Hannah

1 Samuel 1-2

The story of Hannah is an inspiring tale. The passage above displays her character in many ways leaving behind an example for us to follow. Some Christians may discount stories of influential women because the Bible speaks of women being submissive and the man being the head of the household, under Christ in the hierarchy, but there are lessons that can be taken from this account.

Reaction to provocation

In verses 6 and 7, the passage says that Hannah had a rival that would provoke her because she was barren and that it went on year after year – every time she went up to worship. However, Hannah reacted in a way that Christians should aspire to. After weeping a great deal, she went to God in prayer and made her request to bear a child. The idea of not reacting in anger to provocation is a theme spoken of throughout the Bible.

Colossians 3:8 Amplified Bible (AMP)

8 But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth.

Paul wrote to the church in Colassae that they should rid themselves of sins and included anger among them. He listed them in two groups, the first list being sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed – noting that, because of these since, the wrath of God is coming. But the list in verse 8 was given seemingly apart from the others hinting that they were to be avoided on top of the other list as if to say that they could be overlooked. Anger is one sin that everyone on God’s green Earth could fall prey to being that it is a natural emotion. I do not think that God wants us to somehow find a way to prevent our emotions, especially when provoked or hurt emotionally or physically. In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote “In your anger do not sin.” and “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Even Jesus got angry at least once in his life when, in Matthew 21, he drove out those that were selling in the temple turning over the money tables. This all tells me that anger itself is unavoidable. But we must not sin while we were angry. A sin that is listed in Colossians 3:8 is obscene language. I used the Amplified translation for the above verse because it pulls all the translations together to show what the word “obscene” means. Where the NIV says “filthy language” and the NASB uses the word “abusive,” the Amplified translates lists both while adding vulgar. The word to key in on for this particular study is “abusive.” This type of talk can often be seen when someone is anger or in a rage. In Proverbs, this is spoken of.

Proverbs 15 Amplified Bible (AMP)

15 A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath,
But harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger.

A big reason why we should not speak in anger is simply because it doesn’t help anything. I use the Amplified translation again because it says “harsh and painful and careless” showing me exactly what happens when someone loses their temper and doesn’t guard his/her tongue. It does nothing but stir up anger in the heart of the person we’re talking to and won’t resolve a situation. There is another reason that is directly tied to righteousness that is mentioned in the book of James.

James 1:19-20 Amplified Bible (AMP)

19 Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]; 20 for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].

I did not think of what type of anger this could be speaking of until I read the Amplified translation. I think it specifically says “resentful, deep-seated” anger to show what kind of attitude we may have when anger with our brother or sister. Not only should we be slow to anger to avoid more anger, but we should be careful in our anger because it “does not achieve the righteousness of God.” He requires a certain behavior from us that does not coincide with being angry with others. In fact, in the Old Testament, there are passages that show us what God thinks of those that are quick to be angry.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 Amplified Bible (AMP)

9  Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,
For anger dwells in the heart of fools.

Proverbs 29:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

11 A fool [a]always loses his temper,
But a wise man holds it back.

According to the Bible, anger is entertained by fools. When looking at the word fool in the bible, it’s used very harshly. It is such a harsh word that in Matthew 5, Jesus warns against its use as a form of abuse. In the “Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible,” the word fool is defined as a “stupid person or senseless act. The bible uses the word in other places for one that does not believe in God as well. So, God does not use this word lightly. Solomon warns against even associating with those that give in to anger.

Proverbs 22:24 Amplified Bible (AMP)

24  Do not even associate with a man given to angry outbursts;
Or go [along] with a hot-tempered man,

I am greatly convicted by this verse given that, when I’m very angry, I tend to have angry outbursts and I’m quite sure I’m not the only one. It takes a great amount of self-control to never have an outburst and we are advised to not even associate with a man that is hot-tempered or quick to get angry.

Doing what you say

Another lesson to take from Hannah is that we should keep our word. After praying fervently, she promised the Lord that she would dedicate the child that she was asking for to the service of God – and she did just that. When I read this story as a child, I did not see how significant this was. But now, after having my own children, I understand how difficult that must have been. I fell in love with my kids even when they were still in the womb. I made plans for them. I bought them things that they would not use for years after their birth. I thought of college funds and savings accounts for them. I started Certificates of Deposits and things like that. All of this because of the great anticipation and the love I felt for them. Giving them up after they were weaned would have been a choice that I don’t know that I could have made. It took great courage and trust for her to do this. We are expected to have the same type of dedication to keeping our word.

Numbers 30:1-2 Amplified Bible (AMP)

30 Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself with a pledge [of abstinence], he shall not break (violate, profane) his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)

4 When you make a vow or a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools [who thoughtlessly mock Him]. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Do not allow your speech to cause you to sin, and do not say before the messenger (priest) of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of your voice (words) and destroy the work of your hands? 

Making an oath to God is dangerous. In numbers, the description given in the Amplified of how the oath is broken is harsh language. It is not just a broken vow when we do not do what we say before the Lord, but it is profane and a violation. The author of Ecclesiastes says that God takes no pleasure in fools, specifically fools that do not fulfill their oaths. And there’s that word again – fool. God doesn’t think much of those that would make a promise directly to him and not pay up. The passage is pretty direct. “Why should God be angry because of your voice?” We should not allow our speech to cause us to sin or that we should make it out to be a mistake. Later, in the New Testament, we are warned in even giving oaths to each other.

Matthew 5:33-37 Amplified Bible (AMP)

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’ 34 But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Jesus told his followers that we are not even to make an oath, but to simply let our “yes” be yes and our “no” be no. We don’t need to swear by heaven or the Earth, but we do need to give our word and keep it.

Suffering

Psalms 118

There are quite a few chapters in Psamls in which David talks about suffering in one way or another. In the chapter above, David mentions enemies surrounding him and swarming him like bees. His trials were very real and desperate to him. Many of us go through struggles and tries either for our faith or just because life happens. It becomes harder for us, because of these trials, to focus on God or the things of God and we lose sight of what we’re supposed to do or be. However, the bible speaks to us about suffering frequently. It tells us in different locations how we should view our suffering and what we should do. There are two points that I want to consider in this post that I’ve gleaned from what I’ve read.

Point 1: suffering is not in vain

Jesus and the Apostles teach that suffering is not in vain. They acknowledge that life may not be easy whether it’s because of our faith in God or not. James tells us below about what struggles can do for us.

James 1:2-4 New International Version (NIV)

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

He doesn’t tell us to just deal with our struggles, but he tells us to consider it pure joy when we are faced with trials. That idea may be foreign to us or seem outrages because we don’t think to rejoice when we are going through some sort of pain, but the struggle helps us in a way that can be compared to the saying “it puts hair on your chest.” The testing of our faith produces traits in us that will help us glorify God and serve the body of Christ. It produces maturity that we use to face our lives in order to deal with future trials. In Romans, Paul writes a similar thought.

Romans 5:3-5 New International Version (NIV)

3 Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Paul mentions a few other traits created by enduring through suffering than is mention in the passage used earlier from James – character , and hope. Hope is a huge deal. We see hope as an emotion that could just mean wishing for something or wishful thinking. One of the definitions in Webster’s dictionary of hope is “ to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment.” Another one of the definitions listed is “ desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.” The Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible defines hope as “confident expectancy...not wishful thinking, but a firm assurance about things that are unseen and still in the future.” The keyword in this definition is “expectancy.” Struggles produce a firm faith that we have in Jesus that allows us to trust that, if we please him, he will reward us.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 New International Version (NIV)

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Paul encourages the church in Corinth to not lose heart even though we may be going through trials because we are being renewed every day. And that our trials are assuring an eternal glory that will be far greater than the struggles we go through.

Point 2: God delivers

God promises to reward us because of our perseverance or help us persevere through the struggle. In Psalms 118, David says over and over again the Lord heard him and delivered him. There are many other locations where this thought is given.

Psalm 34:18-20 New International Version (NIV)

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
    not one of them will be broken.

The biggest take away about this passage for me is that it says that God is “close” to the brokenhearted. I’ve been brokenhearted many times and to think that God is close to me at that point in my life is very encouraging. Further, the righteous may be delivered from troubles because God hears them in their disparity. It may take a while, however. God delivered the Israelites many times but sometimes it took years and years. God delivered them on his own schedule based on his will.

1 Peter 5:10 New International Version (NIV)

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Peter says that God will help after we have “suffered a little while.” I think this is important because I needed to see that my struggles and trials will only happen for a little while. Even if it happens for my entire life, it is a little while in comparison to the gift of eternal life. He says that God himself will restore us and make us “strong, firm and steadfast.” Our struggles will not just put hair on our chest. God will put hair on our chest. He will help us get stronger and stay stronger as a result of our endurance through our hard times.

Arrogance

Ezekiel 31, 32:15

31 In the eleventh year, in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?
3 Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.
4 The waters nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.
5 So it towered higher
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.
6 All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.
7 It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
    in the garden of God.

10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches. 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.

15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away. 16 I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword, along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.

18 “‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

The Bible speaks quite a bit about arrogance and pride. It seems to be quite offensive to God, especially when he’s given the person what they think they can be arrogant about. Often pride in our things or lifestyle or something of the sort takes over us and, in our pride, we sin. We may forget that God allowed us or gave us the ability to get what we have. He speaks throughout both Testaments about pride.

Isaiah 14:12-15

12 How you have fallen from heaven,
    morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
    on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
    to the depths of the pit.

Here, Isaiah speaks against Babylon, telling the King that their greatness will end and God would bring destruction. God starts off a passage with “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn.” This passage has been cited when referring to Satan and his fall from heaven. The text, however, says its a taunt to the king of Babylon. In either case, the person he is speaking to put himself above God or aspired to be greater than God and wanted to give himself the credit for his position. He was exalted and God brought him down to the dirt. Pride can get us in trouble, shown also by the next passage.

Proverbs 16:18-19

18 Pride goes before destruction,
    a haughty spirit before a fall.

19 Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed
    than to share plunder with the proud.

In this text, we learn that pride goes before our downfall and that it’s better to be humble and oppressed than to share in the plunder of the proud. It’s better and wiser for us to be humble than to trust in folly and take pride in ourselves and not giving credit to God.

Excessive pride can strike anyone. Men and women of great stature, even great stature in the church, can fall victim to pride in themselves and what they think they’ve accomplished.

Ezekiel 31:8-11

8 The cedars in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
    in the garden of God.

10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height,

All are subject to become proud. Assyria was compared to a tree in God’s own garden that stood above majestic trees like Cedars and Pines in the same garden. A tree that was made more beautiful than all of the other trees in the garden that I assume was full of beautiful trees because it’s God’s garden. It says in the text that, since the tree was proud of its height, it was handed over. There are more concrete examples. Paul wrote:

Romans 12:3

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Paul wrote this letter to the Church in Rome, giving instructions to those that follow Christ to show us how to view things. This letter was written to a group of people that were already following Christ and aspiring to keep his commands. Paul writes this to remind them that they should not be proud, but to keep a humble opinion of themselves. Their faith or their success or anything that God has given them should not have made them think more highly of themselves than they should. God tells us that, even if we are exalted, we can be put in check.

Obadiah 1:3-4

1 The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom—

We have heard a message from the Lord:
    An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”—

2 “See, I will make you small among the nations;
    you will be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rocks[a]
    and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
    ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4 Though you soar like the eagle
    and make your nest among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,”
declares the Lord

The Lord says “Though you ascend as high as the eagle….from there I will bring you down.” and that the pride of their heart has deceived them – which is the key point. They were deceived by their own thoughts of themselves. And even though he brought them high, he will bring them down from the heights that they have raised to that gives them their pride.

But with humility, we can attain heights that God brings us to while giving glory to God for the things he’s done for us. Admitting that we are not deserving and that God has given us the ability or opportunity or both to achieve what we want.

Luke 18:9-14

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

There were some that looked down on others because of their idea of their own righteousness. Jesus told a story about a tax collector, seen as Godless, that could not even look up to heaven when he prayed. He cried out for mercy that he knew he did not deserve. This is in direct opposition to the Pharisee that stood by himself, praying arrogantly thanking God that he wasn’t as bad as other people, but his attitude hurt his own faith. Jesus said that the tax collector went home justified. Those who exalt themselves would be humbled but the humble would be exalted. We need to keep a level head and stay humble no matter what situation we’re in or we will be humbled in the future.

Matthew 18:4

4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus tells the disciples that we need to be as humble as children to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We need to become humble and innocent like children to enter the kingdom.

Humility is a large part of following Christ

Forgotten Sins

2 Kings 15

In this chapter of the bible, there is an account of the reign of some of the kings of both Israel and Judah. I noticed that in the succession of the kings of Israel that were mentioned, all of them were noted as doing “evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Most of them were murdered by their successors, who were sometimes the son’s of the current ruler. It gives the impression that those things happened because of the evil in their hearts because the account of Judah mentioned kings that did “right in the eyes of the Lord” and had peaceful reigns and deaths. It makes me think of how much God hates evil and how, sometimes, that evil can cause disastrous effects. So, I thought, what is evil? Sure, we know the sins that everyone knows and says they stay away from – lying, stealing, cheating, murder etc. But there are sins that we fall into that we may not have considered a sin or even saw as a big deal at all. I want to look at a few of those.

Idolatry

One of the sins that caught my attention as I studied is Idolatry. The bible speaks against Idolatry in several different places. One location that I was drawn to is in Hosea.

Hosea 11: 1-7

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 But the more they were called, the more they went away from me.[a] They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize it was I who healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.

5 “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? 6 A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. 7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.

Hosea 13:1-3

When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died. 2 Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss[a] calf-idols!”
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window.

In both of these passages, God’s disdain for Idol worship is apparent. He is angry with Israel because of their practices, enough to talk about punishing them severely. When I first read this, I thought “well, I don’t worship Idols.” But, Idols can be more than we think they are. We may not even know that we’ve let an Idol into our lives that takes the place of God or takes our attention off of him.

Job 31:24-28

24 “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’ 25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, 26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, 28 then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

This passage shows me that money or anything else can be an Idol. Anything that entices our hand and causes us to “offer them a kiss of homage,” will become like an idol to us and would be sins that we can be judged for.

Colossians 3: 5-6

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 

In the same line of thinking, this passage shows that greed can be a form of idolatry. It can take the place of God in our hearts and make us put money before righteousness. It goes further to say that because of the sins mentioned, including greed/idolatry, the wrath of God is coming on the day of judgment.

2 Timothy 3: 1-5

 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

In this passage, it shows that, in the end of days, people will be lovers of themselves and money. It doesn’t directly say that this is a form of idolatry, but in it, there is a picture painted of people loving things other than God. The word “love” is not used lightly in the bible. There are two types of love derived from two different greek words that are used in the scriptures. This particular love is “philautos,” meaning “self-love,” derived from the greek word “phileo.” From a word study, I found that “Phileo is a love called out of one in response to a feeling of pleasure or delight which one experiences from an apprehension of qualities in another that furnish such pleasure or delight.” Further, “In Scripture phileo is used to describe the love of God the Father and the Son, of Jesus and Peter, and of Jonathan and David.” That’s quite a statement. To compare the love of oneself to that of Jesus and Peter or even Jonathan and David, speaks volumes of how much people will care about themselves in the coming times. This same word was used by Peter when Jesus asked him if he had love for him, clearly showing that the love of self and money could be a form of idolatry.

Running from his word

Another sin that is not typically spoken of is the sin of running from the commands of God. In the bible, we learn that those that have ran from or ignored that orders of the Lord have not prevented or dissuaded his actions or judgment, but ended up fulfilling the given prophecy or warning against sin and evil.

Jeremiah 36-39

In these chapters, God tells Jeremiah to write on a scroll his prophecy to Israel. Later in the chapter, the king burned the scroll, ignoring God’s rebuke. God gave another chance and had Jeremiah write the scroll once more. Jeremiah was jailed and imprisoned and repeatedly asked by different people to repeat the prophecy and found it unchanging. The continued ignorance of his word resulted in the prophecy coming true and the city being taken by the Babylonians.

Jonah 1 – 2

Jonah literally ran from God when he told Jonah to go and preach against Nineveh. His actions resulted in him going through a great storm that almost claimed his life and the lives of his companions. When he convinced them to throw him overboard, calming the storm, Jonah was swallowed by a “great fish” and spent time in his stomach for three days. After he cried out to God for forgiveness, the fish spit him out on land and he did as he was told; preach to Nineveh. God’s will was carried out regardless of how Jonah felt about it.

Deuteronomy 11: 26-28

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. 

God says here that he would bless them for following his commands and expressly says that he would curse them if they did not follow his word. This idea is mentioned several times in the scriptures and every time, there was the idea of following God and punishment if not. God told the Israelites many times that they would follow him and return to his fold or they would be punished and given over to destruction.

Judging others

Another sin that can be looked over by Christians frequently is the tendency to judge others by some barometer that we’ve created derived by our knowledge of the scriptures. In the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles speak against judging others for a few reasons. One reason is that the person’s faith may be weak or they could have beliefs that are neither good or bad that we should respect even if we think they’re silly or go against our own opinions.

Romans 14: 1-4

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Who exactly are we to think that we should judge someone in this manner? In the scripture, it says “someone else’s servant,” saying that we all will stand before the Lord for his judgment and his alone. Verse three says we should not treat others with “contempt” specifically when they do or do not eat meat if we believe that it should or should not be done. This verse and the following verses imply that it applies to more than just eating meat, but could apply to other reasons we may judge others. Also, if we do judge, we can be held accountable to our own measure of judgment.

Matthew 7: 1-5

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

We see here that we can be judged in the same way that we judge others. The passage speaks of hypocrisy, saying basically that we have things wrong with us and decide to judge others about the same or even different things, comparing it to a speck of sawdust in another’s eye while we have a plank in our own eye. The comparison seems ridiculous. A speck of sawdust in comparison to an entire plank makes me chuckle a bit, but the action of judging in that manner is just as ludicrous. There is only one judge, shown by this passage.

James 4:11-12

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

There is only one judge and “lawgiver” that has the ability to save and destroy and we should leave that to him. As followers of Christ we need to see his example and do as he does. When Jesus was confronted about the adulterous woman, he stopped the stoning and told them to consider that they are also in sin saying he who is without sin cast the first stone. He did this because he did not come to condemn.

John 3:17

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. He did not come to sit and judge but rather to teach and educate. In the great commission, we are told to do the same. Go and teach just like Jesus did and like the apostles continued to do. One of the reasons Christians may judge is that they look down on sinners or people of lower status.

Romans 12:16

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.

We are told to not be consumed by conceit and we should associate with people of “low position.” Jesus himself ate with sinners of all sort. He did not turn away people because of what they were doing, but rather he was there to help them come to God and show them a shining example of how we should be as servants of God.

These sins are forgotten about and overlooked as we focus on the big sins and preach and preach on the things that are obvious sins. We need to keep in mind that we need to watch our own actions and try to curb our own desires in order to save others and ourselves the same.