09/17/2022
When we receive a Word from the Lord, and it is not a pleasant thing that will come to pass, or what He tells us to say is stern, do we still reveal it exactly as it was told to us, or do we temper it, and make it less harsh for the sensitive ears of those who He meant to hear it? In today’s world we are taught that if we don’t have something nice to say then we shouldn’t say anything at all, and this is a good rule of thumb, but if we receive a Word from God, and we are absolutely certain it is from Him, then we are to be true to it. If we are told to deliver a message, then for us to leave out a single part, or word of it, would be disobedient and sinful. We are not the one saying these things, but simply the messenger. As we look at our lives, have we ever tempered the Word of God so as not to offend someone, nor make them bitter towards us?
“So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.””
1 Samuel 3:18 ESV
Samuel was told that God was about to punish the family of Eli, and that the punishment was going to be severe. Listen to what God said to Samuel, and then think about how he must have felt about delivering this message to Eli… his master, and the prophet under whom he had been studying.
“Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.””
1 Samuel 3:11-14 ESV
Had we heard such a thing, how would we have delivered this message? Would we have sugar coated it like Julie Andrews proposed when she sang the words “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” in the movie “The Sound of Music”? Would we have delivered God’s medicine to Eli with a spoonful of sugar so that it would have been easier for him to swallow? Bad or unpleasant news is never easy to hear, and it is just as hard to deliver, but coming from God it is necessary.
Do we recall a time in our lives when we were the bearer of such news? How did it make us feel, and how did we do so? Did we temper the words that seemed harsh, or cutting, by changing the word “will” to the word “could”, or the phrase “is going to” with “might be going to”? If we did such a thing were we actually delivering the news, or warning, at all? There is a big difference when the weatherman say “WARNING! We are going to have severe weather with tornadoes, and torrential rain beginning at noon today!”, as opposed to “We might have some bad weather today, and it could bring a little hard rain, and possibly some strong winds that might include a degree of rotation.” Which of these forecasts would send us to our storm shelters, and which would give us the impression that we might be able to wait and see what would happen?
“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV
What are the consequences when we withhold something from what God has told us to say? When we read the verse prior to this one (Deut. 4:1), and we include the two verses following it (Deut. 4:3-4), we see that it is a matter of life and death…
““And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.”
Deuteronomy 4:1, 3-4 ESV
So here is the lesson we need to learn… make certain that what we have heard is of God, and if it is, then say and obey that Word exactly as it is given, or written, and do exactly what God commands us to do as we deliver it. Don’t take the hard things and make them more palatable for people to hear, because we are dealing with not only physical life and death, but spiritual life and death… which we know is eternal. If we deliver a message other than the one God has given us, we will find that we are not only disobedient, and sinful, but that we are usurping the authority of God, and might have the blood of lost souls on our hands.
Think about these things, and how we should be dutiful messengers.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Word, prophesies, visions, and the dreams you give us in the night. Help us Lord to be discerning, and to know the difference between what is simply our own interpretation, wishful thinking, or imaginations, and what you are speaking into us. Help us to be obedient as we deliver your Word, and recall your revelations in their entirety, and without adding to them. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you out God and Father, who praises us as your children, and disciplines us out of an abundance of love and care. Praised be your name for speaking not only the loving Words of a Father to His child in whom He is pleased, but the Words of discipline and warning that corrects us. Merciful are you who delivers the hard warnings, and the encouragement alike. In each it is your intention that we be saved, and brought before you worthy of your love and the promise of eternity with you. Your wrath is always tempered by your love for us, and requires no adjustment or softening by us, the messengers, as we deliver your Words to those you intend to hear them. When we have come to obedience, and have received your Word; wash us in the blood of your Son Jesus and cleanse us of sin. Give us the strength and courage to say what you would have us say, and live as you would have us live. Furthermore, let us take no pleasure in delivering your warnings, or correction, and to do so only in love as you intend… even CV when speaking to our enemies. Your grace abounds and can overcome all things, so remind us of this as we confront your unruly children, and teach us what you taught Jesus… that you desire that none be lost. Use us Father, and although we pray that the messages you ask us to deliver will be easy for us to say, we stand ready to speak the warnings, and hard things, into the lives of those who you wish to hear them. Father, teach us to be gentle and kind in the midst of your wrath because just as vengeance is yours alone… so is your wrath.
“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”
Proverbs 30:5-6 ESV
Rich Forbes