Preservation And Judgement

Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." (Genesis 15:13-16 ESV)

Below is a quote from Nick Mauer's "in one God's Heart for the Lost 03a Lesson 3":
QUOTE
And what it seems that God was giving the Amorites a period of time during which period the Amorites were devolving into more and more wickedness. And God was reserving a certain time when they at this point I will judge and I will disinherit them and dispossess them from this land and I will give it to you my people. During that time when Israel was in Egypt, God was protecting them from the escalating wickedness of Canaan.
UNQUOTE

There are a few things I wish to note after digesting what he (Nick Mauer) said.

Preservation
When God preserves, He does not do it in a five star hotel, separated from corruption and disease. Instead, the preservation was done in affliction. Israel was afflicted in Egypt for 400 years but they came out rich. And woe to Egypt, who dared to afflict God's people. They were judged, during the exodus of Israel and also later when they shrank from a proud world power to a minor nation. God also used Egypt's abhorrence of shepherds to cause separation between Israel and Egypt during Israel sojourn in Egypt.

Judgement
There are many wicked people and wicked nations. Sometimes they are punished quickly. Sometimes they are not. When judgement does not come quickly, there are two reasons for the delay.

1. God is waiting for some to repent (2 Peter 3:9);
2. The iniquity is not full, the wicked fruit is not ripe.

But this delay in judgement caused many to wonder about God's justice and His existence (Ecclesiastes 8:11, Psalm 50:21, Psalm 73:11, Psalm 94:7). They did not consider the goodness of God who give them time to repent (Romans 11:22).

Application
Today people are wondering about the existence of God because there is great wickedness and injustice. But God will not act until the iniquity of the nations (Gentiles) is complete. Things are bad today, but it will be worse. There will be greater wickedness coming. When that happened, God will judge (Luke 21:24). God acts only when the fruit is ripe for harvest (Joel 3:13, Revelation 14:15).

When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT)

When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you. (Psalm 50:21 NIV)

The wicked say, "How can God know? Does the Most High know everything?" (Psalm 73:11 CSB)

They say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice." (Psalm 94:7 NIV)

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. (Romans 11:22 ESV)

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24 NIV)

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. (Joel 3:13 ESV)

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." (Revelation 14:15 ESV)

Justice And Delay

When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. (Romans 11:22 ESV)

The First And Last Prophecy Of The Bible

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Wait And Wait Again

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4 KJV)

When Abraham was 75 years old, God told him to leave his country without telling him where to go and said that he will be a great nation when he had no children.

And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (Genesis 13:14-17 KJV)

Again God showed Abraham the land and promised Abraham that his descendants will possess the land, but Abraham had no children.

Now the word of the LORD came to him: "This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir." (Genesis 15:4 HCSB)
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18 NASB)

God narrowed down the conditions and state that the heir will be Abraham's physical descendant, not an adopted heir. The boundary of the promised land is also clarified.

So Sarai said to Abram, "The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed with Sarai's proposal. (Genesis 16:2 NLT)
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:16 ESV)

After a long wait, Sarah decided to take things into her own hand. She advised Abraham to get an heir through her maid Hagar. After all, God promised that the heir must come from Abraham, but nothing is said about the mother.

But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Genesis 17:21 KJV)

When Abraham was 99 years old, God gave him the name Abraham and his wife was renamed Sarah and the promised heir named Isaac made it clear that the parents of the promised heir must be the Abraham and Sarah. God also set the timing. It will be fulfilled in a year. Abraham and all the males (born or bought) of his household was circumcised on that day.

And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. (Genesis 21:5 KJV)

God took 25 years to fulfill His promise, from His first promise to Abraham when he was still Abram and 75 years old about being father of a great nation to the birth of Isaac when Abram became Abraham at 100 years old. God worked very slowly and tested the faith and patience of Abraham and Sarah.

So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place. (Genesis 23:20 NLT)

Finally, Abraham got to own a piece of the promised land, and he had to buy it from the Hittites.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6 KJV)

These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13 HCSB)

God's Delays

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3 ESV)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

God's delays
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." (Exodus 13:17 ESV)

He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. (1 Samuel 13:8 HCSB)

So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (John 11:6 NASB)

"How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10 NASB)

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Jesus Offends By Working Too Slowly

"And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." (Matthew 11:6 NASB)

This website gave three reasons why Jesus offends Christians. I am struck by one of the reasons given, Jesus works too slowly (the third reason). How true this is. Sometimes, we wonder why God took such a long time.

And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." (Luke 8:45 NASB)
Jesus was on the way to heal Jairus's daughter. But there was a crowd and He could not move fast. On top of that, He felt that power has gone out from Him and stopped to find out who touched Him. If you are a doctor attending an emergency, already delayed by traffic jam, would you allow other events to delay you further?


So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (John 11:6 NASB)
Here, similarly, we see Dr Jesus delaying again, after hearing that Lazarus was sick.

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10 NASB)
God has not show His wrath for so long that many think that He either does not exist or is dead.

Here is the quote from the website on the three reasons why Jesus offends.


QUOTE
Reason 1: He demands too much. In John 16:1, Jesus tells His disciples that He’s sharing “all these things” so they won’t be offended by Him. Some of those “things” were stern warnings that they would be hated by the world and persecuted (John 15:18ff.). Jesus made clear that following Him won’t lead to a bed of roses. Suffering and loss are involved.

Unfortunately, some present a gospel that leaves these parts out. The result: Christians get offended when they realize what they’ve gotten into. But Jesus lets us know up front what following Him entails. Even in His own day, some of His followers stopped walking with Him because they regarded the cost too high (John 6:53-59).

Reason 2: He doesn’t meet our expectations. The Lord often works in ways that we don’t understand. I’ve heard some Christians say, “My life would have been much better today if I didn’t follow Jesus in my youth. Look where it’s gotten me.” In Finding Organic Church, I talk about the Catch-30 crisis. There comes a point in all our lives where we reassess the major commitments we’ve made in early adulthood. And we either dig in deeper or we abandon ship.

Isaiah says that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). The Lord works on levels that we cannot fathom. Paul says that God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). “Why hasn’t God answered this prayer? Why didn’t He fulfill this promise? Why did He let this happen to me? Why did He let this happen to him/her? Why is God silent when I need to hear Him most?”

These are the questions that plague the mind of the serious believer. If you’ve not yet met the God who refuses to meet all your expectations, you will. And how you react in that day will reveal whether you are worshiping Jesus Christ or Santa Clause (see John 6:26). It will show whether or not you love God more than His promises (or really, your interpretation of those promises).

Jeanne Guyon once said, “I will still serve Him, even if it sends me to hell.” Job said, “Shall we receive good from the hand of the Lord and not evil?” Recall the three Hebrew children. They had lived a life loyal to their God. And the pagan king said to them, “Worship my golden image or else you’re going to die in my fiery furnace.”

Their answer is telling: “We’re not going to worship this image or serve your gods. The Lord is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us from your fiery furnace. But even if He doesn’t, we’re still not going to bow down to your false gods.”

What an attitude. What a posture. What faith. “God will deliver us. But even if  He doesn’t, we will still follow Him.”

Those words contain thunder and lightning for every child of God.

If I can use an illustration, we mortals are living on pages 300-400 of a 2,000 page book. Only God can see the whole book. And He’s only given us the ability to see pages 300-400. We have no capacity to understand what’s in pages 1-299 or pages 401 to 2,000. We can only speculate and assume what’s in them (hence we create all sorts of intricate theological systems to explain mysteries we don’t understand).

Here’s a lesson to learn: Life always comes down to trusting in the Lord rather than trying to figure out His ways via our finite, limited understanding. Yet together, we can better discover and understand what’s in pages 300-400, and thereby learn to live more effectively within them. (I hope blog posts like this contribute to that goal.)

Reason 3: He doesn’t show up on time. He works too slowly. He reacts too late. His deliverance takes too long. God’s clock is a lot slower than ours. We can text or email our prayer to God, and He doesn’t text or email back when we expect. In fact, sometimes we never hear back from Him at all. The screen is blank.

Sometimes we’ll pray for an important matter in our own lives . . . . or we’ll pray for someone else . . . for years. And the dial doesn’t move. Waiting on the Lord can become weary. And it can lead to offense. But God always keeps perfect time.

To sum up, here’s how NOT to offended by the Lord:

• Remember that He demands everything, and He has promised suffering and tribulation along with blessing and eternal life. So don’t sell out for a cheap, easy gospel. Such is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us what we were getting into and exhorted us to count the cost ahead of time (Luke 14:26ff.).

• Remember that His ways are higher than ours, and He doesn’t always show us what He’s doing or why. We may not always understand what He does or allows, but He can still be trusted. This is the nature of walking by faith rather than by sight. Even when His grace isn’t sufficient, it is always sufficient.

• Remember that God is always on time, but His clock ticks differently from ours. He’s a Lord who sometimes shows up long after the hour of healing has passed and we are dead for four days. Just ask Lazarus.

• Being offended by God is a choice. You can choose to take offense at the Lord and stumble over that which you don’t understand. Or you can “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

UNQUOTE

Wait

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)

He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." Then he offered the burnt offering. (1 Samuel 13:8-9 HCSB)

The most difficult thing to do is to wait. Wait upon the Lord. It is always easy to take action. When problems come, take action. This is what action-oriented people do. This is leadership. Saul is an example. The prophet Samuel was late. His troops were gripped with fear. They were deserting. The leader has to take action. Saul decided to offer the burnt offering himself.

Saul's sin was even serious, given that he was not asked to wait indefinitely. He was asked to wait for seven days. He could have waited for the eighth day before he took action. But, no, he decided to take action before the seventh day was over.

We can run our Christian lives at two levels, level one is Pray and Wait (PW), level two is Do, then Pray (DP). DP is always easier than PW, PW is the entry level. Only when you master PW, then you can DP. While waiting, we strengthen our faith, prove God's goodness and glorify God. We get to know God better. In times of emergency, we are able to Do, then Pray, because we already have the mind of Christ, trained during our waiting days.

When we are in trouble, we want to do something, especially action-oriented self-motivated leaders. I am more lazy, prefering to wait. My weakness become my strength.