Rebellion Examples

 I feel it is important before we close this topic to look at a few other scriptural examples.

Why was Adam punished?

Many people think it is because he ate the forbidden fruit. But was that the reason?

The main reason God gave was that he had listened to his wife and overlooked God’s commandment.

But it gets farther than that.

He refused to take responsibility for his sin, blaming God (the wife You gave me) for what he had done.

And we see the same with his wife who also lay the blame elsewhere.

It is impossible even for God to cover a sin when it is flossed over. God cannot forgive sin when the response from the sinner is explanation and justification for the same.

Sin can only be dealt with when faced squarely and blame fully taken by the offender. Throwing the blame elsewhere, however justified you may think or believe, is actually fomenting rebellion.

God warned Cain the sin was looking to take him over but he didn’t care.

See what he did after he killed his brother. Like his father he dodged the responsibility of taking blame, throwing the responsibility of dealing with his sin on God.

Even when he is judged, instead of confessing his sin he gets busy looking for God’s protection lest he dies for his sin. Is that not similar with Saul asking for protection from David, the man he was all over looking to kill?

Asa, like Herod, instead of repenting imprisons the prophet God had sent to confront his sin. He then oppressed other people as well.

He becomes sick and instead of seeking God and His forgiveness and healing resorts to human means.

You see, it becomes rebellion when the sin is not addressed as so by the offender.

Let us look at our example.

When Saul was confronted for usurping the priestly role, remember his response.

You are to blame. You should have come earlier.

And the second time?

Blame it on the troops. I just couldn’t let them down.

Rebellion is actually sin looking for excuses and explanations to justify what they did against God and authority.

Uzziah died a leper because he refused to own up to his rebellion.

Manasseh was the product of Hezekiah’s rebellion yet we are not given a long list of the sins Hezekiah committed. The only thing the Bible says is that he became proud and that resulted in pursuing self-interest even at the expense of his posterity.

Diotrephes resisted ministers who refused to submit to him because he had some issues unadulterated ministry would have exposed in him.

Like I have said in an earlier post, rebellion may take a turn that even the rebellious may not be able to identify like we saw a false prophet asking a true prophet after a slap how the Holy Spirit left him to use the upstart.

But that is what pride produces since as we have seen, the source of rebellion is pride. And pride blinds those in its grasp so completely that no other light outside self can penetrate.

That is why confession is so difficult.

We love private repentance. We pride ourselves on our private penance.

But we will never want someone else to know about our repentance, and especially what we are repenting of.

And that to God is like Saul weeping before David and telling him to come back home. It has no capacity for change. It only serves to embolden our rebellion since we think that the blinders rebellion has on us will be on God who knows the depths of our hearts.

Is it any wonder that James and John set a condition for forgiveness and healing on our confessing our sins to one another?

You see, confessing my sins to others deals pride a death blow since I am confessing my being a fallible human being, however mightily I am being used of God. And that gives God a lot of space to manifest in my life as I am confessing my desperate need of Him.

Am I handling sin as God would have me do? Am I explaining away sin in my life by using explanations instead of falling before Him in repentance?

Could I be harbouring rebellion in my heart even as I am looking for every chance I can to serve Him instead of openly repenting?

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139: 23, 24)

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. (Psalm 19: 12, 13)