UNDERSTANDING – THE UNDER-RATED EMERALD

  
It is said, “We cannot have knowledge and understanding of what is really important?” If so, then faith is blind, but not according to the Bible: 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.

This verse is not saying, “We can only guess about God but rather to know Him. This enables us to boast about our precious Savior: Jeremiah 9:23–24 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Worship also require truth:  John 4:21-24 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

In contrast to the skeptics, the Bible affirms the reality of the assurance of the truth: Colossians 2:2–4 [Paul labored] that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 

For the Christian, these assurances are treasures: 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him…

What treasures?—the assured knowledge that we are beloved, forgiven, and freed from the self-deceptions and sins that have held us captive. These are also packaged together with meaning, purpose, wisdom, and humility. They are a package-deal: Daniel 10:11-12 And he [Angel Gabriel] said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” 

We also find that the knowledge the truth penetrates into spiritual matters. It is also wed to the wisdom and faith of a Roman who had asked Jesus to heal his servant: Matthew 8:8–12 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” 

How startling to find such faith and humility joined with the wisdom of a Roman commander! We find the same in the life of a Canaanite woman who was willing to suffer humiliation in the eyes of Jesus’ disciples for the deliverance of her daughter: Matthew 15:21–28 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered [her], “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Jesus wasn’t surprised by the woman’s apparent wisdom, faith, and humility, but his racist disciples certainly were. However the wicked deny the possibility of truth in spiritual matters: Daniel 12:10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. 

Why will the wicked not understand? They are gladly self-deceived by the darkness within them (John 3:19-20). But those who come to Jesus are enabled to see the truth: John 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

Having earthly wisdom, while hardened to God’s truth, is to be blind. King Solomon had become self-deceived as he continued to worship many other gods: Ecclesiastes 2:16–17 “For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity [un-graspable] and a striving after wind.” 

Why would he say such things?  1 Kings 11:4–11 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 

What blinds us? Turning away from God! When we turn away from his Truth, we turn away we from all deeper truths and conveniently conclude that if they exist, they are unknowable. Instead, we suppress what can be knowable—the knowledge of ourselves and of God:

Proverbs 1:20–23 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

Why Does God Love us and Want our Worship

  

Some maintain that it is because God is an egomaniac and needs our praise and worship. However, we find a different rationale in the Scriptures. It is we who need it:

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

Could it be that praise is medicine? To set our mind upon God is peace and life! Isaiah 61:3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

 

We need to praise Him, especially amid our suffering: Romans 5:3-5 …we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit...”

 

Our Lord is a psychic surgeon who wants to remove our cancer of the Spirit. Would we accuse a doctor of being egotistical who recommends surgery to remove an operable cancer?  Instead, we need God’s daily care, which He delivers through prayer and thanksgiving: Philippians 4:6–9 Rejoice, and again I say rejoice…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

It seems that we can only learn this humbling lesson when we come to the end of our own resources. On one occasion, three unstoppable armies were coming against Jerusalem. Israelites from the neighboring cities flocked this walled city where they congregated with their families in desperate prayer for God’s deliverance. It seemed that they were on the verge of losing everything. Finally, a prophet of their Lord appeared to announce: 2 Chronicles 15, 20:20–22…”Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s’”…[as directed] they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, [King] Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

 

Israel had little choice but to follow God’s instructions which might have seemed absurd. However, as they began to praise God, He took action and destroyed the three menacing armies.

 

Does God Need our Praise or anything else from us?

Not at all! Instead, He loves those who turn to Him in their need and desperation: Isaiah 62:4–5 You shall no more be termed “Forsaken”, and your land shall no more be termed “Desolate”, but you shall be called “My Delight Is in Her”, and your land “Married”; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

 

Some might charge that “God only acts on our behalf because He is getting pleasure out of it. He “delights” to do good, right? Therefore, He is using us to satisfy His own need for delight!”

 

Not exactly! We might jump into the water to save someone drowning, and if we succeed, we might delight in our act of other-centered love. However If we were motivated by the anticipated delight we might achieve, we wouldn’t have risked our lives. Instead, this act would have been motivated by wanting to do the right and loving thing. Could this not also be true of God!

 

James and John approached Jesus in private to request that, once He had obtained His kingdom, they would sit on His left and right-hand side to reign with Him. Once the other Apostles heard about this, they became indignant with the two who wanted a greatness above others. However Jesus explained greatness was a matter of becoming a servant to others: Matthew 20:26–28 “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

Jesus explicitly taught that He didn’t come to be praised or even worshiped but to sacrificially serve: John 5: 34, 41 “Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.”… ”I do not receive [solicit] glory from people…

 

Paul also preached God’s sufficiency the love they shared within the Trinity alone:  Acts 17:22-26 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything…

 

Lest we think that God owes us anything, He says: Psalm 50:15 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”

 

Yet He rejoices over us and ministers His precious love to us: Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

 

Why will He rejoice over us? He truly loves us and wants to minister to those in need: Matthew 11:28–29 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly [not self-promoting] in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

God is love itself. He doesn’t give in order to get. He is just being Himself as He loves those who are in dire need, those and will not misinterpret His love as something they deserve. As a result, brokenness is beautiful to Him. Therefore, He draws close to those He can love without feeding their pride: 1 Corinthians 1:28–31 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

 

Psalm 34:18–19 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

 

A father had taken his three-year-old son on a mountain walk. The sun was shining and everything was just right. However, a rain-storm with thunder blew up. The son was terrified, and so the father picked him up, clutching his crying son his breast and ran down the mountain. Twenty years the son recalled what a terrifying experience that it had been. The father replied that, for him, it was a precious experience as he sheltered his son as he ran down the mountain.

 

Did the father do so because of the emotional perks he would derive from this experience? Not at all. Instead, he was centered on loving his son. So too our heavenly Father who works all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

Was God Unjust for Ordering the Destruction of the Canaanites?

 

 

This is God’s creation. He is at liberty to set the rules: Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Therefore salvation is always a matter of receiving the free gift of God.

Regarding the nations outside the Promised Land:  Deuteronomy 20:10 "When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.”

However, there were no terms offered to those in the Promised Land (apart from repentance): Deuteronomy 20:16–17, God commanded the Israelites, “In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.”

 God had given them, the Amorites and Canaanites, much chance to repent: Genesis 15:13-16 Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Even after Israel had entered the Promised Land, they still could have repented as had Rehab: Joshua 2:10 “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.

The Gibeonites also saw the glorious hand of God working in Israel but used deception to avoid their due destruction: Joshua 9:9 They said to him, "From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt.”

The Canaanites could have repented: Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

However, they would not repent even though it would cost the lives of their children and women. They were “without excuse”: Romans 1:19–20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

To protect Israel from contamination: Deuteronomy 20:18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.

Consequences of Disobedience: Judges 2:1–3 Now the angel of the LORD …said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” (Largely rewritten from: https://www.gotquestions.org/Canaanites-extermination.html 

Why weren’t the rest of the Canaanites not like the repentant prostitute Rehab? She became an Israelite and was even included in the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

God’s Righteousness

 

God wants to be known and loved for who He is:

He is entirely righteous: Psalm 9:7–10 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

 

We cannot put our trust in Him unless we know who He is—that He is love and righteousness. Therefore, Jesus prayed: John 17:26  “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

 

To know Christ is to love Him and to partake in His love. But how can we love Him if we believe that He is unjust if:

We are born condemned with a sin nature (original sin) or

The sentence of eternal suffering exceeds our earthly sins and God’s love?

 

But what if we are mistaken in these matters and are libeling and distorting God’s love and righteousness by presenting a false Gospel? Instead, what if our Savior merely allows us to have what we want, allowing us to receive the fruits of our choices:

Psalm 9:15–16 (KJV The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

 

God judges by eventually allowing us to have our own way to pursue evil, reaping what we sow, refusing to confess and to turn from their sins?

John 3:17–21 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is [self-] condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does [practices] wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

Although The Father gave all judgment unto the Son, the Son claims that He didn’t come to judge. How then are those who reject Him to be judged? By His Words:

John 12:47–48 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

 

How do words judge? His Words of truth and light (splendor) convicts and exposes us, and we flee from what we have long repressed. “Without excuse” (Romans 1:20)  for rejecting God and deserving condemnation we flee:

Romans 1:32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 2:15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.

 

Consequently, we are self-condemned by rejecting God, practicing evil, and fleeing from His reproach, while spending the rest of our lives trying to prove that we are okay:

Proverbs 1:29–32 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.

 

Jeremiah 2:19 Your evil will chastise you and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God…

 

Flee: Isaiah 33:14–15 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil. (Psalm 1:5; Luke 21:36)

 

Does this also pertain to eternal judgment? Isaiah 2:19–21 And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty…. (Isaiah 2:10; Luke 23:30; Hosea 10:8; Rev. 20:11)

 

Why would the unbeliever flee from “the splendor of his majesty?” The light of “the face of him” who is seated on the throne” is terrifying. It exposes the truth about ourselves that we have long repressed:

Revelation 6:15–17 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

 

Our righteous God need not proactively condemn. Instead, the unbeliever will chose eternal torment rather than to dwell in His presence. Will He allow them to instead choose their complete destruction?

Matthew 10:28b Rather, fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

John 3:16 ... whosoever believeth in him should not perish (Greek: destroyed) ...

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death ...

Philippians 3:19 whose end is "destruction" ...

2 Thessalonians 1:9 who shall be punished with everlasting destruction ...

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition (destruction).

Revelation 20:14 This is the second death...

Hebrews 10:26-27 NLT Hellfire will consume the wicked.

2 Peter 3:7 Ungodly will be destroyed.

 

Is God unjust for allowing us to live or die by our own choices? He has given all the temporal gift of life. He has enabled the unbeliever to have their reward now:

Matthew 6:2 …”Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Mat. 5, 16)

 

There is nothing unjust about Christ giving more mercy to some (Mat 20). This is His banquet. He is free to invite whomever. In light of this, we can say with confidence that our Savior is perfect in love and righteousness. This knowledge frees us to proclaim that God is completely righteous and merciful.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.