One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 2 Chronicles 15: 6, NIV.
Our dear Creator, we look to You once again for help to understand the things that we are studying. Please make Your will plain to us, as we bow before You this day. This is our prayer, in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
Yesterday we meditated on the first half of the verse under consideration. We will try to conclude this first half today. In our study yesterday, we recognized that the state of unrest, and turmoil that Israel was experiencing, is very similar to the time of anguish in which we are living. This was the result of their being “without the true God, for a long time.”
Where did this unrest come from? From “an enemy,” or from God? In our search for an answer we discoved that there is no rest, without the true God. Now let us look to Scripture for a more detailed answer to our questions. Yesterday we read in Romans 1, that when human beings do not acknowledge God as the Creator that He is, but try to bring Him down to their level by making images of creatures to represent the Creator, their minds become darkened. That is not hard to understand. Remember that light and darkness cannot exist simultaneously, in the same place. If we replace the Creator, “the true light which enlightens everyone” (John 1: 9), with creatures that possess no light at all, we will be left in darkness.
In order to understand God’s message, we should study it, “line upon line . . . precept upon precept . . . here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28: 9, 10); because even though the Bible is an anthology, the message, of the Bible, is one. As we search it in faith, to find the message of salvation, the Holy Spirit will lead us into “all truth.” We discovered that Israel’s departure from God, was the cause of their unrest (reading the entire chapter of 2 Chronicles 15, makes it clear). Now we need to identify the source. Because we know that God and Satan do not work together, we need to understand if, and how, two contrary sources, could be causing this unrest. This takes us to 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12. The Message translation of this portion of Scripture adds some clarity to our quest: “The Anarchist’s coming is all Satan’s work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they’re so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it-gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they’re banished to their chosen world of lies and illusion.” (Emphasis provided). Before submitting an explanation for your consideration, let us go to another text; John 8: 44: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (NKJV, emphasis provided).
Satan does not wait for us to invite him in; he arbitrarily comes in and takes over (Luke 11: 24-26). On the other hand, God does not force His will upon us. He will respect our decision to serve Him or not to serve Him. He gives us a choice, “Choose you this day who you will serve . . . ” (Joshua 24: 15). Once you have made your choice, He will respect it, “Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone” (Hosea 4: 17). If you reject the truth, and prefer a lie, strong delusion will take over, and cause trouble on every hand, because you have made your decision to reject truth. God is simply respecting your choice. Today, I submit the following to you, Satan is the author of the unrest, the wars, the confusion, the peace-lessness that exists. When we choose him over God, and God, in respect to our choice, is no longer in charge of our life, “every kind of distress will trouble [us].” But His heart of love never stops longing for us, “How can I give you up Ephraim? . . . My heart churns within Me; my sympathy is stirred” (Hosea 11: 8).
We will continue this conversation tomorrow.