12 FOUNDATION STONES - CLASS 6B PROPHETS AND PEOPLE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE, PART 2.2 ------------------------------------------ Section 2: Heroes with Clay Feet ------------------------------------------ > The people God uses! Acts 14:15 - And saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them." The people we read about in the Bible, including the ones whom the Lord used to write the Bible, were people just like us. They were men and women "with clay feet" who made mistakes and committed sins. The Lord still used them, just as He can use any of us who open our lives to Him today. God's Word portrays its heroes as they really were! It doesn't depict them as men who were perfect and never made a mistake and supernatural and all that sort of thing, but they were just ordinary men like you and me. They made their big mistakes just like you and I do, and if it weren't for God, why, they really would have been a mess - just like you and I are without God! In fact, one of the proofs that the Bible is a supernatural, miraculous book of God and not man, is that when man writes history, much of the time he covers up the failings and mistakes of his heroes, whereas God lays them out wide open there, the mistakes that they made and their sins! - And yet they repented and God forgave them and they were restored and they were still useful in spite of it all, which gives all of us sinners hope. Let's look at a few examples. We've chosen three characters who did great things for God, and we're giving you one example each of how they failed. ------------------------------------------ > Moses ------------------------------------------ Moses lived around 1400 B.C. He led the Israelites out of their bondage as slaves in Egypt. Through Him, God gave the Israelites the first five books of the Bible that contained the Law, a mixture of both civil and religious ordinances, by which they were to be governed. A mistake: When Moses was 40 years old, he got in a hurry to deliver the children of Israel and killed an Egyptian. He had to flee for his life, and lived 40 years in the wilderness with the sheep and his father-in-law. It was only after 40 years of patiently and humbly tending sheep in the wilderness, with time to listen to the Voice of God instead of his own impulses, that he was ready for the slow, laborious, patient work of the Exodus to deliver the Israelites from Egypt - slow, but sure! Exodus 2:11–12,15 - Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (12) So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (15) When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian. Striking the rock Another example is when Moses disobeyed and struck the rock twice in the energy of the flesh rather than in the power of the Spirit. The Children of Israel had left Egypt and were passing through the wilderness. The Lord had already done miracles to supply them with water and food. On this occasion, again there was no water and the people began to murmur. God directed Moses through to bring forth water out of the rock by speaking to it. Numbers 20:8 - Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals. But instead Moses shouted angrily at the people, Numbers 20:10–11 - "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. The Lord was angry with Moses for having behaved in this very wrathful and impatient fashion before the people in this display of a fit of anger and impatience with them in which he also acted almost as though he were angry at the rock as well, which was a type of Christ, so that he smote it angrily twice with his rod instead of just speaking to it. Well, it got the results that he wanted and needed and got the water out of the rock to supply the people and their beasts with their needs, but God didn't like the way he did it! He did the right thing but in the wrong way, and God was so angry with him for this display of temper (angry impatience is a sign of lack of perfect faith and rest in the Lord) that He punished Moses by telling him, Numbers 27:14 - You rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.) Numbers 20:12 - Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. Because he wasn't a better example of God's own patience with the people, therefore Moses was only allowed to see the Promised Land from afar, from the top of a mountain, before he died. ------------------------------------------ > King David ------------------------------------------ David was the greatest king of ancient Israel and lived around 1000 B.C. Although a man of force and faults who sinned greatly, the Bible says of him that he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 3:14). He wrote many of the songs of praise that constitute the largest book of the Bible, the Book of Psalms. A mistake: Read all of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12 (up to verse 25), or read the explanation below: David fell in love with Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, who lived within the shadow of the walls of the palace. Her husband Uriah, a heroic general, was battling in David's army. David saw Bathsheba taking a bath. He stood up on the roof, breathing in the night air and taking a look at Bathsheba every now and then. The king fell in love with Bathsheba. He eventually invited her to the palace where he made love to her and she conceived. David then recalled her husband Uriah home from the battlefront with the feint of having him report how the war went. Once he had heard the report, he told Uriah to go spend the night with his wife. He refused to do so. He said, "My lord Joab and the men of Israel are sleeping in tents and on the ground. How can I go down and enjoy my wife and my own home?" So instead, he slept out by David's gate. This made David really angry, as he wanted Uriah to sleep with his wife so it would appear that he had fathered the child. So he arranged with his top general Joab to have Uriah placed in the frontline of the battle and then have his escort withdraw, so he would be killed - which he was! He sent Uriah to his death! As God's punishment, the son born to David and Bathsheba got sick and died. But God allowed David to marry Bathsheba, who became the queen. Then after they were married, their next child, Solomon, later became the next king - one of the forerunners of Christ Himself! It's a strange thing how the Lord let this happen. Perhaps, if Bathsheba was the one that God wanted for the job (of being the mother of the next king), God could have done it some other way - without David committing murder! But sad to say, that's the way it happened! The way David went about this was a very great sin in the sight of the Lord! The incident of David's sin brought Nathan the prophet to David's side. The prophet poured out upon him such a scathing denunciation that David cried out: "I have sinned against the Lord!" (2 Samuel 12:13.) And so he had! David greatly repented. However, the Lord pronounced certain judgments upon him that would happen, even in spite of his repentance: Their first child would die, the sword would never depart from his house, the kingdom would be taken from his heirs, and it would be divided! Psalm 51 is David's prayer of repentance on this occasion. King David is a great inspiration and comfort to many of us, because if such a big sinner could be forgiven such big sins and the Lord still turned around and called him a man after His own heart, then you know how great the love and mercy of the Lord is! Despite David's sins, the Lord forgave him because he loved the Lord. He knew he was a sinner and he confessed it and he repented. ------------------------------------------ > Paul ------------------------------------------ Paul was the greatest evangelist and teacher of the early Christians. He was not one of those who personally followed Jesus while He was on earth, but was, in fact, a persecutor of the early Christians after Jesus' ascension. That changed when, while on a mission to arrest some Christians, he was temporarily blinded by a brilliant light out of which Jesus spoke to him. After being blind for three days, his sight was restored after a Christian prayed for him, and from that point on Paul became the dynamic leader of the early Christians. Aside from tirelessly traveling to preach the Gospel and establishing Christian communities in many cities in the eastern areas of the Roman empire, he also wrote many letters of instruction, 14 of which were incorporated into the New Testament over 150 years later. The Apostle Paul did not consider himself to have "attained." Philippians 3:13–14 - Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. A mistake: Besides having been a vicious persecutor of the Christians before he got saved, Paul later curtailed his own ministry by stubbornly going back to Jerusalem and trying to appease the religionists of his time. After being warned not to by the Spirit, Paul returned to the temple at Jerusalem and was arrested. He spent most of his remaining life in bonds until his final execution in Rome. It certainly seems that it was a mistake when he went back to the temple. He went in spite of every warning that God's prophets gave him not to go. Acts 20:16 - For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 20:22–23 - [He told his friends:] "And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, (23) except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me." Paul obviously disobeyed the checks of the Lord! God tried to stop him from going to Jerusalem. He even got to one place where a prophet took his belt and tied his hands together and said, "If you go to Jerusalem, this is what's going to happen to you!" God was warning him not to go, yet he went anyway. Acts 21:10–12 - And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. (11) When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" (12) Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. In spite of all the warnings God gave Paul not to go he went anyway, and it didn't do anything but cause him trouble. The Lord used him anyway. He wrote a lot of letters and he got to witness to Caesar's household, and perhaps it was of the Lord in order to get him to go to Rome. Maybe that's why the Lord let it happen, but it certainly didn't do the Jews any good and it certainly didn't bring about any peace with the Temple or the religious leaders. So it was just a matter of God using Paul's mistake for His glory; it didn't vindicate or justify Paul in what he did. The Lord did use him, but how much more might he have accomplished if he had not been imprisoned. Compare this with the time he did act more wisely (for example, his preaching in Athens, see Acts 17:16–34). ------------------------------------------ > Learning from our mistakes ------------------------------------------ One important point to note is that we only make progress if we learn from our mistakes. Not all of God's people have learned from their mistakes and therefore they didn't make the progress He was hoping they would! Mistakes are useful tools for learning, but only if we learn from them. ------------------------------------------ * Within reach! ------------------------------------------ Some people make characters in the Bible sound so far above and beyond us that they seem unrelatable to our present existence. - But the Lord wants us to realize how human they were and how much like us they were. We've pointed out a few of their mistakes to show you that even the greatest heroes were not perfect! It's important to bring some of these characters down closer to our level where we can see there is hope for us. If those in the Bible could serve the Lord, despite their weaknesses and character flaws and mistakes, so can we! * The Lord is not going to expect more of you than you're able to bear. He's not going to ask more of you than what you are capable of, and what He asks of you He will give you the strength for. - And even when you fail, as long as you ask His forgiveness, He will forgive you and help you up and help you try again. 1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but 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. Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Proverbs 24:16 - For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. Daniel 11:34a - Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help. Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. * The Lord has shown us that anyone who accepts Him, and wants to serve Him, He accepts. Jesus walked those dusty roads and talked to the simple fishermen and the tax collectors, prostitutes and drunks, as well as the influential and the educated, in order to show them that God loved them all and they could all love God, they could all love each other and serve each other and serve the world with the Gospel. He came to try to make it as easy as He could! - And that's why the religious leaders of His day wanted to crucify Him, because they taught the people that you couldn't get close to God without them and without following all of their religious laws. But that's not what Jesus preached! The only standards and requirements He has given us are contained in the Law of Love: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart … and your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37,39). ------------------------------------------ Conclusion ------------------------------------------ All the Bible knowledge without love in action will be nothing. Knowing the Bible backwards and forwards is not going to help us if we're not living it and applying it. Lord help us all to apply what we read, to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. - And Lord help us all never to be discouraged by our limitations or failures, remembering the sample of God's people of years gone by, and how they, too, fell and made mistakes, yet because of their love for the Lord He could keep on using them. Help us to follow that example, of love and dedication of the heart. (end)