Chapter 1. 16
God Flexes
For
I the Lord do NOT change. Malachi 3:6
God
will not change His mind. Hebrews 7:21
There
is no variation or shadow of turning. James
1:17
First Word
There
are three attributes of God;
Omnipotence,
Omniscience and Omnipresence.[1]
He is all Powerful, all Knowing, and
everywhere all at once. He has characteristics; like He is
an Invisible Spirit, full of love, grace and truth and the big ones which are;
He cannot lie and does not change.[2]
But God is flexible and can be reasoned
with; this is what we are going to unpack in this Word Study; not God Changing,
but God being flexible according to His Word and Character.
James
1:17 – God is good and perfect and NEVER CHANGES
17 Whatever is good and perfect
comes down to us from God …
HE NEVER
CHANGES or casts a shifting shadow. (NLT)
God Flexes with Noah
At
some point man had become so degenerated that God said, “I will blot out man” which sounds pretty final to
me; and He did. Except God flexed and
Noah found favor in His eyes and He saved him and his family; a remnant with
which to start over. It seems like there
is always at least one survivor of a war or destruction to bear witness of the
story to others and there is always a remnant of God’s people to continue on.[3]
Case
in point, just look at the Jewish nation today and how many times they
could have been wiped out; obliterated and become extinct, BUT a remnant remained and they are still here. Praise God.
Genesis
6:3-8 – God will blot out man from the face of the land
6 And THE
LORD REGRETTED that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him to his heart.
7 So the LORD said, “I
WILL BLOT OUT MAN whom I have
created from the face of the land… for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But NOAH
FOUND FAVOR
with the LORD.
(ESV)
God Flexes with Abraham
God told Abraham to take his ONLY son Isaac and
sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Sounds pretty final to me; but God FLEXED and saved the lad and provided a
ram for the offering. I think it’s
important here to understand that God cannot change; He had already forbidden
human sacrifices and this was a test; not for God, but for Abraham to exercise
his faith.[4]
God
Flexes with Moses
God
told Moses that because Israel had worshipped a golden calf that His
wrath was burning Hot against them and that He would CONSUME them. Sounds pretty Final to me. BUT…
When you see “But”
in the scriptures, a “Therefore” is about to happen. Moses reasons with God concerning His people
and God relented. Did God lie; did He
change or is this an example that God invites us to REASON with Him just to show us that He is approachable
and listens
to our heart.
God is still angry with Israel and does
not destroy them but redraws and waits to see how Israel will reacts to their
humiliation concerning the Golden Calf incident. He will NOT go up and lead the way among them knowing
full well that His
presence would CONSUME THEM. He flexed.
Israel;
the children of God complained against Him concerning their misfortunes in
the wilderness and God’s anger was kindled against them. The wrath of God’s anger burns and He sent
fire among Israel to consume them. BUT... Moses REASONED with God in prayer and the Lord RELENTED; He flexed. [5]
Exodus
32:13 GOD
RELENTED from the
disaster
14 And THE
LORD RELENTED from the disaster
that
he had spoken of bringing on his people. (ESV)
God’s
Flexes with Course
Corrections
God
changed His Course Correction method in dealing with Israel’s hard
heartedness. He led them for 40 years in
the wilderness as a course correction to humble them and to test them so that
they might know what was in their own hearts. God decided to NOT drive out some of the nations before
Israel with a different COURSE CORRECTION; He allowed these pagan nations to become
A JUDGMENT TOOL to test Israel’s faithfulness.[6]
The people rejected God’s reign over them,
so He gave them Saul as their King. Saul
did not perform God’s statues, so God flexes with a different COURSE
CORRECTION. He rejected Saul and left him; God SEPARATED Himself from Saul until his death.[7]
(So
Sad)
Judges
2:20-22 – COURSE CORRECTION pagan
nations TEST Israel
21 I also will no longer drive out before them
any of the nations …
22 so
that through them I MAY TEST
ISRAEL, whether they will
keep the ways of the LORD … (NKJV)
God Flexes with Reasoning
King
Hezekiah had been told to set his house in order that he was about to die. BUT he prayed and REASONED with God and God heard his prayer and
added fifteen years to his life.[8]
David
had sinned and God let David CHOOSE from three different options of
punishment three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by his foes or
three days with the sword of the LORD. David chose to fall into the hands of
God and God RELENTED of the disaster with only 70,000 men dying.[9]
2
Kings 20:1-7 – King Hezekiah reasoned in prayer with God
1 … Set your house
in order, for YOU
SHALL DIE,
and not live.
5 Hezekiah prayed; God said… "I HAVE HEARD
YOUR PRAYER…
6 I WILL ADD TO YOUR
DAYS FIFTEEN YEARS. … (NKJV)
God Flexes with Humbling
Rehoboam
had abandoned God therefore God abandoned him and his kingdom was to be
destroyed. BUT, Rehoboam humbled himself and God FLEXED and just made them servants to their
enemy and did not completely destroy them.
The one who humbles himself will
be exalted.
Jesus set the
example and humbled Himself and died a criminals’ death on the cross[10].
2
Chronicles 12:5-8 – Rehoboam HUMBLED himself God Flexed
7 … the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah:
“They have HUMBLED themselves. I will not destroy them … NEVERTHELESS, they shall be servants to him, that they may know
my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (ESV)
God Flexes with Obedience
The
people of Nineveh were a great EVIL
city and God proclaimed through His prophet that He would destroy them in forty
days. BUT, the people repented; returned to Him
with fasting, weeping and mourning wearing sackcloth and sitting in ashes; praying that somehow
God MIGHT
RELENT and He did.
Return
to God; who knows whether
he will turn and Relent and leave a blessing behind instead of a disaster. God has placed His Word before us and we
have a choice to listen or not listen, the choice is ours and so are the
consequences. BUT even if we have
not listened and we mend our ways, He will still relent of the
disaster He intends toward us.[11]
Jeremiah
26:12-13 – Mend your ways; obey Him & He will FLEX.
13 Now therefore MEND YOUR WAYS and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and THE LORD
WILL RELENT of the disaster that he has pronounced
against you. (ESV)
The Take Away – God Flexes
R.C.
Sproul; “God sets forth principles in the Bible where He gives threats
of judgment to motivate His people to repentance. Sometimes He spells it out specifically, but if you repent, I
will not carry out the treat. He doesn’t always
add that qualifier, but it’s there”. If
God declares concerning a nation, that He will destroy it, and IF
that nation, turns from its evil, THEN
God will FLEX
and relent of the disaster that He intended to do to it. And IF He declares concerning a nation that He
will build and plant it, and IF the nation does evil in His sight, not
listening to His voice, THEN
He will FLEX
and relent of the good
that He had intended to do to it
IF we as Christians and followers of Christ
humble ourselves, and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, THEN He will hear from heaven and will FLEX
and forgive our sins and heal our land. God is not changing;
He is just doing what He said He would do; He will respond accordingly to His
Word and to our actions; He cannot lie. He invites us to REASON
with Him; though our sins be red as
scarlet that can become white as wool.
Your name is already in the Book of Life; it’s up to you whether
it is blotted out or not.[12]
– It’s in the Book -
[1] Revelation 19:6 – HE is
all powerful – OMNIPOTENT
-- Isaiah 46:10 – He is all knowing – OMNISICENCE -- Jeremiah 23:24 – HE is
ever present-
OMNIPRESENT
[2] James 1:17 – God does NOT
CHANGE --
John 4:24 - He is a SPIRIT -- Colossians 1:15 – He
is INVISIBLE -- 1 John 4:8 – He is LOVE -- John 1:14 – He is full
of GRACE and TRUTH -- Psalm 89:35 – He CANNOT LIE
[3] Genesis 6:3-8 – God will blot out man from the face of the land -- 2 Kings 19:31 – There is always a remnant
or a survivor
[4] Genesis 22:2 – Take Isaac sacrifice him as a burnt offering -- Genesis
22:12 – Don’t hurt Isaac – I know that you fear Me
[5] Exodus 32:7-10 – My wrath will consume Israel -- Exodus 32:13 - GOD RELENTED from the disaster --
Exodus 32:10-13 – Moses REASONS with
God -- Isaiah 1:18 – Come and REASON
with ME -- Numbers 11:1-2 - My wrath will consume Israel with fire -- Exodus 33:5 – God withdraws to avoid COMSUMING
Israel -- Numbers 11:2. – Moses prayed and the Lord relented
-- James 5:16 – The prayers of a
righteous man does a lot
[6] Deuteronomy 8:2-3 – Israel was tested for 40 years; Course Correction
-- Judges 2:20-22 – Used the
pagan nations to TEST Israel 1 Samuel 8:6-7 – Israel
rejects God’s reign; they want a King
[7] 1 Samuel 15:23 – Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft – Rejected
-- 1 Samuel 15:10-35 – God regrets He
made Saul King -- 1 Samuel 15:35
– Course Correction; God rejects Saul –
Separates Himself from him
[8] 2 Kings 20:1-7 – King Hezekiah reasoned
in prayer with God
[9] 1 Chronicles 21:11-15 – God lets David choose
his punishment
[10] 2 Chronicles 12:5-8 – Rehoboam HUMBLED
himself – God Flexed
-- Luke 14:11 - The one who HUMBLES himself will be exalted --
Philippians 2:8 – Jesus HUMBLED Himself in obedience to God
[11] Jonah 3:1-10 – Nineveh returned to God and He FLEXED --
Joel 2:12-14 – Return to God – He may FLEX his judgment -- Jeremiah 26:12-13 – Mend
your ways, Obey and He will FLEX -- Jeremiah 26:2-7 – CHOICE
– Listen or Don’t Listen
[12] Jeremiah 18:5-10 – God will FLEX
based on man’s reactions
-- 2 Chronicles 7:14 – God will FLEX when we humble ourselves -- Isaiah 1:18 – Come and lets REASON together -- Revelation 3:5 – Name in Book of Life will not be
blotted out
No comments:
Post a Comment