This is the attitude of the evil heart in all ages. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, Why does this generation seek for a sign? Psalm 69:25Reputation destroyed forever. Do not lament your insufficiency. Isaiah 28:11 warned, For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people. Jeremiah 5:15 said, Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, says the LORD. He uses believers and unbelievers. Fifth, and the point I want to focus on, is that the Lord tells Moses, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. I find this very interesting and encouraging. Before the Apostle Paul wrote his letter he was known as Saul. You will say to me then, Why does He still find fault? But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land. God doesnt need men, but God chooses to use men at times to accomplish His sovereign will. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. The Bible says, God was well pleased through the message preached to save those who believe (I Cor. Were they to voluntarily all drown? God ordains the means and the ends of life. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. In spite of our slownessand even sinGod will bless and use us to fulfill His purpose of blessing all nations through Christ, because of our relationship to the Father through the Son. so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. But sometimes we forget that when God ordains a particular end, he also ordains the means to that end. His words imply that all the torment will be tolerable. God Uses God uses all those who humble themselves before the cross, boasting only in him his strength, his wisdom, his righteousness, his accomplishment. It even included the price Judas would receive for his act of treachery30 pieces of silver. Although God was at work in the betrayal, you couldnt see it that night. WebAnd then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will. That literally means, I find no basis for any of the charges brought against this man. In modern terms, you might call it a Summary Judgment in favor of Jesus. Wisdom didnt guard him against a wandering heart. But he chose instead to allow himself to be arrested, knowing that this would fulfill Gods plan. Here is my answer: He allowed Judas to betray Jesus so that Jesus could become the Savior of the world. As we saw in the first four verses of this book, Habakkuk was confused. He even turns wicked hearts to serve his Sovereign purpose. It can be fairly said that the common people by and large respected Jesus and responded positively to his message. This week were looking at the other side of the equation. God is unimpressed. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. When Judas actually betrayed Jesus in the Garden, Peter immediately sprang to his defense. God could have had the earth swallow up the Amalekites. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven, will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. God Uses Many People to Accomplish His Purposes Though absolutely sovereign, all knowing, all wise, and everywhere present, God uses sinners to accomplish His will. 1:37). I run into people in different countries or am contacted by those from different countries who have been blessed by my preaching. WebGod never does evil Himself. Israel stumbled at the stumbling stone, the suffering messiah (Romans 9:31-33). The very first verse my daughter ever memorized was Isaiah 40:8, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. It seemed like an odd one to begin with, but now in retrospect it might have been the best one. These lessons simply teach us that God can take that which is evil and use it for his own good purposes. Everything else in the story fits into Gods plan: The crown of thorns, the scourging, the trials, Pilates testimony, his verdict of death, a man to help carry the cross, the place of deathGolgotha, and the moment of death3 PM, the time when the Passover lambs were sacrificed at the Temple. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Because God created all He can use anything in creation. Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son for those who believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.. Romans 8:28 says, For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. All things includes both good and bad things. I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. Soon they will be raised up from that struggle to full power. Here are some examples: Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. The Prophet was told to look around him and see what was going on among the nations, observe! But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. But Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. God didnt want to lead the people around the Red Sea by the way of the Philistines knowing they might get scared and run back to Egypt (Ex. To say it another way, there is a man in hell today who has been there for 2000 years even though what he did advanced Gods plan to save the world. In the time of the New Testament after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see the expansion of Gods Covenant to include Gentile believers drawn to the Savor by the Gospel. Do not begrudge your weakness. We have one life to use, and the usefulness of that one life depends not on our rsum or even how much we know. Our prayers do not alter Gods eternal decree. shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. Now and then we advance to Easter morning where we discover Gods purpose in our pain. Habakkuk 1:7-11, They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. I answer yes. But this much is clear: He never believed that Jesus was guilty of any crime. But now, the grief of the Egyptians had subsided and was replaced with anger and regret. The fact that God ordains both the means and the ends should surely encourage us as we face our own trials. We need to remember that God uses the foolish. God has the amazing ability to do things that simply do not make sense to mankind. The coming of Messiah was unexpected. WebGod was about to turn to the Gentiles as He judged Israel as a nation for her unbelief. And that is okay. He could have just caused them to drop dead. Here are some examples: Anyone who resists God risks falling into spiritual deception (2 The story of Judas teaches us that nothing happens by accident. He dealt with his doubts and confusion in the right way, he turned to God, not to his own understanding. Were they to march into the sea holding their little ones, driving their cattle, and pushing their elderly? 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 (Genesis 12: 3). God God is still using unlikely people to accomplish His will on earth today. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah by Trent Butler. As Christians, we have nothing to fear or worry about because we know that God is in control. His covenant is always enforced. Compared to you or me, King Solomon had it all wisdom, wealth, fame, power. I have not written a New York Times Bestseller, and no one has publicly endorsed, recommended, or vouched for me. That doesnt lessen his guilt, but it does increase our appreciation of Gods sovereignty over the affairs of men. I have not been named most influential, listed as most attractive, or voted most likely to succeed. But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all;read more.the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. In the words of a 19th century writer, hatred, treachery and deceit will not prevail against the church of God. When they offered him 30 pieces of silver, he readily accepted even though that was the going price for a slave. In Acts 1:16 Peter declared that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. He meant that the Old Testament predictions (he cites Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8) regarding Judas were bound to come true. Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,read more.Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness. But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations. Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. So the Lord said, I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. God will deal with them according to his plan, but first, He will use them for His own covenant judgment. Does God Accomplish His Purpose in Our In 605 Egypt was defeated by the Neo-Babylonians at Carchemish. God can use even you even me. We when we dont know if something is Gods will, we pray, Yet not my will but yours be done (Mt.