Mt. Sinai and The Day of Judgment

What do the children of Israel coming to Mt. Sinai have to do with the Day of Judgment?  More than you might think.  The children of Israel reached Mt. Sinai in the third month after they left Egypt (Ex. 19:1-2).  They had had by this time many experiences and had seen God working actively on their behalf in miracle after miracle.  They had seen the plagues in Egypt many of which they were spared.  They had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, they had been provided with drinking water miraculously on two separate occasions (Ex. 15:22-25, Ex. 17:1-7), they had been fed with manna and quail (Ex. 16), and they had been able to defeat those who attacked them with God's help (Ex. 17:8-13).  There was also the cloud that accompanied them by day and the pillar of fire that accompanied them by night.  Evidence of God's presence with them and of his care for them was everywhere to be seen.

At Mt. Sinai, the Lord spoke to Moses from the mountain (Ex. 19:3) with a message for the children of Israel.  They were to be reminded of what they had seen the Lord do to the Egyptians and "how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself." (Ex. 19:4 NASB)  These things they were fully aware of.  The Lord is prepared to make a covenant with them making them his special people if they will only agree to obey him keeping his covenant (Ex. 19:5-6).  Moses goes back to the elders of the children of Israel, meets with them, and "all the people" (Ex. 19:8 NASB) agree to do whatever the Lord says.

Here is where we begin to get to what I want to talk about.  Moses returns with the words of the people to the Lord.  The Lord then says to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever." (Ex. 19:9 NASB)  All Bible students are well aware this will be the time when God descends on Mt. Sinai in sight of the people though he will be hidden in a cloud.  "On the third day (after preparations for the event are made--DS) the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." (Ex. 19:11 NASB)  It will be the time when the Lord delivers the Ten Commandments.

A question is in order here.  Why was one of the purposes of this event "so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you (Moses--DS) forever"? (Ex. 19:9 NASB)  The answer to this question is simple enough.  Moses was God's lawgiver, "For the law was given through Moses" (John 1:17 NASB).  He was God's man, the man who acted as a mediator between God and God's children, the children of Israel.  When Moses spoke to the children of Israel they were to listen for he spoke to them on God's behalf.  This event was to make it crystal clear to all of God's relationship with Moses so that the children of Israel would know with certainty that to disobey a command Moses gave was to disobey God himself.

However, there was also another reason God wanted the people to hear him.  He says, "so that the people may hear when I speak with you." (Ex. 19:9 NASB)  They had seen God in action in his miracles but they had not yet heard his voice.  He wanted them to hear him.  Why?  Was it just more confirmation to the people that Moses was God's man as God talked directly to him?  There was that in it but might there have been more?  Yes!  It was to learn to fear God.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to hear the voice of God?  What kind of an effect would that have on a man or woman?  If you were to hear a voice from heaven right now, a loud speaking voice from the heavens (not a quiet inner speaking to the mind or spirit), what kind of an effect would it have on you?  Our first and immediate reaction, one we would be incapable of not having, would be to strike us with terror down to our toes.  The children of Israel had been told what was coming, what was going to happen, and were in expectation but even so, it terrified them.  Fear can change a man and we want to pursue that thought a little bit.

On the third day, as God had said, he descended on the mountain called Mt. Sinai in the presence of the people who were at the base of the mountain although far enough back, according to God's commandment, not to be touching it.  "So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled." (Ex. 19:16 NASB)  

"Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire.  Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.  And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice." (Ex. 19:18-19 NKJV)  The NASB says, "God answered him with thunder."  However, while the original language can be technically translated either way the NKJV is correct, it should be voice rather than thunder.

How do I know?  Deut. 4:10-13, "Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, 'Assemble the people to me, that I may let them hear my words so they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'  You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom.  Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form--only a voice.  So he declared to you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and he wrote them on two tablets of stone." (NASB)  They heard words, the words of God spoken by God, not thunder.  We find further confirmation of this in Ex. 20:22, the very words of God himself directly speaking on the subject.    

On the day God descended on Mt. Sinai (called Horeb in Deut. 4:10) the New International Version says the people "trembled with fear." (Ex. 20:18 NIV)  While that is not a literal translation, the literal is "they trembled" (NASB), it is the exact meaning of the literal.  They trembled due to what they were seeing and hearing.

On that third day when God came down on top of Mt. Sinai Moses went up.  God then instructed him to go back down, warn the people again to stay their distance, and to get Aaron and bring him back up to the top of the mountain with him (with Moses), see Ex. 19:20-24.  This he did.

However, having heard God speak terrified the children of Israel to the extent that they begged Moses, "Let not God speak to us, or we will die." (Ex. 20:19 NASB)  Moses responded, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin." (Ex. 20:20 NASB)

So what are the lessons in this account for us?  I have not been telling a story just to repeat a story.  There are important lessons here for you and me today.  Here are some of them.

(1) One should fear God.  Fear is a motivating factor from God himself.  Its purpose is to keep us from sinning.  Many today say we should have no fear of God.   But the Bible says we are to perfect holiness "in the fear of God." (2 Cor. 7:1 NASB)  Of those listed by Paul in Rom. 3 as being "under sin" (ver. 9) one of the condemning factors is, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. 3:18 NASB)  Paul speaks of a factor that motivates him to preach to sinful men.  He says, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men." (2 Cor. 5:11 NASB)  He does not want men to experience condemnation and knows there is a reason to fear such an end.

Yes, I know perfect love casts out fear and the one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:18).  I am sure Paul did not fear God as in trembling fear but the fear of the Lord is one of the things that keeps us from sin (Ex. 20:20) and keeps us walking in faithful obedience so that we can develop that perfect love which in our spiritual maturity destroys fear.  That day comes when we can say as Paul did, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7 NKJV)  We never know when we are about to finish the race but we can know before death that we have fought the good fight and have kept the faith and thus have the assurance of salvation.  We need not fear God as long as we are walking in the light but the fear of God ought to keep us walking in that light.

(2) Another lesson we can learn from this account is that fear itself will not keep us on the straight and narrow road of righteousness over the long haul.  All who know the Bible know the rest of the story that is not being covered in this article.  I refer to the golden calf, an idol, which will be made before Moses returns from being on the mountain with God for forty days.  We have here a people who have experienced the real God who speaks and works miracles and who is full of wonder and awe, capable of striking terror into people in an instant, and before Moses can come down off this smoking mountain where God is the people are already into idol worship.

This is at a time when Moses is receiving the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone.  It is at the time when "the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai … and to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top." (Ex. 24:16-17 NASB)  But, did it matter?  What effect did this wondrous sight have on the children of Israel? 

People will worship their idols and soon forget God.  This is still true today.  Give a man a little terror in his life and he suddenly comes to God but it often only lasts as long as he remains terrified.  As soon as the terror abates he is back to his worship of money, or entertainment, or whatever it is he worships.  That said there are two types of men--wise men and foolish men.  Wise men learn a lesson from terror and it remains with them.  Wise men can learn from what has happened to others.  Foolish men can only learn when the stripes are laid directly on their own backs. 

(3) The final lesson in this article pertains to the terror of the Lord itself.  The children of Israel were terrified of God when directly in his presence at the foot of the mountain.  Now I want to ask one thing.  Do you think it will be any different on the Day of Judgment?  I have no idea why people have no fear of facing God in judgment, people who live their lives here in disobedience.  Do they think they are going to be standing before God as equals on that day? 

When the Day of Judgment comes it will be as it was on that morning at Mt. Sinai.  There will be no doubt about God's existence.  There will be no doubt about whether or not there is going to be a Day of Judgment.  There will be no doubt about where you are heading very, very shortly if you have never obeyed the gospel.  There will be stark terror in the hearts of all the disobedient.  There will be knees too weak to stand on.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:42).  "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31 NKJV)  "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:15 NKJV)

It is easy to walk with a swagger through life and tell yourself and others you can handle anything, that you do not need help from anyone and that you are not afraid of God.  Well, maybe you are not afraid.  Maybe you are not wise enough to be afraid but God will make you afraid in the Day of Judgment.  It is just so foolish and unnecessary that people will throw their lives away and for what?  It was for a golden calf in Moses' time and often for nothing more than foolish pride and arrogance and the pleasing of self in our own time.

Everyone needs to count the cost now of disobedience to God.  "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (Gal. 6:7 NKJV)  Will your heart fail you for fear on the Day of Judgment?  It doesn't have to be that way but it is indeed "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31 NKJV)  If you are unfaithful and disobedient we will see how strong and tough you are on that day and you will see for yourself.  On that day we will all know who we are and what our place is.

That will be the day when "the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." (2 Thess. 1:7-9 NKJV)  Yes, like at Mt. Sinai men on the Day of Judgment will know God is God and that man is not the boss.

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Never Give Up

When we learn the truth of the gospel message, come to believe it, and then sincerely obey it we sometimes expect more of ourselves than is humanly possible to deliver.  When we first come out of the water of our baptism we are determined that we will not sin, we will live sin-free.  This attitude is to be highly commended but is also unrealistic.  

Many who obey the gospel do so when young and thus their expectations about life are not in accord with reality.  They have little idea of what it will be like to live as an adult in the real world with the pressures that people face daily.  When they are confronted with them, when they are no longer sheltered but must face them head-on, they begin to stumble here and there on occasion.  Discouragement settles in for the one who was sincere in his or her gospel obedience. 

The thinking becomes I have sinned, and then I did it again either in the same way or another way, and then again, and the first thing you know it seems like you are trapped in a body that not only insists on sinning but has power over one’s own will.  We become discouraged and cease feeling good about ourselves.  We think I am not good enough; I cannot live the Christian life; I am just not a strong enough person.  

The truth is that almost all of us at one point in time or another have felt that way.  What do we do when that happens?  Too many just gradually give in to those kinds of feelings and give up.  But, is the situation hopeless?  Does it have to be that way?  I would like to take a look into the lives of some of God’s people who seemingly had the same problems I speak of here and see what they did that was sinful, what led them to do it, and how they handled it in the hope that it will help all of us. 

There is no doubt that Moses was a great man of God.  He spoke with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration before Christ’s suffering thus we know he was a saved man.  The Hebrew writer says of Moses, “And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant.” (Heb. 3:5 NKJV)  Yet, we know God would not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land because of his sin.  What was that sin? 

While the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness after having come out of the land of Egypt they came to a place later called Massah and Meribah, a place where there was no water and a place in which the people grew thirsty and began to complain to Moses.  Moses went to God concerning the matter and God directed him to go to the rock there and speak to the rock and strike it with his rod and water would come forth.  Moses did this but failed to give God the glory instead saying before striking the rock, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10 NKJV)  We infer from this that he was speaking of himself and his brother Aaron who was with him.  God was left out of the picture and not given the glory.  For this Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.  (See the accounts of this in Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 20:2-13, Numbers 20:24, Numbers 27:12-14, and Deut. 32:48-52.) 

Moses was such a great man of God that God spoke to him face to face.  “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11 NKJV - see also Num. 12:8 and Deut. 34:10).  Please note that this is said of Moses 16 chapters after the events concerning the water at the rock, after Moses’ sin.  So, what was it that would cause such a great man of God to sin the way he earlier had? 

The answer is the very same thing that gets to us as Christians today--pressure on the job, stress in our lives.  Moses in Exodus 17:2 says to the people who were complaining, “Why do you contend with me?” (NKJV)  The very next verse, verse 3, says, “the people complained against Moses,” and it gets so bad that in verse 4 Moses says to God, “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me!” (NKJV)  That is pressure on the job.  When Moses says they are almost ready to stone me we should not think that he is speaking figuratively but stoning was a real possibility if things did not soon get better.  

The Psalmist says with regards to this event, (Psalms 106:32-33 ESV), “They angered him (God--DS) at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.”  Moses grew angry and bitter at the people and spoke rashly out of passion rather than calmly with forethought and failed to give God the glory.  When we speak in the heat of passion there is seldom any good that can come out of it. 

I have used Moses as an example for us today for how often it is that Christians find themselves in very high-stress situations, under all kinds of pressure, and the result is that we too end up like Moses and sin under stress.  What kinds of sin?  A whole host of sins could be mentioned, here are a few.  We begin to put God on the back burner and give him second place in our lives feeling that there is not enough time to do everything.  Attendance at worship services begins to lag, Bible reading ceases, prayer time diminishes, there is no time for good works, and we begin doing whatever it is that is required of us to stay in good standing in our job even if it means sacrificing our Christian life.  It is easy to eventually end up as a Christian dropout. 

This can happen and it does happen all of the time--the more professional your job, the more responsibility you have, the more of an executive position you hold the tougher it becomes.  Expectations are so great and the kinds of people we often work with are far from having Christian character, just the opposite, and it makes it very difficult to survive as a Christian.  With all the attempts to get the most out of the least, it seems everyone is under pressure on the job no matter what position they hold--blue collar or white collar. 

I want to say there are no easy answers to these kinds of situations that we find ourselves in.  I heard one preacher say words to the effect that we can quit our job.  Yes, and then what?  Will the next job be any better?  This is America in the twenty-first century.  If there are any stress-free jobs in our country today I do not know where or what they are.  We cannot herd sheep.  What can we do then? 

We can hang in there.  We can fight the battle as best we can.  We can pray to God for help.  We can do our best.  We can trust God’s grace.  We can follow Moses’ example and not give up.  When God told him of his sin and told him he would not be allowed into the Promised Land he could have given up.  He could have said I have the toughest job in the world leading these people that are continually giving me a hard time and they are bringing me down with them and I quit, I give up. Despite my best efforts, I cannot live faithfully and please God. 

Had Moses done this what then?  Where would he be today?  Would he have met with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?  Would he have been called a faithful man in the book of Hebrews as is the case?  What did Moses do? 

He did not quit.  He accepted his sin for what it was and went on with life.  He continued to trust in God as his hope and salvation.  This is exactly what we need to do today.  Remember Moses when things get tough in your life and follow his example. 

Another man I would like to deal with is David.  You know the story of David, a man the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).  And yet, as great a man of God as David was, his sin with Bathsheba is perhaps the best-known case of adultery that ever occurred.  And one can add murder to his list of sins for having Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed.  The account of this affair can be found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. 

David was a man who had always done God’s will.  If he had lived in the Christian era we would say there was a man who was so strong in the faith that it is impossible to live up to the example he set.  We might well say of him, if he lived near us in our own time, that he is the best Christian man I have ever met.  Of course, David was not a Christian as he lived under the Law of Moses but I say this to emphasize what a man of God he truly was, a super role model in so many ways. 

Yet, he fell mightily.  He lusted with his eyes and heart after Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover his tracks and hide his sin when he discovered Bathsheba was with child, his child.  All this sin began when, because of outside stimulus, his heart ceased to be pure. 

Yet, despite his sin, as horrible as it was, the Bible speaks highly of him.  Here is what it says in comments that are being made about Abijam, a king who came later down the road after David.  “His heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.  Nevertheless, for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:3-5 NKJV)   

When David’s life on earth ended he was found in God’s favor.  The words just quoted above came, obviously, after David’s death.  

What can we learn from what happened to David?  I start with this.  Don’t be deceived, there is no one no matter how spiritual they may appear and may be who is not capable of sin, even grievous sin.  We sometimes tend to think others are strong and not tempted like me.  Don’t be overly sure of that.  No one is struggling like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  No one has to fight temptation like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  It is said that David was around 50 years old at the time of this sin.  It is not just the young who struggle to be faithful. 

Secondly, David’s sin came about as a result of factors external to himself.  He saw, he was tempted, and he lusted.  How many of our sins begin with factors external to us?  We see this or that, we hear this or that, it creates desire within our hearts, and we give in to temptation.  We may not see a naked lady bathing but every day we are exposed to things from the outside that cause lust in our hearts whether it be sexual lust, as was the case with David, or the desire for possessions, or the desire to have position and authority and be praised and honored as we see other men and women being praised and honored, or maybe just the desire to fit in and be accepted as one of the guys.  What we see and hear affects us. 

It is a battle all of us fight.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:13 “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” (NKJV) which tells us not to kid ourselves.  We are not alone in being tempted by the things of this world.  But Paul goes on and says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 NKJV)  

But you may be saying to yourself as you examine your life that I failed.  I did not take the way of escape.  Well, you have joined vast multitudes of God’s people that have had to confess the same thing at various times in their lives including David, the great man of God.  The point is that it is not hopeless. 

We all believe we are going to see David in heaven.  Why?  The answer is he repented and he did not give up.  It would be easy for a man who has committed adultery and murder to go into the depths of despair so deep as to never come out again.  Imagine the shame, the self-loathing, and the inability to look at one’s self in the mirror--the never-ending regret and sorrow. 

What is the lesson?  Never give up; there is always good reason for hope.  God will forgive you no matter how atrocious your sins may be.  The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Jesus did not come to earth to die on the cross just so men could die in sin.  I remind the reader that both Moses and David were men of God at the time of their sins.  God forgave them.  He will forgive you and me if we repent and do not give up.  Nothing most people have done will compare with what David did.  You have never murdered, have you?  God forgave him.  God will forgive you. 

The 51st Psalm was written by David as a result of this sin he had committed and after Nathan had confronted him and David had repented.  First, he asks for forgiveness and acknowledges his transgressions but then he says in verse 10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NKJV)  Do you think God was capable of doing that with David?  Do you think he is capable of doing that with you or me when we get caught up in sin?  Remember David is speaking or writing but doing so by inspiration of the Holy Spirit who led him to utter these words.  God is able and willing if we like David will repent. 

Then note verses 16 and 17 where David says, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17 NKJV)  When a man or woman truly from the depths of their heart repents God will forgive them and we are talking here about the children of God.  Remember how the father received back the prodigal son in the New Testament?  The message is God wants us back. 

In closing, I want to touch on a few passages in the New Testament.  The church at Corinth was full of sinning Christians.  The book of First Corinthians was written with a view of getting the brethren to repent.  Just about every sin you can think of was going on in the church there.  This included even a man who had his father’s wife sexually.  

Paul wrote the brethren back sometime later giving us the book of Second Corinthians.  In that book, he makes it clear that even this man was forgiven as he had repented.  He says to the brethren, “You ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.  Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.” (2 Cor. 2:7-8 NKJV) 

In 2 Cor. 2:10-11 Paul says concerning this man and this situation, “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.  For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devises.” (NKJV) 

Barnes in his commentary on this passage says, “And the idea is, that they should at once re-admit the penitent offender to their communion, lest if they did not do it, Satan would take advantage of it to do injury to him and them.  It is a reason given by Paul why they should lose no time in restoring him to the church.” 

Concerning the sins of the brethren at Corinth besides this man’s sin Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:9-10, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance.  For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (NKJV) 

Remember we are talking to and about Christians here.  Their repentance led to their salvation.  They suffered loss in nothing for they repented and God received them again. 

Still, there were some at Corinth that had not repented in contrast to those who had.  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12:21 that he fears when he comes to them again that there will be some that “have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.” (NKJV)  Yes, Christians can become involved in anything as did David but if we will repent God will forgive.  Paul’s lament here is that he fears some have not repented. 

The very last passage I want to touch on is found in Hebrews 10:35-36.  It seems the brethren were growing weary and about to give up and drift away.  They are admonished, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (NKJV) 

The message--don’t give up.  No matter how weak you may be at times, no matter how many sins you may commit as a Christian, no matter how bad they may be don’t give up.  It is never hopeless until we give up.  We are all in the same boat together.  John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NKJV)  Sin hits us all even as Christians.  The other guy may just do a better job hiding his.  Quitters never win and never can.  Only when we quit is it over.  Jesus came into the world to save us, not condemn us.  Let us do as David did, repent, and then get up and get going again.  You have the road of salvation to travel so get up and get going again. 

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Misreading Reality – Jeremiah 44

After Judah and Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians and the people deported, and carried away captive back to Babylon, the remanent remaining defied God and left for Egypt.  The Bible says, “for whatever things were written before were written for our learning” (Rom 15:4 NKJV) and there is certainly a lesson to be learned from the way that remanent misread reality, a lesson to be applied in our time.  Because of their misperception, they experienced catastrophe.

After Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and destroyed the city he carried away captive back to Babylon most of the people who remained alive but left some of the poor people of Judah with a man named Gedaliah to govern over them.  When Jews who had been scattered roundabout heard about Gedaliah being left to govern they returned to Judah (Jer. 40:11-12).  However, a plot was hatched by the king of the Ammonites to have Gedaliah murdered (Jer. 40:14) which took place (Jer. 41:2-3) creating great fear among the Jews fearing that Nebuchadnezzar would seek revenge on them for this killing even though they had nothing to do with it. (Jer. 41:17-18)

Their desire was to flee to Egypt where they thought they would be safe.  They sought Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord what they should do.  This he did the Lord telling them if they would remain in Judah it would go well with them, he would save them, but if they were to go to Egpyt “then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt” (Jer. 42::16 NKJV).

Here is our first lesson.  They did not believe Jeremiah, “You speak falsely!” (Jer. 43:2 NKJV)  We are now some 40 chapters into Jeremiah.  Jeremiah has been prophesying to them for years before Nebuchadnezzar and his prophecies have all been shown to be true by the events that have come to pass.  Is he now to be judged a liar?  They have every assurance he is speaking the truth but they cannot accept it.  Why not?

Well, certainly it is a lack of faith but why?  It is hard to trust one you have been away from so long.  They had been steeped in idolatry which is why Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians, God calling Nebuchadnezzar his servant (Jer. 25:9).  He was God’s instrument to punish.  They had come to trust in their idolatry as we shall see as we continue on.  They had lost trust in God. 

Sin is deceitful (Heb. 3:13).  The prodigal son of Luke 15 thought things were going well until they weren’t.  The Bible says “when he came to himself” (Luke 15:17 NKJV) he repented (verses 18-19).  There is a sense when one gets caught up in sin that he does not think right, he is reading life wrong, judging matters incorrectly, thinking wrong but he/she does not think so.  Sin is deceitful. 

Sometimes one’s life has to be almost destroyed before you can get the person to change their thinking.  The Jewish people finally got out of pagan idolatry once and for all but at what an awful price.  In our own time, we see how the Japanese got out of Emperor worship and the Germans out of Nazism but it took destruction to bring it about.

“The heart is deceitful above all things.” (Jer. 17:9 NKJV)  “There is a way that seems right to a man,  but its end is the way of death.” (Pro. 14:12 NKJV)  Both of these passages assuredly apply to the Jews of that time but they also apply to you and me today.  Our heart tells us this or that but how reliable is it?  We are persuaded we are doing the right thing but are we?  These Jews were sure going to Egypt was the right move.

Upon the arrival of the remanent of the Jews in Egypt and their settlement, Jeremiah continued to speak to them God’s word.  “Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves … in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt.” (Jer. 44: 7-8 NKJV) 

Hear their reply.

“Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: "As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!  But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.  For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble.  But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine." (Jer. 44:15-18 NKJV)

Yes, they badly misread reality.  They thought when they were living in sin before God’s punishment that the good life they were enjoying was because of their idolatry.  The reality was it was because of God’s great patience and longsuffering, granting them time and opportunity for repentance but they could not see that.

Herein lies the final lesson to be learned.  It can be difficult at times to read reality.  Things that seem to be one way may be just the opposite.  Job had an awful time with this.  What is going on?  We do not know why things happen.  We may misjudge and misunderstand.  Things can be very deceiving.  One thinks of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.  The rich man was receiving God’s blessings, an abundant harvest.  Did this reflect God’s approval of his character?  To ask is to answer.  But, at the time it may well have seemed that way.

The poor man in that account, did his state reflect his spiritual status?  Again, to ask is to answer.  It would be easy to misjudge reality looking at this case if one was not privy to the whole story as given in the scriptures.

The lesson to be learned is that we cannot depend on our wisdom and judgment to direct us in life.  Just because it seems right, whatever it is, does not make it right.  God’s word must direct us, believing and obeying is the only answer to life. 

Solomon nailed it in closing out the book of Ecclesiastes when he said:

“The end of the matter; all has been heard.  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13 ESV)

This was the failure of the Jews of Jeremiah’s day, they did not do that.  May it not be our failure in our day.

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Philip, The Miracle Working Evangelist

Philip, while not an apostle, not one of the twelve, was nevertheless an important figure in the earliest days of the church.  He along with Stephen were among the seven that were chosen by the church in Jerusalem to oversee the work of providing for the needs of the Hellenistic Jewish widows in the daily administration, evidently an administration of food and sustenance by the church to widows in need.  The qualifications for these seven men as put forth by the apostles was that they be “men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” (Acts 6:3 NKJV)

That they were full of the Holy Spirit is readily seen by the historical account of both Stephen and Philip in Acts 6:8-8:40.  Of Stephen it is said he “did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8 NKJV)  Philip did much the same as can be seen from Acts 8:6-7, 13.  The people of Samaria “heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” (Acts 8:6 NKJV)  Simon, the one we often call the sorcerer, in accompanying Philip “was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.” (Acts 8:13 NKJV)

How did these two men, and our emphasis is on Philip, come to have such power?  How was it granted to them and why?  Was it by the laying on of the apostles’ hands?  We are told that was the way the Holy Spirit was conferred (Acts 8:18).  Stephen and Philip were men full of the Holy Spirit before the apostles laid hands on them in Acts 6:6, read carefully Acts 6:3-6 with a view to chronology.  However, this could have been a second laying on of hands in Acts 6:6 that is recorded for us.  Perhaps the apostles had laid hands on them at an earlier date to confer the Holy Spirit.

Not every laying on of hands was for the purpose of imparting the Holy Spirit (see Acts 13:2-3).  It was on occasion an act showing support, approval, and fellowship when commissioning others for a task such as when Paul and Barnabas had hands laid on them as they departed on their first missionary journey.

It may be that God conferred the miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit directly himself in the early days of the church as well as through the laying on of the hands of the apostles.  I have always wondered how Philip’s daughters who prophesied came to have that gift.  Did one of the apostles lay their hands on them?

Joel quoted God as saying, “I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; You sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17)  He did not say he would use an intermediary to do this.  See also Acts 2:18.  Acts 8:16 seems to imply to me, at least, that at times the Holy Spirit did fall on a baptized believer.  It reads, “For as yet He had fallen upon none of them.” (Acts 8:16 NKJV)  That implies to me that sometimes the Holy Spirit did fall on brethren without the laying on of hands.  I may be mistaken.

A number of prophets are mentioned by name in the book of Acts - Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen in Acts 13:1, Judas and Silas in Acts 15:32,  and Agabus in Acts 21:10?  Were they made prophets by the laying on of the apostles’ hands?  How about the unnamed prophets in Acts 11:27?  Some were indeed made prophets that way (Acts 19:6) but did God not make any prophets without the laying on of hands?  That is the question.

The Corinthians were to “desire spiritual gifts”(1 Cor. 14:1 NKJV) and “earnestly desire the best gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31 NKJV) even though it seems the church was full of spiritually gifted people already (1 Cor. 14:26).  But, Paul was not present with them as an apostle when he wrote them.  How were they to acquire spiritual gifts if no apostle was present to lay hands on them if that was the only way spiritual gifts were transmitted?  Is it not possible that God would confer those gifts directly himself?

1 Cor. 14:13 says that one who speaks in a tongue ought to “pray that he may interpret.” (NKJV)  This was a gift if it was to come that would be conferred directly by God himself, not by a laying on of hands, or so it seems.  The individual already had a gift, the gift of speaking in a tongue, but if he was to receive a second gift, that of interpretation, it was prayer that was needed, not the laying on of the hands of an apostle.  Again, so it seems to me. 

Then one wonders about the Ethiopian eunuch that Philip would convert shortly after the Samaritans (Acts 8:26-39).  Philip, not being an apostle, could confer no spiritual gift to him.  Was the eunuch going to be able to do the Ethiopian people much good without one or more spiritual gifts?  How were they to be acquired if not directly from heaven?  Did the eunuch have Philip’s sermon memorized so he could teach others?  He did have the scriptures, at least Isaiah, so perhaps he could have evangelized without a spiritual gift but one does wonder.

One can go back even earlier in time.  When Jesus was a babe the Bible speaks of a man named Simeon who saw Jesus as a baby in the temple.  He had been promised he would not die before seeing “the Lord’s Christ.” (Luke 2:26 NKJV)  The Bible says “the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25 NKJV)  This gift did not come by the laying on of hands.  In the same chapter in Luke, we read of Anna “a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.” (Luke 2:36-38 NKJV)  Her gift did not come from the laying on of hands.  There were no apostles yet.

The point I am getting at is I think it likely God conferred spiritual gifts upon mankind independently of the apostles at his discretion during the infancy age of the church.  I am certainly not denying the apostle’s ability to confer the miraculous measure of the Spirit by the laying on of hands.  The question is only about whether or not that was the one and only means of receiving such a measure in those days.

But it is a minor issue and of no real importance in view of the fact the days of miraculous spiritual gifts have long since passed.  Such gifts accomplished their purpose for that day and age and for all time which brings us to what that purpose was.

Why did Philip and others receive the miraculous measure of the spirit beyond the ability to teach the truth without error?  What was the purpose of wonders, signs, and miracles?  The apostle John in his written account of the gospel says he recorded Jesus’ signs to create belief.  “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (Joh 20:30-31 NKJV)  So, the signs Jesus’ performed were to create faith.

They were also provided to confirm the word that was preached was indeed the truth and from God.  “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Heb 2:3-4 NKJV)

These things have ceased today for they are no longer needed.  Once a truth has been confirmed how many times do you have to go back and reaffirm it?  Miracles, signs, and wonders that continue for centuries become commonplace and cease to amaze and create wonder.  They cease to be miracles, signs, and wonders and in doing so fail to convince of anything.

Philip’s ability to perform miracles had great effect in Samaria.  The biblical text says, “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” (Act 8:6 NKJV)  And then, “When they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (Act 8:12 NKJV)  We thus see the purpose of miracles being fulfilled.

These people were now Christians.  However, they lacked spiritual gifts of any kind for Philip not being an apostle could not convey the Holy Spirit in its miraculous measure to them and God had not conveyed it to them directly.  It came by the laying on of the hands of the apostles.  “Through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given.” (Acts 8:18 NKJV)  Peter and John came to Samaria and did this for the brethren there (Acts 8:14-17).

These brethren were saved from their sins prior to receiving the miraculous measure of the Spirit.  Had Peter and John never come down to Samaria the brethren there would have still been saved.  However, without miraculous gifts it would have been hard for them to carry on once Philip left them.  They were babes in Christ.  There were no New Testaments.  Their knowledge and understanding was likely limited to the very first principles of the gospel.  One must also recognize the limitations of the human mind.  How well do we remember things?  How well can you argue spiritual matters from memory alone?  The apostles themselves were promised the Holy Spirit to help them to remember.  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26 NKJV)

The need for spiritual help and guidance in every congregation established in the first century is one of the things that leads me to the belief that sometimes God likely bestowed gifts of the spirit directly as well as through the hands of the apostles unless we believe all congregations established in the first century were established by the apostles.  We know God did the bestowing directly with Cornelius and his household even if we believe, as I do, that on that occasion it was for a special purpose.

One other comment before closing this chapter on Philip’s preaching life.  Many think baptism is no part of the gospel.  Philip did not think that way.  He preached baptism as a part of preaching Christ and the kingdom of God.  How do we know?  The text does not say he did.  The text does say they were baptized, “both men and women were baptized.” (Acts 8:12)  How did the Samaritans know anything at all about baptism if Philip did not preach it?  Thus we see to preach “the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12 NKJV) involves preaching baptism.

The final question – did Philip preach non-essentials?  He did if baptism is not essential to salvation as so many teach today.  You must remember Philip was a Holy Spirit inspired preacher.  Think on that before belittling baptism.

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