All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
Ecclesiastes 8:9-17
Injustice
Day 65 – Who Is Like the LORD?
We hear many people speak of “Justice”, “Right” or “Rights”, and the world is filled with injustice, and unrighteousness; and none of us are completely innocent of either. We love seeing the hungry fed, the poor and/or homeless given shelter and even finding prosperity in their paths of life. Is it injustice that makes people poor; or unrighteousness that causes a family to go hungry or without shelter? My answer to that is NO! Circumstances in life can have an affect on an individual’s misfortune; or that of a families homelessness and poverty.
One thing we can be certain of and that is that there is no injustice, or unrighteousness in or with our GOD, the Lord of creation. My reading began in the Minor Prophet of Micah, and concluded with Habakkuk with Nahum in between. My reading only consisted of 13 chapters today. That is where those five extra days at the end will help make up the difference.
Micah is a prophet who calls for his listeners to “Hear”. In verses 1:2; 2:1, 9; 6:1 the prophet Micah calls for the people to “Hear”. He calls on the religious leaders to hear, the political leaders, and the people to “Hear”. We need to hear what Micah has to say. Micah’s name means, “Who is like the LORD?”
“The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.” Micah 1:1-4 (KJV)
By the first verse we can tell that Micah was a contemporary with Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. The LORD is a witness against all injustice and unrighteousness.
How many times have you heard someone say, “Life is not fair”, or “That’s just not fair” or some other “fair” statement. NO! Life is not fair. God is however Just and Righteous; and we can depend on and trust Him to do what is right, just and holy. He calls on His people to live that way too. The LORD is not pleased when He sees injustice and unrighteousness, especially in those who call themselves “children of God”.
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:1-2
Micah is a prophet with a prophecy of promise. A day is coming when nations will “flow” unto the “Mountain of the house of the LORD”. “Flow” seems like a thing that a river would do within its banks. It is a natural thing for a river to flow. It is a natural thing for the people of God to flow to the place where God is, yet it is by the power of God that we are able to flow there. Who is like the LORD?
We can see this question; though not stated as we read Nahum and Habakkuk.
In Nahum we have written,
“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.” Nahum 1:3-8 (KJV)
The prophecy of Nahum is written to Nineveh, that same city that God had sent the prophet Jonah to about 100 or so years previous to Nahum’s prophecy; and the city had repented, and God withheld judgment. However, now judgment was coming because of their sinful brutality and wickedness;
“Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; the noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. ‘Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; ‘and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?'” Nahum 3:1-7
Though Habakkuk asked the timeless question, “How can a holy God allow evil to continue?” he still comes to the conclusion like the others. “Who is like the LORD?” This prophecy is a debate, of sorts, between the prophet and the LORD. Of course in a debate such as that there is only one winner of the debate; however the one who yields to the LORD’S wisdom is a winner too.
Habakkuk’s conclusion of the matter,
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 (KJV)
Habakkuk has reached the conclusion that all of God’s people will reach. God is God. There is no other. I will trust in Him when there are no crops; when the blessings are all dried up; when the flocks and the herds are no more. Who is like the LORD? There is none like Him.
-Tim A. Blankenship
When the Righteous Rule
The wisdom of Solomon in the Proverbs has formerly said,
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:14
and that is so evidently true in many cases of nations and people. It is true of Israel, England, and the United States of America; and any other nation which has had righteous rule. The writer of Proverbs also states;
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 (KJV)
Many professing Christians believe that this nation is about to come under the judgment of God because of unrighteous rule, and unrighteous laws, and unrighteous deeds. However, that is just not the case; we have unrighteous rule, unrighteous laws, and unrighteous deeds, because the judgment of God is already on us. It is not coming it is here.
We have been a nation [USA] which has lived comfortably, leisurely, and selfishly. And, without much thought of how God’s hand was on us without pride, and greed having a upper hand in it.
The people of a nation led by righteous authority do rejoice; there are more freedoms with self control, generosity, caring, sharing, and loving. Righteousness equals right judgments in situations of law, court judgments in cases of crime, and injustice. Righteousness is doing that which is right according to what God says; not what man says is right. Righteousness knows right from wrong; and yes there is right and wrong.
When the wicked rule there is unrighteousness, fear, injustice, greed, religious zeal without fear of God or consequences of unrighteous acts.
When there is wicked men who rule a nation; that does not mean that Christian men and women cannot be righteous in their conduct. It is the time for men and women of God to shine the righteousness of Christ to a world in darkness; to our nation in darkness. No politician can save this nation from ruin. According to the unrighteous prophets of our day, things will get better, economically; but morally, and legally things will worsen, and get darker. It is time for the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to shine.
Shine down YOUR righteousness O LORD. Shine Jesus Shine. One day we know YOU will come and rule; then, that will truly be WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS RULE.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Note: In my commentary above I have written, “According to the unrighteous prophets of our day, things will get better, economically; but morally, and legally things will worsen…” I was not meaning to say that the unrighteous prophets believed things would worsen morally, and legally; but that is my thoughts.
Without Fault
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…” Jude 24 (NKJV).
Can you imagine standing in a courtroom, you are the defendant, all the evidence has been given; you are guilty; you did the crime, and you figure that the judge is going to “throw the book” at you; sentencing you to the full extent of the law. You pled guilty, and the judge steps up to the judge’s seat, sits down, looks at his book of evidence; then, he says, “Not guilty, by reason of substitution. Someone else has already paid for the crime.”
Wouldn’t that send a relieving shock through your mind, your heart? It does mine. We are all guilty before the great Judge who is Almighty God, the Creator of all that is. We have sinned – for those who do not understand what sin is; you/we have broken God’s law, we have stepped out of His will to do our own will, and made our own laws for ourselves – we have disobeyed His laws.
God, who is holy, righteous, and just could not fellowship with what was vile, unclean, and unholy, unrighteous, and unjust. Because He loved us so extremely much, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to pay our sin debt. There on that cross there was a transaction between the Father and Son which we cannot fully understand. The Father poured out all His wrath toward sin, upon that precious Son, and the Son submitted Himself to the Father’s will. Jesus, in fact, “became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), and was “wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). The Father, Himself struck His own Son in wrath for my sins and yours. The debt of sin is paid.
Jude tells us, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.“ Not only is He able to keep us, but He is also able to present us before the presence of the glory of the Father “faultless”. We will one day stand before the Judge of all men, women, boys and girls – those who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior – and will hear the Judge say, “Not guilty; there is no fault here”, and all because of the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross of calvary.
Those who have not received this gracious gift of God. Have shunned the truth of God’s Word, the gospel of Jesus Christ, will one day stand before this Judge, and will hear Him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me into everlasting judgment.” That is not what you want, and I do not want that for you. If I have any enemy, other than the devil himself, I do not want that for them. Seek the face of God. Turn from your sins to Jesus Christ. There is forgiveness with Him alone. There is Cleansing through Him and only Him. There is eternal life by the power of His resurrection, and it is yours by grace through faith in Him.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Third Woe and a Promise
EARTH FILLED WITH GLORY
“Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:12-14 (KJV).
The third woe is here presented. So far the “Woes” have had to do with unjust increase, and increase at the cost of another’s fall, by the profiteer’s own doing. Remember these woes are being pronounced against Babylon. It seems that there are lessons the Christian and the world of today should hear and heed. If these things were evil for Babylon to practice, then they are evil in any society.
This again is a continuation of the charges against them. They have been pillaging, robbing, killing, and taking all the treasures of every land. They were using means which would not meet with God’s approval. There was much injustice in their dealings with the people of God and others.
It is a wicked people who take from the weak to establish their own homes, villages, towns and cities. It is a vile thing in the eyes of our Just God to see those who gain and gain and gain never to return anything to God for His glory. The one’s who have against those who have not. Those who have money can “legally” charge those who cannot afford it 30 percent or more for the credit. That should be illegal in this country. “O, that is capitalism – that’s the way it works”. That is capitalism run amuck. It is foul, it is a stench in the nostrils of holy God. To correct this there should be a fair exchange of money. What you charge the wealthy should be the rate you charge the poor man or woman. Really it would be a delight in the eye of God to charge less to the poor, than to the rich. Laugh if you will, but you laugh at holy God.
The wealthy put people to work, and some do not pay a wage consistent enough to live on. Then, they charge an enormous amount of money for their product, what that same person needs, and take even more. God help the business people of our land to open their eyes and be a benefit to our society rather than dividing the classes even further.
Let me assure you, that all these things for which we labor and toil; these things that we find so dear and important, will one day fade to naught. What will you have left when it is all gone?
There is a prize in these verses. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”. The leaders and rulers of Babylon sought to build a great kingdom by the shedding of blood, and taking what belonged to others, and often at the expense of their lives. There is a Kingdom coming in which there will be no war, but only peace. The peace of God that passes all understanding. Notice the vastness of this “knowledge of the glory”; it is “as the waters cover the sea”. How much do the waters cover the sea? The sea is water, thus this filling with the knowledge of the glory covers the whole realm of the Kingdom. All the bloodshed, and such will have been done away. Jesus Christ will reign supremely. The knowledge of His glory will fill the earth.
The Fire and Hammer 