Obedience
and Due Process
12/9/14
There
is a great deal of talk and controversy about these two conditions when
examining God and His ways. There are many different accounts as to
why things occur in the Bible with many more excuses as to why God allowed them
to happen in the first place. We must remind ourselves just how
important it is to obey everyone in authority over us and how important it is
to apply this principle when referring to God. I know all of us
stray from this law but when we do intentionally break the obedience rule,
God’s due process comes into play not only to remind us of what we need to be
doing but also to instill His covenant with us.
Obedience
and due process sound like an ominous pair if one strikes a glancing view at
the grouping. But if one stops and takes a moment to study these
words they will find that in fact they are synonymous with each other and that
both need each other in order to be complete. It is easy for us to
find references to both words in our world today and it is also just as easy to
find examples of people not allowing these words to coincide as well. For
many that deny or doubt the authority and the authenticity of the Bible it is
easy to place blame and doubt on God, His ways and His Laws that are mentioned
within the Bible’s contexts. But if we really take a closer look at the
deeper meaning of why God put into play some of these laws it becomes clear of
the importance of obedience and if our obedience is not conducted then God’s
due process must be enforced to ensure that His promises stay within Kingdom
settings.
Most
of us have at one time or another been grounded. I remember that my
parents had to do this to me to make sure that I understood to follow the rules
that had been established. It was not that they tried to keep me
from some of the things that I wanted to do but it was to teach me that there
are reasons that rules are put into place and why that they need to be enforced
when violated. No, I did not like the fact that I missed out on some
of the activities that I was looking forward in attending and at the time I
really did not fully understand as to why they were being “so hard” on
me. But as time marched along I began to see some of the results of
others, who did not have this same due process and consequences as they spent
weekends in jail, began a criminal record or just flat broke off any
relationships with their families. All of these processes took a
toll in their lives and it soon began to show in these people’s attitudes about
many things that concerned them.
It
took me a while to figure out that my parents were not punishing me per say but
were trying their best to teach me to obey the rules both at that time and
after I left their house. It became clear to me that if I obeyed the
rules of the house I could totally skip the rules of due process that would
automatically be implemented if I did not obey them. Oh yes, did I
have thoughts about trying to break these rules and I have to be honest I did
at times try my best to think about getting around these rules and most of the
time I decided that I was better off not breaking them and doing my best to be
content with where I was at concerning the obedience department. But
every-once-in-a-while those thoughts of disobedience would win out and most
likely would see me into trouble.
There
are still times that I place my wants in front of the things that I need to do,
especially when it comes to my writing. God has shown me so many
things that the Church needs to hear and at times I shuffle my feet instead of
sprinting to the finish line. None of us are exempt from this portion of
life. But we need to be aware of this fault and disobedience and
voluntarily correct it before God has to step in and realign our priorities.
I
pretty much stay away from the laws and do my best not to break any. There
have been some instances where I have had to stand before judges and give my
account as to what happened with the situation at hand or to listen to what has
occurred. In every case the process was in motion because either I
or someone else had done something against the law and things had to be made
correct. This is called the due process of laws and it is well known
that if someone does something that the nation considers being wrong they have
to go through many steps in order to complete the entire process. God
also has His due process procedure and just as the human aspect goes, God will
not implement His due process procedures unless it is warranted. And
it is this part of the setting that we humans tend to forget about and instead
jump to conclusions and place blame on God for being too harsh.
We
have a couple of examples within the contents of the Bible that demonstrate the
same type of settings. At first these examples will seem a bit harsh
but if one truly understands the reasoning behind why God has these rules in
place. The first example I am going to use is where the children of
Israel are carrying the Ark of the Covenant in the desert. There
were rules about who was able to carry the Ark and there were also rules as to
how the Ark was to be carried. While this does not seem too strict
of a rule it does set forth into motion a very basic law that we actually
created, not God. Why was it so important that no one else be
allowed to neither carry the Ark nor even touch it?
This
law stems back from the time of the Garden of Eden and how God and mankind had
a perfect, personal and face to face relationship. But due to our
selfishness and disobedience of God’s one and only established law, our lives
changed forever and the result of that disobedience is a separation between our
Creator and ourselves and there can be no congruency between the two
parties. It was not God’s desire for us to live in this manner but
He knew us enough that He understood that when this division came that He would
be able to provide an alternative plan so that this restoration could take
place. But in the meantime these laws that kept the Israelites away
from God had to be put into place and enforced accordingly.
Continuing
with this biblical example, there was a time when the four men who were
carrying the Ark stumbled and to everyone in close proximity believed that the
Ark was going to fall. It was made clear by God that the Ark was
never to change its holding and carrying processes and that dire consequences
would occur if this change came to pass. A certain man, when he
realized that the Ark was about to fall reached out with his arms and grabbed
the Ark and kept it from falling onto the ground. To be honest this would
be an action that many people would take without hesitancy simply because of
the reverence of the Ark. Immediately the man was struck dead and
had no chance to do anything else on this earth.
I am
sure that some people in the caravan questioned this act of God and also
questioned about the harshness of the punishment. But if we step back and
remember a few things about God we can understand why this event transpired in
the manner in which it did. We must never forget that God is a
complete God and that what He sets into motion cannot ever change. It
does not matter what the setting might be, His laws are accurate, true and can
never deviate from their existence. This means that once God
establishes something its survival is eternal and can never end. This
means that the total separation from God that mankind chose to create in the
Garden of Eden was in full effect during this timeframe.
Once
mankind committed the separation act and God fulfilled His laws in the Garden,
He had to continue in the same manner in this setting. Yes, this
event took place years later but God’s law of separation was still intact. I
am sure that God and man had some physical contact with each other before the
fall but we cannot physically touch God in our state of existence and
live. The Ark of the Covenant represented God and His existence with
the Israelites which meant that not even the ones chosen to carry the Ark could
touch it, for it represented God. This did not mean that God did not
understand the heart of the man, but even though the intentions of this man was
of a good nature his measures were of disobedience and therefore God had no
choice but to remand His due process accordingly.
This
story is an excellent example that God’s laws cannot change, no matter how
humans try to override them. The man had no ill intentions through
his actions but the laws of God were there as a protective barrier. Protecting
from what you ask? To our finite minds the man was doing something
right, but in God’s view His law of separation from man is greater and
eternal. For if God had allowed the man to touch His presence in a
sinful condition Satan would have legal grounds to call God on His eternal law
and set back into motion Satan’s claim to being like God once again.
We
need to keep in our forebrains that God does not wish to impose the due process
portion of the laws that He has established. God’s only wish is for us to
study His laws well enough that we may live within these laws and to be
protected from the world. There is a reason as to why God has implemented
these laws even though we have complete separation from Him, and it all comes
down to the fact that we are His pride and joy and we represent His ultimate
creation. We are actually His Kingdom representatives and through
this concept (law) it is explained why we need protection from the world; for
our enemy rules the world.
There
is a reason that we should obey the laws of the land and there is an even more
important reason that we need to obey God’s laws. While the laws of
this nation seek to protect the human from harm, danger and deceit, God’s laws
are in place for our eternal lives and safety. God understands that
our physical lives are important to us but at the same time we need to
understand that God’s eternal laws are vital to us. The world does
not care about you or the condition that you are in when you enter and leave
the world. This is clearly stated yet almost enthusiastically
misunderstood my billions of people, even by some who are well versed in the
Bible.
When
we grasp the concept that God’s laws are in place for a reason we can begin to
believe that they actually bring us freedom from the world. God was
us to live separate from the world and through these laws of His He has
provided a guide in which to do so. Plus, you add the benefits of
the remaining portions of His Word and you get a complete guideline of how our
lives are supposed to be and what we can expect to come. God has not
left any details out, it is just our choice or not to follow His directions as
He has so divinely written down. Restoration
is a wonderful process and it is a process in which God has provided humanity a
real setting of freedom all we need to do is to choose it.
DLB
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