|
An Alert Message to Christians
God’s Wrath Against Israel I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.—Hebrews 4:3, ASV Bill Carey A question we may want to ask ourselves, as Christians in this Gospel age, is this: Are we truly doing God’s will in our lives today, or are we reacting to situations in our lives as the Israelites did in the Jewish age of the Old Testament? Our primary Scriptures for reference are Numbers 14:21-33 and Hebrews 4:1-3. We look first at where God reveals His eternal purpose for the earth: “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28, KJV). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, …making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a stewardship of the fulness of the 1times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; … that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus … according to the 2purpose of the ages which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 1:3,9,10; 2:7; 3:11). And God’s plan will be accomplished. When we read, “All the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah” (Numbers 14:21), it seems that is not fulfilled at this time but will be fulfilled in the millennial reign of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Numbers 14:22-33 clearly demonstrates how God’s people rebelled against Him even after they had seen His mighty power at work. God demonstrated His glory through the many miracles He performed, both in Egypt and in the wilderness. Numbers 14:22 says the Israelites had rebelled against God ten times. These may be:
As penalty, all that had been numbered of the twelve tribes from twenty years old and upward were to die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29-35). Those under twenty, whom they feared would be a prey to the enemies, were to be the ones to go into the Promised Land. This shows the fear of man is without foundation. However, when God speaks, the righteous man never need fear the results. God is greater than all and will always fulfill His word. The apostle draws the lesson for us: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:1-3, KJV). For the lesson of verse 1, consider Romans 11:11,17-21: “Did they [fleshly Israel] stumble that they might fall? … if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being [of] a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree … Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee” (Galatians 3:7-14). Also, for verses 2 and 3, consider Romans 3:1-31; 4:1-25; 5:1-11, and Ephesians 2:8-9: “By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it [this salvation] is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.” It is not by the Law but by faith—not by rules but by principles—that we are to live. Before the Gospel age the Jewish nation was led by prophets, priests, and kings, and at various times shown many miracles. Still they rebelled against God. Today, consecrated Christians, who have the benefit of the holy spirit, may still rebel against God unless they follow His guidance and stay out of the world as much as possible. They need to “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34, KJV). If we can remember to take life “one day at a time,” it becomes much easier to know and do God’s will in our lives. For us as Christians, we must on a daily basis put God’s will first in our lives. Second, we must treat others with love and respect (no matter how they may have treated us) and make amends if we have mistreated them in any way. And third, we must do service whenever we can to support our heavenly Father’s will in our lives. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 reminds us how important love and forgiveness are: “Love suffereth long, and is kind … seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil … For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.”
___________________________ |