27/08/13

Tested by the Lord - He makes a way out

Jeremiah 35:5 - And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

We read in today's message a Man of God like Jeremiah brings the sons of Rechabites into the worship place and offers them pots of wine to drink!

We read Jeremiah did not do this by his own thinking but he was directed by God to do this. Why would God offer the Rechabites wine and that too in a place of worship? If it was not Jeremiah and someone unknown doing that, we would have immediately concluded that the person was an instrument of Satan, who else would do such a thing and that too in such a place?

Firstly let us analysis the scriptures. The wine which is mentioned here is Yayin (in Hebrew) which is daily drinking wine meaning it was not strong wine or alcohol (Shekar). This wine was mildly to moderate fermented and it would take a lot of drinking of this wine for a person to be affected by it.

Secondly God did not just tell Jeremiah to give them wine but ask him to bring them to a place considered holy to test them. If God wanted them to just drink wine, God would have asked Jeremiah to call them to his house or to go to their house and offer them wine. But by bringing them to a holy place God got them to be more aware of their commitment and this strengthened them to stay rooted to it.

The Greek word used for testing and tempting is the same word peirazo.

James tells us not to state we are tempted by God. Translation did not use the word tested but preferred to use the tempted even though the Greek word peirazo which means both is used here.

When we say the word tempted in English it means being put to test or in a situation with the intention to destroy or harm us. God tests us and He does it to promote us spiritually or to bless us. He does this to see if His Word is in us. Even Satan tries to see if the Word of God is in us but when he does it we call it temptation and not testing because his intention is to see us fail and not pass the test. That is why he made Adam and Eve first doubt the Word of God before eating of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Bad.

Today's example is a perfect example of testing verses tempting. We see God shows His intention by bring them in a holy place before being tested. God made sure He helped them to pass the test. He made a way of escape for them from failing the test. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians confirms this.

God is telling us when He tests us He makes all the possible required arrangements for us to come out of it with flying colors. He desires we mature and therefore teaches us to discern by taking us through tests.

We may ask what is the ultimate purpose of God to do this?

The testing and temptation we are going through on earth are very small for these are temptaions of the flesh, things that hold not much value. Give it a thought Lucifer called the king of tyre and the Beast called the prince of tyre were not ordinary Angels; they were Cherubs who headed legions of Angels. They were most close to the glory of God, taking the highest spiritual place any created being could and yet we see they fell. They fell not by bad things but with good spirit things which they misused, used not according the plans of God. Bible does not say God gave a Commandment to them which they broke. The first Commandment was given to man therefore the first sinner is man not Satan (plural). But the first evil being or father of evil is not man but Satan.

Going against the plan of God after having knowledge of what is right in the eyes of God is great evil. It is this evil which God calls darkness.

Had the Rechabites failed the test even after God helping them, it would have shown the evil in them. But God knowing that with a little help they would pass the test caused Jeremiah to bring them to a holy place to be tested. Their passing this test and the life of the Rechabites helped God to teach the Israelites and us the meaning of diligence. These people gave up the comforts of life to stay committed to what they believed in. They did not have much knowledge of the Truth yet we see great commitment from them; we who know of the Truth how much more is expected of us.

At times God needs to bring us back on the track or accelerate us through this journey therefore needs to put us through tests, but like today's message says He also helps us pass it and desires we do not fail or be consumed by it.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You are preparing us for greater things in Heaven. You desire we do not fall like Satan did that is why even though You allowed sin to come in man yet You made a way of escape from sin through Jesus Christ. Lord, we know You will make way for us even in the small tests that we go through if we keep committed to You like the Rechabites did. Help us Lord to keep our eyes always on You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Jeremiah 35:1-2
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

1 Corinthians 10:13 - There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Ezekiel 28:1-5, 11-17
1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.


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