Monday, July 15, 2019

Stubborn To the Bitter End

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

“I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most.  I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another.  Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away.  People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.  Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.  I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away.  The stench of death filled the air!  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.  Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!”  For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind.  He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth.  The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is his name!  Amos 4:6–13

Over and over Amos uses that phrase of the parent whose child has been the tail trying to wag the dog, but still.  As if affixing the royal seal and signature to his letter, Amos finishes his warning with God’s powerful name, The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.  Sometimes, with very stubborn people, a simple stating of the facts won’t do it; sometimes you must growl the bad news.  This particular judgment of God for Israel’s stubborn failure to worship their covenant Lord would be painful, but in the end, while facing the consequences of what we have done is always painful, it is also the loving way God redeems His people.  He makes them face the truth about sin and turns them back around to faith.
What is there about human nature that is inherently defiant, and insistent on having its’ own  way?  There is a current movement in the land called RESIST, ostensibly a defiance directed at those who presently are in governmental power.  We do, as free moral agents, have a duty to resist evil.  But, there is something of a blurry line between resisting and stubbornness…but the line exists, nonetheless!
It’s one thing to resist human government, it’s quite another to cross the line when the other side is the throne room of Heaven.  God gave Israel plenty of warning shots across the bow, famine, locusts, plagues, dwindling resources, and even wars that destroyed their young men, and most able leaders…but still they would not listen and return to their God.
I believe it’s safe to say that Israel was stubborn to the bitter end.
There is a time when all of us must realize that what we consider as righteous resistance is more a matter of pride, not holiness.  And when it comes to that God has His own resistance movement:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6b

For You Today
The stubbornness of sin is a common human malady.  Its handiwork is all over the pages of Scripture.  (Note these other posts [2])
Let’s let Billy Graham’s favorite verse teach us the gravity of what we face if we give in to stubbornness:

Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.  Proverbs 29:1

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©
[2] For other messages on stubbornness see A Sermon to the Stubborn & Another Sermon to the Stubborn

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