{"id":922,"date":"2020-07-26T16:12:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T21:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=922"},"modified":"2020-07-26T16:12:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T21:12:52","slug":"a-light-in-the-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/26\/a-light-in-the-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Light in the Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cNow all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.<\/strong>\u201d
1 Corinthians 10:11 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

God often reminded His people what He expected of them.\nBefore they were led into the land God promised to them, see what He told them:\n\u201cYe shall not do after all the\nthings<\/em> that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is<\/em> right in\nhis own eyes<\/strong>\u201d (Deuteronomy 12:8). He also told them: \u201c\u2026 thou shalt hearken to the voice of the\nLORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do\nthat which is<\/em> right in the eyes of the LORD thy God<\/strong>\u201d\n(Deuteronomy 13:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not too long after the people were given these warnings, we\nread about a particularly tragic time. It is recorded in the book of Judges. A\ndominant theme is found within this book: \u201cIn those days there was<\/em> no king in <\/strong>Israel<\/strong>: every man did that which was<\/em> right\nin his own eyes<\/strong>\u201d (Judges 21:25).\nNotice that it doesn\u2019t say they did wrong; they thought<\/em><\/strong> what they\nwere doing was right. Although it didn\u2019t appear wrong to them, it was wrong in\nGod\u2019s eyes. They did not obey the commands God had given them. We can read that\nthe Israelites had rejected God as their king. They chose to be friends with\nthe enemy nations. They also continually chose to turn to the enemy\u2019s idol\nworship. However, we understand that God never left His people. When the enemy\noppressed, God sent a judge (a champion) to deliver them from the hands of\ntheir enemies. Gideon and Samson are probably the most familiar judges. The\nbook of Judges reveals some terribly vile things that took place. One\nexcessively despicable event even led to civil war within the nation, almost\nannihilating one of the twelve tribes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s people were supposed to reveal to the world the love of\nGod for those who follow and obey His Words. \u201c1. And it shall come to pass,\nif thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe\nand<\/em> to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the\nLORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2. And\nall these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt\nhearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God<\/strong>\u201d (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). But\ninstead, they rejected God and His Word to do what they thought was right. \u201cIn\nthose days there was<\/em> no king in <\/strong>Israel<\/strong>:\nevery man did that which was<\/em> right in his own eyes<\/strong>\u201d (Judges 21:25). Because of this, we read what God said\nthe consequences of not obeying the word of the Lord would be. \u201c62. And ye\nshall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for\nmultitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. 63.\nAnd it shall come to pass, that<\/em> as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you\ngood, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you,\nand to bring you to nought \u2026<\/strong>\u201d (Deuteronomy 28:62-63a). They were not a\nlight, revealing God in the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many examples in the Bible of which we should\ntake notice. They are there to remind us of what happens when we cease to obey\nGod\u2019s Word and choose our own path. \u201cNow\nall these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our\nadmonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come<\/strong>\u201d (1 Corinthians\n10:11). Jesus wants Christians to be\na light in this world. \u201c14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is\nset on an hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a candle, and put\nit under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are\nin the house. <\/strong>16. Let your\nlight so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your\nFather which is in heaven<\/strong>\u201d (Matthew 5:14-16). When the Christians in\nthe churches cease to be obedient to God\u2019s Word, it is much like a light that\nis put under a bushel. Compromising Christians hurt themselves, their families\nand their churches. Worse than that, they can also contribute to the decay of a\nwhole nation. We can see this pictured in the book of Judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you a compromising Christian, hurting loved ones and contributing\nto the decay of a nation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or are you a light, showing Jesus in this world?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God often reminded His people what He expected of them. Before they were led into the land God promised to them, see what He told them: \u201cYe shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes\u201d (Deuteronomy 12:8). He also told them: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[437,345,131,436,493,80,157,492,404,246,247],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-admonition","tag-christians","tag-commandments","tag-examples","tag-hearken","tag-jesus","tag-judges","tag-light","tag-obey","tag-right","tag-wrong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":924,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions\/924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}