Review Questions

Posted on by BETH

QUESTIONS based on Micah. 2:2—And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

(Cross references for Mic. 2:2)

they covet fields,

  1. Exod. 20:17–What things was a man under the Old Law not to covet?  Is this different than 1 Corinthians 5:10-11?
  2. 1 Kings 21:2-19–What did Ahab covet and what was he willing to do to obtain his desire?  Does covetousness encourage us toward loving our neighbor or hating him?
  3. Job 31:38-40–Job wishes a curse upon himself if he has taken anything by covetousness.  IF he had taken anything by covetousness, what would have happened to him?
  4. Isa. 5:8–Considering what these people have taken, what benefit is it that they own all these things?  See also Ecclesiastes 5:11.
  5. Jer. 22:13-19–How were Josiah and his son, Jehoiakim different?  In what way did Josiah know the Lord and Jehoiakim not know the Lord (vs. 16-17)? Why would Jehoiakim have the burial of an ass?
  6. Amos 8:4-6–What were the covetous people doing in this passage?
  7. Hab. 2:2-9–In the vision which the Lord gave to Habakkuk, what kind of man is being described?  What would happen to him (vss. 8 & 9)?
  8. 1 Tim 6:10–What will happen to those who love money and covet after it?

so they

  1. Exod. 22:21-27—List the ways a man may be covetous and tell what punishment would follow.
  2. 2 Kings 9:222-26—Why did Jehu kill Jehoram and where did they cast his body?
  3. Neh. 5:1-8—During a time of famine, the nobles and rulers took advantage of the poor.  What did they do?
  4. Job 24:2-12—What things did the violent, covetous men do to the people?
  5. Ezek. 18:12—What kinds of things did this man’s son do?
  6. Ezek. 22:12—In “the bloody city” what were the nobles doing to the people?
  7. Mic. 3:9-12—What were the heads of the house of Jacob doing in Israel?  What was to be the punishment?
  8. Mal. 3:5—What did the Lord promise to do to the covetous?  What others were in the same category?
  9. Matt 23:14—What were the Pharisees doing in Jesus time?  What curse did Jesus pronounce on them?

oppress a man and his house,

  1. 1 Sam. 12:3-4—When Samuel was trying to reason with the people about their need for a king, what argument did he use to prove his integrity?

Just how odious is the sin of covetousness to our Heavenly Father?  Read the following scriptures and judge.

  • “And he said, That which      cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil      thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,      wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,      foolishness: All these evil things      come from within, and defile the man (Mark 7:20-23).
  • “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life      consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke      12:15).
  • “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,      God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not      convenient;
  • 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full      of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers…” (Rom. 1:28-29).
  • “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;      fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).
  • “For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor      a cloke of covetousness; God is witness” (1 Thess. 2:5).
  • “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with      such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor      forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
  • “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make      merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and      their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Pet. 2:3).

Consider other strong admonitions against the sin of covetousness:

  • “Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail (Eccl. 4:7-8).
  • “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes” (Eccl. 5:10-11)?
  • “Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it” (Hab. 2:9-11).
  • “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous [Strongs: not fond of silver – 866 = (not) + 53660, as in Lk 1614) (1 Tim 3:2-3).
  • “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself” (1 Tim. 6:5).
  • “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10).
  • “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre (Titus 1:7).

ANGER

Posted on by BETH

“Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” Frederick Buechner

Likely we all have harbored feelings of anger against someone else because of wrongs we perceive they have done, but when their anger is turned toward us our perception of it is totally different. We may fear or we may think about how foolish they appear. Why is anger such a delicious feeling in ourselves and yet so odious coming from others? Solomon, the wisest man on earth said, “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” (Eccl. 7:9).

Solomon also told us how to defer someone’s anger and turn away the wrath that is causing carnage in our lives. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov. 15:1). We know that tempers only escalate when we answer an angry man the same way he has spoken to us. But what if we are right and he is wrong? Does it really matter that we have our way or prove our point if we lose a friend or drive a permanent wedge in family relationships? Can we not rather take wrong in order to make peace and thus please God (1 Cor. 6:7)?

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” (Prov. 19:11).

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (Prov. 16:32).

In defense of their anger, many will quote Ephesians 4:26-27 and they will say, “See anger is not a sin, as long as I do not let the sun go down on it.” But these people fail to notice that five verses later, we are told to get rid of anger just like we are told to get rid of other evil qualities in our lives. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). Would anyone deny that these are all evil qualities?

Later, in his letter to the church at Colossi, Paul wrote, “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him (Col. 3:8-10).

Let’s all work to rid ourselves of this very deceitful, sinful emotion which men have taught us to use to get our way.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

Posted on by BETH

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die (2 Sam 12:7-14).

David sinned concerning Bathsheba and Uriah. He obviously thought to cover his adultery by having Uriah killed in battle, but he was only fooling himself to think the people (especially his army) did not know what was happening. He had shamed Israel and his own name before the world.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Pro 28:13).

Notice the Psalm that was written about nine months after David’s adultery.

“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps 51:16-17).

According to the Law of Moses, sin could be forgiven by animal sacrifice, but David did not seek to have his sins forgiven by any work of the Old Testament Law.

Pay particular attention to what David did after he committed adultery.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” (Psalms 51:1).

In the next few verses we can see David’s heart as he pours it out before God.

“For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalms 51:3-4).

One of the most beautiful passages in the Psalms is where David asked God to purge him and create a clean heart within him.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (51:7-10).

In the Psalms that is quoted in Romans, David acknowledged and confessed his sin.

“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psalms 32:5).

We see in the original passage quoted above, that God forgave David’s sin.

“And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

When David confessed his sin and asked God for forgiveness, God (through Nathan) told David that his sin was forgiven but He also told him there would be three curses which he would have to endure. Those were the consequences of his sin.

Some seem to think God indeed is blind that he did not see David’s sin.

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13).

We have learned that to confess and forsake sin is righteous before God.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

David knew that God forgives, but He also takes vengeance on man’s inventions. After David’s confession, God forgave his sin, but note what happened because of that sin. Forgiveness is not the end of the matter.

“Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions” (Psalms 99:6-8).

God promised to shame David openly and David accepted God’s judgment as well as his punishment. Let’s notice the events that lead to David’s punishment being fulfilled.

The third curse took place within seven days. The child died.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?” (2 Samuel 12:18).

The second curse pronounced upon David was that the Lord would raise up evil against him out of his own house. A man would lie with his wives in the sight of the sun. This took place several years later, but be assured that David had not forgotten the Lord’s words.

“Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun” (2 Samuel 12:11).

Absalom began his treachery against David and was successful in his attempts to supplant his father.

“And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (2 Samuel 15:2-6).

Absalom had no sooner arrived in Hebron than he pronounced himself king.

“But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counseller, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom” (2 Sam 15:10-12).

The second curse was fulfilled by Absalom after David fled Jerusalem.

“Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel” (2 Samuel 16:20-22).The first curse that God gave to David lasted his entire lifetime. David fought with the sword the rest of his entire life. The sword did not depart from him.“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife” (2 Sam 12:10).Consider these details in David’s life. These are things written for our learning.

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom 15:4).

Let us not be weary with the Lord’s correction or the Lord’s vengeance, if we have sinned against Him.

Remember:The Lord sees.The Lord forgives when we confess and forsake.And He also takes “vengeance of their inventions.”