Understanding God's Inflexibility
Knowing God Better • Sermon • Submitted
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For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Let me set this up for you.
Under Joshua’s leadership the Israelites were to possess the land given to them by God. They had great success, but they failed to drive out the Canaanites, and rid the land of the pagan worship places that would later ensnare them.
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
The book as a whole, is a compendium of the Israelite failure to take God seriously, and so they would cycle in and out of persecution and rule of Heathen kingdoms, until they turned their heart back to God and He would send a judge to liberate them.
What was their failure?
Not to obey God’s command.
Posses the Land given to them.
Drive out the inhabitants.
Destroy their places of worship.
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland. Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
Listen to the indictment against them:
However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ” So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept. Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
Judges 2:1
Here’s what God told them to do:
Posses the Land given to them.
Drive out the inhabitants.
Destroy their places of worship.
God’s command was simple:
Posses the Land given to them.
Drive out the inhabitants.
Destroy their places of worship.
Sounds like a simple enough proposition, and considering that God would be fighting for them, and they’ve already seen what He did with Jericho, this should have been a “slam dunk” so to speak.
Sounds like a simple enough proposition, and considering that God would be fighting for them, and they’ve already seen what He did with Jericho, this should have been a “slam dunk” so to speak.
But what does the scripture say?
That the Israelites did not do what God said!
However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
Now you know as God’s people, that we many times set our minds to accomplishing that which the Lord commands, only to find ourselves falling short.
Now you know as God’s people, that we many times set our minds to accomplishing that which the Lord commands, only to find ourselves falling short.
“But it’s OK”, we tell ourselves, because we got 90% of it done!
And yet, like the Israelites we justify ourselves in having done the best we could, even though we didn’t get it done exactly as He said.
I mean, that’s pretty good, right?
Come on, the weather men can’t get it right 50% of the time!
God knows we’re only human, so it would make sense that He’d cut us some slack!
We console ourselves in that we got 90% of it done!
But does He really cut us some slack?
And, does it suffice?
Is it really OK if we don’t do everything He commands?
This may be difficult to hear, but the answer is, no!
It’s not OK to not do everything - and here’s the point...
Because God is inflexible with His demands!
Because God is inflexible with His demands!
Because God is inflexible with His demands!
But why does He have to be inflexible?
But Why?
Why?
This is the big question!
If we want to understand why God is inflexible, we need to look at...
And this is the big answer!
If we want to understand God’s inflexibility, we need to look at...
He wants the best for us.
He wants the best for us.
He wants the best for us.
He wants the best for us.
And it’s very simple -
He wants the best for us.
He wants the best for us.
He desires the best for us.
He desires the best for us.
Too many times we view God as some overbearing dictator who just wants us to be miserable.
I can certainly understand why so many today think this way.
They have dreaded memories of an overbearing, cruel, or even abusive father, and every time they hear Father God, they cringe!
People are stuck in their relationship with the Father of lights, because they can’t get past the dis-functional relationship with their earthly father.
And this is tragic, and yet for the most part the church has done little to address the problem.
You see, God the Father is not like any earthly father.
But God the Father is not like any earthly father.
No, our heavenly Father is gracious.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
And our heavenly Father’s character is seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus demonstrated in real life what the Father is like:
No, Our God is love!
Loving
Compassionate
Gracious
Approachable
forgiving
Merciful
So we can see He wants the best for us, but how does that play out?
So we can see He wants the best for us, but how does that play out?
Let's look at two specifics:
The definition of freedom is not to be free to do anything we like, but to live within the influence of sin and not participate in it.
It is with this understanding that we can realize the reason for God’s inflexibility!
It is with this understanding that we can realize the reason for God’s inflexibility!
I. He wants us to experience the fullness of joy.
I. He wants us to experience the fullness of joy.
As a parent, that is all i ever wanted for my children.
The restrictions I placed upon them were to protect them from the heartache that comes too easily from poor influences, and bad choices.
Young people crave freedom.
All people crave freedom!
But what is freedom?
My definition of freedom is -
Freedom is not the license to do what ever one desires whenever one desires it, but to choose to live by God’s standards in the midst of evil influences.
And when we truly are living freely, then and only then, do we experience the true fullness of joy!
You see, He knows what will make us truly happy, because He created us.
Who better to then set the parameters for what brings Joy!
Secondly:
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
II. He wants us to be free from sin’s grip.
The apostle Paul said this to the Corinthians -
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
If we are constantly watering our roots in the stream of wickedness, we will produce wicked fruit.
If our roots are soaking in the heavenly streams, we bear heavenly fruit.
Because the fruit is the habit that is formed from the influence.
Recently, we saw the tragic story of two young ladies that were out partying in the Boston night scene that never made it home, because they fell victim to individuals who have no regard for human life!
This is horrendous and unacceptable in an enlightened society, and our hearts and prayers go out to those families.
But there is wisdom in heeding the warnings of staying away from certain places where darkness is so pervasive, because there is an inherent danger associated with them.
but there is wisdom in heeding the warnings of staying away from certain places, because there is an inherent danger associated with certain places.
Everything leading up to these murders screams for discernment.
Why did they allow their senses to be deadened by overindulging in alcohol?
Why did they leave with a stranger?
Why did they leave the protection of others?
Why, why, why?
There is naivety in thinking that everyone is basically good, especially when the scriptures say just the opposite!
Now we know that we need to make relationships within the world, if we are going to make disciples, but let us not forget that we are to be doing the influencing, not the other way around!
It seems like our culture just wants to sanitize the cesspools, rather than getting rid of their influence.
Now we know that we need to make relationships within the world, if we are going to make disciples, but let us not forget that we are to be doing the influencing, not the other way around!
III. He wants us to choose Him over everything else.
III. He wants us to choose Him over everything else.
Choosing to obey Him equals trust and love, and we find that the more we obey, the easier it is to obey.
II. He wants to prove to us that He is enough.
II. He wants to prove to us that He is enough.
Conclusion:
He also tells us that through obeying His commands we are in fact choosing Him over everything else, and our relationship with Him is increased and His blessings are unleashed.
And I don’t mean to Himself, but to us and everyone around us.
Don’t we realize that God longs for us to love Him?
I really believe that it’s we who need the convincing!
Don’t we know that His inflexibility proceeds from His jealousy for us?
God wants to prove us that we need know one but Him!
That is how much He loves us!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
If we understand that His purpose is the best for us, then we find the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
If we understand that His purpose is the best for us, then we find the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
There was none like him amongst mankind, and yet God allows Satan to reek havoc upon his earthly life.
Why?
What may not seem joyous now, will be later, when we come to terms with this principal, and live within it.
Because God is going to prove His own sovereignty and enhance His own glory in the eyes of His servant Job.
And the best part of this is that we have an example -
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
It was only through this trial
Judges gives the people of God ample opportunity to seek God and trust Him alone for everything in their lives.
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19
Over and over again He delivers them out of their enemies hands and over and over again, they forget about God and go back to their idol worship.