Friday, February 01, 2008

According to the Word of the LORD

1 Kings 16:34
In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
Joshua 6:26
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

Hundreds and hundreds of years after God had given Joshua victory over the city of Jericho and man presumed to do what God said should never be done, to rebuild this city. And these hundreds of years later, this man was cursed exactly as God said he would be.

Time does not negate either the curses or the promises of our Lord. What He has said will surely come to pass and, though we may forget His Word, He does not.

This I take as both a warning, as is exampled by the curse of Hiel; and as a comfort, as can be seen in so many clear cases in the Word of God when God kept His promise even after the general population had lost all hope of the blessing. The coming of Jesus Christ is a case in point. By the time Christ was born the average Jew had so forgotten God's promises concerning the Messiah that they could not recognize Him when He arrived. Yet He did come,
Galatians 4:4
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (KJV)

And God will keep His Word in every other respect. We can count on that!

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