Day 12/15 – The Pride of Piety

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter Henrichsen
The Pride of Piety
Day Three Hundred Forty-nine

“Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” Isaiah 7:11-12

“Signs” play an important role in Scripture. They are expressions of God’s grace to aid the sinner in the task of believing. Under the pretence of reverence, King Ahaz declined God’s offer of a sign, exhausting the patience of the Almighty. The hardness of the king’s heart was cloaked in piety. Ahaz did not say that he didn’t believe in God. Rather his response showed an attempt to be more spiritual than Isaiah. We cannot know for sure why Ahaz did this, but he may have been afraid of being committed to a policy in which he had no confidence. If he had asked for a sign and received it, he would then be committed to whatever God told him.

In a way analogous to God’s offer to King Ahaz, He promises us that if we will devote ourselves to His cause, He will greatly reward us in heaven. I frequently hear believers say that they could never be motivated by so base a thing as eternal profit; such motivation smacks of selfishness. This kind of piety may be a cloak covering a fear of God holding them accountable for how they invested their lives, an accounting that appreciably influences their standard of living in eternity. Not wanting such accountability, they hide behind piety.

You will always have difficulty understanding your own motives; they are at best murky and suspect. But when you find yourself resisting a clear offer from God, as did Ahaz, you had better have good cause and a pure motive, lest you exhaust the patience of the Almighty.

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Amos 1-3 Revelation 6 (New King James Version)

Amos 1-3
Judgments on Israel’s Neighbors
1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said:
“The Lord roars from Zion,
And utters His voice from Jerusalem;
The pastures of the shepherds mourn,
And the top of Carmel withers.”
Judgment on the Nations
3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.
4
But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,
Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
5
I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,
And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
And the one who [a]holds the scepter from [b]Beth Eden.
The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”
Says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they took captive the whole captivity
To deliver them up to Edom.
7
But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
Which shall devour its palaces.
8
I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn My hand against Ekron,
And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
Says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,
And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10
But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,
Which shall devour its palaces.”
11 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he pursued his brother with the sword,
And cast off all pity;
His anger tore perpetually,
And he kept his wrath forever.
12
But I will send a fire upon Teman,
Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,
That they might enlarge their territory.
14
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
And it shall devour its palaces,
Amid shouting in the day of battle,
And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
15
Their king shall go into captivity,
He and his princes together,”
Says the Lord.
Judgment on Israel
2 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
2
But I will send a fire upon Moab,
And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth;
Moab shall die with tumult,
With shouting and trumpet sound.
3
And I will cut off the judge from its midst,
And slay all its princes with him,”
Says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have despised the law of the Lord,
And have not kept His commandments.
Their lies lead them astray,
Lies which their fathers followed.
5
But I will send a fire upon Judah,
And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they sell the righteous for silver,
And the poor for a pair of sandals.
7
They [c]pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,
And pervert the way of the humble.
A man and his father go in to the same girl,
To defile My holy name.
8
They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge,
And drink the wine of [d]the condemned in the house of their god.
9
“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
Whose height was like the height of the cedars,
And he was as strong as the oaks;
Yet I destroyed his fruit above
And his roots beneath.
10
Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And led you forty years through the wilderness,
To possess the land of the Amorite.
11
I raised up some of your sons as prophets,
And some of your young men as Nazirites.
Is it not so, O you children of Israel?”
Says the Lord.
12
“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,
And commanded the prophets saying,
‘Do not prophesy!’
13
“Behold, I am [e]weighed down by you,
As a cart full of sheaves [f]is weighed down.
14
Therefore [g]flight shall perish from the swift,
The strong shall not strengthen his power,
Nor shall the mighty [h]deliver himself;
15
He shall not stand who handles the bow,
The swift of foot shall not [i]escape,
Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.
16
The most [j]courageous men of might
Shall flee naked in that day,”
Says the Lord.
Authority of the Prophet’s Message
3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3
Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion [k]cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5
Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no [l]trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6
If a [m]trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
7
Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8
A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who can but prophesy?
Punishment of Israel’s Sins
9
“Proclaim in the palaces at [n]Ashdod,
And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:
‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;
See great tumults in her midst,
And the [o]oppressed within her.
10
For they do not know to do right,’
Says the Lord,
‘Who store up violence and [p]robbery in their palaces.’ ”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“An adversary shall be all around the land;
He shall sap your strength from you,
And your palaces shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord:
“As a shepherd [q]takes from the mouth of a lion
Two legs or a piece of an ear,
So shall the children of Israel be taken out
Who dwell in Samaria—
In the corner of a bed and [r]on the edge of a couch!
13
Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14
“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,
I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
15
I will [s]destroy the winter house along with the summer house;
The houses of ivory shall perish,
And the great houses shall have an end,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes:
• Amos 1:5 Rules
• Amos 1:5 Lit. House of Eden
• Amos 2:7 Or trample on
• Amos 2:8 Or those punished by fines
• Amos 2:13 Or tottering under
• Amos 2:13 Or totters
• Amos 2:14 Or the place of refuge
• Amos 2:14 Lit. save his soul or life
• Amos 2:15 Or save
• Amos 2:16 Lit. strong of his heart among the mighty
• Amos 3:4 Lit. give his voice
• Amos 3:5 Or bait or lure
• Amos 3:6 ram’s horn
• Amos 3:9 So with MT; LXX Assyria
• Amos 3:9 Or oppression
• Amos 3:10 Or devastation
• Amos 3:12 Or snatches
• Amos 3:12 Heb. uncertain, possibly on the cover
• Amos 3:15 Lit. strike

Revelation 6
First Seal: The Conqueror
6 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the [a]seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Second Seal: Conflict on Earth
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come [b]and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales[c] in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A [d]quart of wheat for a [e]denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And [f]power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and [g]behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the [h]moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky [i]receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, [j]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Footnotes:
• Revelation 6:1 NU, M seven seals
• Revelation 6:3 NU, M omit and see
• Revelation 6:5 balances
• Revelation 6:6 Gr. choinix, about 1 quart
• Revelation 6:6 About 1 day’s wage for a worker
• Revelation 6:8 authority
• Revelation 6:12 NU, M omit behold
• Revelation 6:12 NU, M whole moon
• Revelation 6:14 Or split apart
• Revelation 6:15 NU, M the commanders, the rich men,