Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your email inbox.
You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
9 If any
man [ei tis] have [echo] an ear, [ous] let him hear. [akouo] KJV-Interlinear
9 If anyone
has an ear, let him hear. NASB
When Jesus told the apostles
that he was going to be killed, it was Peter that protested this destiny, to
which Jesus said:
Matt 16:23
23 But He turned and
said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for
you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." NASB
God has a plan. God has
a plan for all of humanity and God has a plan specifically for each individual.
God has a plan for you. If you oppose Gods plan (truth), then you are an agent
for Satan (lies). For lies oppose truth.
If you are one of those
folks that cannot see why God does not put a stop to all of the inhumanity and
trouble in the world, then you are a long way from understanding life, history,
and certainly Gods plan.
For it was Satan who
rebelled and who brought all of the problems and prejudices and inequities into
the world.
It is Satan who protests
all that believers believe and do. It is Satan who brings charge after charge
against God and Christianity. And God allows Satan to have his day in court, so
to speak, as Gods plan rolls right along without a hitch.
Neither you nor I can
know all of the intricate details of Gods plan for ourselves, let alone
everyone in all of human history. And when you combine all of the interactions and
possible interactions among humans, then the plan gets really complex. And when
you add to that, all of the events of nature, and all of the actions of Satan and
his demon band, then history gets really complex.
As we have studied in
the Psalms, Gods objective for every individual is to bring them blessings
(plural) and completion in their life. God gives every individual the
opportunity to rise to spiritual maturity and achieve these blessings, but most
people do not pursue that goal.
God allows them to make
the choice, for or against their spiritual life.
If you wonder why God
does not step in and do that which is right (in your opinion), then you
probably want him to step into your life and force you to think, say, and do
the right things as well. Or, were you probably thinking of everyone else and
not yourself?
In eternity past, God
looked down the tunnel of time and determined the best historical timeline
which would result in the best destiny for all, even given everyone's choices
that they would make. God chose the one which we are living right now, because
it will give you your best life possible, given the choices that you will make
throughout your life. Any other life for you, would have ended in less than optimal
results for you.
But now, you can choose
and maximize your life, by complying with Gods mandates for you to study and
learn and grow to spiritual maturity. Of course you can decide against that
course of action and end up with less, but that is your choice.
Today, we live in the
Church Age. In our dispensation, we live in an age of responsibility and the
letter of the law. God does not bend down and part the seas for us, we have to
maintain law and order, courts, militaries, training, education, jobs and
experience, marriages and families and so forth.
In other words we have
to do those things that comply with the right way to do things, the right way of
defend ourselves, the right way of care for our families, the right way live
life. We carry insurance, locks for doors, diet properly, obey the laws and
such. And if we recognize the divine establishment principles of life, then we
get along reasonably well in life. Studying doctrine and growing up gives us an
edge in life as well, but God does not bend down and make the choices for us.
When the tribulation
arrives, at some point in the future, then that method will change as mandated in
the upcoming verses.
Rather than taking up
the usual precautions in life, God is going to ask every believer who will be
alive during the reign of the anti-christ, to not fight back, to not organize,
to not rebel, but to let fate and God (who defines fate), take care of them as
God sees fit.
That is going to be a
tremendous challenge, to sit back and let God do it all.
Today, we need to work
to earn money and pay our bills. We need to go to the doctor to get treatment
for our physical condition. We need to have insurance, get an education, mind
our manners and so forth. The course of life now, is guided by doctrine in the
soul, from which we learn our responsibilities.
But in the future that
will all change. The doctrine and the learning will remain the same, but social
and political responsibilities will change.
And so John interjects
here a principle of understanding, ‘Listen and learn, and do not sit back and
be a critic or try to second guess God or His plan.’
He knows what He is
doing. You and I do not, when it comes to the intricacies of all people who
have , or do, or will ever live.
Faith does not mean to
do nothing, for faith is proactive and based on specific and certain knowledge,
not wishes and hopes. Faith is confidence.
So, have an ear, and be
teachable, not opinionated. Listen and learn. Be open minded and wait on knowledge
if you do not understand something immediately, for understanding will come if
you pursue your daily studies with an objective and genuine attitude for
learning truth.
Learning means that you
may have to place all of your preconceived ideas behind you and learn truth
correctly, which means that you may have to undo some of the beliefs that you
already have. That can be a difficult task if you are not really interested in
knowing truth.
But if you are willing
and open minded (have an ear), then you will learn and grow up (let him hear).
But you have to set your opinions aside and assume a learning posture and
attitude.