I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.  But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off? (ASV)

God’s goodness, love, and mercy is exceedingly patient and long-suffering.  Some think He is so good and loving that He will eventually rescue all of mankind.  Make no mistake, though.  He is a God of righteous justice.  The nations will be judged, and that judgment will display His anger at those who reject His rulership.  Are God’s spokesmen faithfully telling God’s council?  Some suppose they worship a God Who is far off or far away.  God is very near.  He is close at hand to do good for those who come to Him, but His judgment is near to those who do not.

Jeremiah 23:31- 32 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.  Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah. (ASV)

Many use God’s Word to try to say, “This is what the Bible says to me.”  All will interpret the Bible’s words as they will, but due diligence must be exercised to insure that the Holy Spirit guides one in understanding the message.  Be very careful that we don’t try to make the Bible say what we want it to say because it sounds good to the ears.  We must also be very careful in verifying that anything that is said, we know specifically to whom it is being said and under what circumstances.  Something said in one place may not necessarily apply in another.

Jeremiah 25:29 For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should ye be utterly unpunished?  Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts. (ASV)

God will judge even His Own people.  This is not the Great Judgment where the ones who know the Lord will go to their eternal rewards and the others sent out of God’s presence.  God faithfully chastises and scourges His Own people to teach and direct them in His ways.  But if His Own are judged, then beware the graveness of those who are not His Own children.

Jeremiah 2:35 Yet thou saidst, I am innocent; surely His anger is turned away from me.  Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. (ASV)

The Scriptures teach that no man is innocent before the Lord.  The Lord’s righteousness is so far above man’s righteousness, that what we may think of as the most righteous is still far below the standards of our Creator.  Yet though the Scriptures clearly indicate that the people of Jerusalem had thoroughly corrupted and violated God’s express will for them, they saw nothing wrong with their way of doing things.  Even though they may acknowledge that they had committed infractions, in their minds, it was so slight and innocently done that ‘surely His (God’s) anger is turned away’.  So because they felt that they hadn’t truly, sincerely sinned (at least to the point that it was anything to be concerned about) then they wouldn’t feel the natural remorse and repentance that would bring forth God’s full mercy and forgiveness, therefore God was about to bring judgment upon them.

Now this term ‘judgment’ can be used in different senses.  There is the coming judgment where the ‘wheat is separated from the chaff’ (that is the saved from the unsaved).  There is the judgment of the believer’s works, where every saved person’s works will be tried by fire to burn away the bad works and purify the good.  But in this earthly realm, there is the concept of judgment upon peoples (groups of people such as nations and/or churches).  The judgment God is speaking of above is not saying who will ultimately have a home in Heaven or who is doomed to Hell.  Here God is referring to the judgment promised on the Israelites in Deuteronomy and other places where God’s hand is instrumental in bringing about the downfall of a nation that had utterly corrupted God’s express standards.  Even though the nation was completely conquered, and the temple destroyed, and the majority of the people carried away, God did not utterly reject the nation, and spared a remnant to fulfill His will and purpose.

As we see that these people were so far from being all that God wanted them to be, we need to carefully weigh our actions and motives to see how we stand before Him.  I daily recognize that I am far short of being all that I should be and regularly pray, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  If we don’t recognize our shortcomings, then we could easily be as the Jews in Jeremiah’s days that felt that they were innocent and that they had not sinned.  Lord, help us to recognize those things within our being that prevent us from being all that you would have us to be.  We all have these traits.  Help us to be constantly aware of our need for Your love, mercy, and forgiveness.  Then we will be in a position to be remorseful for our shortcomings and in the progress of repentance.

Also in our own recognition of our own shortcomings, we learn to be less judgmental of others that we may disagree with.  We must remember the Lord’s statement in our model prayer, ‘Forgive us … as we forgive others.’  The more we recognize how far from perfect we are, the easier it becomes to understand and forgive the imperfections in others.  As Jesus also taught, how could we expect to be forgiven for our own sins, if we are not forgiving of others?

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a sojourner in the earth: Hide not thy commandments from me. (ASV)

Members of God’s kingdom (sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father) are not citizens of this earthly realm, but only sojourners.  God’s children are citizens of His kingdom.  Yet living in this flesh in this earthly realm, we must learn to live by His law for us in this fleshly realm.  All of His law is summed up in His law of love which seeks to do good towards all.

Psalm 138:5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah; For great is the glory of Jehovah.
6 For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; But the haughty he knoweth from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, And thy right hand will save me.
8 Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Forsake not the works of thine own hands. (ASV)

God’s children (citizens of His kingdom) can walk with the knowledge that He will deliver His children from this world.  His children learn to walk without the pride so characterized by those who seek the praise of those of this world.  Our Creator will ‘perfect’ (bring to full completion) that which concerns His children.  We belong to His kingdom, and can rest secure that He will complete His will for us.  We may fall, but He will not lose us and we are eternally His, because if it were possible that we could lose our position in Him, then that would be saying that He could not complete (perfect) His work in one that lost his position in Him.  Since we know that He will complete all that concerns His children, then we can be confident that His children will remain secure in their position as His children.  As is taught in the New Testament, that work which is begun in the child of God, He is able to finish.  He wouldn’t begin a work that He wasn’t able to finish.  So this is security for those who know Him that their eternal home with Christ is held in security for them.

Psalm 139:3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night;
12 Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well. (ASV)

God knows our end from our beginning.  While still in the womb, He knows our entire life of sojourning in this world.  When one becomes His child, He already knew that we would be His.  Nothing (compare Romans chapter 8) can separate us from His complete knowledge of us.  There are some at the judgment that Jesus may say, “I never knew you: depart from Me,” (Matthew 7: 23), but once He knows you as a child of the King, then He could never say that He never knew you, because He cannot lie.  If you are truly a Christian, then you can never lose that position, because that would make Jesus a liar.  If He knows you today, then He will never say, “I never knew you.”

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; But Jehovah weigheth the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. (ASV)

Sacrifice means giving up something from yourself for someone else.  What could we sacrifice to God that He could not out give many times over?  So what is it to sacrifice for Him?  What He seeks is not in ways the we think is right, but in our hearts to seek to do righteousness and justice.  What is ‘righteousness’?  It is doing that which is right.  What is doing that which is right?  It is living by His law of love.  In love, we sacrifice ourselves to others to share His love for the world.

Matthew 10:37- 40 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me.  He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. (ASV)

What does it mean to be ‘worthy’?  What are we worth?  It is not what we think ourselves as being worth, but what are we worth to others.  We may think ourselves worth much in our own eyes, but our only real worth can be that which comes from the One Who created us.  We were worth enough to Him that He sent His Only Begotten Son to give (sacrifice) Himself for our sakes and for the sakes of all who find Him.  He can only be found when we sincerely search for Him with all our hearts; and how could we search for Him if we didn’t truly believe that He was there for us.  Since our only worth can be determined by the One who created us, then without Him, we have no worth.  But since the worth of those who know Him entirely comes from Him, then in that, only He is truly worthy.  (Something to think about.)

Numbers 15:27- 31 And if one person sin unwittingly, then he shall offer a she-goat a year old for a sin-offering.  And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth unwittingly, before Jehovah, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.

Ye shall have one law for him that doeth aught unwittingly, for him that is home-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, the same blasphemeth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.  Because he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. (ASV)

For all the Hebrew words translated as ‘blaspheme’ and its other grammatical forms in the King James text are words that are variously translated as ‘to curse’, ‘to condemn’, ‘to reproach’, and even the term ‘barak’ which is usually translated as ‘to bless’.  Sometimes a word is chosen based on its connotation in the verse itself.  This version (the American Standard Version) translates the word ‘gadaph’ as ‘blaspheme’, whereas the King James Version translates the same word as ‘reproacheth’.  The same word is translated often in the King James as ‘blaspheme’ but in this verse it is used as ‘to reproach’.

Now considering ‘to reproach’ as a form of blasphemy, notice that any sin committed ‘wittingly’ (knowingly) is considered a blaspheme to Jehovah (Germanic translation spelling for Yahweh- notice German has different pronunciations for ‘j’ and ‘v’ as does English).  Notice that earlier in the passage, a person was accountable to atone for sin that was done ‘unwittingly’ (either accidentally or unknowingly- without realizing it).  A sin acted out ‘knowingly’ was considered ‘high-handed’ and considered a grave reproach against our Creator, Who abhors any form of sin.  To sin ‘high-handedly’ (knowingly) is to blaspheme that very nature of our Creator.  Whereas the Old Testament law did not allow for forgiveness of such action, still, the long-suffering patience and mercy of our Creator ‘tolerated’ many sins, and offered ultimate forgiveness based not on the full requirements of the law, but based on an individual’s trust in his Creator and in his remorse for having willingly violated His law.

Is there anyone who never ‘knowingly’ violates God’s law, even though we make ‘fleshly excuses’ for our human nature.  God knows our nature, as He formed the very fabric of our being.  This reflects much on Paul’s teaching in Romans chapter 7 where he admits that there are times in his flesh that he does that which he knows he shouldn’t and doesn’t do what he knows he should.  This is why near the end of the chapter he reflects on what a miserable wretch he is.  This is his remorse for his human failure to be perfect in God’s sight.  Yet as he considers his escape for his dilemma, he thanks his Lord who will deliver through Jesus Christ his Lord.

We are to strive to live perfect lives.  Jesus taught that we should be perfect as He is perfect.  Though He taught this, what else could He teach?  He certainly wasn’t going to teach that it was okay for us to be less than perfect.  Still, He well knows our failings and that is why John taught that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse (1^st John 1: 9).  John was not teaching this as a simple plan of salvation, because he was addressing an established group of believers in his epistle.  He recognized that even God’s flock were prone to stray.  Christians are aware of their fallen condition before God, and this results in our miserable recognition of how unworthy we are before Him, and yet in acknowledging His love and mercy, we can find the most happiness in that misery, knowing that we are made ‘right’ before Him because of His long-suffering patience, love, and mercy.  This results in the joy of knowing that we have a future home prepared for us by our Lord Jesus Christ (John 14: 1- 3).

If you suffer for doing wrong then you get what you earned.  If you suffer for being what Christ calls you to be, then you will receive your rewards.  The judgment for Christians, here, is not that judgment that separates those separated from God (those without Christ), but Christians will be judged according to their works where evil works (the sins of the flesh) will be burned away, and the fine works (the good works God wishes for us) will be purified by having the others burned away (1^st Corinthian 3:12- 15).  This judgment begins in the Christian’s life as the Father chastens and scourges every child that is His (Hebrews 12:5- 11).  Yet there is still a more severe judgment for those who are found without Christ.  So let us suffer according to the will of God as we commit our souls to well-doing, as said above and as elsewhere is taught that we are created for a life of good works (well-doing).

2^nd Peter 3:5- 10 For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (ASV)

Just as the Lord destroyed the ungodly world by the flood so many years ago, the world is to be destroyed again by fire.  Woe to those who have not found a safe haven in Noah’s ark of faith, as has been manifested to us as trust in God’s Own Word as expressed in His Own Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But why does this judgment seem so long in coming?  God does not wish anyone to perish, and allows time for people to come to a recognition of their sinful condition and come to Him for cleansing.

1^st John 2:18- 19 Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. (ASV)

There are those in the church who may put on an appearance of being a part of the church, yet they are not truly in Christ, and they go out from the church as the antichrists.

1^st John 3:23- 24 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment.  And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him.  And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us. (ASV)

Notice- ‘this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another.’  This refers back to Jesus response to the question, “What must we do to work the works of God?” and He responded that they were to believe on Him (John 6:28- 29).  This was the work that brings Jesus into one’s heart, and with Jesus in one’s heart then that person grows the law of God (that law of love) within his heart.  So the first work is to believe; and the next is to live in God’s law of love.  From this, Jesus promised that His children would be sealed with the Holy Spirit.