Tough Choices

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.  I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard.  If not, I want to know.”  The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham.  Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?  Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?  Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked.  Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same!  Surely you wouldn’t do that!  Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”  And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”  Then Abraham spoke again.  “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.  Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty?  Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”  And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”  Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”  “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?” And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”  Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?” And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”  Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time.  Suppose only ten are found there?”  And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”  When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.  Genesis 18:17-33

It was a tough decision all the way around.  For Abraham the problem was his nephew, Lot was living there.  For the Lord God, there were perhaps more than 100,00 of his loved ones, including Lot.  Abraham made his case, narrowing the decision from 50 righteous people to 10, probably equal to Lot’s family.

For the Lord, the difference between destroying a city, and even one person, did not change the ethical dilemma.  Ending a life is exactly opposite of the creative character of God; he gives life.  Yet, choosing against God’s ways of life-giving (we call it sin) is that dangerous freedom known-as free-will.  I’m as certain as a human can be that God, looking down on Sodom and Gomorrah, was torn with grief over what He knew would end in their destruction. 

The rest of the story tells us that God didn’t give up on them.  The Lord sent angels to Sodom, giving the entire city a chance to repent; they didn’t.  Every retelling of this account ends with God as the destroyer.  But that’s not the full story.  Destruction came upon the citizens of Sodom, because they used God’s gracious gift of free-will to choose their evil wickedness over God’s righteousness.  God had warned, and given them every opportunity to be saved; they wouldn’t, and the tough choice brought fire from above. In the end they committed eternal suicide, rather than confess their evil choice. 

That same thing has never ceased happening from the moment Cain lifted a rock against Abel, and it happens every day man draws breath.

For You Today 

The Holy Scriptures are often referred to as The Good News, because God’s mercy and grace gave us a Savior on a cross, taking our punishment so we could be saved.  But the “Good News” is only “good” because there is also evil.  The very definition of either good or evil is the dividing line between the two.  Hear and consider what Jesus said about all of it, and the choice we have:

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.  My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.  John 10:10

Satan, the thief, or Jesus, the giver…we all have that choice.

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

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Pyxis Points  and  De-Railed  and  Fifteen Minutes of Spotlight – at What Cost?                                        

 

Title Image:  via Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

 

The UN-Shopping List - Part 2

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.  Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them.  Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”  But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God.  “O Lord!” he said.  “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?  Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’?  Turn away from your fierce anger.  Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!  Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.  And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”  So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.  Exodus 32:9-14 (NLT)

This week we are creating an “UN-Shopping List” – things we should throw out of our life’s shopping basket.  Yesterday we threw out “unbelief” or “weak faith”.

Today the text identifies quickly an item everyone ought to take care to eliminate from their basket….stubbornness and rebelliousness. 

Stiffnecked is the King James word!  Boy, God doesn’t pull any punches! 

That word appropriately describes these people.  They were supernaturally delivered   (they had been slaves for 400 years, so they didn't have weapons or expertise in warfare, yet they triumphed over the best trained and equipped army of Pharaoh.  Egypt's best troops were slaughtered, and the children of Israel didn't suffer so much as a hangnail! 

Supernatural deliverance, and all they can do is bellyache! 

As a preteen I said "up" whenever Dad said "down."  One time when we were out for a drive we were coming to our favorite "dip" in the road.  We boys always considered it fun to close our eyes and have our hearts leap into our throats when Dad went over that dip.  I hadn't been paying attention, so I didn't know we were near that part of the road.  Dad spoke to my brother and me over his shoulder, "Close your eyes, boys."  I asked, "Why?"  Dad said, "Just do it, you'll be real surprised." 

"I don't want to."  "Do it, Russell."  (When he said "Russell" I was close to the edge). 

"Do I have to?"  It was days later before I stopped arguing.  Needless to say, I missed the surprise. 

Stiffnecked. 

Are you that way with God's will? 

Has God spoken to your heart about some things, but all you'll do is turn a deaf ear? 

Has He asked you to make Him your priority, but you've got other fish to fry? 

Are you stiffnecked about the Lord's tithe, the Lord's Day?  Have you been stiffnecked about the Lord's “Lordship” in your life?                                                                               

For You Today:

Stubbornness?  Toss it out of your new years’ basket!

Korah - 2014

Thursday, June 26, 2014

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy.  Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.  Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar.  Since these burners were used in the LORD’s presence, they have become holy.  Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel.”   Numbers 16:36-38 (NLT)

Korah’s rebellion was a blip on the radar screen of Israel’s march out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.  It was life-changing (er, life-ending) for those who followed Korah’s leadership to overthrow God’s chosen leader, Moses.  In the long view the rebellious Korah and his followers didn’t pose a serious threat to God; they were swallowed up by a crack in the earth, and roasted by the fire which ensued. 

God spoke quickly to Moses after the incident, to reclaim the implements of worship Korah’s group had held (incense pots), because God said they were holy.  But the fire (coals) which had consumed the rebels was to be scattered in the dust.

While Korah and company did not constitute a threat to God’s plans, their actions and fate serve as a terrible reminder and warning to those who think rebellion is somehow noble. 

God is never mocked; God’s plans are immutable.

But sometimes the “fire” takes different form!

Rebellion doesn’t always result in the kind of “fire from above” which we picture in our minds.  Sometimes it appears as natural consequences or a weird coincidence. 

I tried yesterday to do something I thought I’d sworn-off doing.  I got involved in a Facebook tug-of-war with a militant homosexual.  At first he just seemed somewhat confused and misguided about what the Bible said.  But 79 exchanges of postings later I was worn-out and disheartened by the realization that he is simply stubborn and refuses to open his mind or heart to his own rebelliousness.  He is dead-certain that his homosexuality is a gift from God; that Jesus, Paul and the entirety of Biblical teaching support the way he lives.

What he has done is take obscure passages out of context and assign outlandish implications to undergird his preconceived belief that homosexuality is within God’s approval.  For instance, he takes the Genesis account of Abel, who was killed by his brother, Cain; he asserts that since the Bible doesn’t record that Abel married, he was born to be single, and therefore gay. 

Worse than an “argument from silence” the man puts down an unknown (Abel’s marital status) as proof to his own idea, rather than accept what the Bible actually does say.  When confronted with this spurious manner of Bible study the man goes off on a whole list of “why doesn’t the Bible say this…or that” to cloud the issue.

(I was tempted to say to him, “ignorance can be forgiven and even cured, but stupid is forever!”  But I bit my lip and bade my keyboard be silent).

Sometimes the “fire” of God’s judgment for a rebellious spirit is simply to let the stubborn alone.  God did say His spirit would not always strive with man, and that when a rebellious conscience becomes seared, insensitive to the Spirit because of arrogance (the pride of life), there is no hope

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.  These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.   1 Timothy 4:1 - 2 (NLT)

The issues surrounding LGBTQ equality and acceptance in culture are like a tidal wave.  In an effort to become “normative” within society they hardly think about ANYTHING else, and it becomes all-consuming to those engulfed in it.  Like the fire of Korah’s rebellion the struggle to gain God’s approval for their rebellious spirit consumes their ability to worship God on His terms.  And that is the only worship acceptable to a Sovereign Lord of the universe!

For You, Today…

I have been reminded (and once-again convinced) by being sucked-into that endless fool’s debate that our best witness to those who are rebellious and outside of the church is simple acts of kindness and prayer. 

Don’t wrestle with the pig – you only wallow in mud; and the pig likes it!