Loving Warnings
Introduction
These days, practically everything you buy seems to carry some kind of warning on it. Some of these warnings can seem a little ridiculous. For example:
Sainsbury’s peanuts: ‘Warning – Contains nuts’
Nytol Nighttime Sleep-Aid: ‘Warning – May cause drowsiness’
On a household DIY drill: ‘Not intended for use as dentist drill’
Because so many warnings seem almost absurd, the danger is that we ignore them. But not all warnings are so ridiculous.
A foggy day, on 13 March 1991, led to one of Britain’s worst road accidents. Ten people died and twenty-five people were injured in a disaster on the M4 motorway. In the midst of the accident one man was hailed as a hero. Alan Bateman climbed out of his damaged car and ran along the central reservation to try to warn oncoming vehicles of the wreckage ahead. Not all appreciated the warnings. Some drivers sounded their horns at him and drove on towards the crash.
Alan’s warnings to the other drivers were not only heroic; they were an act of love. Jesus himself often warned of dangers ahead (see for example Matthew 7:13,19,26–27). Jesus knew that in the long run it is more loving to warn people by telling them the truth.
God loves you. He does not want you to get hurt. There are many warnings in the Bible and they all stem from God’s love for you.
Proverbs 26:23–27:4
23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
but in their hearts they harbour deceit.
25 Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
for seven abominations fill their hearts.
26 Their malice may be concealed by deception,
but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.
3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
Commentary
Warnings about human nature
It is an almost invariable principle of life that what you sow now, you reap later. Much of the teaching in this section of Proverbs is summed up by the verse: ‘If you dig a pit, you will fall into it; if you roll a stone, it will roll back on you’ (26:27). In other words, you reap what you sow.
The writer warns against malice: ‘Malice backfires; spite boomerangs’ (v.27, MSG). However much we try to conceal our desire to hurt other people, it will eventually be exposed: and we will reap the consequences.
Next, he warns against ‘a lying tongue’ (v.28). Be very careful that you only speak the truth about others. It is sometimes tempting to tell exaggerated stories about our opponents. But the writer warns, ‘A lying tongue hates those it hurts’ (v.28).
He goes on to warn about boasting (27:1). Don’t boast about what you are going to achieve, as you don’t know what the future holds. It is all right to receive praise from others but it should not come from your own lips (v.2).
Then, he warns against provoking people: ‘Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but provocation by a fool is heavier than both’ (v.3).
Finally, in this passage, he warns about jealousy, which Shakespeare described as ‘the green-eyed monster’ that mocks ‘the meat it feeds on’. Jealousy is an even more powerful and dangerous force than anger and fury (v.4): ‘We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?’ (v.4, MSG).
Prayer
Hebrews 5:11–6:12
Warning Against Falling Away
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Commentary
Warnings about immaturity
God’s desire for you is that you ‘grow up in Christ’ (6:1, MSG) into a healthy, strong, spiritually mature follower of Jesus.
Maturity requires a listening attitude. The Christians addressed here have ‘picked up the bad habit of not listening’ (5:11, MSG). God is continually speaking to us (Matthew 4:4). Develop a regular habit of listening to him as he speaks to you, primarily through the Bible.
The writer of Hebrews warns his readers against spiritual immaturity. They ‘ought to be teachers’ (Hebrews 5:12). This does not mean a specialised group. Anyone instructed in the faith was expected to teach others (1 Peter 3:15). One of the best ways to start growing in your faith is to pass it on to others. This is why we often invite those who have encountered Jesus on Alpha to come back and help on the next course.
He wants them to move on from milk to solid food. Teaching is part of Christian maturity. He encourages them to move on from the elementary teachings about Christ: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection and judgment (Hebrews 6:1–2).
This is a striking list of what the writer considers to be the basics, and it is a challenge to all of us who teach in the church. We need to ensure that we are indeed training all people in these things, and then moving them on to ‘solid food’ (5:14). You feed yourself through, for example, worship, church community, Bible study, reading inspiring books and listening to good teaching.
He says, ‘Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil’ (v.14). In other words, maturity comes through practice – applying God’s words to our lives. As John Wimber used to say, ‘The meat is on the street.’ Maturity is not just about head knowledge. You learn as you live out your faith. You learn discernment ‘on the street’, and that enables you to receive the ‘meat’.
He then warns them of the danger of abandoning, or renouncing, their faith (6:4–8). This is a very difficult passage, as at first sight it seems to suggest both that a Christian can fall away, and that there is a group of people for whom repentance is impossible. These are two things that the rest of the New Testament makes clear are not the case (see especially Romans 5–8).
His main aim is to encourage perseverance. The severity of these warnings (Hebrews 6:4–8) makes clear how important this is. However, the point about falling away is not developed because he is confident that they will not do so – ‘I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends’ (v.9, MSG).
He then congratulates them for the fruit they are showing in their lives. Their acts of kindness are already reckoned by God as if they were done to himself (v.10). He will reward them.
They have started well and now he encourages them to finish well – ‘to show this same diligence to the very end’ (v.11).
Generally, in life, it is much easier to start things than to finish them. When the initial enthusiasm wears off, follow-through requires hard work, patience and courage. Success, fruitfulness and reward come to those ‘who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them’ (v.12, MSG).
Prayer
Ezekiel 4:1–6:14
Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
4 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. 3 Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.
4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.
6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.
9 “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.” 13 The LORD said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”
14 Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth. ”
15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”
16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.
God’s Razor of Judgment
5 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword. 3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.
8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. 9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. 10 Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. 11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. 12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.
13 “Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal.
14 “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the LORD have spoken. 16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the LORD have spoken. ”
Doom for the Mountains of Israel
6 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them 3 and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. 7 Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
8 “‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. 9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10 And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.
11 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. 12 One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them. 13 And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak —places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah—wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD. ’”
Commentary
Warnings about judgment
From the start, it is clear that warning people is never an easy job! This passage is all about God warning his people about what is going to happen to them. Furthermore, what is about to happen to Israel is intended to be ‘a warning… to the nations’ (5:15).
Ezekiel is asked to enact visual aids to show the seriousness of sin and the warning of the impending judgment that will happen if the people do not repent.
Ezekiel must have appeared to be rather eccentric. Lying on one side for 390 days and forty days on the other side (4:5–6) must have seemed a little odd – but it was a powerful visual aid. (It has probably always been the case that people are more likely to remember what they see than what they hear.) Judgment was coming because the people of God had ‘not even conformed to the standards of the nations around [them]’ (5:7).
God never issues empty threats: ‘I did not threaten in vain’ (6:10). God’s warnings are always acts of love. He desires that all people should repent and ‘come to the knowledge of truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4).
Today, we are so worried about sounding negative or judgmental that there is a danger of us being unloving by not being sufficiently bold in warning people of the dangers ahead.
It was love for God and for God’s people that caused Ezekiel to carry out these visual demonstrations warning of God’s judgment ahead. Ezekiel was told to ‘bear the sin’ of the people (Ezekiel 4:4–6). This visual aid was also a sign of what was to come. Jesus did what Ezekiel was only able to foreshadow. Jesus bore your sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). He took the judgment of God upon himself and enabled you and me to receive all the wonderful promises of blessing for those in Christ.
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus changed everything, yet the warnings for us are still real and serious. Indeed, these warnings make the reality of salvation and the many blessings available in Christ all the more amazing. The gospel is great news.
Prayer
Pippa adds
In Ezekiel 4, we see poor Ezekiel! He’s had to lie on his side for 390 days and eat food cooked over dung. I don’t think God has asked me to do anything like that. Thankfully, we don’t all have to be eccentric.
Verse of the Day
Hebrews 6:10
God… will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
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References
Will Pavia, ‘Warning: Department of Mabelling May Contain Nuts’, Times Online, January 6, 2006.
William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, scene iii.
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.