God Means What He Says-III

God said what He meant and meant what He said! Adam and Eve, the people of Noah’s day, the man gathering sticks, Uzzah—and others we could mention—all found out the hard way. I want to use one more example, a classic. It’s found in II Kings 5.

5. Naaman the leper. Naaman was a captain in the Syrian army, thus not a Jew. He was plagued with the dreaded disease of leprosy. His wife had a Hebrew girl for a servant who mentioned that there was a prophet in Israel who could heal him. Naaman decided to try, so, misunderstanding, he went to the king, Jehoram, first. Jehoram couldn’t help, and finally Naaman was directed to the prophet, Elisha. Naaman goes to Elisha and stands outside his house. The prophet won’t even go out to meet him, he simply sends a servant to tell Naaman to go dip seven times in the Jordan River and he would be healed. Nothing difficult to understand about God’s command through the prophet. Obviously, Elisha could not have known this without divine inspiration.

But verse 11 is so…human. The Bible says, “But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought…” yada yada yada. It doesn’t matter what he thought, the problem was that he did think when God spoke. Folks, when God speaks, we don’t have to think, He’s done that for us. But Naaman had this preconceived notion of how his healing was going to take place, and when the prophet’s word did not agree with his idea, he went away mad. And he didn’t get his healing, either—that is, until one of his servants convinced him to just go do what the prophet said. So Naaman did; he traveled to the Jordan River, dipped seven times, and came up cleansed. God’s word through the prophet was true. God said what He meant and meant what He said.

But let’s consider something here. There are a lot of religious “leaders” and “thinkers” today who argue that we can’t really know what the Bible teaches, or that we can’t really see the Bible alike, and that so much of it is “just a matter of interpretation.” If you think about it, that’s impugning God. That’s saying that God either could not or did not give us a message we could understand—because if we truly understand it, we will all understand it alike. So if God couldn’t or didn’t give us a message we could comprehend, why bother give it in the first place?

Now, look at Naaman’s situation. He thought his healing would take place in one way, but Elisha told him it would happen through another means. Why was Elisha right and Naaman wrong? How did Elisha know that the only way Naaman was going to be healed was by dipping seven times in the Jordan River? How did he know that? Well, he obviously had God’s message on it; God told him that was how Naaman was going to be healed, and it wasn’t hard to understand. But…is what we have any less God’s word than what Elisha had? Is God less clear to us than to Elisha? Is Naaman’s healing so much more important than man’s salvation that God would speak perfectly clearly to Elisha but speak to us in such a manner where we cannot understand Him? I do not, I will not believe that, no, not for a second. The problem is not that God is unclear in His communications with us. The problem is that too many of us are like Naaman…or Adam and Eve, the people in Noah’s day, or the man gathering sticks, or Uzzah…we just don’t believe that God meant what He said when He told us what He wanted us to do to please Him.

Let’s consider some examples. I might as well step on some toes; anybody who has ever heard me preach or teach knows how good I am at making people mad. How many people are going to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, “But, Lord, behold, I thought that I really didn’t have to be baptized to be saved.” Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). I Peter 3:21 reads “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us.” And God said what He meant and meant what He said!

Or did He? Well, maybe we ought to ask Adam and Eve…the people of Noah’s day…the man gathering sticks…Uzzah…Naaman…ask them if God said what He meant and meant what He said.

“Oh, but Lord, Behold, I thought that one church was as good as another…” Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 “I will build MY church.” In Matthew15:13, He told us “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” In Ephesians 4:4, Paul wrote “There is one body.” And God meant what He said and said what He meant!

Or…did He? What would Adam and Eve, the people in Noah’s day, et al, tell us about that?

And then how many are going to say on that Final Day, “Lord, but…but…behold, I thought…there really wasn’t a hell……..” Revelation 21:8—“But the fearful, and UNBELIEVING…..and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

And God said what He meant. And He meant what He said.

How about it, gentle reader? Are there any “Behold, I thoughts” in your life? Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. He said exactly what He meant in His Book, and He meant exactly what He said. We cannot learn this principle too soon in our lives.