to destroy the Amorites and to show no mercy (Dt 7:1-2). Why would God do this? The understanding of this takes us back to Abraham (Gn 15:16) where God stated to him his descendants would be slaves in Egypt for 400 years and then return because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” This decision by God did two things: (1) it gave Israel a way to become an unfettered nation, and (2) it gave the Amorites time to respond to God. Yet, the Amorites refused to follow God. Their practices included sensuous and orgiastic fertility cult worship, including male and female shrine prostitutes. Even other nations did not go to such extremes in brutality, lust, and abandon. In addition, they practiced child sacrifice which sometimes included the child being placed in the fire while alive. These types of practices seem incomprehensible to us today.

Yet, annihilation was not the common command given by God. The main emphasis was to have the inhabitants leave the land (Ex 23:27-30). Only if they stayed did destruction follow. Yet, even then, total annihilation only applied to the cities within the land which God had given the Israelites for an inheritance (Dt 20:16-18). During any other engagement, the Israelites were to first make an offering of peace (Dt 20:10). If the people accepted the offer, everyone would become a labor force for Israel. However, if they refused, then all of the men would be killed while the women, children, and livestock would become plunder (Dt 20:11-15).

The command for annihilation was also two-fold. First, the people’s evil had become so widespread it was like a cancer spreading throughout the region to larger and larger areas and they had resisted God’s opportunities to repent, which included the following: God supplied the godly influence of Melchizedek (Gn 14:18-20); God supplied the godly influence of Abraham (Gn 12:6); and God caused the destruction of other Amorites as a wake-up call (Gn 14:1-12). These all seemed to go unheeded. Second, in order for Israel to be a light to the rest of the world, they had to eliminate all elements which were ungodly. Israel was to become the standard for the world. A standard must be flawless, or else it is not a standard. This was the reason Israel was held to a higher standard than other nations. Israel was not to exclude outsiders from their land – after all, three main trade routes connecting three continents went through this area: Way of the Sea (also called Via Maria), Ridge Route, and King’s Highway. All three of these routes would bring Gentiles through Israel so they could be taught the ways of God. However, they would be required to exclude wicked practices. Non-Israelites had to abide by the same laws of the land as did the Israelites (Ex 12:48-49, 20:10; Lv 16:29, 17:12, 15; Nu 15:14, 16). It seems God has always expected mankind to understand and follow what he knows is right (Ro 1:18-20), whether being his “chosen” people or not. Thus, this sin of ignoring one’s conscience is what led to the flood (Gn 6:5). Justice seems to always follow a failed response to the love of God’s longsuffering.

God often put the alien living in the land in the same category as the poor, orphan, and widow. They were to be taken care of in a loving way: allowed to glean the corners of fields and left-overs following olive and grape harvests (Lv 23:22; Dt 24:20-21), treated judiciously (Dt 1:16; 24:17), should not be taken advantage of (Dt 24:14), and part of the third-year tithe would be for the alien (Dt 26:12). This was because God stated He loved the alien (Dt 10:18), and the Israelites were to remember they were once slaves in Egypt (Dt 24:22).

Yet, those Gentiles living in the land had to obey the laws of the land (Ex 12:49; Lv 24:22): allowed to glean the corners of fields and left-overs following olive and grape harvests (Lv 23:22; Dt 24:20-21), had to observe the Sabbath (Ex 20:10), had to not work on the Day of Atonement (Lv 16:29), could not eat blood (Lv 17:10) but had to drain the blood from the animal before preparing and eating (Lv 17:13), had to cleanse themselves when encountering anything dead (Lv 17:15), would be put to death if they offered their children as a sacrifice to any god (Lv 20:2) or if they blasphemed the name of the Lord (Lv 24:16), had to abide by the rules of redemption and of the Jubilee (Lv 25:47-50), and had to abide by the decisions of the judges of the land (Dt 1:16). They were to be taught about God and His Law, just as were the Israelites (Dt 31:12-13). If they decided to become a proselyte, then all the Mosaic laws applied, and all males had to be circumcised before they could celebrate Passover (Ex 12:48).

All of this helps us to see that faith has always been God’s plan, even in the Old Testament (Gn 15:6; Ps 31:1; Ho 6:6; Hk 2:4). Judaism as a whole was not exclusive, but inclusive, of Gentiles. So, our God has always cared for everyone. This helps us see how and why he also cares for us. He cares for you. Don’t you want a God like that?

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens