By Bob Barney

Jeremiah 12 Creation

New Century Version (NCV)

Jeremiah’s First Complaint

12 Lord, when I bring my case to you,
    you are always right.
But I want to ask you about the justice you give.
    Why are evil people successful?
    Why do dishonest people have such easy lives?
You have put the evil people here
    like plants with strong roots.
    They grow and produce fruit.
With their mouths they speak well of you,
    but their hearts are really far away from you.
But you know my heart, Lord.
    You see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag the evil people away like sheep to be butchered.
    Set them aside for the day of killing.
How much longer will the land stay dried up
    and the grass in every field be dead?
The animals and birds in the land have died,
    because the people are evil.
Yes, they are even saying,
    “God does not see what happens to us.”

    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.

By Bob Barney

It's not just you, even some of the greatest people who ever lived including men who spoke for and with God often wondered why God allowed things to go a certain way. I wonder the same thing. I think, if God wanted the world to know about The Plain Truth and about God's plans for the future, then the LORD would shower our cause with readers and big money. Billionaires would wake up some morning, miraculously see God's plan and send millions of dollars to those trying to get the word out.  That may happen someday, but according to Jesus, it probably will not. Again, in the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, the prophet named Habakkuk complains to God in the same way. Let's take a look at his plea to God. 

Habakkuk 1-3

New International Version (NIV)

1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?

Jesus said, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first." Wow! What a comment!  He continues in another place and says: "You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."  Jesus makes it quite clear to me that those who deliver His message will be hated. Those who tell the people their sins will be persecuted,jailed and even killed by a world who loves evil and hates good. Jesus goes on in Matthew Chapter 10: 

16 “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be whipped in their churches (called by My name) 18 You will stand trial before elected officials and kings because you follow Me. Be glad, because this is your chance to tell them and other unbelievers about Me. 19 When arrested by them, don’t worry about what you are going to say or do. God the Father will give you the words at the right time. 20 For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Holy Spirit of the Father God speaking through you.

21 “Brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own children, and those children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. 22 And all nations will hate you because you are My followers.  But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, I, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

24 “Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. 25 Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the teacher and master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of My church will be called by even worse names!

26 “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten to harm or kill you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and every secret will be revealed to all. 27 What I tell you now in the darkness, shout it out in the bright sunshine. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for everyone to hear!

28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both your mortal soul and fleshly body in hellfire. 29 What is the value of two sparrows— or a penny? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

32 “Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before My Father who dwells in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

34 “Don’t think for a minute that I came to bring peace to the earth! I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword.

I realize that this is not the Jesus you learned about in Sunday school, but it is the real Jesus of the Bible.   When His disciples came to Him and asked Him why He kept talking to the masses in impossible to understand parables, He shockingly told them, "It is because I do not want these people to hear what I say, understand My words and be saved now."  Now take those words of Christ and try and reconcile them with the false ideas you have in your mind about what He stood for, compared to who exactly He claimed to be!

It may be too late for most of the world to understand the real gospel in this lifetime (they will have a chance again in the future), but it is not too late for you to understand, read, comprehend, believe, and be a part of God's true church. That church isn't a building, or an organization, it is instead, the called-out people all over the world who obey the words written on the pages of the Bible, with Jesus' words written IN RED! In both Old and New Testaments

Oh, and back to the question, "does God care?"…Peter answers this question directly in his epistle:

1 Peter 5

Advice for Elders and Young Men

5 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for

“God opposes the proud
    but favors the humble.”

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, FOR HE CARES FOR YOU!

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.

 

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