It is through pain and suffering that we
learn to lose this intense desire to rebel against all things good and
true. It's very easy to see, in the selfish child who demands the toy from the other. It's easy to see in many teenagers who desire to rebel
and chase after sinful pleasures. Then again, sometimes if they are told the
wrong things, or mistreated by their parents or society, this rebellion can in some ways be just.
Though not all people must go through a season of rebellion, necessarily. The most beautiful story I believe, is the family who raises their children to know God, the children embrace Jesus at a young age, and no youthful rebellion is needed at all. This is the way God must've desired it, that one generation pass the love of God on to the next.
Yet many of us did choose rebellion. We did not embrace the beliefs of our forefathers. And what is rebellion exactly?
The root of all this rebellion
is of course pride. Pride is the most insidious of all sins. It slips in
when we are doing well, because why should we not be confident when
everything is going quite well? The only answer is humility. If we
cannot find it ourselves, God gifts it to us through utter suffering and
misery, as the word says, those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
Rebellion, being part of our nature as humans must be overcome, but those who are stubborn and stupid will remain in their rebellion longer than they should. These are five quotes from scripture that tell us God's answer to persistent stubborn rebellion.
1. Proverbs 17:11 An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
There is a great high of self-righteousness that we feel when rebelling. We feel unmistakably right about everything. It is a lie. But when we are humble, we practice self-evaluation in the Lord. We rely on scripture, and we are open to being corrected. There is some debate as to who the "cruel messenger" refers to in Proverbs 17:11. The general consensus seems to be that it could be an angel from God, the devil, or some earthly men sent to cause trouble by God. In any case God's answer to a rebellious heart is to send swift consequences to it. Interestingly enough, this is a mercy.
2. Proverbs 25:26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
Rebellion can easily spring from the wicked. The wicked will slip in within the ranks of righteous men and whisper things that make our heads start going. When we get into that wrong thinking, it can turn bad fast. That is our nature as humans however, we are easily lead astray! It is extremely easy for someone to pull us off our course with a few pretty words. So it's important to have a daily routine of strong spirituality. This passage makes reference that a righteous man is like a pure fountain or spring. If that person gives way to the ideas of the wicked, they become polluted.
3. 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
This passage from 1st Samuel tells us that rebellion in general is exactly the same as sinning through witchcraft. Witchcraft is a term that refers to improper spiritual practices. Astonishing that witchcraft is essentially in the same category as witchcraft. Additionally, in this passage stubbornness is said to be the same as iniquity and idolatry. So this passage in 1st Samuel is telling us that being stubborn is a character flaw, and the same as keeping a false God!
4. Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
This passage in Job is telling us that there are those that are in rebellion against all good things, which come from God. They do not know the ways of God, and do not search out the paths to God.
5. Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.
This passage in Isaiah is talking about the nation of Israel. It says that God had reached out to the people, but they were rebellious and sought only to satisfy themselves. It says they walked, or lived in a way that was not right. They follow their own minds, not the ideas of God.
But what's beautiful about this passage is, it tells us that God will continue to
reach out to us in our rebellion! He is near, showing
himself to us, reaching out. He holds his hand out all day long to a rebellious people. Take hold of His hand, through Jesus Christ his son, while there is still time.
