Lost levels:
We do not have the ability to dismiss God. Some people comfort themselves by taking the name of atheist or agnostic. By such a choice they delay the realization of their personal responsibility but, they have in no wise negated the forces that affect their lives. It is like the lemmings who cry out, “I am my own, no one tells me what to think!” - as each, in turn, throws himself into the void. He wishes to be unique and separate, but never shall his willfulness undo his bonds.
Some people chafe at the authority or the urgency in others and so seek to separate or distance themselves. They claim that fallible man, speaking for God, negates all authority by the presence of his fallibility and, by extension, negates the power and authority of God. Yet, God has more than one option. He may act directly upon the mind that is in denial, or He may act through the agency of fallible men.
Minds in denial, no less than believers, have people they will listen to. Believers have chosen to hear men who speak for God but nonbelievers and those who claim to believe otherwise have also chosen their prophets. These men of science, literature, and secular persuasion are often quoted by them, just as believers quote scripture.
The alliances of the rebellious, however, seldom work in their favor, as we see in 2 Chronicles 18:22, “Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit (communication) in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.”
The thought of a ‘sweet-natured’ and forgiving God: the notion of a limited and ineffectual God is to the believer a comfort and to the nonbeliever a font of individual empowerment. I am saying here that all people, those on both sides of the issue, struggle with their concept of God. The believers are assured that a Holy and Righteous God cannot look upon sin or evil. They are in error. The nonbelievers are assured that a God of love and forgiveness will not condemn the soul He has formed and instructed to the torments of hell. They are in error.
God is a spiritual God: a God of knowledge. He is less interested in the sinner’s fleshly comforts than in His own spiritual agenda. He is working a spiritual work more toward His own clearly formed will than toward the romanticized misconceptions of His children. It is not beyond God to exercise the full range of His power and authority.
See Judges 9:23, “Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.”
God can, does, and will work against an individual, both directly and indirectly, but that is not to say that it is all about the individual. God may act against an individual because of established plans. The individual stands in the way of progress and that explains the tire track across his face.
God may act against an individual responsively because the individual has turned his back on God
and has disregarded the terms of his covenant with God. God may act against lands, or times, or
societies - all of which include individuals.
I have listed three scenarios.
Of the first scenario, whether of short or long-range plans, we see an indication of God acting against individuals in 1 Chronicles 5:26, “And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.”
God may act responsively against single individuals for many reasons. Usually, the individual has disregarded the terms of his agreement with God. That was the case with king Saul, but we also
see that God had plans to set up another as king so that Saul was in the way. But, consider the power
of God to do exactly as He chooses.
Consider 1 Samuel 16:14, 15 & 16, “But the (good) Spirit (mind) of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit (mind) from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit (mind) from God troubleth thee. Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit (mind) from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.”
Consider also 1 Samuel 16:23, “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit (mind) from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand.”
God may act against any individual, and He is not limited by those who believe that He cannot lie. Consider that God’s angels, whom He may send anywhere at any time as a lying spirit, are beings who are of the mind of God. Read the very words of the Bible and see for yourself that such lying spirits never act apart from God’s authorization.
2 Chronicles 18:20-21 & 1 Kings 22:21-22, “And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.”
God may act against any individual, and He is not limited by those who do not believe that He will punish them.
See Matthew 22:13, “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away.”
See also Matthew 13:30, “And bind them in bundles to burn them.”
God may do as He chooses. God does all that He does for His own reasons and for His own purposes. Neither the misconceptions of believers nor the complaints of nonbelievers affect the facts. God may also act against times, and societies, and entire nations. He may send forth His angels not only to lie but to destroy. He has done so in the past and, according to the final book of the Bible, will do so again in the future.
See Revelation 9:14, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”
These four spirits (or, minds of God) will, by themselves, destroy one-third of the earth’s population in a period of time described as a little more than one year. Some people employ thoughts of a sweet, forgiving, and ineffectual God to rationalize their willfulness, or strengthen themselves against underlying fears. They complain against the concept of a God that has authority over both good and evil because that bursts the bubble of their fantasy.
What is their fantasy? It is that they are unique, special, the center of the known universe.
It is for the reason of such a fantasy that they complain - because the agreement with God and the communications involved come to them through ‘fallible man’. Should they be led by their (br)other?
That flies in the face of all their ‘unique’ independence and free will. It is much easier to think that the other is playing the know-it-all. It is much more appealing to think that they know at least as much as their (br)other. It is more empowering to believe that God should be sweet-natured and concerned only with their well-being.
But, God has His own personality and His own character. He is not limited by either belief or non-belief. Man’s justifications and rationalizations of his romanticized misconceptions and desires for self-will without consequences matter not in the least. God has, through chosen avenues of communication, described His intent and will, has offered the covenant of His choice - and we have only two paths before us: acquiescence or rebellion.
See Jeremiah 30:24, “The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have performed the intents of His heart (mind): in the latter days ye shall consider it.”
See also Jeremiah 23:20, “The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have executed, and till
He have performed the thoughts of his heart (mind): in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.”
What are the lost levels? They are the willfulness that separates us from the mind of God; they are the unqualified pride that leads to rebellion; they are the romantic notions that impede the advance of knowledge. It is not about man. God will never be your personal genie. It is not about God apart from man but it is about the state of man that allows the mind of God to be a real part of our complete makeup. Then the spiritual God of knowledge may truly dwell among us, and abide within. God began with a physical Israel but works toward a spiritual Israel.
See Jeremiah 9:26, “For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart (minds).”
God has his own agenda. God may either work for or against any culture, people, society, place, time, - and, yes - any individual. The reasons and purposes belong to God, not man. That being said, we must realize that in all of His work, God’s relationship with and actions toward man are basically responsive. I think that describes ‘judgement’ in a nutshell.
If you ask of Him, He will give. If you seek His truth, you will find it. If you knock on the door that is Christ, it will be opened to you. If you take a stand against God, He will take a stand against you.
Knowing that ‘what goes around comes around’, I have this to say: before you do anything that might be construed as a choice or an action against the goodness and truth of God within yourself, consider the nature of judgment explained in Proverbs 24:12, “If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart (mind) consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?”
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