God Laughs

by Stephen Bastin

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A recent news story told of a church conducting a church trial of a minister/pastor.  The minister had admitted to a lesbian relationship and the church trial was conducted to determine if she had broken church law.  The conclusion was that she had not.

Notice what David wrote about Jesus 1000 years before he was born:  “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’

“He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.  Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’”  (Psalms 2:1-6)

David wrote about people who disregard God.  In this psalm he describes the events that resulted in the death of Jesus.  The Jews, the people of Israel, their rulers, the high priest and the council, the Romans, their rulers, Pilate and Herod all entered into a conspiracy to silence Jesus by putting him to death.

God laughed.  He scoffed at their plans.  Nothing could stand in the way of God’s plan to exalt Jesus to the position as king over all the earth.  The death of Jesus was only a prelude to the glory that would be bestowed upon him by the Lord.

God still laughs at the antics of people who think that they can oppose His will without consequences.  Yet it is not a laugh of joy, but a laugh that mocks the puny efforts of people to subvert the plans of the Almighty.

There is an interesting story recorded in the book of Jeremiah, chapters 42 to 44.  The Jews had been conquered by the Babylonians.  Their king and his counselors as well as many of the leading people had been taken as captives to Babylon.  The Babylonians had left Gedaliah, a Jew, in charge of the land.  He was assassinated along with the Babylonians soldiers left with him.

In fear, the remaining Jews decided that they needed to flee to Egypt lest the Babylonians come and take vengeance on them for the murder of the man they had appointed as governor.  Before going to Egypt, they came to God’s prophet, Jeremiah, and asked him to seek the word of the Lord.  They assured Jeremiah that they would do whatever God wanted “whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

The message Jeremiah received from the Lord was that they should stay in Israel, that they should not go to Egypt.  Their response:  “You are telling a lie!  The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there.’”

Jeremiah assured them that if they ignored God’s message, that famine, pestilence and death would follow them to Egypt.  They refused to listen, packed up and taking Jeremiah with them, departed for Egypt.  Jeremiah’s prediction proved true and most of them died at the hands of the Babylonians in Egypt!

Bible history is filled with the stories of those who thought that they could safely ignore what God had said.  God laughs at all such silliness.  What God has said will stand.

When Jesus was confronted by the obstinacy of Jewish people he said, “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.  He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”  These words are found in John 12:47 to 48.

Two things stand out in the two examples we have cited from scripture.  God is not pleased with those who do not accept the prophets He sends.  And God is not pleased with those who do not accept the messages He sends.

Most churches have their own laws.  Frequently they hold conferences or other types of meetings to consider amendments to such laws.  In some churches, councils are convened to consider such changes.  They also make decrees about what one must or must not believe.

There is no authority in the word of God for church laws or church definitions of the faith to be believed.  The Bible is God’s law.  The Bible contains all that is necessary for one to believe for salvation.  If that is not deemed sufficient there is no way to improve upon it by passing “church laws” and adopting church “articles of faith.”  God has spoken and His word will be considered final unless you are like the people who approached Jeremiah.

They rejected the Word of God because it was not what they wanted to do.  In the same way, church laws are an attempt to get around what God has said.  People want “what they want to do.”

Consider the case we cited in the beginning.  God’s law is clear about who should be preaching.  “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.  But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.”  This is found in 1 Timothy, chapter  two.  It is written by God’s apostle, Paul, to a preacher, Timothy, “so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

And lest one be tempted to argue that this passage only reflects the cultural bias of the first century it might be well to note what follows.  Paul argues that this is the way things ought to be because of the creation.

Concerning same sex relations, the Bible is also quite clear on that matter as well.  It is written in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God!  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

Among the Corinthian Christians were people who had practiced such things.  They were . . .  They had been saved and those things were no longer a part of their lives.

Church law be hanged.  God does not judge based on human laws.  He judges based on His laws.  He laughs at those who would scorn His laws to make laws of their own.  You cannot compete with God.  Being found innocent by a church court does not assure innocence before the court of God.  And conversely, being found guilty by a church court does not assure being found guilty by the court of God.

The imagination of people is quite good at coming up with reasons why God does not mean what He plainly says in the Bible.  The excuses range from, “It’s just man’s word,” to “It doesn’t apply to me.”

For my part, I am assured, based on the evidence, that the Bible is the Word of God.  And I am also sure that God has said exactly what He means.

Obeying the Word of God is not always easy, nor is it always convenient.  But it is right!

You do not want God to laugh at you!