TOUCH NOT GOD’S ANOINTED

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 20 December 2012

Hi all,

Today’s meditation deals with what happened to the people of Samaria in 2 Kings 7. It tells the story of how the King’s officer died for calling Elisha and, by Implication, God, a liar. This officer died as Elisha prophesied. The story relates with God and the statement that God cannot lie. It concludes asking if you or I are liars.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Thursday, 20 December 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	TOUCH NOT GOD’S ANOINTED
Matthew’s Gospel tells us, “With God, all things are possible!” Matt 19:26 NLT. God can do anything. This is an overwhelming truth. The fact is if there was anything God couldn’t do, He would not be God. Having stated that, how do we deal with the statement in Hebrews, 18 So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. Hebrews 6:18 NLT Let me start by stating that I have not found a contradiction in God’s Word. The answer has to do with the nature of God Himself. Within the overall ability of God, He is able to lie and He is able to break covenant. If this was not true, He could not be God. But God, in His infinite wisdom, has decided how He would be to all His creation. He has defined that which he will never do. He will never lie and He will never break covenant. Not because He is unable to do it but because He has made an unbreakable decision with Himself not to do so. An easy way to understand this stems from my own personal experience. I stopped smoking in 1981. I decided that I would never smoke again. It doesn’t mean that I am unable to do so. It means my decision not to smoke again is unbreakable. There is however, one enormous difference between God and me. I do not have His moral perfection. He will not break His Word. Because of my moral imperfection, I could. Another way to look at it is to say that God cannot forget my sins. If He could forget, He could not be God. But God has perfect control over His memory. He can choose not to remember. In Jeremiah 31:34 God tells His people. “I will remember their sin no more." For our purposes, for Him to not remember our sins, is the same as Him forgetting them! This introduces today’s meditation. Elisha brought a word from God to the King of Israel, concerning the provision of food for his people. The king’s officer did not believe Elisha. This is where we need to be careful. Telling Elisha it could not happen implied Elisha was lying. He was accusing Elisha of being a Lying Prophet. But Elisha had brought a genuine message from the Lord. Thus the Officer was indirectly calling God a liar! Elisha then spoke to the Officer and brought him a further word from the Lord. The officer would see God deliver the people from the Arameans. But he would die before he had a chance to eat any of it. It came to pass exactly as Elisha had said. We need to bear in mind at all times that accusing God of being a liar is blasphemy. The penalty for blasphemy is death. This was very much the case in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, in Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira died for telling lies to Peter about the sale price of their land. He said they were “lying to the Holy Spirit”. In Rev. 21:8 we are told "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars--their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death.” Being truthful is not optional. It is a requirement of God. Rev 21:8 is a warning to Christians as much as it is to unbelievers. Sadly we find today many Christians are liars. Ananias, Sapphira and the King of Israel’s officer showed the danger of lying to or about God. Am I a liar? Are you? Jim & Phyllida Strickland			2 The servant on whose arm the king was leaning answered the man of God, "Could this happen even if the LORD poured rain through windows in the sky?" Elisha replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it." 2 Kings 7:2 GW 22 Jesus said to them "Have faith in God! Mark 11:22 GW 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 MKJV 26 But Jesus looked on them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 MKJV 2 When I came to save you, why didn't anyone welcome me? When I called out to you, why didn't anyone answer me? Wasn't my arm powerful enough to set you free? Wasn't I strong enough to save you? I dry up the sea with a single command. I turn rivers into a desert. Then fish rot because they do not have any water. They die because they are thirsty. Isaiah 50:2 NIrV 8 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put Me to the test! Malachi 3:10 NLT 1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; Isaiah 59:1 ESV 11 And Asa cried to the LORD his God, "O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you." 2 Chronicles 14:11 ESV 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:9 NLT	Be very, very careful when you’re speaking to God’s man. Nothing is impossible for God and so He can, Bring about a judgement on the foolish words you’ve said. And it is very simple for God to strike you dead! That is just what happened in our reading for today. Elisha brought a message; “Hear what God does say. By this time tomorrow the flour and the wheat Will be such that the people will again begin to eat.” The Aramean army was all around the town. Samaria was starving; the walls could be torn down. That was when Elisha brought that message from the Lord. Food would be abundant at a price men could afford. The officer who heard him, questioned what the Lord had said. “This could never happen though rain poured upon the head, Through the very windows of God’s heaven in the sky.” Meaning that Elisha’s words were empty and a lie! “With your eyes you’ll see it” Elisha then declared. “But you will not eat it!” The man would not be spared. That night the Arameans turned around and fled. “The Hittites and Egyptians are attacking us!” they said. The sound of a great army they thought that they could hear, Came from God Almighty and they ran away in fear. You can read the story in the Second Book of Kings. Look at chapter seven; see how God arranged these things. The Aramean army had left all their goods behind. Everything was left for the Samaritans to find. The King said to that officer “Go and control the gate”. The people were so hungry that they could hardly wait. And so they stormed the gateway with one great mighty rush. That officer fell over and was trampled in the crush. It was the fulfilment of what the Lord had said. Food was in abundance and that officer was dead! So be very careful; don’t question what God says. He can discipline you in a hundred thousand ways. Criticise His prophet and God could deal with you, In a way you’d rather that He didn’t ever do. Touch not God’s anointed, for you are touching God; You could be the victim of His death inflicting rod! Jim Strickland  Written 20th December 2012