Danger Of Doubting God
Malachi 1
1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
2 I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,
3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.
5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.
6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.
10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.
14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
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Pulpit Commentary 1:2
“This was the inward feeling of the people at this time. They doubted God's love and faithfulness. Events had not turned out as they expected.
“They had, indeed, returned from captivity, and the temple was rebuilt; but none of the splendid things announced by the prophets had come to pass. They were not great and victorious; Messiah had not appeared.
“Therefore they repined and murmured: they were ungrateful for past favours, and QUESTIONED God's power and providence.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown 1:2
Wherein hast thou loved us?
“In painful contrast to the tearful tenderness of God's love stands their insolent challenge. The root of their sin was insensibility to God's love, and to their own wickedness.
“Having had prosperity taken from them, they imply they have no tokens of God's love; they look at what God had taken, not at what God had left.
“God's love is often least acknowledged where it is most manifested. We must not infer God does not love us because He afflicts us. Men, instead of referring their sufferings to their proper cause, their own sin, impiously accuse God of indifference to their welfare [Moore]. Thus Mal 1:1-4 form a fit introduction to the whole prophecy.”
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I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it.
A person you know who either comes to Christ or has known Christ gets blindsided and, consequently, derailed from an otherwise strong walk of faith.
What we have to realize is that we are constantly under scrutiny and attack by Satan and his devils. He looks for vulnerabilities and then swoops in.
I can’t tell you how many times in my years of Christian experience where I’ve seen people start to question/doubt God in a certain area or issue and get thrown off the path for varying lengths of time. And though it’s rare, occasionally some don’t recover from it. Their feelings and attitudes turn to a bitter contempt and disdain of God, His Word and all relationship with Him. It’s heart breaking.
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Have I ever questioned or doubted God? I have. But when questions or doubts do arise, my mind turns to the earliest and perhaps the greatest influence in my life: Ranger Andy’s song he’d sing on his TV show in the early ‘60s:
“You’ll find it in the Bible. You’ll find it in the Bible. You’ll find it in the Bible so you’ll know it’s true.”
Therefore, here’s what I do.
I ask myself: Where has doubting God appeared in the Scriptures? And the first place that comes to mind is …
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, {Please, don’t EVER dialogue with Satan. if she had never started talking to Satan ….} We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ——
… And distanced themselves from God. They hid. They doubted His love, His acceptance of them.
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Interestingly:
In Malachi, an early manifestation of the people and priests’ doubt is in relation to His love for them.
I find that’s where it starts a lot of the time with many of God’s people. We expected “X” from God and we got “Y” instead.
*We prayed for a loved one to be healed and survive but …
*We trusted God with a major life-changing decision but … it unravels.
*We believed in faith that our lost loved one or friend would come to Christ but … they die apart from salvation.
*We thought we were rock-solid in the theology taught to us by our mentors but … we come to the realization that some of what we were taught is out of alignment with the Scriptures.
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Let me offer: A Word of caution:
If you don’t find yourself presently represented in the above, hang on … your specific test will be coming.
And when it does:
Turn to the Scriptures to learn what will help you avoid the doubts Satan will use to dismantle you. It will keep you and protect you. This is a battle we cannot win in our own strength. We need the power that the Lord Jesus had when He defeated Satan during and after His 40 days of testing in the wilderness.
And remember:
*Christ knows our struggle with doubting: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
*Christ understands and will undergird us: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15
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I wish I could assure you that you’ll never face doubts. You will. But when you do, don’t remain there. It’s dangerous to remain there.
If you haven’t memorized these verses, please do. They will prove helpful when you start flirting with the:
Danger Of Doubting God
James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.