Without a Trace

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. (1Kings 14:10)

I want us to look at God as completely unlike us, which is the primary meaning of holy, in the way He deals with His enemies.

Who are His enemies? It is primarily people who are sold out to an agenda different from His revelation. It is people who have decided to live a life independent of Him. It is those who have sought their security from anything apart from Him. It is people who believe they are because of their effort.

And this is why I have picked a verse on Jeroboam. God promised him a kingdom long before He gave him. He however became insecure when he was handed the kingdom, probably inferring that God’s promise to David was more permanent than the one to him. He therefore established alternative worship to keep his people from going to Jerusalem where they could be tempted to defect.

The fact that he forgot God who had given him the promise and introduced his insecurity as a religion is the reason God decided to clear his name and posterity from the earth.

We see a similar sentence pronounced against Baasha and Ahab

That sin is a reproach to any people is not just a verse in the Bible. It is the reality everywhere one looks.

God hates sin. And it is worse when sin is made into a culture. God must act when we entrench sin in our dealings, whoever we may be.

Remember a similar sentence being declared against Eli and his posterity?

In my not so many years (I am not a hundred yet), I have seen traces of such sentences on people who at one time were extremely prominent and powerful that are now approaching extinction. Though they had everything anybody could desire, it is now difficult to find descendants. Yet they had had a head start on everything from good education to jobs to lands. Yet that was not enough to guard the families against extinction.

God is gracious. Yet His grace does not annul His justice and holiness. Remember this?

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34: 6, 7)

But what I am talking about here goes way beyond that. It goes as far as God clearing everybody to remove the name of the offender/s. And there are enough cases in the Bible aside from these I have mentioned.

Sodom and Gomorrah were twin cities with kings, meaning that their populations were high. Yet God had no problem razing them to the ground one morning.

Why? Their iniquities had risen to heaven. In other words the stench of their sins had become offensive to God’s nose, to use words that we can understand.

Of course He sent the flood to clear all population of the earth, including animals for the same reason.

Is grace a perfume to cover up for the stench of sin? Of course not. Why then do we think God has changed as to overlook our puny independence and rebellion?

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:18)

A prime reason God clears a name from the earth is for this simple reason; they forget that it is God who has done all for them. They then start piling glory on their effort and make themselves the reference point of all the blessing they have. Evidence of that is the entitlement mentality seen on the actions of the offender.

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. (1Samuel 2: 30, 31)

That God can annul a promise made to Levi as concerned Eli is not a small thing. And it took just but a generation for Eli’s family to be cleared.

So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. (1Kings 2:27)

Let me give an analogy for this to sink.

Assume you are very rich

You also have this son you have had great hopes on and invested heavily on, from the best education to the most time in fellowship, sharing all your hopes and fears with him.

He finishes his education and does not seem interested in looking for a job or in your enterprises. The only thing he seems interested in is making special meals for his parents when they are around. He is not even interested in going to catering school or even working in eateries you operate.

You therefore think to encourage him to get out of the house by buying him a car so that he can get an excuse to be out of the house watching movies all day.

In a short while you realize that his car is nowhere and he has a limp. You investigate and realize that he was involved in an accident and ran from the scene. The car was towed to a police station.

When you get there you find that there are enough cases to get him to prison. You smooth things out by paying the offended and towing crew so that the cases can be withdrawn. And of course you also pay for the repair of the car.

The next time you are called from the police station. This time things are thick because he insulted the police, saying they could do nothing to him since you are his father. And that was after he also had an accident. This is harder but you have to even go higher in the police structure to rescue your immature and ignorant son.

You decide that this time you will dispose of the car, suspecting that its speed was too much for his inexperience. Then you decide to give him your old car, a car of immense sentimental value as it signified the start of your great wealth.

A month later you are brought a huge bill by a taxi company. Well, your boy was going out alright, but using taxi cabs. Why did he not use the car you gave him? You hear that he said he could not ride that junk for anything!

It is slowly getting to your nerves and so you decide to get him to be more responsible and get out of the house.

You take him to an apartment of flats that you own to manage and give him the rent of a few units as his pay. But there already is a caretaker so there is very little he is required to do. You just told the tenants in the units from which he was to receive his pay from to give him money instead of banking it, the same arrangement you had with the caretaker and bank. You also give him one unit and furnish it for his residence.

Sometimes later the caretaker comes to you. He has not been paid his salary for months. You are shocked. You decide to investigate further and discover that no money has gone to the account, meaning he convinced all the tenants to be paying into his account or directly to his person.

This irritates you. You decide to find out how your son could change all those lease agreements without your permission.

On getting to the apartment, you find someone else in his house. He wonders what you are doing getting into his house just like that.

Where is your son? You ask. I don’t know where he went after he sold me this unit. He says.

You get out in a daze, wondering whether you got into the wrong apartment. As you are in that situation, another man you did not see getting in comes to you and asks what you are doing in his property.

You hold on your car to stop from collapsing on the cabro. Then you look around to ascertain that that was your property.

How can you call my property yours? You ask him.

I have completed buying it from the owner. He replies.

You both decide to invite the police and your lawyers to help in this. And the truth is what people call stranger than fiction.

Apparently your son forged the title deed and sold the apartment for a song.

The police become very interested. The new owner gets shocked by the truth, then realizes the predicament he is in and confesses.

Apparently, the boy was his customer at a bar and bragged about his immense wealth. But his boasts could not last long as he drunk expensive liquors when he got the rent. He became easy prey for this man’s greed. He gave him liquor on credit on purpose, and then convinced him to sell him the apartment at a quarter of its market price. Then the boy could buy land in a cheaper place and build other flats. He was coming to look for him to finalize the deal and start collecting rent when they met.

But the boy had disappeared, confident that he could continue receiving rent through his account.

Though you are justified in letting your son’s accomplice lose through the scheme he had plotted, you feel morally obligated in compensating him, which takes a huge chunk of your finances.

You then think through some incidences that used to occur in your residence when your son was a good boy. You remember sacking several workers for the loss of money especially since they could not logically explain how it disappeared. You feel a huge chunk of guilt as you start suspecting your then good son.

You call the workers you sacked and asked whether it was your son who stole that money and they answer in the affirmative.

Why did they not tell you? You ask them. You could never have believed them, they say. And you realize that that is the truth. You now have to look for a way to at least seek forgiveness from these people you unfairly mistreated due to the thievery of your son. Compensation is only a small part of that.

What will you do with him if you are that father?

That is how God feels when we take His gifts for granted. This is how He feels when we take His calling for granted. This is how He feels when we take His favor for granted. It is how He feels when we take His love and forgiveness for granted.

And that is why God gets so offended as to clear one’s memory from the living. The existence of the rebel’s name is so offensive that any sight of the same is offensive, even if they be descendants.

I don’t know whether you realize that most animosity that we see is due to historical injustices that happened too long ago that there is no memory of what happened. As an example Ishmael lost his privileged position because Isaac was born. And they are still fighting. Terrorism is one clear outcome of that feeling of disenfranchisement millennia ago. Some tribes are enemies just because in the very long past their founders, maybe just one person, had a spat with the other side. Now tribes hate each other so badly that a stare can be interpreted to cause a war between them.

God hates sin. God cannot stand rebellion. Willful sin calls on God’s swift judgment.

Many times we feel as if God overlooks our acts of disobedience and rebellion. Many times that is what we preach from our pulpits when we are preaching grace.

If we took God’s word seriously, we will realize that the things we do and how we do them have a capacity not only of affecting our lives not just in our lifetime, but way beyond our descendants.

King Saul realized that such a sentence had been passed on him and therefore pleaded with David to spare his descendants. Benjamin, his crown prince went beyond that as to make a covenant to preserve his lineage. And you realize that by the time David is rested enough to remember that lineage it was a small step to extinction. Even their wealth had been transferred to a servant and the only person who was alive was a refugee, yet he was the king’s grandson.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. (Exodus 17:14)

Now suppose this was an adopted son that you had rescued from poverty or some other desperate situation? Suppose it was an orphan?

Do you realize that is what we are to God? We are actually even worse. We are adopted from his enemy for the sheer love He has for us. We even hated Him before He adopted us. Remember Jesus saying that we are sons of the devil as it was his interests we pursued?

Are we not by our actions demonstrating that we were after plundering Him instead of being made sons? Aren’t we more interested in what He can do for us than what our adoption entails?

And that is what invites His wrath, a wrath that goes as far as deleting us from the future.

Ezekiel 16 gives an analogy of what God does for us versus the kind of response we develop once we ‘reach’. No wonder His wrath becomes very harsh.

And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1Samuel 15: 17, 23)

What do we do for God to clear us so that there is no trace of our presence?

The first thing is what Saul and Jeroboam sought at the expense of God’s revelation, security. Reasonable as it may be, it attracts God’s wrath.

Can I break it down for this day and time? You may be wondering.

Many ministers were very radical when they were called. They left jobs, closed businesses, moved to unfamiliar environments without caring for what their life will be after leaving all for Christ.

Due to that, God blesses that effort and releases favor, fruit, even support, especially support. Then you gain authority because of your commitment to God’s agenda. Your word is interpreted as God’s voice.

Sadly, like we see with Saul and Jeroboam, that power is addictive and feeds on itself. You realize that what you did not even consider a need becomes essential to life itself. And that is life. What we thought was an unnecessary luxury becomes primary to life itself.

Let me give an example. Less than thirty years ago, a telephone in the house was the preserve of the rich. Very few saw it a necessity. It was more of a status symbol and a waste of money for most. What about today? Many would bargain for a reduction of oxygen to ensure not only that they have a cellphone, but they have a smartphone fully loaded. Many fall sick when their device is sick as they can’t imagine life without it.

Not so long ago a TV, any TV was a luxury. Look at the situation today. People are not content with just a TV. It must be a smart TV or very large screen, even curved screen. You look at that race and wonder whether there are TVs that can see tomorrow!

So that drive could very easily be part of us if we are not careful enough to maintain a close and consistent relationship with God and His word. We could very easily look for security, affirmation and worth in things and people instead of God. Like we see with Saul who thinks his army remaining intact is more important than waiting on God.

Probably God gave you favor in high places and you started behaving as if He does not love those of low degree and so completely shut them out of your ministry. He may have given you songs in the night as you worshipped Him and you decided it was a viable financial stream instead of waiting for Him as you were doing when He gave you those songs. He may have, like me, given you books to write and you transformed them into an industry.

I am not saying selling is sin or bad, but neither was keeping the army together for Saul. What has God told you concerning that opening, that support, that favor, those gifts. But He only gives them for His purpose. You realize that Saul did not make himself the tallest in Israel. He did not even make himself king. He did not draw people to himself. He lost it when he forgot that simple truth; that he was there ONLY for God’s purposes.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)

You could be in business and get some leakage that an essential product will be in short supply. You then buy a lot and hide it, what the Bible calls hoarding, so that you can then have a blast as you make a killing when the others have sold out theirs.

You could be a farmer that adds water to increase the volumes of your milk. Or you sell things in doctored containers. Or you sell animals that you know are going to die. Maybe you sell vegetables that still have a strain of pesticide.

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:18)

Again you realize that He is the source of your effort and therefore has the purpose for the same.

You may be in employment and fear that you will never get that promotion if you do not bend some of God’s rules in secret. You may be in education or academia and fear that you will not achieve this or the other without overlooking God’s commandments and you allow your desire for success destroy your moral and spiritual compass. You could withhold grades until a particular girl sleeps with you and she will have to drop out of the course if she refuses. The girl who sleeps with you gets an A and the brighter girl who has refused to do so drops out of the course or college altogether.

You realize all these scenarios come about when I become the centre of attention and therefore the reference point. Sadly, these are all things I have seen. In fact these are just a sample of what is happening.

You are deceived if you think that God will overlook the justice of people on the short side of your stick as He also made them for His purpose, and you have mired that purpose for them.

Are you doing things that could make God wipe your memory from the living?