Dangers Of Deliberately Believing Lies. Part [11] 04/21/2024 (Evening thought)

1st Kings 22:2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, know you that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?

This leads us to our case study for today, in which a deluded king Ahab is encased in deliberate lies, in so much that he has gone so far as to actually hire 400 of his personal liars to tell him only what he wants to hear. They are on his payroll simply to tell lies, as the main function of their job description. On their resumes, they have to commit to telling lies whenever and wherever needed and they must also repeat the lies, conjure up, and invent new lies, as the need arises.

So, after a time, deliberately telling and believing lies would reach pandemic levels in the kingdom of Ahab, and thus, anyone who dares to speak truth becomes the enemy of the state. Here was a matter of grave national importance, in which persons would be put in danger. The red lights are flashing, but, just as before, the habit of craving and believing lies has become endemic in the nation, so that truth, and facts are shuttered, and those liars on Ahab’s payroll are immediately sent for.

1st Kings 22:4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. 5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day.

1st Kings 22:6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!

Dangers Of Deliberately Believing Lies. Part [10] 04/20/2024 (Morning thought)

Genesis 7:1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 97>98] Suddenly, a silence fell upon the mocking throng. Beasts of every description, the fiercest as well as the most-gentle, were seen coming from mountain and forest and quietly making their way toward the ark. A noise as of a rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were flocking from all directions, their numbers darkening the heavens, and in perfect order they passed to the ark. Animals obeyed the command of God, while men were disobedient.

Philosophers were called upon to account for the singular occurrence, but in vain. It was a mystery which they could not fathom. But men had become so hardened by their persistent rejection of light that even this scene produced but a momentary impression. As the doomed race beheld the sun shining in its glory, and the earth clad in almost Eden beauty, they banished their rising fears by boisterous merriment, and by their deeds of violence they seemed to invite upon themselves the visitation of the already awakened wrath of God.

Mercy had ceased its pleadings for the guilty race. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air had entered the place of refuge. Noah and his household were within the ark, “and the Lord shut him in.” A flash of dazzling light was seen, and a cloud of glory more vivid than the lightning descended from heaven and hovered before the entrance of the ark. The massive door, which it was impossible for those within to close, was slowly swung to its place by unseen hands. Noah was shut in, and the rejecters of God's mercy were shut out.

Genesis 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!