XI. IS GOD PARTICULAR?

GENESIS 3:

    1 "NOW the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

    2 "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:"

    3 "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

    4 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"

    5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

    6 "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

NOTE:

    Eve ate just one fruit from the tree God said was off limits, and this led to the death sentence.

GENESIS 4:

    3 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."

    4 "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"

    5 "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

NOTE:

    Cain brought fruit instead of a lamb as God had commanded. God did not accept it.

LEVITICUS 10:

    1 "AND Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not."

    2 "And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."

NOTE:

    Sons of Aaron tried their own way and were devoured by God.

1 SAMUEL 15:

    3 "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."

    8 "And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword."

    9 "But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly."

    13 "And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord."

    14 "And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

    15 "And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."

    26 "And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel."

NOTE:

    God told Saul to destroy all. Saul saved one man and the best of the animals. Did the Lord mean all, or all but one? He meant what He said and expected it to be followed right to the letter. Saul was removed from his position as King.

    In verse 24 Saul blames the people, ".... because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice."

    Some people feel that because they did not change the Sabbath to Sunday or because they fear what their loved ones or friends might say, they will not be held responsible. What do you think? Was Saul held responsible?

1 KINGS 13:

    8 "And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:"

    9 "For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest."

    10 "So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel."

    11 "Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father."

    12 "And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah."

    13 "And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,"

    14 "And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am."

    15 "Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread."

    16 "And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:"

    17 "For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest."

    18 "He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him."

    19 "So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water."

    20 "And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:"

    21 "And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,"

    22 "But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers."

    23 "And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back."

    24 "And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase."

NOTE:

    God´s Prophet was deceived by a false Prophet. God punished the true Prophet with death.

    God is particular about the way His instructions are followed.

Acts 4:

    34 "Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,"

    35 "And laid them down at the apostles´ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."

Acts 5:

    1 "BUT a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,"

    2 "And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles´ feet."

    3 "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?"

    4 "Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."

    5 "And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things."

    6 "And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him."

    7 "And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in."

    8 "And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much."

    9 "Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out."

    10 "Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband."

    11 "And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things."

NOTE:

    Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land for funds to give to the Apostles. They decided to tell the Apostles they had sold it for less and keep the difference for themselves. God destroyed them.

    God is particular about lying!

DANIEL 3:

    15 "Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"

    16 "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter."

    17 "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king."

    18 "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

NOTE:

    The three young men knew that they needed to obey God´s instructions, even if it meant death.

Acts 5:

    27 "And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,"

    28 "Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man´s blood upon us."

    29 "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

NOTE:

    Persecution in the early church did not turn the sincere away from following Christ.

REVELATION 22:

    14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

NOTE:

    In the last days, God´s people will be the ones keeping the commandments no matter what others say or the consequences. Does this include all ten?

    Do you think God is particular about what day we keep as the Sabbath?

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