Don't – REALITIES MINISTRIES

“He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)” (2Kings 18:4NIV)

We have in the book of Numbers the account of how God sent venomous snakes among the Israelites because of their ingratitude and grumbling. And when they cried out to Him for forgiveness and mercy, He listened to them and told Moses what to do for their salvation. (Cf. Num 21:4-9)

What, then, was Moses to do for the salvation of these people? He was to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole for all of them to see. Then anyone that was bitten by a snake only needed to look at this bronze snake in order to live. And it was so. All those who were bitten by snakes and who looked up to the bronze snake lived and did not die – the venoms of those dangerous snakes had no power over them.

Now what was in that lifeless bronze snake that made it effective in keeping alive any of the Israelites that was bitten by a live poisonous snake? What power was it carrying? The answer is ‘None’. There was nothing powerful about it or in it. It was just what it was – a lifeless bronze snake.

Why then did it work in saving the people? The truth is that it wasn’t that bronze snake that saved those Israelites. Rather, it was God that saved them. Remember that it was He that told Moses to make the bronze snake and put it on a pole for the people to look at. And He could have asked him to put up something else or to do something totally different for their salvation, and it would have worked as well. Therefore, their salvation did not come from the bronze snake but from Him and through their obedience to His instruction.

Unfortunately, they and their descendants after them did not see things that way. They thought it was that snake that saved them from death in the wilderness. So, somehow, years after Moses had left them, they idolised it and set it up in a high place as a god to worship. And they continued to worship it until Hezekiah became king and totally destroyed it and ended its worship, as we are shown in our opening bible text.

Now try to imagine the kinds of suffering those people must have experienced from God’s hand, year after year, for worshipping that bronze snake in place of Him. Yes, He was the one that gave it to them. But it was merely an instrument that He used to get their attention at the time and make them trust Him for their salvation. So, it was never meant to be kept as an object of worship. But they turned it into another god for themselves and became idolaters and sinners.

In like manner, there are many today that have idolised certain people, things or processes that God used at some point for their salvation, healing or exaltation. So, anytime they have any problem or challenge, they look up to these things for help instead of looking up to God. They may have been doing this thoughtlessly. But it does not change the fact that they have become nothing but idolaters.

Now, as it is made very clear to us in Scriptures, God has zero tolerance for idolatry. He always judges it in very ruthless ways. That is why we are commanded by Him to flee from idolatry (1Cor 10:14; 1John 5:21). So, if you have anyone or anything that you have idolised in your life, perhaps because God once used it for your healing, deliverance or promotion, you need to redefine your relationship with it and smash whatever altar you have erected for it in your heart.

See, people are people, not God. And things are things, not God. Yes, God may have used them in the past for your good. But He could as well have used other people or things or even nothing at all. So, don’t exalt them to His place in your life and arouse His jealousy. Don’t turn them into the solution to every problem you have or encounter. God alone holds the solution to all your problems and challenges. And if you give His place to another in your life, utter disgrace and destruction are the only things you can hope for.

Then be careful not to allow anyone to use you or anything from you to replace God in their lives. And if this is already happening, you need to stop it right away before you ensnare yourself. That is because God will never share His place as God with anyone or anything. And scriptures are very clear about this. So, watch yourself.

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Don’t follow the path of rebellion | Pst. J.O. Lawal | March 30, 2022 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Vol. 4, No. 46

“But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who observed my commands and statutes.” (1Kings 11:34NIV)

There are indeed times that God chooses people to change things or set things right in a place, so that He may bring comfort and rest to the afflicted. But He will never choose the path of rebellion for such individuals to attain the position He wants them to occupy. That is because rebellion is contrary to His nature. And anyone who follows its path will certainly be punished by Him for it, sooner or later, even if the person succeeds in their rebellion. (Cf. Rom 13:1-2)

Look at David, for example. Though God anointed him to be king in place of Saul, while Saul was still alive, he did not follow the path of rebellion to take over. Yes, twice he had very rare opportunities to end Saul’s life and become king in his stead. But he would not utilise those opportunities. Why? He knew that there was no way he would go by the way of rebellion in removing the Lord’s anointed from office and not suffer for it at some point. (Cf. 1Sam 24&26)

So, he told his men, who were urging him to seize the moments and kill Saul, to calm down and wait for the Lord Himself to remove the man at His right time. That way, they would not be guilty of rebellion and bloodshed. And that was exactly what happened. God removed Saul in His own time and in His own way. So, David was able to take what belonged to him without following the path of rebellion and sinning against God.

In the same vein, you too, against all odds, can become all that God wants you to be without following the path of rebellion, treachery or bloodshed. All you need is trust Him to fulfil His word or promise concerning you. And you will find that He does not disappoint, if you will be patient with Him.

Now, of course, I am not saying that people, even those that God has specially chosen for certain tasks, cannot succeed at all by following the path of rebellion. They can. But their rebellion can only work if the time set by God for them to take charge has already come. Otherwise, it will not work but simply result in their shame or destruction.

Why, according to bible accounts, did Hazael succeed in his rebellion against his master, Ben-Hadad, killing him and becoming king in his stead? Was it simply because God had chosen him to be king after his master? No! Rather, it was because his master’s time was already up on God’s schedule of things. Otherwise, he would have been terribly hurt or destroyed in his rebellion. (Cf. 2Kings 8:7-15)

Also, why was Darius’ rebellion against King Belshazzar a success? It was because God had already announced that the latter’s time was up. Otherwise, that rebellion would have ended up being a disaster. (Cf. Dan 5)

But the case wasn’t the same for Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant that God anointed to take away the larger part of the kingdom from his family. God had to expressly tell this man through the prophet that ordained him that He had made Solomon ruler all the days of his life. And why did He tell him this? It was so that Jeroboam would understand that if he should try to take over from Solomon through rebellion, it would never work. So, he would need to wait until this king died a natural death before he could become what God had chosen him for. (Cf. 1Kings 11:26-40)

But what if that truth had not been revealed to Jeroboam? Given the kind of person he was, he would most likely have attempted a coup. And that may have cost him even his very life. This explains why some, who really could have been used by God to make life better for their people, never made it. Instead of waiting for God to clear the way for them in His own time to be where He wanted them, they went through the path of rebellion, met with forces too powerful for them to handle and got ruined in the process.

You, however, do not have to be like them. And surely, you do not need any revelation from God to know that it is foolishness to take the path of rebellion in order to accomplish His purpose for your life. That is because there are already enough revelations about this in the bible. What you simply need to do is to take them seriously and act on them. In other words, let God Himself get you to wherever He has promised to take you instead of trying to follow the path of rebellion to get there. Otherwise, you may end up never making it there. And even if you make it there, your sin of rebellion will someday and somehow find you out.

Be wise, then, and take counsel.