The Prophetic Word - Day 11: Don’t let evil win by killing your love.

“Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.””

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭20‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Most Christians are familiar with the story of Jonah. We are told that the Lord instructed him to go warn Nineveh that they would be destroyed in 40 days. But, instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah got on a ship to Tarshish. It was from that ship that he was cast into the sea where a great fish swallowed him. After three days and nights the fish vomited Jonah onto the land. Jonah then went and preached to Nineveh as the Lord had originally commanded him.

The problem was—from Jonah’s point of view—that the people of Nineveh repented with sackcloth and ashes, causing the Lord to relent from the disaster He had determined for them.

We are told that God’s mercy on Nineveh caused Jonah to become so angry that he asked God to take his life.

“He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I ran to Tarshish, because I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness, and [when sinners turn to You] You revoke the [sentence of] disaster [against them]. Therefore now, O Lord, just take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.””

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Some suppose that Jonah’s anger was because his prophecy did not come to pass. But, the context seems to indicate that Jonah wanted Nineveh to be destroyed because of their great wickedness.

You see, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and the Assyrians were enemies of Israel.

It may be easy for us to look at Jonah‘s response to the Lord‘s mercy and judge him harshly. However, it is very easy to allow other people’s wickedness to cause your love to become weak, or nonexistent.

Jesus, in referencing the end times, points out the fact that rampant sin will cause people to lose that “loving feeling.”

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In our opening scripture we see that Moses, having been instructed by the Lord to speak to the rock from which would come water for the people, in his anger, twice strikes the rock. This action caused him to forfeit the opportunity to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. In disobeying the Lord in front of the people, he allowed his anger at their sin, cause him to sin!

You see, if the enemy of your soul can’t get you one way, he will try another. If you won’t participate in sin, he will try to provoke anger and resentment in you concerning the sinners, such that your own love is siphoned away, causing you to displease the Lord.

Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus. Remember, even while dying an excruciating death, He asked the Lord to forgive those who were doing this to Him.

Of course, we know that sin does not forever go unpunished. Those who live lawlessly will eventually be destroyed by that lawlessness. But—in the meantime—let’s make sure that other people’s sin doesn’t cause us to join them in displeasing the Lord.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#ThePropheticWord