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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. Jude 1:5 5 I will [boulomai] therefore [de] put [hupomimnesko] you [humas] in remembrance [hupomimnesko], though ye [humas] once [hapax] knew [eido] this [touto], how that [hoti] the Lord [kurios], having saved [sozo] the people [laos] out of [ek] the land [ge] of Egypt [Aiguptos], afterward [deuteros] destroyed [apollumi] them that believed [pisteuo] not [me]. KJV-Interlinear 5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. NASB Jude is going to refer to three instances of judgments with which everyone is familiar. Note that Jude does not refer to the scriptures because it is understood that what he is saying is common knowledge. And he states just that. 'Though you know all things once for all,' means that this is common knowledge and simply means that you have known this all along. So Jude opens his examples with the Israelites who wandered in the desert for forty years until the entire Exodus generation had died. The Israelites had been witness to some of the most miraculous plagues against the Egyptians. Not only were they miraculous, but they occurred in close sequential order and against only the Egyptians. Random acts of nature do not discriminate against cultures or races or even geographical regions. And yet all ten of those plagues were specifically directed at Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation right down to the midnight plague which took the first born child of every Egyptian household. What virus or disease can distinguish between the first and second born of a family let alone the nationality of the family? Then there was the Exodus. An overwhelming sight of a couple of million Israelites leaving slavery and Egypt. Then the attack of the Egyptian army, the protection by a pillar of fire, the sea crossing on dry land and the quick and complete destruction of the most powerful army in that day, as the walled waters crashed back over onto the Egyptians. All of this happening in a very short amount of time. But the Israelites were dissatisfied and rebellious, and they rejected God even in the face of His greatest acts of grace in their behalf. They complained incessantly and God gave them water and food and shelter and the promise of a great land for a permanent home. But the complaints continued. So God condemned them, the Israelites, to the desert and forbade them from entering the promised land. The promised land is representative of spiritual maturity. The first crossing over of the Red Sea was representative of faith in God or salvation. That test they all passed, but the many tests of their spiritual life, the desert life, were absolute failures. No spiritual growth, no spiritual maturity, no 'rest.' Heb. 3:16-17 16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? NASB Num. 32:13 13 'So the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years , until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed. NASB The God that led them out of Egypt is the same God who went to the Cross, and is the same God who will return at the Second Advent to rescue a generation of Jewish peoples who will finally accept and believe in Him. That same God is of course Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 10:4 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. NASB 1 Peter 3:15 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; NASB Deut. 6:4 4 'Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one ! NASB Negative volition toward God brings with it certain judgment and all the misery that accompanies that judgment. Negative volition includes everything from outright rejection of God, to subtle compromising of His mandates. You do not have to be an ugly criminal with a hooked nose in order to be anti-God. Many a beautiful person is negative toward God. Sometimes judgment comes suddenly, and other times it takes a lifetime to transpire. Right now as I type this study this Sunday evening for tomorrow, a hurricane is bearing down on New Orleans. Could end up being a tremendous disaster. When people see hard evidence of disaster approaching, they will get out of its way. But there are always those who will try to hold out in the city, even knowing the danger they are placing themselves in. It is the same with the spiritual life. There are many obstacles out there in the world which will try to redirect your attention away from the dangers of ignoring God. Would be surfers and hurricane party folks are enticed by the waves and the thrill of the adventure, and so are distracted from the danger that is out there in the wind. The hurricane dangers are far more obvious, but the repercussions of ones spiritual failure are far more dangerous and more permanent. Sometimes it takes a disaster or the threat of a disaster in order to make people wake up. The hurricane will probably have several outcomes. For some it will be an eye opening experience. For some the judgment will be completed and they will not survive or they will lose most of what they own. For some the storm will be a near miss and they will continue to be desensitized to the dangers of the world and will still not turn to God. Often times people, especially children, see and hear of many terrible things in the world from the television, from movies, from video games and such, and they become desensitized and therefore they lose their compassion and empathy and even their conscience toward others. They can become the very real dangerous folks of the world. But one thing is certain. God will judge all who are evil, all who are negative. Judgment will not always be swift, but it is certain. And from it there is no escape. Monday, some folks will see just what escape if any, awaits those who remained in the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Some will get another chance. Some will not.
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End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |