Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls 

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. Neh 1:6 

This is Why We Pray

The one thing which strikes at the heart is the prayerful zeal of Nehemiah.

We read, when he received news from home, how his heart brought heaven down. “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven” (Neh 1:4).

What follows is the pouring of a soul, like a waterfall, when the waters hit the rocks below.

Nehemiah rends his heart. His breadth reduces into a vapour, and you almost catch the sweat dripping from his brow.

And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:  But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 

Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer. Neh 1:5-11  

Prayer is speaking with God. Prayer is adoration, it is sweeping the drapes aside and focusing the eyes on God.

Prayer is confession, it is going down on one’s knees, eyes cast down, and touching the hem of God.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Psa 139:1  

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight… Psa 51:1 -4

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Psa 139:7 

Prayer is thanksgiving. It is lifting the palms up, and breaking into a thunderous tumult.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psa 100:1,4  

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Heb 13:15  

Prayer is supplication, it is the opening of the bowl of the heart to God, and allowing the incense to percolate.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.  I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. Psa 142:1-3 

LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psa 141:1-2 

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. Psa 61:1-4 

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Psa 27:9  

Prayer is an ambrosial; it is an anchoring of God into the soul.

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa 103:1-5 

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Psa 146:1-2 

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psa 150:1-6 

It is the sort of prayer you want to pray, and pray and pray…

Shall we pray like that tonight? Shall we believe like Nehemiah?

Yet it is not a work which man can do, but only a work which the Spirit of God can do.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom 8:26-28  

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Jn 1:8-10  

 

  

Bible Men: Nehemiah: Building More than Walls 

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace. Neh 1:1 

East or West Home is Best!

The name of Nehemiah means “The Lord Comforts.”

The setting of this wonderful book is Shushan the palace. This is also the setting for the story of Esther, and Daniel was carried there in a vision.

Nothing is known of Nehemiah’s childhood, youth or family, except that his father’s name was Hachaliah, and that he had a brother called Hanani.

It is presumed his great-grandparents were taken into captivity when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He may have been born in Persia in or after Zerubbabel’s ministry in Jerusalem.

His ministry is closely tied with that of Ezra, the “ready scribe in the law of Moses.” The setting of their work is the postexilic era when the faithful Israelites were returning from Babylon to Judah to reestablish their temple worship, which they had neglected before the exile.

There were three returns from Babylon to the land of Israel: the first was led by Zerubbabel in 538 B.C., the second was under Ezra in 458 B.C., and the third was led by Nehemiah in 444 B.C.

Nehemiah was in the position of a cupbearer to the king when he learned of the deplorable state of his people back in Jerusalem. He subsequently got himself appointed governor in Judah with authority and resources to rebuild the city walls.

Nehemiah was a man of singular skill and daring. He first surveyed the walls at night to avoid detection by his adversaries, and then he assembled a labour force and, dividing the walls into sections, he supervised the building until the end, finishing the work in the short time of 52 days.   

The book reads like Nehemiah’s personal diary in its conciseness and brevity.

His work faced intermittent harassment though from three of his fiercest enemies: Sanballat the Horonite (a Samaritan), Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshen the Arab. 

Nehemiah was a deeply pious man, and his oft repeated words during his prayers were “O God, strengthen my hands.”

Drought in a Palace

The immediate thing which strikes one is that Nehemiah lived in a palace, in a far country, and yet his heart reeled with the love of his country and his folk in Jerusalem.

That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. Neh 1:2 -4 

You may wonder why the earlier arrivals from Babylon never saw the ruin that their city was in. But remember it is possible to live in the midst of ruin and not notice it. Poverty, or intense pain, can do that. And love can also do that! The people in Jerusalem were in great distress. Their lives and country were falling apart. And yet they did not see it.

The Covenant Faithfulness of God

God delivered Israel to Babylon, and it was God who delivered them back from Babylon. “If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee” (Deu 30:4).  

God may deliver a man into his exile because of his unbelief, and only God may deliver him out of it again.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Rom 1:24-25 

Love can go to the uttermost to save, and it usually does. Love still believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, because love never fails.

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Hos 5:15  

For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Lam 3:31-33  

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Psa 119:67  

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Psa 119:71  

There is no Rest in Babylon

We hated our parents once because they were too severe. But then we grew up, and we learnt that the rod can also mean love. We finished our years “in Babylon”, and, at the mercy of God, the heart returned home where it always belonged.

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Luk 15:4  

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luk 15:17-20  

Coming Home

Which other bible prophet chose self-exile over a palace life? Moses lived in the palace of the Pharaoh king of Egypt. He might’ve been content, but Moses knew his extraction was of a better kind than that of Egypt.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Heb 11:24-26  

A guy, the palace is good but it’s not our home. Heaven is!

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst

thereof. 

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 

            How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? Psa 137:1-4   

Bible Men: Elijah: A Man of like Passions as We Are

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1Ki 19:11-12  

 

The Elijah We Have Known

This is an apt summary to the story of Elijah. He first appeared to us as a quiet, lone man laboring in the LORD’s work.

We met him by the brook Cherith where he drank its waters and the ravens fed him there. We met him next with the widow of Zarephath, whose faith he restored, and her son also who had died. We met him next on his way to meet Ahab again.

And it was at this meeting which led to the showdown at Mt. Carmel where the prophets of Baal were defeated, and God sent down rain.

Ahab was there and saw it. And he went home (even as it began to rain) and told his wife Jezebel, who swore to kill Elijah (“wrath hath no fury”…). It is this incident which plunged Elijah into depression as he ran for his life.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 1Ki 19:2  

God Meets Us in Our Own Wilderness

Elijah ran into the wilderness where God met him next.

And often that is where God meets us too. From here the angel of God fed him, and next sent him into a great journey. It is from here that the LORD spoke next to Elijah.

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 1Ki 19:8-10 

God Encourages Elijah

And it is from a mountain that God encourages Elijah. Are you discouraged? Go to the mountain.

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1Ki 19:11-12  

The Meaning of a Still Small Voice

From high up on the mountain God comforted Elijah. He usually does not break upon our brokenness in wrath and fury but in mercy. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory” (Mat 12:20).  

One also can detect a foreshadowing of the New Covenant in the above verse.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer 31:31-33  

God in Old Testament worked majestic deeds. God in the New Testament often works in “a still small voice.” At Pentecost God’s Spirit was poured upon his disciples as he had promised.

Today we hear him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is come, and behold everything is now new.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Heb 1:1-2  

Hearing God Depends on the Heart

We all hear the still small voice. For some it is a major haunt all their lives. They hear it. They know the source of it. But they shut it down.

And other times we might be mistaken in our hearing and believing like the men on Mars’ Hill.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. Act 17:22-23  

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Act 17:30 -31 

It is a humbling experience to be struck by the mercy of God. In our new “smallness” we see quite far. God opens our eyes to behold things we didn’t know before.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jer 33:3  

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Psa 95:7-9 

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

Bible Men: Elijah: A Man of like Passions as We Are

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 1Ki 19:4  

How the Despair of Giants Encourages Us

There’s something about the despair of a giant which makes the heart flutter with hope.

It is when I read the rejections famous writers went through that I get encouraged. And it is when I read the despairs of great prophets that I know God is true.

I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. Num 11:14-15  

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;  Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? Job 3:20-22  

Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! Job 6:8-9 

Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Jon 4:3  

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Mat 11:2-3 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mat 27:46  

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. 2Co 1:8-10  

Despair can reach us all, whether strong men of faith or weak ones. “Let us also go, that we may die with him” stammered Thomas Didymus, and his echo has rung down the annals of time.

Hope maketh not ashamed, fellow brethren, and it is perfectly alright to feel discouraged sometimes. But it is testimonies (bare facts) such as these that make me believe that God is true.

From Mt. Carmel and Into the Valley

We are all prone to be weak, and more so after a Mt. Carmel experience. There is no man Elijah feared (in the sight of God), but a woman called Jezebel stopped his blood cold.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Heb 12:3  

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Heb 12:12-13  

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. 2Co 4:7-9 

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. 2Co 6:4 

Why Do We Despair?

It’s a fast world. Sometimes we despair because we love too much, and other times we despair because we are not loved too much!

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Rom 7:18-19  

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Rom 7:24  

What is the Cure for Despair?

Christ is the answer.

Because in him there’s no condemnation, and he knows me by name. With him by my side it is possible to be perfectly at peace even in the midst of a storm.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isa 45:22 

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom 8:1  

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 5:1 

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psa 61:2  

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Php 1:6 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28 

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Php 4:7 

Lastly we despair because the enemy fights back. So we watch out when the fight is on, and we watch out again after the battle is over.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1Co 16:13  

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Mat 26:41 

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. Luk 12:35 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:13 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 1Pe 5:8  

Bible Men: Elijah: A Man of like Passions as We Are

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. 1Ki 18:19  

Mt. Carmel: When Faith Leapt into the Sky

The Jews, those people who thirst for God as a man thirsteth for water in a dry land, sang “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” (Ps 121:1). 

A mountain invokes worship. The soul lifts, gathering the wind in its palms, and then it breaks forth into that shaking song.

It isn’t that God lives on a mountain. The Jews knew that, and every poet whom God has inspired knows that “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Ps 121:2). 

At first it was Sinai, the mount of God, which smoked, and where the bush burned but it did not consume. Then the earth trembled and his voice thundered.

Since then mountains have gripped man’s imagination. So too has the journey of faith, in its upward trajectory, before it enters the gates.

Caleb may have prayed for much more than the physical hill when he entreated Joshua to “Give me this mountain.” Gallant deeds can aid faith just as small ones can hinder it.

So it was natural for Elijah, as a child of the law and the prophets, to choose a mountain place for a showdown between his God and Ahab’s retinue of false prophets. And what makes the heart throb is that Elijah was a man of like passions as we are.

The Genesis of Unbelief

Something draws out the heart to the novelty.

God had been very good to Adam and Eve, giving them everything. Yet our fall (as the serpent told our first parents) was predicated on the one thing we thought we didn’t have. “Ye shall not surely die.”

The children of Israel wanted a king so that they might be like other nations. It staggered them that they were different.

Does it confound you, dear child, that you are born different? If it’s a gift from God, then it’s a joy. It may sound boring now, but eternal fruits take time to ripen. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” 

We may react to a wilderness experience in several ways. It might enlighten us, or it may stoke anger, bitterness and death. Choose well brethren.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Co 4:17-18  

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1Jn 2:16-17  

Lust is a Leaf in the Wind

We know life here on earth is brief. The apostles have viewed that life as a breath, others as grass, and as a passing cloud. Lust is an enemy for the believers’ soul as the apostles have warned.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 1Pe 2:11  

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Col 3:1-5 

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Gal 5:16-17  

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Gal 5:24  

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Jas 4:1  

But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 1Co 10:5-6 

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? Heb 2:1-4 

The Cure of Unbelief

A believer’s greatest arsenal against lust is faith through the word of God. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). 

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Heb 11:13  

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Heb 12:1

Bible Men: Elijah: A Man of like Passions as We Are

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1Ki 18:21  

Decision is Life

To decide is destiny. And not to decide is destiny still.

Moses faced the children of Israel in the wilderness and frankly asked them to choose one. He meant to stump in their minds the weight decisions carry in one’s life.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. Deu 30:19 

It is the introvert’s curse that every day he hovers between two opinions. The sun rises, and the sun sets, and yet he is still standing at the road junction.

I pray that by the end of this blog I shall have convinced someone to turn to the right.

The Intersection of Marriage and Decision

There is a physical and a spiritual dimension to the meaning of marriage. The Bible says the married become one flesh. That is spiritual. The physical is that they move into one house.

It underscores the point that what you choose is what you get married to, you become one with it.

God had a purpose for saying marriage is for life. He meant for a person to have conviction, and thereby to escape the jail of indecision.

It is not wrong to change decisions. In the day to day affairs it’s sometimes the wisest thing. But in the matter of Christian faith, to change decision might be to change destiny.

The Example of Israel

God had given Israel the law and its set of commandments. These were not merely letters but God breathed instructions. God had established a covenant (agreement or “marriage”) with them, to be their God and them his people.

But they transgressed the law. They became unfaithful as a wife becomes unfaithful to her husband. This is what is called apostasy. They abandoned their agreement with God.

God meant for them to be fixed in their decision (of one God), but now they were having other or multiple decisions (gods).  

Another word for this behavior is compromise. They believed in one God yes, but they also dabbled in the worship of other gods.

In Old Testament writings God called out Israel for being a prostitute. He chose them, and married them, yet they went to find other lovers. They were not satisfied with him. In language which trembles with feeling, God opens out his pain with his first “wife” Israel.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.  I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. 

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.  Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.  I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. 

I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. Eze 16:6-15 

So the prophet Elijah looked at Israel and his zeal burnt. It wasn’t for himself. It wasn’t for his God either but for his people. They were foolish. Jeremiah wailed that they had chosen broken cisterns. Jesus looked at Jerusalem and wept.

Created for Higher Dreams and Decisions

God created us for himself. He is our husband and we are his wives, metaphorically speaking. We struggle in this world to find the meaning of life, but we look for it in the wrong places. We look for it in our many “lovers”, our many teachers and many ideas. “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecc 7:29).  

But our inventions will always leave us hungry. They will always leave us empty. That is why the famous King Solomon gasped, “I hated life” and “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity” (Ecc 1:2).  

And so it is even to this day.

In the book of Proverbs Solomon exhorts his son to choose God because that is the path of wisdom. He implores him to decide wisely. Choosing God is choosing life and rejecting him is choosing death.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pro 9:10  

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Pro 3:5-6 

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Pro 4:7  

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.  Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.  For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. Pro 8:33-36 

Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? Pro 8:1 

So weigh your decisions very, very carefully. It is your life or your death. Please, I beg you, allow this to sink just for a short while. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”