When Man's Rejection is God's Redirection

Jesus began his earthly ministry calling humanity to repent and believe so that they could both see and enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). He declared himself to be the rightful King and then explained the dynamics of his upside-down Kingdom, which is diametrically opposed to the kingdom of this world. Central to his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ emphasis on the reality of persecution for those who would follow him. He assured them -- and us -- that man's rejection is not an accident or something to fear but often the natural result of darkness encountering light and seeking to extinguish it (John 15:18; 16:3). Jesus then demonstrated from his own life how we should respond when this happens.

God’s preparation

God prepared humanity for Jesus’s coming with hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, so that when he arrived they would recognize him. One of the clearest and most detailed accounts of his character and work was given in the book of Isaiah. Here we see a poignant description of the suffering-servant King who the prophet shows will be “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces” (Isaiah 53:4). 

When we fast forward about 700 years from this prophecy to Jesus’ life and ministry, we see how it was perfectly fulfilled. To begin with, Christ’s family rejected and persecuted him, refusing to believe his testimony that he was the Messiah (John 7:4-6). In addition to this, the religious leaders mocked, slandered and sought to kill him (Matthew 12:24; John 11:53). The masses tried to manipulate him to get miracles and bread and then many of the disciples deserted him (Luke 6:60-66). On the cross, his enemies heaped insults on him (Matthew 27:38-44). He was hated in his hometown Nazareth and rejected in many cities like Samaria, Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (Luke 4:14-30; 9:51-56; Matthew 11:21). 

How did Jesus respond?

Regardless of what the rejection and persecution looked like, Jesus responded in a consistent way. Peter describes this in 1 Peter 2:23: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Jesus was not triggered or discouraged by the rejection, nor did he allow it to stop his mission. On the contrary, he set his face like flint against the opposition and continued to travel from town to town sharing the Good News and calling people to repentant faith (Matthew 9:35). 

When man’s rejection is God’s redirection

When rejected and persecuted in one city, Jesus shook the dust off his feet and moved on. He instructed the disciples to do the same saying, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another” (Matthew 10:14). He forgave, blessed, prayed for and showed love to those who cursed him, but at the same time he did not remain among them (Luke 6:27-28). We see the same pattern emerging in the apostles’ lives, namely Paul who went from city to city when he was often violently rejected (Acts 19:23-41; 2 Timothy 3:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:2). Rather than seeing this as a sign that God was not pleased with him or that the message of the Gospel had failed, he used it as a springboard to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). To encourage him to press on, the Lord even visited him in prison saying, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome" (Acts 23:11). The apostle John spent his last years in an unexpected place on the Isle of Patmos, having been redirected from what he thought was the mission of God due to persecution and arrest (Revelation 1:9). However, it was there on the remote island that he received “revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1).

How should we respond?

As Christ’s disciples, we also experience rejection and persecution. And because we’re human, we’re often tempted to retaliate or to run in fear -- to seek revenge or to shut down. But it’s clear from Scripture and these examples from the life of Christ and the apostles that neither is appropriate for the child of God. Instead, we’re to follow in the footsteps of the Lord and continue entrusting ourselves to our faithful Creator and doing good (1 Peter 2:21; 4:19). He promises that we’ve been called and created for a righteous purpose to do the work he’s given us to do (Isaiah 42:6-9; Ephesians 2:10). Additionally, he assures us that we will be hated by the world and rejected because of his name (John 15:18). If we give up or run when this happens, we will fail to flourish and bear fruit for his glory (Matthew 25:14-30; John 15:8). And if we retaliate we will discredit the Gospel, which is demonstrated by our love for one another (John 13:35). 

God calls us to be sober-minded so that we’re able to prayerfully observe and discern each situation to ensure that the rejection and persecution are real and not perceived and that they are the result of someone else’s sin and not our own (1 Peter 5:8-9). When the Holy Spirit makes this clear, we’re called to move on – blessing, praying for, doing good to and loving our enemies – just as Jesus did. Rather than seeing this as a setback or failure, we can commit ourselves to our loving Father and thank him for this unexpected gift -- trusting that man’s rejection is God’s redirection. 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

God's Sovereign Plan and Foreknowledge

This morning as I was reading about Jesus’ interrogation by Pilate and the Jewish leaders, I was reminded of God’s sovereign design of his betrayal and crucifixion. Not only did he foretell the suffering Christ would endure in many Old Testament passages, but he allowed the crucifixion to unfold this way under the hidden agenda of wicked men to accomplish his divine purposes. What Satan meant for evil, God most certainly meant for good and for the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).

Sovereign over every detail

What if God really is in control of every detail of our lives and knows what will happen millions of years before it comes to pass? Thankfully, this is the reality of our loving God and Father, who has existed for eternity with the Son and the Spirit. As the Psalmist writes, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the productive land, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God (Psalm 90:2). Not only that, he knows and chooses us before we’re even born and then masterfully orchestrates the most minute details so that we fulfill his plans and purposes (Psalm 139). God assures Jeremiah of this at the beginning of his ministry when he says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

Masterful plan of redemption

The same is, of course, true regarding his foreknowledge of redemption. He first unveiled this master plan on the heels of the Fall of Adam and Eve into sin and rebellion in Genesis 3:15, when he promised to send the Seed of the woman to crush the Serpent Satan’s head. Through more than 300 prophecies in the Old Testament, God continued to add detail upon detail, like brush strokes of a painting, until at last he presented a clear picture of the coming Seed-Messiah and how he would save his people from their sins. At the center of the picture, he revealed Christ as the suffering, servant King, who would lead his people into freedom and victory through his own brutal death and atoning work on the cross (Isaiah 53). 

In order to accomplish this, the Son had to come to earth as the second Adam as both fully God and Man. He had to be wholly God to serve as the propitiation or atoning sacrifice for our sins and fully Man to reverse the curse of the first Adam, who chose to disobey God (1 John 2:2; Romans 5:12-21). He then had to be put to death by sinful men, since God is holy and cannot commit murder (Deuteronomy 5:17). By divine concurrence, God allowed the religious community, who were steeped in sin and filled with murder, to accomplish what they naturally desired to do in the flesh. Peter explains this in Acts 2:23 when he says, “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” 

While allowing them to fulfill his purposes through their evil plans, he further displayed his divine wisdom and power through the means of the cross. It appeared to the human eye only be an instrument of shame and death, but God transformed it into a vehicle for his glory and made it a symbol of hope and life. He saw to it that the beams which once held the tortured Christ are now empty and serve as a reminder to the entire world of his resurrection victory over sin, Satan and death (Luke 10:18; 1 Corinthians 15:55-58; Colossians 2:15). 

As we reflect on the crucifixion and God’s masterful plan of redemption, we can be greatly encouraged that we serve a sovereign Lord. Yes, it is sorrowful to remember Satan’s and humanity’s plan to destroy the King of glory. But if we will turn our gaze upward, we will see the empty cross and grave and remember that Jesus is not dead but alive (Luke 20:38). God was able to use even the wicked plans of evil men and a shameful cross to accomplish his purposes.

What does this mean for us?

We can apply these principles to our own life in many ways. Often, the evil that happens to us threatens to discourage and defeat us, causing us to lose sight of the goodness and sovereignty of God. But like Jesus’ crucifixion, our story is not over. God is speaking to me this morning, reminding me to look up in trust to see his divine wisdom and power at the cross. He’s the living God, who is able to work all things – even the most painful – for our good and for his glory (Romans 8:28). Like the cross, the cup he’s given us often looks like the losing one, but God…

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10).

God's Battle Plan: Prepare, Pray, Trust and Do

As I was having lunch with friends several months ago, we started talking about the reality of the spiritual battle we’re engaged in as God’s children. Each of us shared about some of the challenges we were facing and how we needed prayer. One friend looked at me after I shared and in a serious tone asked, “What’s your battle plan?” The question stayed on my mind throughout the weeks ahead and providentially converged with my quiet time one morning as I was reading 1 Chronicles 5. Through this seemingly obscure passage, God revealed his prescribed battle plan which involves preparation, prayer, trust and doing what he’s called us to do.

Preparation

Amid a genealogical list of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, God records a battle that occurred when the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, waged war against four other leaders and their armies (1 Chronicles 5:18-22). The Israelite army consisted of 44,760 men, who were ready and prepared for service. They were “able bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow and who were trained for battle” (1 Chronicles 5:18).  They had been preparing for upcoming battles and were adept at using all the necessary weapons so that they could win, and not just fight, the war. 

This principle of preparing for physical battle can be applied to our lives as believers. The apostle Paul reminds us that we have a fierce enemy and are engaged in an ongoing epic battle, which is primarily a spiritual one that requires preparation (1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Paul exhorts us to “be alert”, to “be on guard”, and to be prepared to “resist [the devil] by standing firm in our faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). 

In several key passages he outlines our weapons so that we know how to prepare for the battle. The weapons we are given to fight with are spiritual “weapons of righteousness” to be ‘held in the right hand and left” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10ff; 2 Corinthians 6:4, 7). He then provides a complete list of the weapons we will need in Ephesians 6, beginning with the offensive ones and ending with the defensive weapons – the sword of the Spirit and prayers. 

The double-edged sword we’ve been given is the spoken Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible implores us to prepare by meditating on the Word day and night and memorizing it, so that we can live and speak it at all times (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:11).  It is only as we prepare each day by suiting up in the whole armor of God and making use of his weapons of righteousness that we can stand firm and keep standing when the day of the evil, fierce battle comes (Ephesians 6:13). 

Prayer

The writer of Chronicles does not document the details of their battle against the opposing armies but includes the important reality that “They [the Israelites] were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands” in answer to their prayers (1 Chronicles 5:20). 

While there is no record of the troops and the commanding officials leading them in worship and prayer as we see with Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, we know that they offered prayers that God both heard and answered. In humility, the army and its leaders daily prepared for war but knew that ultimately the battle belonged to the Lord, who is the captain of all the great armies of the earth (Deuteronomy 20:4; Joshua 5:13-15). He alone can break a bow of bronze and deliver his people from the jaws of the enemy, causing wars to cease (Psalm 46:9). 

As we prepare for the spiritual battle by daily meditating on and memorizing the Word, we also need to remain watchful in prayer. Paul writes about the essential role of prayer in his armor passage, where he exhorts believers “to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). Throughout his epistles, Paul records specific prayers that further reveal how we should pray. Among these, he exhorts us to keep praying earnestly and at all times. 

As we pray according to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit strengthens us, gives us wisdom from on high and fills us with his power, love and soundness of mind (Ephesians 1:17, 3:16-17; 2 Timothy 1:7). Through these prayers he prepares us to withstand the lies which the enemy sends like fiery darts – seeking to accuse God and malign his Word so that we cease trusting him (Ephesians 6:16). He reminds us of our own identity in Christ and the role we have as soldiers in his army – that we are more than overcomers in Christ (Romans 8:31-39). And he assures us that all our future battles have already been won at the cross. This confidence enables us to remain in his peace and trust him for victory in the battle (Colossians 3:15). 

Trust

The next and most important aspect of the Israelite’s victory is recorded in the last part of verse 20: “He answered their prayers because they trusted him” (1 Chronicles 5:20). Scripture doesn’t say he answered them because they merely prepared or even prayed, but because they trusted in him.  This crucial position of their hearts was somehow necessary for them to experience God’s prevailing victory over their enemies. 

We see in the Bible that trust is the heart position that resolutely declares that God alone is God and that he is able and willing to do everything he promises (Job 42:2). Not only that, but trust believes that God desires our best and is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). As our younger daughter likes to remind us when we face insurmountable obstacles by human standards, “God can, God does, and God will.” 

Trusting God does not mean that he will do all things according to our understanding or wisdom or that he will deliver us from every evil attack the way we envision deliverance (Isaiah 55:8-9). Sometimes he delivers us into the lion’s den to show us his greater glory or he delivers us into a prison to teach us to trust him in the darkness and to prepare us to lead others out of their prison. But he delivers us, nonetheless. He is with us in resurrection power in the lion’s den, giving us courage to stand firm as the enemy roars relentlessly and seeks to devour us. He is with us in the prison cell, where there are sparse supplies of everything we thought we needed to survive and yet we find ourselves content, singing hymns of praise at midnight (Acts 16:25-26; Philippians 4:11-13). 

Do

After preparing, praying and trusting, the Israelites stepped out in faith and fought the battle. God gave them victory, enabling them to seize livestock, take captives and occupy the land. It’s likely they felt fear and maybe even dread about what could happen, but instead of allowing feelings to dictate their actions they stood firm and advanced against the enemy. 

Like the other three principles, this one applies to us in the spiritual battle. If we prepare, pray and trust but then shrink back in fear we will not move forward. True faith always moves us to listen to, trust and do what God has asked us to do. We may not see, sense or feel God’s presence during times of intense battle, but we can be certain that he is with us and will not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). Our feelings may try to tell us that what he’s calling us to do is too hard, the battle too intense, and the odds too high, but we can be sure that if God is calling us to this battle it is one we are equipped in Christ to fight – as we remain in him (Philippians 4:13; John 15:7).

Summary

Standing in God’s victory in the spiritual battle requires the golden chain of preparation, prayer, trust and then doing what God has asked us to do. As we begin by submitting to him each day and releasing everything we are and have into his holy hands (Romans 12:1-2), we are able to stand in a position of humility to receive his marching orders for that day (James 4:7). He promises to train our hands for war and teaches us to walk in the Spirit so that our lives bear much fruit for his glory (Psalm 144:1; John 14:26; John 15:8). 

As we remain in him and use our gifts and talents to prepare for the battle, we can pray confidently – knowing that if we ask anything according to his will, he will do it (John 14:14). With each promise we pray, our confidence grows stronger in the Lord, so that we begin to trust him with all our heart, refusing to rely on our own understanding (Romans 10:17; Proverbs 3:5-6). This kind of authentic trust always moves us to bold action (Hebrews 11;). Like David when he heard about Goliath, our seasons of preparing, praying and trusting will give way to victory for the glory of God. And just as he delivered Israel from the hands of their enemies in the battle, he will deliver us and take care of us. “The one who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). 

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18).