Tag Archives: Knowledge

Day 168: Why Would God Allow This?

Jeremiah 41:4-10

The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to Yahweh’s house. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.”

So he stopped, and didn’t kill them among their brothers. Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (this was that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.

Then Ishmael carried away captive all of the people who were left in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

This sure was a horrible time in Israel’s history. In this passage we read about a group of men who came in an obvious state of repentance to offer sacrifices to God. Since some of them were from Samaria, it would appear that these were men who possibly had been attempting to worship God their own way in Samaria and were now aware of their sin and seeking to make a change. The horrible thing we read here is that they were met by a man who intended to kill them.

We also read that Ishmael came out to these men “weeping all along as he went.” He must have seemed like a very sincere guy, but he was actually an extreme liar and murderer. This is yet another reminder to us that we can’t judge a person by their appearance. It may take time before we can determine if a person’s tears are real. Just because someone acts like they have come to God, doesn’t mean that they really intend to follow through.

Those poor Jews who moved to Mizpah under the protection of Gedaliah and the king of Babylon, were now forced to follow this wicked man, Ishmael, on his way back to Israel’s long-time enemies: “the children of Ammon.” I’m pretty sure that they would have been better off having been taken back to Babylon. It’s pretty obvious what the children of Ammon thought of the Jews after sending Ishmael to kill them off with such deception. Why would God allow such a thing to happen?

When we see things like this happen in life it can be very confusing to us and cause us to doubt God. We should never doubt God’s goodness and justice, however. God is actually the only one who really knows what is going on inside of every person, and God knew that many of these people were still unwilling to obey Him. We will learn more about that as we read on.

Day 35: The Rules are Changing

John 4:20-26 : “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes,” (he who is called Christ). “When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”

Jews and the Samaritans had been arguing over the appropriate place to worship God. The Jews said at the temple and the Samaritans were saying at the mountain. Jesus brought a new perspective.

He said that now neither place is appropriate. He first explained that the real difference is knowledge. The Jews know God’s words so they knew what they worshiped and the Samarians didn’t. Jesus stated that the Jews are right and that salvation would come from them. Then He explained that, as to where and how to worship, things are to be different.

Jesus said that in order to worship God we must do it in “spirit and truth.” This spiritual change keeps coming up in John. Things were of the earth, now they are of spirit. Now we learn a new thing: that God is spirit. In order to worship him the worship must be in spirit and truth.

Back in chapter three, Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again of the Spirit in order to enter God’s kingdom (John 3:3-8). Jesus may be saying here again that in order to truly worship God from now on, you must be born again of the Spirit.

Also, as we read earlier, we now get to believe in Jesus, not just do what He says. In order to believe, you need to hear the truth. You can’t just go through the motions of worship by going to a place of worship. Even saying “Lord, Lord” will not work:

Matthew 7:21-23 : Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’

So, the worship that God now looks for is not an act but real worship from your heart.

Finally, Jesus tells her that He is the messiah that they have been waiting for. Jesus was an effective evangelist as we see in the next section.

Day 34
Day 36