Published by admin on 06 Jul 2012 at 12:30 pm
PLEAD YOUR CASE
God has always been about doing what is just and right. With ancient Israel, God set up a system of judges through Moses to bring justice to situations that arose among the people, from minor situations to major ones. Even today civilization as a whole revolves around laws and rules, or else everything would be a free-for-all. And of course when the rule of law breaks down, chaos and anarchy takes over, resulting in oppression and injustice. Even God subjects Himself to the rule of law.
In Isaiah 43:21-28, we see here God is talking to Israel, bringing a complaint against them in the highest court in the universe, His own court.
Isa 43:21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
Isa 43:22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
Isa 43:23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
Isa 43:24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Isa 43:26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
Isa 43:27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.
Isa 43:28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Bringing your attention to verse 26, let’s study this verse: God is inviting Israel to put Him in remembrance. Why? Is God so old He has forgotten His promises to Israel? No, think about it, you can’t remind someone of something you yourself don’t know, can you? God was giving Israel the opportunity to recite the conditions of His covenant with them, reminding them “if they did such-and-such, then He would bless them.” But they had forsaken His covenant, cutting themselves off from God’s blessings, and they were murmuring because they thought God was not keeping His end of the covenant.
Notice too, that God is saying to Israel, “Let us plead together”, in other words, “Let’s research this out and discover the problem here, and fix it. Tell Me now, what justification do you have for your charge against Me, so you may be justified?” Did you notice that God really wants Israel to be justified, not condemned? So, how could Israel be justified? Simple: God IS ALREADY justified because He is GOD, so if they wanted to be justified, they would have to be in agreement with God. That is a simple enough solution, just get on God’s side and do what He would do, and the problem is thereby solved.
That’s so simple even a child can understand it. So why do we, in this so-called “age of enlightenment”, continue to struggle so? We seem to always be trying to escape responsibility for the things we do. In every court in the land, criminals are always trying to portray themselves as the victim, blaming everyone and everything else for their crimes instead of taking responsibility for what they did. And that actually goes clear back to the Garden of Eden in chapter three. We need to read a bit to get the whole picture, so here it is:
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
We see in verse 11 where God asked Adam if he had disobeyed His commandment. What was Adam’s reply? Adam actually tried to shift the blame for his disobedience to GOD! The woman whomTHOU gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Now, if that doesn’t beat all! Adam was saying, God, if YOU had not given me this woman, I would not have disobeyed. The very first excuse for disobedience in history, and it has never stopped since. Next, God asked Eve what she did, and likewise she gave an excuse: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And of course we know the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on….
Now let me bring you up to speed here. Often we go through various trials where it seems God has forsaken us. But has He really? Or have we failed to keep up our end of the covenant with Him. Lately I’ve been preaching hard concerning the conditions to God’s promises. They are always preceded with “IF”. That means IF we do such-and-such, God will do such-and such. And that’s pretty simple, but we have this habit of expecting GOD to do His part without US doing OUR part.
So Isaiah 43:26 would have to come into play here: with God saying, Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Ok, exactly WHAT did God promise, and how do you receive the promise? What part do YOU have to do? God is saying to us the problem is NOT on HIS end if we are not enjoying His blessings, for it is His desire we be blessed. But we have forsaken our part of the covenant. What to do? Oh, that’s the simplest part! REPENT and do that which He requires!
For example, concerning forgiveness of sins and healing, because you know I love to teach about healing: Psalm 103:2-18 says,
Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Psa 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psa 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Psa 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
We read through all of this and say, “Oh yeah, those promises are MINE!”, but when we get to verse 18, we see they only belong to WHO? To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. Ouch! So much for our excuses. Here it expressly says we must keep OUR end of the covenant in order to walk in God’s blessings. That, my friend, is the end of the discussion. So the next time you think God is not blessing you, go before God and plead your case, declare His Word back to Him, what He said, and what your part is, and consider if you are doing it, and if so, remind Him so, for He really WANTS you to be justified. You’re not being disrespectful to God by reminding Him of His promises, after all, it was HE who made them, not YOU. That would be like your father saying, “I’ll give you ten dollars if you will clean the attic”. So, after you have cleaned the attic, you return to him and say, “I’ve cleaned the attic, I’d like my ten dollars now please.” And he would give it to you because you did what he said. But suppose you went to him and asked for the ten dollars and you had NOT cleaned the attic. Could you expect him to pay you anyway? Please consider that before you go to God and make your case.
Remember, there are only two rules: Rule 1, GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHT. Rule 2: If you think God is wrong, please refer to Rule 1. When it is all said and done, you may indeed find it is YOU who is not keeping your end of the covenant. Then what? Get in line with God’s Word and you WILL be justified, in the short line for His blessings!
Alaina Earnest on 09 Apr 2022 at 12:01 am #
And peace I leave you, amen. God bless them whom You have sent to be a blessing to another, for they know not to whom they are speaking but faithfully speak, obeying Your Word when called upon, being the vessel You have chosen for such a time and word as this, to spur on his brother to good works, and to hear a Word from the Lord is like sweet honey! Treasure searched and found every time we look where the Lord is leading us, unbridled by fear freed by determination to find the One who has all the mystery of the universe and more because that is where your heart lies with God always, I speak on my behalf that is. Thank you, God bless you.