|
'And We all Fall Down'
'The Knowledge of Sin'
|
"Jehovah-mekoddishkem" The Lord Who Sanctifies
*Psalms 4:3, "But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; the LORD hears when I call."
There is an old adage that says, "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your relatives." Traveling in circles usually involves the relationship we have with our friends. We spend a great deal of time with them developing a good relationship. We go where they go, do what they do, and see what they see.
The deep conversations we have with our friends help develop an intimate relationship that cannot be found in a relative. Intimate relationships that share the deepest recesses of our heart. Often these circles can create relationships that may alter our lifestyle, our behavior, and our way of thinking.
The more intimate our friendships become the more our outward appearance changes. Our soul begins to bind together with our friend's. We can find ourselves losing our individuality and can begin taking on the appearance of our friends. Not only in our outward appearance, the way man judges us, but the thoughts of our mind and the intentions of our heart.
God had blessed the sons of Noah and told them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). 1757 years after creation there was born a man whose name was Nimrod. He became a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now Nimrod's kingdom was in the land of Shinar; Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. At that time everyone in the whole earth used the same language. They were one nationality and did not want to be separated. Together they used brick and mortar to build a city and a tower which reached into heaven to make a name for themselves. So the LORD came down to see the city which the sons of men had built for themselves. Concerned with their intentions the LORD confused their language and from there scattered the people over the face of the whole earth. Therefore the place was called Babel and after that Babylon.
One heart, one mind doesn't always represent perfect order. Whenever man has been of the same mind and thought there has always been dissension. Dissension not only from the state in which we live, but from God's perfect order designed to keep man safe from harm. To keep him moving in the direction of perfection to stand blameless before Him.
Whenever circles begin spiraling backward they draw away from God picking up debris as they move. Drawing the focus away from God toward that which is sensual. Centering on that which has been created rather than on the Creator. Whenever man ceases to honor God his foolish heart becomes darkened. He exchanges the glory and truth of an incorruptible God for a lie.
In 2047 the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah prospered in the Vale of Siddim, the Salt Sea. Now the cry of the sin of the people who lived there had been heard in the ears of the Lord and He went down to see if what He heard was true. While in the Plains of Mamre He appeared to Abraham. Knowing Abraham's heart, that he would do what was just and teach his children in the ways of His righteousness, He spoke to him of what He had heard. *Genesis 18:21, "I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know." Now Lot, Abraham's nephew dwelled in Sodom. And Abraham repeatedly requested mercy from the Lord for the righteous. He asked for mercy for fifty, forty, thirty, or twenty righteous that might be found there. Then he asked for ten righteous and the Lord said, , "I will not destroy it on account of the ten," (*Genesis 18:32b).
In the evening two Angels entered the city of Sodom and Lot was sitting in the gate. At his pleading the Angels went into his house and the men of the city surrounded it. *Genesis 19:5, "and they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them'." Lot pleaded with the men to leave and take his daughters instead; however, the men pushed against Lot almost breaking in the door. The Angels reached out, rescued Lot, and shut the door. They struck the men who had surrounded the house with blindness. Then the angels said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it," *Genesis 19:12-13.
The next morning Lot and his family left Sodom with the firm warning not to turn around and look back. When Lot had escaped to Zoar the Lord rained fire and brimstone out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He destroyed the cities and all the inhabitants, the valley, and everything that grew from the ground. Of all the inhabitants of the land only four were found righteous and escaped the judgment of the Lord. But Lot's wife turned around, looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
God has never looked at the outward appearance of man. He sees the truth that lies deep within the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Thoughts and intentions that may not expose the inward nature to others but they can be seen clearly by an omniscient God. A God who sees from the beginning to the end.
Circles can bind us together into close relationships with our friends and with family members. It's the axis on which that circle is centered that keeps it rotating in the right direction. If it is centered on God it will travel in the truth. If it is centered on self it will travel away from all that is truth.
The circles that are God centered travel in the direction of the plan He has for our lives. It will bring us into a closer relationship with God. He has set us apart, sanctified us, for a covenant relationship that cannot be broken.
P At the time of the birth of Moses the children of Abraham had been living in bondage for 400 years. They remembered the promise that God had made to Abraham. They were looking for a deliverer who would lead them out of bondage to a land flowing with milk and honey.
*January 12, 2004
