Tag Archives: Nebuchadnezzar

God and Idols

Leave a reply

There is no comparison between the Almighty God and idols. In order for us to separate the living God from the non-living or dead gods, it is necessary to actually clarify the concept of the Almighty God, for he is the Omnipotent and Omniscient, the self-existing, as well as the everlasting Sovereign God. HE is the “I am that I am”, the Beginning and the End. The living God cannot be seen with our naked eyes and yet we can talk with Him. He hears us, we feel Him. He speaks to peoples’ hearing at times audibly or quietly putting in our thought system. His greatest attribute is that of being eternal, from age to age, He remains the same everlasting Jehovah, the creator of heaven and the earth, the unchangeable changer as well as for us a conqueror of all evil forces that tend to militate against us.

Conversely, each idol or the dead god, from age to age continues to be the creation of man. An idol has ears but cannot hear, has eyes but cannot see, has legs but cannot walk neither can its hand be used to hold anything. Its movement is characterized by man moving it from one spot to the other. Above all, it is a physical representation of evil or Satan that delights in sorrow by seeking to steal kill and destroy as exemplified in John 10:10

The Almighty God gave the Jews the order not to have any other God beside Him, the God of Israel as contained in Exodus 20: 3-4. In the history of the children of Israel, we read that, anyone, and especially a King who fails to worship, obey and honor God  “YAHWEH” always succeeded. David was a case in point. He defeated Goliath because he convinced himself that the battle was God’s own and HE would never fail. The scenario instantly became a story of the unexpected. Overtly, there was no possible way a novice, an inexperienced young man like David could have dared to challenge Goliath, a veteran of so many battles without the help of the God of Israel. Jeroboam as king over the Northern kingdom with its capital in Samaria. He severed relations with the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem and also created man-made gods for his people to worship to ensure his subjects did not have any connection with Shiloh or the temple in Jerusalem. His reign showed that he was desperately wicked and caused the children of Israel to sin. His act of rejecting God to embrace worship of idols was so sinful that it continued to be a reference point of wicked sin against God that led to their going into slavery once more.

Nebuchadnezzar was originally empowered by God to be able to enslave the children of Israel as punishment for their rejecting their God; but later became proud and self-conceited to the extent that he asked people to pray to him instead of God. He was punished at the peak of degrading the Almighty God, he was turned into a beast with hairy body and long nails. It was only when he got back to his senses that God restored him to his erstwhile position. His golden image could not save him as God dramatically saved the three Hebrew young men namely; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

 

PROVIDENCE OF GOD (Part Five)

Leave a reply

⛲️The more our studies proceed in provision of God, the clearer it becomes that it is not that of breads and butter only. For instance, in Malachi 3, God distinguished between those who honored His laws and served Him for who He is and not for gold and silver as reward for serving Him. There was a comparison of the proud and the wicked in verse 15 with those in verse 16 that fear the Lord for whom he had made provision for their being spared in times of trouble. In verses 16-17, the bible recorded: “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not” (KJV). In other words, “When a man’s way pleases the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverb 17: 7 (KJV)

As a sovereign God He carries out perfect will in His own time. Those who surrender themselves are prone to letting God take absolute control while the godless did all things at their own whims and caprices. Hitler believed he could rule all the world especially by making a grandiose plan to over run Europe and others to follow. His regime tended to favor Moslems from North Africa in order to woo them out of French domination. He did his best or call it the worst and God raised an individual who was able to decode the Da Vinci code that broke the camel’s back. Some African rulers in the second half of last century felt they had all the answers to the problems facing their countries. They all ended in misery. They were the like of Idi Amin of Uganda, Mobutu Sese Seko of Republic of Congo, self-styled Emperor Jean Bedel Bokasa, and of course Sanni Abacha of Nigeria.

Proverb 16: 4 declares; “The Lord has made everything for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. The Lord has made provision for recompensing the wicked who initially thought he was above the law. If not for the provision of God in accordance to everyone’s work before him, how could one envisage that Moamar Ghadaffi would be deserted by his regimes’ loyalists. His golden gun became useless when nemesis caught up with him. I believed he overstayed his welcome and at such, all the good deeds that endeared him to his people were rubbished. From scriptural view point, any one that allows himself to be deified has gone beyond human limit of relationship with God. Human beings are pots in the hand of the potter. The pot can never transmute to become the potter no matter what your religion is; be it Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or whatever. In our present era, we shall all see their disastrous end as it occurred to Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel until he came back to acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Pharoah did not deify himself but wickedness of many Pharoahs to the people of God for centuries gave rise to the need for God to raise Moses for fulfilling God’s purpose exemplified by the declaration in “LET MY PEOPLE GO” It was an act of undisputed providence of God.

Conditions precedent to providence of God include ardently seeking the face of God, through reading and studying the word of God, fasting and praying as well as obeying, trusting, honoring and praising Him. Salvation is thus for seekers among other prerequisites. This was the situation of the Ethiopian Eunuch in his chariot on his way back to Ethiopia as he was ardently reading the scriptures but with little understanding until God teleported Philip to meet him, explain the scriptures to him and got baptized as they both got to a river along the way. As Philip fulfilled his mission the spirit of the Lord separated them and was found in Azotus on his missionary journey to Caesarea.

Still on providence of God, Moses was instructed by God to transfer anointing on some Elders from the various tribes of Israel. Two elders were glaringly absent from the congregation. As those present received their anointing Bildad and Eldad received theirs simultaneously with others present in the congregation. When outside the tabernacle the two were seen prophesying, Joshua told Moses to prevent them but Moses refused to forbid them as the anointing was of God and not from any man. In other words, nothing can prevent manifestation of what God has done. “Thy word oh! Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven, it is settled.”

Appreciation for series 1-5 of ‘Providence of God” goes to John G Kruis: Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling. Expanded edition copyright 2013 pages 177-184.