Obviously there are 2 different God’s, the angry vengeful God described in the Old Testament and the syrupy sweet God of love described in the New, ever hear that? I think a common misconception is simply to misunderstand the dispensational nature of God. To think that God’s nature somehow changed is truly a lack of being a Berean and searching out scripture for ones self, reaching conclusions before first taking the time to examine all the information.
Consider this verse made by the vengeful God of the Old Covenant….
“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” Leviticus 19:18
Sound familiar?
So am I saying that God has always been about love, that the message to man has always been one centered upon love, Yes! And He has always promised to protect that which is His own, suggesting that He would watch the backs of those that are His own.
“Do not say, “I will recompense evil”, Wait for the Lord, and He will save you” Prov 20:22
Now if I wished to make a post so lengthy no one would read it we could bounce back and forth putting into context the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” references and why it was essential in it’s application but that’s not the point nor would I wish to debate it as indeed it was a valid instruction as well. However the intention of this posting is about how I react to others when they’ve treated me in less than a pleasant manner.
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry feed him; if he is thirsty; give him drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. Rom 12:17-21
We all have feelings, I know I do, and they are vulnerable to being bent outta sorts, and it probably hurts worse and is harder to deal with when the hurt comes from within those closest to you, your own family. Whether we like it or not if you be a believer as I am a believer you and I are therefore family, an eternal one, that’s right you may have to put up with me for a very long time…hey I don’t write the news just report it haha.
Truly I understand the compulsion to defend myself, to right an injustice, to correct an error, to protect myself from someone who is treating me unfairly and with contempt. It’s at that moment I am tempted, heck let’s be honest here, more than tempted to respond back in like manner, harshly and directly after all they started it, so easy to tell myself “would I not be justified in so doing”?
Well I’ve done it that way, I admit it. But ya know it never accomplished anything other than antagonizing the matter, turning an ember into a raging fire, don’t ya know there are those among us that want nothing more than to rob others of their peace. For whatever reasons, be it spiritual pride, or perhaps a poor soul so miserable inside that they cannot bear to see someone else appear to be happy and content in their midst, so hopelessly self centered that the only way in which the feel they can achieve any solace is to pull everyone else down into their pit of despair, is pretty sad.
But Love does not desire nor does it breed misery! Love wishes to multiply itself by way of imparting itself upon others, how did Paul put it, “Love never fails”! And the funny part of it is it’s a choice, that’s right we must choose it. And ya know I haveta admit sometimes that’s much easier to say than to do, but I can also say it get’s easier to do after each application and the result of the actions are clearly seen.
God watches our backs when we do things His way, He truly does, seen it time and time again, if we choose to try it in our own strength, our own way He will allow it, I know I’ve taken Him up on that liberty many times, but through those times He allowed His point to be made manifest, He really has this stuff figured out.
And our Father loves us, cares for us, and does watch our backs.
Gonna share a quick little story as I’m thinking this is probably getting pretty long, sorry about that. This is one of the instances that God used a long time back to show me He was fully aware of my every situation and would always watch my back if I waited on Him….
I was part of an on site maintenance crew at a large apartment complex and one morning I walked out to my car and seen a huge dent in the door, someone had backed into it but good. Now not just someone but a neighbor, I couldn’t help but notice traces of the color of my paint on their back bumper. There was no note on my car or any attempt whatsoever on this persons part to do the right thing in taking responsibility. It was one of those times I was really working on fine tuning my walk with the Lord and haveta admit I was very tempted to go jump in the guys face, call the law, kick his car, heck anything, but 2 guys from my crew were with me and aware of the situation, 2 guys I had been witnessing the power of God in my life to, so how ya gonna react here Rock? Now this was a long time ago and I’m trying to be accurate as possible but if I remember correctly in this incident I just took a breath and walked away.
Now of coarse they thought I was out of my mind and honestly I can’t remember why I handled it this way other than to allow God an opportunity to prove Himself to me, it may not have been as much about them actually, at least not in my mind. Well however be the actual intentions involved in the situation let me share how it worked out and I’ve never forgotten it, I’m betting these 2 co workers haven’t either.
It was sometime later, not long a few weeks maybe, we were making our usual rounds and wow, this guy had taken his car in for a brand new paint job and it looked really nice. A few comments were made by them about how unfair it was his car looked so good and mine had a dent etc which I admit I did feel that sense of unfairness but still I didn’t say much, God’s in control I assured myself.
It couldn’t have been a day or two later we are making our pass doing our grounds inspection as we did every morning and one of them said “look at his car”! Someone had obviously ran into his car, with that brand new paint job and had done 3 times the damage to his car than what was ever done to mine. They looked at me for my response and I’m like “Aww that’s a shame” adding something along the lines, “God watches my back” and I felt such a peace for not retaliating and allowing God to show me, and more importantly my 2 co workers, God is in control and doesn’t miss a thing, He protects His children and no one gets away with doing them wrongly. I know I shared many words about the Lord to them but I’m thinking nothing impacted the reality of what I was trying to say to them as that one instance by way of example.
Late…off to bed
Shalom
He does in every single situation…He still is….He won’t let you down. You also have to remember that sometimes, He can also change the heart of the person you so desperately want that lesson taught to, or He can show them the way by their wrong doing or by allowing them to see the pain they have caused a person, or the unfairness of how they have treated someone. People change…and God has a hand in that also. Being open and willing to allow that change to affect us is sometimes the hardest to accept because of the hurt or disappointment we have experienced at the hand of this person in the past. Nevertheless….People change…at the hand of God.
Hay Rocky, I remember the story you used, that guy was something else. I agree God will repay, yet this is not to say that seeking justice within our social system is to be always avoided. This is the blessing of having the Holy Spirit live within us, that He can direct which approach we use, there are many times when their are our options at our disposal.
We can sometimes take completely different stances utilizing Scripture to make a point which explains why there is so much division within the denominations. These major denominations all have Scripture to back up their positions, yet they disagree with each other using the same Bible.
This is one thing I love about our God, He does not change; yet He has the freedom to work differently in different situations according to His own righteous judgment. He says do not kill, yet at the same time orders others to do so. Whereas to the unbeliever this seems like hypocrisy. Yet upon further examination we come to understand that God sees the whole picture, He sees the future that we are not privy too, while also being a righteous judge; which is why the Scripture says that His ways are so far above our ways (Isa. 55:8-9).
I guess it always gets back to the story of the Potter and the Clay. It is so easy to use this analogy when it makes sense to our own sensitivities concerning righteousness, yet we must look at the whole passage to really understand what it is saying. Romans 9:21-22 (probably based upon Jeremiah 18:1-6) states:
“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and”
The Greek is not ambiguous here, this passage states that God not only allow that people are created unto dishonor, but that He is the one that has so created them. And the word used here for “dishonour” is atimia in the Greek, meaning: infamy, indignity, disgrace, dishonor, reproach, shame, and vile.
I know this seems to get back to the question of predestination, but in reality the correct subject is God’s authority. This is what Paul is talking about in this passage (wherein these 3 chapters in Romans speak about Israel), God is sovereign in all things. And whereas the command to kill all the inhabitants of the promise land to us seems unrighteous, God commanding Israel to murder every man woman and child and beast (setting aside the possible issue in regards to the Nephilim – which is an issue for another day); this command was according to God’s righteousness, wherein He sees things that we are unaware of in His determination – again this always gets back to the issue of sovereignty.
God is the judge of the universe and if He judges Hitler worthy of death, this is a righteous judgment, and it be decides that the firstborn of Egypt – every child and animal prior to the ability or opportunity to sin are put to death by death Angel, God does so in righteousness – just not what seem to be right-to-us. I like what Warren Wiersbe the states in his commentary:
Who are we to argue with God? (Rom_9:19-21)
This is a logical argument. God is the Potter and we are the clay. God is wiser than we are and we are foolish to question His will or to resist it. (The reference here is to Isa_45:9.) To be sure, the clay has no life and is passive in the potter’s hand. We have feelings, intellect, and willpower, and we can resist Him if we choose. (See Jer_18:1-23 where this thought is developed.) But it is God who determines whether a man will be a Moses or a Pharaoh. Neither Moses, nor Pharaoh, nor anyone else, could choose his parents, his genetic structure, or his time and place of birth. We have to believe that these matters are in the hands of God.
However, this does not excuse us from responsibility. Pharaoh had great opportunities to learn about the true God and trust Him, and yet he chose to rebel. Romans 7 is a declaration of God’s sovereignty, rather than, but not opposed to human responsibility. The one does not deny the other, even though our finite minds may not fully grasp them both without contradiction.
Now to get back to my point. As a general principle we are always to be prepared to turn the cheek. We are never to hold a grudge or to seek retaliation for the sake of revenge. Yet, there are times where discretion according to the leading of the Holy Spirit is necessary. It is this that explains why it was correct for thousands of Christians to suffer being tortured and murdered for their faith without resistance, while at the same time our forefathers fought against the King of England to gain their freedom using violence to defend themselves.
It is wrong for us to tell another Christian how they should respond in a life or death situation, if their claim is that the Holy Spirit is having them turn the cheek (and there is not an absolute contradiction in Scripture to their behavior), or grab a gun to defend themselves. It is the Holy Spirit within us that directs us sometimes 2 different determinations within situations that appear similar. The Holy Spirit as God will not be restrained by the boxes we attempt to put him in, nor God the father, nor the son as well. There discernment is righteous to begin with in be on question by the child of God. If this is not the case then this individual needs to dig deep into God’s word to understand his nature before he attempts to judge God’s behavior. This display of spiritual ignorance, while common in many dead churches and Orthodox denominations; is based upon a lack of understanding and study concerning God’s Word.
And where is in certain circumstances the correct response may be to call the police when somebody damages your car, so that the perpetrator won’t damage the car of other tenants, and you safeguard them as well as upholding justice for all; at the same time if the Holy Spirit leads you to turn the cheek per se, and be willing to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ; then this is the thing to do.
Rocky my whole point in stating this is not for you, as you and I know agree upon this issue. It is for those that may think that this issue is simply one way or another; not realizing that we as believers must turn to God’s Word to seek guidance first, then on bended knees seek the application of what biblical principle we should follow concerning self-defense while on this earthly plane.
This is the blessing of being a Christian made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as compared to those that came before the cross, which were merely believers not having the internal guidance of the Holy Spirit in figuring out what to do.
Thanks for sharing this story and point, our God is always the same God; yet sometimes depicted in different roles, under different circumstances, fulfilling diverse aspects of His own Will. This is what explains why the Jews expected the Messiah to be a warrior on a horse, not realizing that He had two trips to make to the Earth, the first one to die as the “Lamb of God” for the sins of the world, the second one to be that warrior they were looking for.
Jesus Christ is exactly the same, yet He had two diverse roles; and as such functioned differently in each visitation. bb
Late Entry: No Time – Sorry about the sound-alike word mistakes, one of the downfalls of fast proofreading and the use of voice recognition software. bb