Feast: The Longsuffering of God
#FT23-03A
Ronny H. Graham
Given 02-Oct-23; 33 minutes
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transcript:
A little over five weeks ago when I spoke last, some of you might recall that the subject was about patience or longsuffering. As we get closer to the Feast of Tabernacles, it always seems that there is a million little annoyances that pop up and can be sometimes trying our patience in ways that we did not expect. And they are not real in-your-face trials, but there is a lot of little things that just happen. Like we have one tire on our car that just wants to keep going down and whatever you do to plug it, it does not work. And I would like to thank all of you, my dear brothers, who blame me for your frustrations that you had to endure after that sermonette, but I am glad you made it here.
Longsuffering as listed in Galatians 5:22 is, of course, referred to as one of the fruits of the Spirit. I have known very few people in my life that was as longsuffering as my own father. He was a very patient man. There could be chaos going on all around him and he would calmly go about his business as if nothing had changed; and he did this day in and day out throughout his life.
He worked as a mechanic for the greater portion of his life and on so many occasions, I had the opportunity to work with him and observe the many different scenarios that he faced and would try your patience. To his credit, I never saw him lose his temper. I never even heard him use one swear word his entire life (or my life).
Now, invariably, while working on a car or some other piece of machinery, there seems to always be a time when a wrench will slip and you will pinch something. Or my favorite one is to bust one of your knuckles. Sometimes, when I go to work on a car, I tell Ali, "I'll just go ahead and bust my knuckle first and get that part out of the way." But when this would happen to my dad, he would always count to ten really fast. And I remember on occasions he would be shaking his hand or his foot or walking around the yard trying to get whatever he had hurt to stop, but he never let anything slip other than that 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. And I guess it worked because he never gave in.
One of the definitions of longsuffering, or the Greek word makrothumia, that I came across said it is long-enduring temper. And I feel that my dad had come to understand and use on many occasions this fruit of the Spirit, especially after I became a teenager. I wish more of what he had learned regarding his patient demeanor had rubbed off on me.
Now, it was my original intention when beginning this subject a few weeks ago to take a look at the longsuffering that God affords mankind, allowing us time to repent and follow His way of life. If there is one attribute that is displayed throughout the Bible by God toward mankind, it is indeed that He is longsuffering.
Looking briefly at one of the writings from 17th century theologian Stephen Charnock regarding the patience of God, he writes, "There is indeed the power of his anger and there is the power of his patience, and his power is more seen in his patience than his wrath." He goes on to say that, "Revenge is the sign of a childish mind and the stronger a man is in reason, the more command he has over himself. He that can restrain his anger is stronger than the Caesars and the Alexanders of the world who hath filled the earth with ruined cities and slain carcasses. By the same reason, God's slowness to anger is a greater argument to his power than creating a world or dissolving it by a word."
It does indeed seem that Mr. Charnock got at least part of this from the book of Proverbs, where Solomon says,
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit better than he who takes a city.
As I think we are all aware, man began to test God's patience early on in creation and the longsuffering of God became apparent shortly after they took of the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Now let us go to this one since it is the first to occur.
Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."
God had given Adam His law regarding the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and forbidding him to eat of it saying that, "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Now, even though Adam and Eve would live physically for another 900 years or so, from that day forward they were cut off from God. God at the time had every right to blast them off the earth into oblivion when they took the bite of the fruit. But instead, God's longsuffering with mankind began. The very first humans had openly rejected God's rule over them amidst the wonderful paradise He had created for them. And what does He do? Let us drop down into a little unknown verse (not unknown, but not quoted very often) in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
They did indeed suffer the curse of being cut off from God and now would toil in fighting to produce fruit from the ground to sustain life. But what did God do even though they had rejected Him? God, in His love for His creation, was patient with them and made tunics of skin for them to wear. How many of us have ever killed an animal? Skinned it, tanned the hide, made something from it? This took time and effort to skin the animal, prepare the hide, and once it was done to measure Adam and Eve, properly cutting the pieces, sewing them together that they fit perfectly, covering the body. Talk about designer clothing for all of those who like it out there.
This was the Creator God who had just been rejected by His own creation and He sits down and sews clothes for them. What was the Lord thinking with every pull of the thread and the needle as He sewed the pieces together? I have skinned a few animals and this is not an easy task. I also live with a seamstress and I can assure you that this takes time and effort. It is a lot of work!
Even though God could have legally blasted them off the earth and started over, He longsufferingly, patiently made clothes for them to wear. We might even say that He covered their sin, or at least at this point, their shame.
Now, as we move forward chronologically in the Bible, we find that Genesis chapter 6 man in every intent and thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And God was grieved in His heart. We find that in Genesis 6:5-6. But let us go back to I Peter 3.
I Peter 3:18-20 For Christ also suffered once for the sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Here, we find that Peter clearly understood that it was God's longsuffering and [He] patiently waited while the ark was being built. All the while Noah, called by Peter, the preacher of righteousness, prophesied of the coming doom. If we understand correctly, he did preach for 120 years. So God gave mankind plenty of warning and time to repent and again, being rejected by all but Noah and his family, He destroyed all breathing life from the face of the earth in the Flood.
Now, even though God destroyed all life from off the face of the earth, His longsuffering continues aplenty with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We might say, especially Jacob.
Moving forward once again to the time of the Israelites, which begins in the book of Exodus, we find this is, if not the most trying time in all of the Bible of God's patience, it certainly comes close. And they were, most of us probably, some of our ancestors in there so we cannot point the finger at them. God's longsuffering with the children of Israel and their seemingly endless whining would drive anyone mad. If there was one thing in our house that shut my ears immediately, it was whining. You did not whine to get your way. Just ask any of our three children out there and they will tell you.
Now, after the death of Joseph and the king of Egypt that was ruling during that time, the Israelites continued to multiply and became a great people which prompted the new king to put the Israelites into slavery and heavy bondage in order to control them and to keep them from rising up to war against them. Even though they were enslaved under heavy bondage, they continued to multiply and became very numerous, as it says in Exodus chapter 1. Now let us pick up a couple of scriptures in Exodus 3 and 4. I believe this is where we will begin to see this longsuffering of God begins.
Exodus 3:7-8 And the Lord said, "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from the land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites."
Here we see in chapter 3 that God had heard the cry of His chosen people and He begins to tell Moses what the plan is. Now, let us go on down into verse 10 and 11.
Exodus 3:10-11 "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
Now, perhaps here is the first time we begin to see God exercising His patience and it is not with the children of Israel, but Moses. "Who am I, Lord, that I should go to Pharaoh?" It does not end there. Moses again in verse 13 says, "When I tell them, the God of your fathers has sent me, what if they ask, 'What is His name?'" Again, chapter 4, verse 1. Moses says, "What if they don't believe me?" Moses does not give up yet trying to weasel out of the job that God has given him. In verse 10, "I'm not eloquent in speech." (I can understand that one.) He goes on in verse 13, "Please send someone else."
Moses, we all know, is one of the greatest personages in the Bible and we might even say one of the greatest men who ever lived. But he had some of the same problems that we have. We also know that he was meek and humble, but he did not start out that way. It seems that he was somewhat insecure in his abilities, trying to get out of what God had called him to do. And he came up with every excuse he could think of at that and to the point of making God angry. (Sounds like a kid when you tell him to go to bed. How many excuses have we heard?)
Maybe he also feared for his life. When he left Egypt, he was a wanted man for murder. This is quite possibly one of the problems because God assures him that those who sought his life at that time were now dead. We find that in chapter 4, verse 19.
Now, as the delivering of the children of Israel begins, I think it is safe to say that God in His longsuffering began with Moses.
How many of us who were called by God have some of the same fears? We were not called to be a Moses, but the same God has chosen us for His purpose and it has to be done His way. It goes without saying there is no greater purpose under heaven.
Now continuing with the Israelites, it is truly astounding that God endured the way He did. And for that matter, He continues today. God had heard the cries from Egypt and He, already knowing how He was going to free them, begins to put His plan to work. Now, perhaps what we see happen to Moses after trying to get out of what God had planned for him is, while he still had problems, he totally surrendered to God in faith. In comparison, a week or so ago, we heard about Jonah and he had a similar job. It was not quite as big as the one Moses had, but he never submitted to God and we never find out if he ever did change his heart.
As the story goes, Moses does indeed go before Pharaoh. And after ten of the most miraculous events to ever occur on earth, God delivered the children of Israel. We want to think that we would react differently, but chances are, we probably would not. The children of Israel, after witnessing God's power in the Exodus from Egypt, began to complain just a few days later, feeling trapped up against the Red Sea, or so they thought. That is in chapter 14, verse 11.
Once again, God comes through with one of the most miraculous events in history—right before their eyes in dividing the Red Sea. But just three days afterward, they would begin whining again, being thirsty. Now, let us read this one in Exodus 15. There is an interesting point here.
Exodus 15:22-25 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them.
God was testing them just three days into the journey and they failed the test.
A few days after, they begin to complain, being hungry. After being thirsty, now they are hungry. And by the time we get to chapter 17, verse 4, I think Moses has had enough and he cries out to the Lord, "What shall I do with these people?"
The Israelites had been in Egypt for 430 years. From the time they left around 1446 BC to the time of Samuel would be another 350 to 400 years, of which there would be many highs and lows. But the one thing that remained constant was God's longsuffering with His chosen people. Would they ever learn to trust God?
Now, moving forward, once again, let us go to the time of Samuel. Since leaving Egypt, the Israelites had been operating under judges. Moses began to judge matters of the people, and as it turns out, Samuel would be the last. Let us go to I Samuel and read a couple of scriptures here in chapter 8, verses 4 through 7. Now this is, to me, one of the saddest scriptures in all of the Bible.
I Samuel 8:4-7 Then all the elders of Israel came together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make for us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people and all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."
The Creator God once again has been rejected. Here, we find the same attitude of Adam and Eve. The Israelites, wanting to be like the rest of the world, have openly rejected God's governance over them. "We don't want You around anymore. We want a real king like the rest of the nations." After He had given them everything—and I mean everything—God says to Samuel, "They have rejected Me." God has feelings too, brethren. We should not forget that. They are not weaknesses but He does have feelings.
Samuel goes on to describe to the elders what it will be like to have a king and what he will do to the people, and it is still coming true today. What is our government doing to us? I saw, I think I told Doctor Maas just one morning this week, the Biden administration has come up with 110 home appliance regulations that they are going to force us to institute into our houses. And these things normally cost a lot more money than the old Kenmore we had for 50 years that actually kept working.
In addition to one of the saddest scriptures in the Bible, we might add just another one here in the same chapter. And to me, this is the scariest one. Let us go down to verse 18.
I Samuel 8:18 "And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day."
The Lord will not hear. That would be terrifying.
Now, the Israelites left Egypt around 2450 BC and it would be another 1,500 or so years in which time God would continue to send the prophets warning the people of what was coming if they failed to repent, turn to Him, and obey His law. This brings us, as you might have guessed, to the time of Christ, the same God that made clothes for Adam and Eve in the Garden when they rejected Him, the same God that warned through Noah of the impending doom, the same God that appeared to Moses suffering along with the Israelites—the same God had now come in the flesh to make atonement for their sins, and ours. And what did they do? You know the answer. They rejected Him and killed Him.
What were some of His last words hanging on the cross? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Is God longsuffering or what? Forty years later, the Temple was destroyed and the identity of the children of Israel was lost. But God's longsuffering was not over yet.
Let us go back to Moses, but this time let us go to chapter 34 in Exodus.
Exodus 34:5-8 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generations." So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
By this time, we find that Moses was a different man. Early on, when Moses had asked God what His name was and who should he tell the Israelites had sent Him to them, He said back in Exodus 3:14, "I AM WHO I AM." Tell them the, "I AM has sent you." Now we have been told that what God does here in chapter 34 is preach Moses a sermon regarding His name. Perhaps in chapter 3, Moses really did not grasp who he was being told, what he was being told, and had been called to do. But here I believe Moses understood perfectly who he was dealing with. Verse 5,
Exodus 34:5 The Lord descended in the cloud . . . and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
The Lord, the Lord God: I am merciful. I am gracious. I am longsuffering. I am abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. I forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin, by no means clearing the guilty. Moses now understood who he was in the presence of because this time he hits the ground and worships God. It said he "made haste." He flopped down just as fast as he could. Now I just skimmed through the chapters, but I think this is the first time that we see Moses bow and worship God in all of his trips up the mountains.
Perhaps Moses started out somewhat like Job, not really seeing God for who He is, or maybe like Jonah, he wanted to run. But now, judging by his actions, he most definitely got it. There was no whining and no excuses this time. He just worships.
There is one more thing here that I really want us to consider and this probably flies in the face of the carnal view of God's love. Now I am not going to say that this is a conundrum because I will leave that to those of you who figure those things out. But what does He mean "forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty"? If God forgives the sin, does that not clear the guilty? The James Moffett translation says that He will never acquit the guilty.
Now, considering that the Lord is preaching to Moses here, I think Moses understood exactly what God meant. Let us read verse 9, the same chapter.
Exodus 34:9 Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance."
Did you catch what Moses did? Keep in mind why Moses was back up there on that mountain. He is back up there to receive the law that he broke. And when God says He will not acquit the guilty, Moses hits the deck and begs God to pardon their iniquity and their sin. God cannot acquit the unrepentant sinner or He goes against His own law. Moses got it really quick and he begs for forgiveness. God will not acquit the guilty is an indication if we do not repent there is a time when His longsuffering will end and the time of His wrath will begin.
There are those who would have you believe otherwise and God will accept us the way we are. If God will accept us the way we are, where would the need be to exercise longsuffering, mercy, patience, forgiveness, or anything else? It does not make sense, brethren. Test the spirits. There would be no need for it. God hates sin and where He is, there will be none. He will destroy it.
Now, as we near the end of the 6,000 years of God's longsuffering with mankind, it will give way to His wrath and the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord, as we have been hearing. How many times have we rejected God's rule over us like Adam and Eve? How many times have we angered him like Moses? How many times have we not trusted that He would deliver us? How many times has our Savior gone to God to make intercession for us, saying, "Father, forgive Ronny, for he knows not what he's doing." Put your name in there. That is what our Savior does.
God loves us, brethren, with a love, a passion, and a longsuffering that I cannot comprehend. He does not need us. He wants us—and there is a huge difference—and He wants us with Him for all eternity. Is He worthy of worship? Is He worthy of our every devotion? Is He worthy of our every thought? You better believe it.
Now, after the wrath of God has subsided with the end of the Day of the Lord, it seems that His longsuffering will once again be restored in the Millennium with the thousand year reign of Christ. Let us go to one last scripture in Amos 9.
Amos 9:11-15 "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name," says the Lord who does this thing. "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when the plowmen shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land that I have given them," says the Lord your God.
Says the I AM.
May we cry out to our God, brethren, "Thy kingdom come!" And may He hear us when we call. I hope to see you there.
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