Why does God permit suffering?

This week's memory text is: 

Memory Text: O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me (Jeremiah 20:7). 

Jeremiah suffered greatly.  But, God did not forsake Him.  He suffered for Christ's sake.  Christ said, 

Matthew 5:10-12

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Paul adds in Hebrews 11 that, 

Through faith ... 

Hebrews 11

36 ...others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

This week we take a look at suffering and how God uses it,

Why does God permit trials?

Sister Grant was distraught and frustrated. She could not understand why her life seemed to be a never-ending drama. It seemed like one crisis engendered another. She asked herself, "Why would God do this to me?" Her Pastor said that "those who are faithful to God will not see so many trials in their life. In fact," he added, "trials are a sign that God is not favoring you; which means that you are living in Sin." She met with some co-workers for support and prayer and told them about her dilemma. Surprisingly, most of them agreed to be in a similar situation. However, not one of them could find what was wrong. They did all the things that their pastor's said they should do. They were faithful attending church. They tithed and gave the offering. And, they were active in church programs. Why was God not rewarding them?

The youngest in the group, Ms. Bradley, waited until all the other ladies finished talking. She asked them a question, "What do Job, most prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, and most Apostles have in common?" They all were silent looking at Ms. Bradley, suspecting she had an answer. Sister Bradley understood their silence so she continued, "Were they not faithful?" They all looked in toward each other murmuring possible answers to the question. After, a few moments, they all agreed and said, "Yes they were faithful." Sister Bradley, then said, "Then, why did God allow them to suffer? And, many of them died horrendous deaths. Could it be that we have it all wrong? Why would God treat us any differently?"  What does James 1: 2 – 4 tell us about trials,

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and com­plete, lacking nothing" (James 1:2–4, NKJV).

The word patience here is from the Greek hupomone, which means, endurance, steadfastness, and fortitude of every affliction that one confronts on one's spiri­tual journey.  The word Paul uses in Galatians 5:22 is macrothumia – translated as longsuffering - which essentially means "long tempered" as opposed to short tempered.

Although, hupomone is not part of the fruit of the Spirit, it is nevertheless very important in our walk of Faith.  According to James, it is through trials that we develop the endurance to continually overcome unbelief and remain faithful to God.  A past lesson stated about this,

'The Greek word for "trials," sometimes translated "temptations," is the word peirazo, which has the broader significance of "proving" or "testing." The devil tries us or tempts us to do evil. The tests and trials that God allows to come into our lives are for the purpose of developing our characters.'  

Ellen G. White talks about this,

"The trials of life are God's workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character. Their hewing, squaring, and chiseling, their burnishing and polishing, is a painful process; it is hard to be pressed down to the grinding wheel. But the stone is brought forth prepared to fill its place in the heavenly temple. Upon no useless material does the Master bestow such careful, thorough work. Only His precious stones are polished after the similitude of a palace."—Ellen G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 10.

This doesn't mean, however, that every trial is in God's providence. Often we bring suffering upon ourselves through disobedience; often, too, trials and suffering are just the results of what it means to live in a fallen, sinful world where we have an enemy who hates us (1 Pet. 5:8). What this does mean, however, is that through a complete sur­render of ourselves to the Lord, to grasping hold of Him in faith and obedience, no matter what we go through, we can come out better or more refined if we allow God to work in us. No one said it will be fun. Life here often isn't fun, but we are given this wonderful promise: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

Job never understood why he suffered. His cry to God was, "Why?" However, Job never stopped trusting God. In the middle of his crisis, Job cried out, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" Job13:15. Daniel's friends were faithful in all things, yet under threat of being burned they declared, "… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Dan3:17, 18. 

In contrast, we have the people of Israel. God was with the people of Israel. The people of Israel saw how God delivered them from the Egyptians. God accompanied them in the day with a cloud, and at night with a pillar of fire. The pillar probably gave them not only light but also warmth. With all this, the people disbelieved that God would have them drink the waters of Marah. But, did God not sweeten the water when Moses put a tree in the well (Exodus 15: 22-27). 

After all this when they reached Rephidim they disbelieved God again. In Exodus 17:1-7 we read how they threatened Moses life accusing him of bringing them out of Egypt to die in the desert. How soon they forgot about God being able to provide for them any and every need they had, including water to quench their thirst. The cried out, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Sister White says of this experience,

It was by the express command of God that the children of Israel encamped at Rephidim. He knew of its lack of water, and he brought his people hither to test their faith. But how poorly they proved themselves to be a people whom he could trust! Again and again he had manifested himself to them. With a high hand, he had brought them out of the land of their captivity, slaying the first-born of all the families of Egypt to accomplish the deliverance of his people. He had fed them with angels' food, and had covenanted to bring them into the Promised Land. Now, when brought into difficulty, they broke into rebellion, distrusted God, and complained that Moses had brought them and their children out of Egypt only that they might die of thirst in the wilderness. 

The lesson is for us. Many think that in the Christian life they will find freedom from all difficulty. But everyone who takes up the cross to follow Jesus comes to a Rephidim in his experience. Life is not all made up of pleasant pastures and cooling streams. Trial and disappointment overtake us; privation comes; we are brought into trying places. Conscience-stricken, we reason that we must have walked far away from God, that if we had walked with him, we should not have suffered so. Doubt and despondency crowd into our hearts, and we say, The Lord has failed us, and we are ill-used. Why does he permit us to suffer thus? He cannot love us; if he did, he would remove the difficulties from our path. Is the Lord with us, or not? {RH, April 7, 1903, par. 2 - 3}

Perhaps this is why Peter admonishes us 1 Peter 1:6-7,

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

This verse tells us that trials are neither random nor chaotic. Trials have a purpose. One of them is to produce genuine faith in those who will persevere through all kinds of trials. In other words, trials teach us to depend on God to overcome temptation and to endure the pain and suffering that Sin brings to us until we either die or are translated. We can trust that God's promises to us will be fulfilled. We may not see it now. Only in retrospect, God may allow us to see a glimpse of the purpose of trials. For many of us, it will be until we reach eternity before we see clearly God's purpose in letting us suffer. We will also see that God was in it with us all the way. We were not alone. And, in fact, our faith grew stronger and our character became more Christ-like because of the suffering God put us through.-- 

Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

Forgiveness for Unknown Sin

Although the focus of the story is Daniel, the principal verse is Jeremiah 17: 9.  Through Daniel, we see the deep implications of this verse.  This commentary was first published Friday, August 04, 2006.

 

Forgiveness for Unknown Sin

 

A very famous film actor was stopped because of improper driving.  The Police officer suspected that the driver was DUI – driving under the influence of alcohol.  The officer approaches the car window and before he could ask the driver for his driver's license, he could smell the alcohol.  He immediately asked the actor to leave the car.  The actor gets annoyed by the request and starts insulting the officer.  Recognizing the actor, the police officer asks the actor, if he had been drinking and how much.  The actor is now infuriated, and tells him, "None of your business?"  The police officer asks the actor one more time, to get out of the car.  The actor at that moment tells the officer some improprieties about the officer's apparent ethnic background, and then adds, "The reason why this world has problems is because of your people."  The next day the incident was all over the press and the media.  The actor, released a statement of apology, saying in part, "It is a known fact that one effect of alcohol is losing your inhibition.  You say things you would not say sober.  However, I said what was inside my heart.  I was not aware that I held such dark feelings about other ethnic groups.  While the incident was indeed embarrassing, what it revealed in my heart is humiliating."  Through this incident, the actor realized that we harbor Sin in our hearts and may not be aware of it.

 

In chapter 9, Daniel prays for forgiveness.  He prays for forgiveness for him and his people.  But, There is something unusual about his prayer.  Daniel includes himself with his people.  Let us read some instances from Daniel 9: 4 - 19, where Daniel includes himself with his people,

 

5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets,

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

 11 …because we have sinned against him.

 13 … all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14  … for we obeyed not his voice.

 15  …we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

 16 … because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

 18 …for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses,

 

As you can see, this prayer is not only intercessory but also corporate in nature.  Why does Daniel pray corporately?  As far as we know, it was the iniquity of his people - not his own - that lead the Jews to Babylonian captivity.  Maybe Daniel knew the phrase, "there go I, but for the grace of God."  Daniel perhaps understood that given the same set of opportunities and circumstances he would have participated in the Sin's of his people.   What separated Daniel from his counterparts? The grace of God, to which Daniel yielded, and his brethren did not.

 

We know that Daniel read Jeremiah.  He must have read Jeremiah 17:9 that says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"  Could it be that Daniel was confessing all Sin that his heart may harbor – even unknown Sin?  However, any act or word we say comes out of the abundance of our heart (Luke 6: 45).  All sinful actions that we commit, are committing, and will commit are borne in our hearts before we let them out.  All these Sins need is the right opportunity.  The problem is we cannot know what is in our hearts.  However, God knows the secrets of our hearts (Psalms 44:21).  Daniel, very likely, was aware of this truth.  And, by including Daniel's prayer in this book of Daniel, sealed until our day, God was stressing the need to see this prayer as a model for us living in the last days.

 

God knowing how Sinful our hearts are, says through the prophet Ezekiel, that He wants to put in us, "A new heart … and [also] a new spirit … within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).   Perhaps our prayer should also be "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:4).     David understood this concept of unknown Sin.  He probably never thought that he was capable of coveting his best friend's wife, committing adultery with her, and murdering his best friend.  This is perhaps why David wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalms 51:10).

 

What unknown Sins do we bear in our hearts?  If only God knows what lays deep and secretly in our hearts, only He can take it out.  But, we must let Him do it.

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

Josiah

Josiah

 Most of the prophets studied in a previous quarterly were sent to prophecy against Judah and surrounding nations.  The words to Judah are as strong as, or stronger than, to the other nations.  Zephaniah's message is no exception.  Zephaniah is speaking to the people of Judah and the nations surrounding them. What were the conditions in Judah at the time? It was an Idolatrous nation according to 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chron. 33-36.  How had the nation gotten to this point? After Hezekiah's death, Manasseh became king and led the country so far into idolatry so that "they did more evil than the nations" they had displaced in Canaan. (2 Chron. 33:9).

Who was the king when Zephaniah was prophet? Josiah. Our lesson states that Josiah was the sixteenth king to rule in the Southern Kingdom; his dates were 640-609 b.c. He became king at the age of eight, after more than half a century of moral and spiritual decline under his father (Amon) and grandfather (Manasseh), two of the most evil kings in Judah. Josiah's reign lasted for thirty-one years. Unlike his ancestors, however, Josiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 22:2), despite an environment that worked against him.

Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to follow in his father's steps, and with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He 'turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.' As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor.-Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 384.

What was the king doing? He was attempting reform. What was his reformation like? Josiah's reform consisted of two main components: First, it was getting rid, as much as possible, of anything and everything that smacked of idolatry. That is, he worked to remove the evil practices that had arisen in the nation.  He destroyed the high places, "did away with" the false priests, broke down Asherah poles, tore down the shrines of the male prostitutes which were in the temple, desecrated sites and shrines and he tried to get rid of everything else that was dedicated to false gods. The Bible says during his lifetime, the people "did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers" (2 Chron. 34:33.)

But that was only the first step. An absence of evil or wrong practices doesn't automatically mean that good will follow. Second, after hearing the book of the law read to him, the king made a covenant before the Lord to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book (2 Chron. 34:31).

Josiah knew that the kingdom of David, of which he was now the ruler, was virtually on the rocks; their very existence was only a "millimeter" away from national disaster, for God was on the verge of withdrawing His care and protection from them, leaving them to the mercies of the pagan Babylonians.

Hilkiah the high priest had found the book of Deuteronomy in the Temple, and when Shaphan the scribe read it to the king he "rent his clothes" (II Kings 22:8-13). He was utterly sincere in his efforts to avert the national ruin he saw coming. He put his whole soul into a work of repentance as he saw it was needed; what he led the people into was a "national repentance" or one might say, a "corporate repentance." It began in the king's palace, the proper place for any national or corporate repentance to begin.

Jeremiah hopes that there will be no more weeping his eyes out in anguish for the incomprehensible rebellion of God's own people. The evidence indicates that they are repenting and doing what is right, for they are following their king (Jer. 9:1, 2).

But that was exactly their problem--they were following their king. That's what Israel did throughout their history--they followed their good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah and they followed their bad kings like Manasseh and Ahab. They never truly followed the Lord!

Ellen White described this condition: "Depending on man has been the great weakness of the church. Men have dishonored God by failing to appreciate His sufficiency, by coveting the influence of man. Thus Israel became weak. The people wanted to be like the other nations of the world, and they asked for a king. They desired to be guided by human power which they could see rather than by the divine Theocracy, the invisible power which till then had led and guided them, and given them victory in battle. They made their own choice, and the result was seen in the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the nation." [Ellen G. White, Ms. 159, 1899.]

Was Josiah successful? Not really. How do we know? As soon as he was gone, the people returned to their false gods. What does this tell us about the state of their hearts even during the reformations of Josiah? They were hard-hearted…they conformed outwardly, but there was no real heart change.  Josiah's heart was in the right place.  But, the people's heart was not.  Josiah's heart had been transformed by the renewal of his mind (Romans 12: 2), but not the peoples'.  The people did not truly reform, they conformed.  

A survey of our church leads us to conclude that we have fallen in the same trap of the Jews in Josiah's time.  And, the solution to our problem is found in the message to Laodicea combined with the 3rd Angel's Message (Revelation 3: 14 – 22; 14: 6 – 12).  He that hath an ear let him hear and heed.  

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

Commentary: Are we affair proof?

Commentary: Are we affair proof?

The Commentary for this week was originally published Friday, September 28, 2007.  It was based on the events that led to the apostasy which "the man of God" rebuked.  The Priests fled from Israel to Judah, thus showing their commitment to God.   But, generations later they conspired to kill the Man in whose sanctuary they served.  The idea is that, unless prevented, we can allow our loyalty to switch from one object of affection to another swiftly and imperceptibly.  For the most part, only in the passing of time will it be obvious. 

Are we affair proof? 

Jeroboam was the first king of Israel, after the nation divided in two kingdoms. Fearing the people of his new kingdom would ally themselves with Judah when they went to worship there, he decided to create a worship system just for his new kingdoms. As we read in 1 Kings 12: 28-30. 

1 Kings 12: 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 

1 Kings 12: 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 

1 Kings 12: 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

He built two golden calves so people would worship them in Israel. He then proceeded to elect new priests for his new religion. This was a hindrance to Israel of course. In 2 Chronicles 11:13-16 we read what happened to the priests that lived in Israel. 

2 Chronicles 11:13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. 

2 Chronicles 11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD: 

2 Chronicles 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. 

2 Chronicles 11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

Jerobaoam's choosing of new priests, meant that the Levitical priests of Israel in were virtually ostracized. Because of this they migrated to Judah, to worship Jehovah.  By the time of Jeremiah, the Priests – whose forefathers had fled idolatry in Israel, had apostatized into idolatry - along with the other leaders –and led others to the same (Jeremiah 2: 8).  

Hundreds of years later, the priests continued to be far from there predecessors. While they continued to work in the temple services, their hearts were far from God. No longer tempted with pagan God's, they now worshiped money and reason. You see, a great number of them were Sadducees. They did not believe in resurrections or miracles, and probably did not believe that God speaks to man; hence, their skeptical stance toward Jesus - a miracle worker who preached resurrection and claimed that God spoke to Him (Desire of Ages 603-604). This would explain Zechariah's – John the Baptist's father – doubting the angel. Yes, he was a man that feared God; however it is possible that Zechariah had adopted some of the Sadducees' beliefs. 

How could a group of people that were once so faithful to God, generations later, while still claiming to love God, kill his Son? The answer is that they switched their loyalty from God to self. While they did not play the harlot with pagan Gods, they played the harlot with gods of their own creation. They flirted with Greek philosophy and thinking. They found themselves liking the company of the Greek theories, and chose to spend more time with them than with God. The Greek system was more pleasing to their senses than was having faith in God. After a while, God's system of delayed gratification did not please the flesh as did the world's system of gratifying the flesh here and now. So much that eventually they started to believe it was impossible to deny the flesh its wants. In other words, they believed a life without Sin is impossible, and thus the sacrificial system was needed to cover for man's inability of keeping God's Law. While they were not as strict as the Pharisees, they created another form of legalism, albeit subtle. You were OK with God as long as you sacrificed an animal. 

Jesus stood against all of the Sadducees beliefs. A Man in every way as they were that lived without sinning, and performing miracles they claimed could not happen (Hebrews 4:15; Desire of Ages, 537-538). 

If this sounds vaguely familiar it is because it is very near to our modern belief. We do not sacrifice animals. But, we have created other requirements to support our theistic and almost existentialist form of Christianity. As the wise man said, "There is no new thing under the Sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). 

Likewise Jesus still stands against us and our beliefs. A Man in every way as we are that lived without sinning, and performing miracles we claim cannot happen. We may not see Jesus in person, but we see how the hearts of men are miraculously transformed after they give their lives to Jesus. They are converted through the work of the Holy Spirit. From proud and arrogant, they become humble and sensitive. From uncouth they become refined. From selfish, braggarts, and self–centered they become God praising and generous.  In time there will be a contrast between those who converted and those not converted.  The Apostle Paul gives us this contrast in Galatians 5: 19 - 23, let us read,

Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 

Galatians 5: 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 

Galatians 5: 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Galatians 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Galatians 5: 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

The Holy Spirit transforms you into a new creature, if you allow Him. This process, by the way, is what keeps you loyal to God.  It is the Holy Spirit that does this, if you let Him.  The moment you block His work in you is the moment you are disloyal.

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

FAQ’s of Prophecy

Originally published on Friday, April 20, 2007

FAQ's of Prophecy

FAQ is an abbreviation for "Frequently Asked Question(s)". The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context and pertaining to a particular topic. Depending on usage, the term may refer specifically to a single frequently-asked question, or to an assembled list of many questions and their answers. Originally the term FAQ referred to the Frequently Asked Question itself and the compilation of questions and answers was known as a FAQ list or some similar expression. Today "FAQ" is more frequently used to refer to the list, and a text consisting of questions and their answers is often called a FAQ regardless of whether the questions are actually frequently asked (if asked at all). This is done to capitalize on the fact that the concept of a FAQ has become fairly familiar online - documents of this kind are sometimes called FAAQs (Frequently Asked and Anticipated Questions). I thought that in this commentary we will tackle the have frequently asked questions about prophecy. 

Q. What is a prophet?

A. In the Biblical Hebrew, the noun used for prophet is "nabi." Nabi means a spokesperson or person authorized to speak for another. Another word used in the Bible is "seer." A prophet is an ordinary person that has been gifted with a gift to hear or see things others cannot see. 

Q. What is the job of a prophet?

A. Again from the Hebrew, the verb "naba," which means to prophesy.

Q. What exactly is prophesying?

A. To communicate – normally orally or written - what is heard or seen.

Q. Who does the prophet represent or speaks for?

A. In the context of our discussion, the prophet represents and speaks for God. All prophets speak for their god. True prophets speak for the Living God. 

Q. Who chooses the prophet?

A. God himself chooses them. He calls them. (Isaiah 6: 1- 8; Jeremiah 1: 1 – 9; Moses in Exodus 3)

Q. Are prophets different than regular human beings?

A. Not in nature. They are sinners, just like any other. They are different than other human beings in their willingness to serve God. This does not make them special. Serving God is a choice any human being can make. This does not mean that all that choose to serve will be prophets. That is God's prerogative. We read about the distribution of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12: 11 - But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 

Q. Are the words of the prophet the Word of God?

A. Only when he is prophesying. Normally, as a spokesperson, the prophet speaks in his own language and style. However, the essence and principle of what he says is from God. There are times when God may tell the prophet to say things exactly as instructed. This again is God's prerogative.

Q. How do you know the words of the prophet are indeed from God?

A. Many quote the verse that the prophecy must happen. However, this was not true for Jonah. Even so, God's purpose was accomplished. God does not delight in the killing of people. We read in Luke 15:7 "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." A better text is Isaiah 8:20, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." 

Q. Is prophecy always about the future?

A. Often it is. However, you will find that all foretelling prophecy ends up pointing to Jesus and the different phases of the plan of salvation. These prophecies are meant to encourage, as well as to educate, those who live by Faith. Most prophecy is to reveal and rebuke Sin. It is to bring people to repentance and back to God.

Q. Are there any prophets in our day?

A. As the lesson says, the fact that Jesus warned about false prophets lets us conclude that they are true ones also. Another fact is what it is written in Joel 2 about the last days,

Joel 2: 28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

We are in the last days, are we not? 

Q. What happens if I reject the prophet and/or what the prophet is saying?

A. You reject God. Rejecting God has its consequences. Rejecting the prophet and or what the prophet says will result in the same consequences.

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com