Proud rebels do not obey the commandments of God

Nehemiah Chapter 9 says that the people of Israel were a proud, rebellious people who did not obey the commandments of God. They did not want to obey God and to remember God's wonderful works and God's good care of them, but - in their rebellion - they chose a human leader so that they could return to slavery in Egypt. God is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, and great in His grace, and did not abandon His people even though they made an idol (golden calf), and said that the calf is the god of Israel who led them out of Egypt. In this way, they were massively mocking God.

If the heart and mind of a believer do not want to obey God, their heart obeys the will of the flesh and sin, which makes them proud. When believers are proud, they rebel against God and neglect the commandments (teachings) of God. When believers do not want to obey God and remember His good works, believers allow their hearts to be led by the will of man, the voice of man, and they consider the will of man to be superior to that of the will of God, and they consider man to be a better leader than God. Therefore, believers go for a fleshly approach and sin, and falsehood, instead of choosing the will of God. Proud, rebelling believers get lost and use the ear-itching of man to make themselves a god in accordance with the will of the flesh, and they serve their self-made god from a fleshly approach. Proud believers make themselves a god in accordance with their ear-itch, and they serve their own god, thus mocking God. However, God does not abandon the proud believer if he or she repents because God loves him or her and wants him or her to repent so that God can forgive them and give them His grace.

In the desert, God led the people of Israel in a pillar of the cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, showing them the way that they were to take so that they could remain in the will and guidance of God and in God's good care of them. The Spirit of God was teaching the people of Israel. God gave them manna from heaven and water for them to drink in the desert. God sustained them for forty years in the desert, and they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear and their feet remained healthy. God gave them the promised land which was full of all kinds of good things, such as water "containers" in rock, vineyards, oil trees and a large number of fruit trees. In God's good care, the people of Israel had plenty to eat, they were fell-fed and lived a good life, surrounded by all kinds of abundance given to them by God. Despite all this, they rebelled against God and overlooked the commandments and teachings of God. They killed the prophets of God, who warned the people to restore them to again serve God and to abide by the will of God.

God takes good care of believers. God loves believers, guiding them every single day, giving them all the good things (meeting believers' spiritual and temporal needs) they need if believers first seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God. Even when God takes good care of them, believers, too, can be proud and dissatisfied. Believers, too, can transgress or rebel against God due to their being proud, which causes them to overlook the commandments and teachings of God. In the age of the New Covenant, too, fleshly and sensual believers stone (hit and attack verbally) servants of God who abide in and speak the truth in the Spirit of God's love, encouraging believers to return back to believing unto God as we are taught in the truth (the Bible). Pride and rebellion are consequences of believers rejecting the truth of the Bible and believing lies and false teachings. Of course, many believers may be sincere in their faith and may have received false teachings, but regardless of that, that is also caused by them rebelling against God.  

When the people of Israel were living in the rebellion of sin against God, God allowed (let) them to fall into the hands of the assailant who assailed them. When the people, in their distress, cried out to the Lord to help them, the Lord heard them and - in His great grace - sent and gave them people who freed them from the assailants. When the people of Israel, thru those who freed them, got to experience a time of peace, they once again started doing evil things before the Lord. The Lord, once again, left the people in the hands of the enemy so that the enemy got to reign over the people of Israel. When the people of Israel, once again, cried out to the Lord, the Lord heard them from heaven and saved them many times because He is gracious. Lord God warned the people of Israel to restore them to abiding by the law and commandments of God, but due to them being proud, they refused to obey the commandments of the Lord and did wrong against the Lord, turning their backs to God in their rebellion.

Due to the rebellion of sin, believers in the New Covenant, too, can refuse to obey the will of God, and the consequence of this is that the enemy is given permission to assail believers. When believers do not abide by the will of God, but are living in sin, they are not in God's care because they're living in sin and that opens gates for satan to assail, blame, depress and enslave believers. When believers cry out to the Lord in their distress, the Lord hears them if they want to repent and abide by the will of God. In His great grace, the Lord sets believers free of their anxiety, but if and when believers experience the peace of God and again start rebelling, they once again tread the path of anxiety due to their personal choice because rebellion against God always causes a situation where believers are attacked and assailed by the enemy. Pride and rebellion against God is a severe sin which takes believers to the hands of the enemy because God's protection and care does not sustain and support the rebellion of sin.

The Bible says that the Lord dwells among gratitude shown to Him by His people (inhabit the praises of Israel - His people), which means that believers are to show gratitude towards God who loves them and takes good care of them. The Bible also says that if believers cry out to the Lord upon their day of distress, the Lord wants to help them, but believers must honor the Lord. If believers do not honor the Lord and do not express gratitude towards the Lord, they are in great danger of ending up to the sins of pride and rebellion. Many believers ask: "Why does not the Lord help me and hear my prayers?" If this is the case, there usually are two reasons for it. If believers have not yet grown in faith and learned discernment, they cannot yet get things which are not part of their particular stage of growth. Another reason is that they are rebellious and dissatisfied against the Lord. If you are living in the sin of rebellion, you will have to reap the harvest of sin, and you will not see God's work in your life. God's work can only take place in the lives of believers when they want to abide by the will of God.

Lord God suffered the rebellion of the people of Israel for many years, warning them through His prophets, but the people did not listen. Therefore, Lord God, let them (allowed them to) end up in the hands of the gentiles. However, the Lord did not finish them off and did not abandon them, but forgave them because of His great grace. Lord God is loyal and holds on to His covenant, is righteous in everything that His people encounters because the Lord is loyal in His works even though His people has been and has behaved like the godless. The kings, chiefs, priests and people of Israel did not abide by the law of the Lord and did not follow the Lord's commandments. Even though Lord God had given the people of Israel a kingdom of their own, and had given them water and food, etc. in abundance, they still did not turn away from their evil ways and did not serve the Lord. The people of Israel had to be slaves in a country, given to them by God so that they would be free and would eat the abundant fruit etc. available in the land. The abundant harvest of the land, which was meant for the people of Israel, ended up in the hands of the enemies who gathered the abundant harvest of the land for their gain. The people of Israel were slaves and were assailed in their own land due to their own sins. For the sake of their slavery and distress, the people of Israel humbled themselves, made a covenant with the Lord and got to experience God's promised blessing and good care.

In some cases, the Lord may allow believers to rebel for a long time, but at the same time, the Lord warns them about it thru His servants or directly warns them by talking to the heart of the believer in the Holy Spirit. Believers do not always heed the warnings of the Lord, and that is why believers, due to their own choice, choose sin and the unfortunate consequences of sin. The Lord is gracious and does not abandon believers even when they are rebelling against the Lord. The Lord allows believers to be attacked and assailed by satan due to their rebellion. The Lord is loyal and He holds on to His covenant with believers even when believers are unfaithful, and as far as possible, the Lord aims of restoring rebellious believers back to the way of the will of God. The Lord does not abandon rebellious believers, but will fully let go of them if they fully abandon the Lord.

In some cases, believers may resort and transgress to blame God for their own sins and related consequences. Due to their rebellion, believers end up in the hands of the enemy because of their own choice, and satan is allowed to hit and wound them through a variety of sins. In God's good care, believers are protected against the blows of sin and satan, and related consequences if they want to live in and abide in the will of God. When believers tread paths of sin and rebellion, they will reap what they sow, and the harvest is always bad because sin - in many ways - always breaks and destroys the hearts of men and their personality. When believers are living in sin and rebellion against God, the enemy steals all the good things from them, which God would like to give them. In some cases, believers, too, are so stubborn that they will only humble themselves before God when sin has caused extensive damage in their lives. If and when believers repent of their rebellion and sins, God forgives their sins, which leads them back to God's good care.  

We are tested by God

Chapter 13 of Deuteronomy says that if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among the people of God, promising a sign or a wonder, and it happens, but if the person also encourages the people to follow and serve other gods, the people of God shall not listen to such a person. When God allows a false prophet to appear among His people, He is testing His people to see whether they love the Lord of all their hearts and souls.  

The Lord Jesus said (Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22) that false christs (anointed ones) and false prophets will rise in the last days, and they will work great signs and wonders, and will also try to deceive the very elect. We are living in the last days, and there is a large number of false anointed ones and false prophets who work great signs and wonders thru the deceitful force of demonic spirits, but they deceive those who believe them to serve idols, i.e. satanic spiritual powers of darkness, disguised as angels of light, deceiving people to think that they have encountered the God of the Bible. Thru the deception by false anointed ones and false prophets in the last days, God is testing the hearts of the Lord Jesus' disciples to see whether they love God in truth, or whether they love their ear-itch and signs and lies.

Chapter 13 of Deuteronomy says that the people of God are to follow the Lord, to fear (to honor) the Lord and keep His commandments, to listen to the Lord, to serve the Lord and to trust on the Lord. In the Old Covenant, false prophets were to be killed if they had declared that people should abandon the Lord, who had freed His people from slavery in Egypt. False prophets try to take the people of the Lord away from the truth, and that is why in the Old Covenant, the evil was to be removed from among the people.  

In the New Covenant, believers are to follow Lord God and to believe in the Lord Jesus in accordance with the New Covenant. Lord Jesus' disciples are to honor the Lord and to serve the Lord by believing in the truth of the Bible according to the New Covenant. False prophets worship idols. Paul, an apostle of the Lord, teaches in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 5, that if an idolater (the false prophet) is called a brother, such evil must be removed from the church. False prophets who are working thru a lying spirit do not serve God, but are deceivers and idolaters, which is why they are to be removed from the church and are not to be considered fellow Christians because they are not fellow Christians. If a false prophet is considered to be a brother and is accepted in the church, they will try to contaminate the faith of many thru deception, false teachings and a lying spirit. Therefore, false prophets who are vessels of a satanic lying spirit are not to be considered to be fellow Christians and are not to be allowed in the church to contaminate and destroy real Biblical faith.

The Lord Jesus said that false anointed ones and false prophets will rise to deceive people in the last days prior to His second coming. Lord Jesus said that false anointed ones and false prophets focus on great signs and wonders. They do not focus on the gospel, even though they might say something about the gospel, but focus on signs and wonders that take place thru the deceitful force of demonic spirits. Many people are very wrong, assuming that a deceiver who is a vessel of a demonic spirit cannot bring forth the gospel. In Acts, Chapter 16, there was a woman possessed with a spirit of divination. She followed Paul and those accompanying him, and she shouted: "These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." The Bible says that the woman had done this for many days, i.e. the woman possessed with the spirit of divination shouted for many days and many times that Paul and those accompanying him were servants of the most high God who were preaching the way of salvation.

Deceivers possessed by a lying spirit have the courage to present the gospel of salvation because it is on the sidelines in the deception, and the main focus is on signs and wonders that take place through demonic spirits. Signs and wonders feed fleshly and sensual people, and fleshliness and sensuality never seek the will and truth of God, but sensual and fleshly and sensory experiences, signs and wonders. Therefore, false anointment underlines and focuses on signs and wonders and perverts the truth because sensual, fleshly people are seeking experiences, not the truth. When the false prophets mix lies with the truth, the lies always refute the truth presented and leads people into a world of lies, so that the everything focuses on the lies. When deceivers bring forth the gospel, they don't preach the real gospel leading into the salvation, but deceivers use it as the trick and the bait to deceive to think that in question is genuine gospel.

Luke, Chapter 23 says how Herod was very fascinated by seeing Jesus because he was hoping for Jesus to make a miracle. When Herod did not get the answers he would like to have gotten to the questions he asked from Jesus, and when Herod did not get to see any miracles, he and those accompanying him despised Jesus and mocked Him. Those who are sensual and fleshly "experience-hunters" wish for and want to see miracles, but if they do not see any, but only see the truth in Jesus, they start to despise and mock those who hold on to the truth. The truth Himself (Lord Jesus) stood before Herod, but because Herod only wanted to see miracles and was not interested in the truth, he did not get to see miracles of God or to hear the word of the truth. If the hearts of believers are only set on miracles, and they are not interested in the real truth, they do not get to see God's wonders, but are lost and experience and see miracles performed by lying spirits, and those people do not want to hear the truth because they love the lies.

In the second chapter of Thessalonians, Paul writes about the appearance of the man of lawlessness (the antichrist) who will appear by the impact of satan with all power, miracles and signs and wonders of the lie, and with all temptations of falsehood, to those who will be condemned to damnation because they did not accept the love of truth, in order for them to be saved. God allows a massive deception so that He can separate the sheep from the goats, i.e. to separate those who love the lie, from those who love God and the truth (Word of God). God will judge all those who have not believed the truth but love falsehood. Right from the beginning, God has chosen the disciples of the Lord Jesus to salvation in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, and in faith in the truth through the gospel, to own the brightness of Lord Jesus Christ. If and when we firmly hold on to Biblical truth and love Lord Jesus in truth, the Lord will protect us from ending up in the traps of fierce deception in the last days.

God's good care of us

Psalm 95 says that we should make a joyful noise to our Lord, the rock of our salvation. Psalm 95 also says that the Lord is a great God and the great King over all gods (idols). The psalm also says that God is the God of His people who are shepherded by Him. The Bible says that God is the King of His people, and when the Lord God is allowed to be the King of His people, we get to be in His good care. We do not often pay thought to God being the King, but many Bible verses refer to God being the King. God is the King means that He holds supreme authority and power. The Lord God is an Omnipotent God who is the supreme authority and Ruler of the visible and invisible universe, i.e. the King and the King of kings. When we allow Lord God to be the King of us, His people, and our supreme authority and only Ruler, we, i.e. the people of the Lord get to be in the good care of God. If we ignore the fact that God is King, we fall away from being taken good care of by God and have to feel pain, anxiety, suffering and great losses.

Chapter 14 of Exodus says how God had helped the people of Israel out of being slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh commanded all his troops to capture the Israelites. When the Pharaoh was near, the Israelites were afraid and said to Moses in Verses 11 and 12: "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."  

Moses answers them in Verses 13 and 14:   "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."

When the danger was near, the Lord told the Israelites to go forward, and the Lord said this to Moses (Verse 16): "lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." The angel of the Lord - who was walking before the people of Israel moved to the back, and the pillar of the cloud moved from the front of the people behind them. The pillar of the cloud then was between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and was darkness to the Egyptians, but shed light to the Israelites all night long. Neither the Egyptians or the Israelites could not approach each other the whole night. Upon the command of the Lord, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. Lord God gave a strong eastern wind throughout the night, and the wind caused the waters to be divided and to become dry land. The Israelites passed through the dry section, and the water gave them shelter both on the left-hand and right-hand side. The Egyptians, all the horses of the Pharaoh, their chariots and horsemen, pursued the Israelites and followed them to the middle of the sea.  

Upon the morning watch, the Lord looked at the Egyptians through the pillar of the fire and the cloud and caused confusion among them. The Lord let the chariot wheels of the Egyptians fall off and to be broken so that it was difficult for them to move forward. Then the Egyptians said this (Verse 25): "Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians." But Lord God said this to Moses (in Verse 26): "Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." When Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, the sea went back to its place when the morning broke, and Egyptians were running away from the sea that was rushing towards them. Lord God overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters went back to the dry area, covering the chariots and horsemen of the Egyptians, all of the Pharaoh's troops who had pursued the Israelites into the middle of the sea, and none of the Egyptians survived

But the Israelites passed through the dry area, and the water gave them shelter both on the left-hand and right-hand side. That was how the Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians' attack that day, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. And Israel witnessed the great deed done by the Lord as the Lord destroyed the Egyptians. Then the people feared the Lord, and believed in Him, and believed Moses, His servant. Then Moses and the Israelites sang a song to the Lord (in Exodus, Chapter 15, Verses 1 and 2): "I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him."  

When the people of God allow God to be the only Ruler and King of His people, the people of God get to be taken good care of by God. When the people of God allow God to be the only Ruler and King of His people, the people of God will go forward unharmed when it is attacked by the enemy. When the people of God allowed God to be the only Ruler and King of His people, the people of Israel made it fully unharmed through the Red Sea, but the enemy's troops were totally destroyed. When you allow God to be the only Ruler and King of your life, you, too, can triumph in Christ, and will remain unharmed, and sin and the enemy cannot defeat you. Instead, the power of the enemy will suffer a total defeat.  

The dry area in the sea was a perfect deed and a miracle of God, and the area was only intended for the people of God, which is why the enemy could not pass through it, but was fully destroyed. Those who are under the power of darkness cannot take the path of the light because only the children of the light can walk in the light with the help of God, by the power of God, by the grace of God. The attitude in the hearts of believers must be that of gratitude, the joy of salvation, thankfulness and honor towards God and His works.

When the people of Israel despised the fact that God is King, they told Samuel the prophet that he should appoint a king for them, to judge, so that they would have a king just like all other peoples do. When the people of Israel no longer considered God to be their only Ruler and King, the people of Israel had to suffer casualties against their enemies, and also had to suffer death and pain.

When believers experience difficulties in their lives, the difficulties might be caused by the Lord testing them whether they love the Lord or not, or the difficulties might be caused by the believers' sins, or an attack by the enemy. If we start rebelling and blaming God when we encounter difficulties, our faith has not grown into the right direction, but we are fleshly, sensual believers who focus on a fleshly, sensual and religious life, not a spiritual life that is in accordance with Bible truth. If a believer has anxiety when facing troubles in life, we should understand them, love them and pray to God for wisdom regarding how we could help them and support them to see and believe in God's opportunities in regard to their distress and suffering.  

Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

If you believe and understand that God is King and God is powerful, and that God helps you, rejoices over you even when He is quiet because He loves you and joys over you, there never is any reason for you to rebel against God.

Isa 61:
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Isaiah Chapter 61 is a prophetic word of the Lord Jesus who gives salvation to those who believe in Him (Lord Jesus' blood, death and atonement apply to you through your faith in Him). After salvation, the second most important thing what the Lord Jesus does in your walk in faith is that He heals the broken heart of believers (heals and makes whole people's minds which have been broken by sin), after which Bible truth will give freedom to believers. After that, their sorrows will change to joy in the Lord, and depression will change to the joy of praise in the Lord. When your faith grows and you are undergoing the aforementioned, Biblical process of the growth of faith, you will no longer rebel against God or blame Him, but will walk joyfully, rejoicing over salvation, and praising the great works of God.

Petri Paavola from Finland