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Misjudging God
I
think we all know how hurtful it is to be misjudged by others.
And
not only can it be hurtful, but it can have devastating results.
Turn with me to 2 Samuel 10:1-3 “It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son
reigned in his place. Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his
father showed kindness to me." So David sent by the hand of his servants
to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land
of the people of Ammon. And the princes of the people
of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow
it?”
Yes, David’s good intentions had been misconstrued as a ploy to
overthrow their city.
And because of this evil surmise, they used his ambassadors despitefully;
cutting off half their beards and half their clothes, and sending them back in
disgrace.
That was their first mistake, and they were about to make another.
V6 “When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David,
the people of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of
Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba,
twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah one thousand men, and from Ish–Tob twelve thousand men.”
Wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense to simply apologize?
After all, they knew they were wrong.
But rather than admit their mistake, they fought two horrendous
battles.
In fact,
What a terrible price to pay for a foolish misunderstanding.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
But what about God?
Has He ever been misunderstood?
Well, we don’t have to go any further than Adam and Eve to answer
that question.
Here was a couple who literally lived in the centre of God’s love.
There were no wild animals to worry about, no sickness or getting
old to plague them, and their food was readily
available.
All they had to do was reach up and pick it, but with one
exception.
Genesis 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; "but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat
of it you shall surely die."
Now, there must have been a great variety of foods growing in the
garden, so this prohibition shouldn’t have been a hardship.
And it wasn’t a
hardship.
No, it was worse than a hardship, at least when Satan got through
analyzing it.
According to him, not only was God holding out on them, but He was
lying.
Don’t believe God---“You will
not surely die. "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Now, I don’t think we
should be surprised by such a story.
After all, Jesus called Satan “a liar and
the father of it.”
But under the circumstances, why would Eve believe this ridiculous
story?
And she certainly believed
it.
In fact, she was willing to stake her life on it.
No, she wasn’t trying to commit suicide; she had swallowed Satan’s
lie, hook line and sinker!
She had misjudged Satan, and she had certainly misjudged her
Heavenly Father.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And
First of all, they denied His deliverance.
Their Heavenly Father had borne them on eagle’s wings, and brought
them to Himself.
But it wasn’t long before they were worshipping a golden calf and
shouting ----“This is your god, O
And down through their history, they repeatedly denied His love,
and failed to honour Him.
Finally, God had had enough.
Just before He signed off for 400 years, He faced them up with
their denial.
Malachi 1:2 “I have loved
you," says the LORD. "Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?”
And then, dropping down to V6---“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father,
Where is My honor?
And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who
despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ "You offer defiled food on My altar. But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By
saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind
as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is
it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nevertheless, when the fullness of time was come, God sent His
only begotten Son to be their Messiah.
But once again, as they had misjudged the Father, so they
misjudged the Son.
And after 3½ years of public ministry, John 12:37-38 records these
tragic words---“But although He had done
so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah
the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed
our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yes, “He came to His own,
and His own did not receive Him.”
That’s the bad news.
The good news is---“as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name.”
And praise God, we haven’t misjudged our
Saviour.
Let us then, never misjudge our Shepherd, but follow Him
obediently in the way.
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