promises

Faith’s Hearing

eejoseph, , , ,

We have thought that Abraham was a man who was an unusual recipient of grace as far as we can detect in the aspects of his life we have on record

James’ “faith and works” is a nothing burger.

Abraham was not called to believe. He was called to leave his home. The stages of his life do not include his witness of a large family dwelling in the land of Canaan. Here are the stages of the man’s life.

  • The call and election
  • The journey to Canaan
  • The promise of greatness
  • The promise of fame
  • The promise of blessing
  • The promise of land
  • The promise of multitudinous progeny

Reality is not from obedience or hearing

If obedience and loyalty are the guaranties of real divine wealth this  is not demonstrated in the Bible, because Abraham did not set foot in the promised land and never saw the multitude of us family for which he believed God.

Hearing God’s voice= compliance

Reading that the blessing of all the earth’s families is a result of Abraham’s attention to YHWH’s voice comes as a surprise because the idea that Abraham earned these outcomes seems antithetical to grace. The fact however that this particular promise is guaranteed by an oath makes debt or performance irrelevant.  James, the Pharisee brother of the Lord Christ makes shipwreck of this abundant grace when he equates works (of any kind) with faith.

Oaths override regulations

Genuine happiness – blessedness – will appear at God’s prerogative, not as an earned reward

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account. (Romans 4:1-8, NASB)

Far too many people are swimming in a puddle and they are convinced that the actions they carry out will impress people that they are swimming in the wide open and beautiful ocean of grace. Hearing God’s voice does not mean juvenile obedience. In the case of Abraham and the list mass of mankind, hearing God’s voice means abandoning the current life support: one’s country, one’s relatives and one’s ancestral ties.

Plan without a context

eejoseph,

There must be a lot of people who think that every Bible prediction has potential for personal gain.  This is why Europeans have travelled far and wide, raped and pillaged every place, including the ones they want to claim as their own.  It is also the reason for seeing a miracle behind every narrative or proclamation.  Even when the rationale for God’s pronouncements are explicit people are still being conned by verse favourites without their contexts.

For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.”

Jeremiah 29:10, NASB

Jeremiah 29:10 is how Yahweh set up his comfort message to the exiled people of Judah.  The plan reveal came next. 

11) ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12) ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you’

Jeremiah 29:11-12, NASB

Plans need no pretext

The audacity is staggering.  The idea that the unprecedented supervision of Abraham’s erring descendants in exile is a common path for anyone who chooses to latch on to it ranks with the covering cherub’s attempt to overthrow God (Isaiah 14:12-14).  Plans to replace Israel, plans to roll old into new, will not end well. The favorite verse complex has no rebellion,  no treachery,  no prostitution,  no calamity, no repentance, and only a Messianic pretext. It follows the pattern of lazy thinking, and no thinking. We do not simply open our mouths and say whatever the current desire dictates.

We are hopeless if our confidence is in the things we have invented. Our societies do a good job of muddling along. Even when there are bursts of civilized behavior people say the right things and carry on just as before (Jeremiah 7:8-14).  Even so, plans to replace Israel, plans to roll old into new, will not end well. The favorite verse complex has no rebellion, no treachery, no prostitution, no calamity, no repentance, and only a Messianic pretext. It follows the pattern of lazy thinking, and no thinking. We do not simply open our mouths and say whatever the current desire dictates.

Just saying what we are told to say does not bring more kingdom into our lives. Believers are not speaking things into existence. If they were we would all have everything we need, just like when Yahweh said “Let there be light” and “Let earth teem with living creatures” and then created man to have dominion. It is obvious that people are not prevailing in prayer. The law of God is not a condom. Divine law does not prevents sin. How quickly people forget; the law is what defines and powers sinful attitudes and behaviours. The vices we know come from within us. If people say they prefer political constructs, progress without benevolent prudence, and prefer eating and drinking rules, or is because Christ ruling in hearts by faith is not attractive to them. Do they want to confirm that they do not need a Saviour?

It must be obvious that without the king and sacrifice facets of the Messianic heritage most propositions and all the speculation about life and home are questionable pretexts. The plans in Jeremiah 29 only makes sense when exile and calamity have taken place, and calamity, for too many believers, can always be waved away by our exercise of faith. That is the rationale for a life free from troubles and crosses, and a likely demonic pretext.