God Has The Final Say

What do we mean when we say that God has the last word?

An understanding heart is the one that acknowledges that there is a Creator who made everything that exists, both the visible and the invisible [Psalm 14:1, A fool says there is no God].

And because He made all possible, He had a reason and purpose behind everything He created. Therefore, He has the ultimate power to determine life and death. None can ask ,'Why or what has He done?' He is answerable to no human or spiritual master. And even though God has great power, He is not proud neither is He corrupted by the power. He doesn't despise humans, though weak and powerless we might be in comparison.

To understand how we are to relate to God, we must consult the Bible from the beginning and learn from His instructions to those who lived before us. We must learn His intended purposes for creation, and how obedience strengthens our faith, to avoid sin that ensnares and corrupts the soul.

Unfortunately, most work hard to please human masters, forgetting that we are accountable to God and not man. It doesn't matter the promises made by man or the powerful, all exist for a limited time, because God raises up one and puts down another. But God endures forever, generation after generation, He remains the same.

As the Bible shows, God is the Beginning and the End. He has planned everything according to His will; what should be and nothing can prevail against His determined plan.

#Righteousness exalts a Nation

As humans increased on the earth after creation, so did wickedness and sin. Biblical accounts show kingdoms that worshipped the living God, and those that didn't, and the consequences.

When the children of Israel were going into the Promised Land, they were given instructions that governed how they would operate. For the land to be blessed, have peace and be fruitful, obedience to the commandments of God was to be their guide. Disobedience to the commandments, on the other hand would result in the land and the people being cursed [Deuteronomy 28].

From the historical accounts of the Kings of Israel and Judah, we read that for as long as the people lived in obedience, they prospered and had peace. Obedience was not to worship idols like the nations that God destroyed before them.

However, the sin that David committed with Bathsheba, though he was forgiven, had consequences that affected later generations. Later when Solomon, who, although he inherited a peaceful kingdom, and built the Temple in Jerusalem, married foreign women who polluted the land with their foreign gods. He built shrines for the gods and also worshipped the idols with his wives in his old age.

When Solomon died, and handed over the kingdom to his son, Rehoboam; Israel was divided and became two kingdoms, Judah and Israel.

Jeroboam was king in Israel while Solomon's son, Rehoboam ruled in Judah.

Although the decision for Jeroboam to rule was made by God, he departed from God and caused Israel to worship idols. He built shrines in Bethel and Dan, and polluted the people as they sacrificed to the two golden calves he created. He told them those gods brought them out of Egypt. Something that echoed the wickedness at Mount Sinai, where their ancestors made a golden calf to be worshipped while Moses was on the mountain with the LORD.

#Pride, man's greatest woe

The human heart, the Bible warns is deceitful.

Jeroboam became king in Israel, and because he wanted to fortify his position established idols to prevent those in Israel from going to Judah to worship the LORD at the Temple in Jerusalem, for fear they would give allegiance to Rehoboam if they went to Jerusalem for the usual festivals and worship. He deceived the people saying, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem." [1 King12:28-33].

When a man encourages disobedience to God, it is often wrapped in lies and sold as something that is beneficial, beware. There are consequences, and the one who gains is always the person and the hidden agenda.

#What does God require of us?

Micah 6:8 says, God requires people to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Meeting God's requirement, calls for a humble heart, it does not matter whether the people we deal with are the same as us or are different. We are required to apply the same mind and measure we would want others to apply to us, because we are accountable to God.

With time, Israel, became polluted by idols, something that got worse as more kings who did not honour God ruled. Ahab and his wife Jezebel, took wickedness to another level causing Israel to become weak, and be known for the many idols they worshipped, the false prophets and priests.

From a position of strength, where the nations around Israel feared them because of their God who fought and protected them, Israel became fearful of the neighbouring nations.

Judah on the other hand, had kings who, although, did not completely clean the nation of idols that Solomon introduced, because of God's promise to David, stayed strong till the promise of a king called Josiah, [1 Kings 13:2, 2 Kings 22], into the dynasty of David who encouraged worship and obedience, and destroyed the false priests and the pagan shrines.

The Bible is proof that God watches over His word to perform it.

The same way He kept His promise thousands of years later when His Son, the Messiah was born to a virgin called Mary.

As we wait for the return of the Messiah to put all things right as our world suffers the consequences resulting from our rejection of Jesus, the reason for the evil and the darkness we are experiencing, we must turn to God, by seeking His purposes.

He is Coming back soon. Before then, the world will experience great troubles as Jesus warned.

But our hope and help is in our Redeemer and King.