Miracles by Dave Martin

Author:Dave Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harrison House Publishers
Published: 2017-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

Remove All Doubt

Protect yourself from the influence of people who do not share your faith in God’s ability to perform a miracle in your life.

When the Israelites were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God directed them to do something that, on the surface, might appear to violate everything we know about God. God told the Jewish people to destroy everyone living in the land of Canaan. You can read the full text of God’s command in Deuteronomy 20:16–18.

This command has always been a stumbling block for the unbelieving world and for many Christians as well. It is a part of the biblical narrative we would rather ignore. We prefer to think of God as grandfatherly. We prefer to think of Him as sweet. We prefer to envision a heavenly deity who is gentle, tender, merciful, and kind. It is difficult for us to reconcile our concept of a kindhearted God with a scene of utter destruction. How can we rectify this apparent contradiction in the nature of our God?

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are one-dimensional in their faith, because they choose to see God through the narrow lens of their own personal needs rather than the lens of His self-revelation. They choose to fashion and shape God according to the way they want Him to be (idolatry) rather than the way He actually is (faith). In the Bible, however, where God reveals all sides of His multifaceted personality, our creator is indeed loving. In fact, He was loving enough to die for our sins. But He is also righteous. He is indeed patient, but He also makes it clear that He will not tolerate sin forever. The Lord can show abundant mercy, but He also has warned us that a day of reckoning is coming for all mankind, a day when He will weigh every man, woman, and child in the scales of justice. God beckons us repeatedly to hide our sins through faith in Christ, because we do not know the day or the hour of His visitation.

Consequently, the Bible teaches us to love the Lord, but it also teaches us to fear the Lord. In fact, we must fear God before we can properly love Him. The psalmist wrote that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10, italics mine), and King Solomon added that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7, italics mine). Consequently, all spiritual wisdom and all spiritual knowledge flow from a healthy fear of the Lord. He is an awesome God, and His holiness demands a certain sense of reverence from those who approach Him.

Don’t be surprised, therefore, that God called for the destruction of certain individuals and certain cultures in the days when He was prescribing His laws to the Israelites. And don’t be surprised that today He calls for His people to be “separate” from those who disbelieve. Personally, I think God will be fair in all His judgments when men, women, and children stand before His throne to account for their lives.

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