Understanding the severity of the wrath of God is found in
the actual experiences of life. It can be illustrated by a statement of
Jesus, He said, ". . . I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me
shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
It is a simple statement yet it is clothed in mystery.
This statement of Jesus proclaims that the life of Jesus satisfies
continually. One who eats of Jesus is not continually hungering and
thirsting to experience the good life. He is satisfied with the life he is
experiencing.
Yet, there is not a man alive who at one time or another has not hungered
and thirsted for a better life. When man finds himself in that conditions,
he has done what seems to be the curse of our intellect, attempting by our
minds to experience the good life in the events of life.
The events or circumstances of life themselves can never produce the
continual good life. For example, when all the accolades of an event in
which the participants are attempting to experience life are over, they
are driven to create new circumstances or new challenges to rekindle the
passions of life.
Living in events or circumstances always produce a life that ever hungers
or thirsts for more. The participants of the events become trapped in the
attempt to repeat bigger and better events over and over again. They are
caught in the bondage of the earthly realm. They must simplify their lives
once again.
In doing so, however, they often forget the real reason their lives became
perplexed and troubled with the pressures of life. The events that led to
Jesus making His Bread of Life statement portray the crux of the problem
for man. When Jesus said, "I am the bread of life . . .," the
men who heard him, as with all men, knew only one realm of experience.
They knew only how to attempt to live on the earthly realm, in the events
or the experiences themselves. They could not perceive life from the
spiritual realm.
These men who came seeking Jesus were perplexed how He had crossed the sea
without a boat. They had previously seen him perform many miracles and
they were wondering if another miracle had occurred. Jesus responded to
their question with "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not
because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and
were filled" (6:26).
They did want the miracles but beyond that they wanted what the miracles
could do for them. The miracles would enhance their own lives. They, as
with all men, were attempting to experience life through the events of
life. They desired to have their lives enhanced by the healings, the food
on the table, and the "walking on the water," which were all
great moments in their lives.
Jesus then told them to "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man
shall give unto you . . . ." The implication seems to be that there
are two kinds of meats. There are two sources from which man may attempt
to experience life. However, one perishes and the other "endureth
unto everlasting life."
The severity of God’s wrath is seen in the "meat that
perishes." It is not that God scrutinizes every move man makes to
punish those who disobey his commands. It is when man seeks after the
"meat that perishes" that it will finally perishes. When it
does, man finds himself trapped in a life of gloom, despair, and agony.
All brought on by the simple attempt to experience life in the events or
circumstances rather than the spiritual realm that operates beyond those
events and circumstances.
This is the message of the prophet Nahum to the ancient city of Ninevah.
Ninevah was the greatest city in the world at the time of Nahum, the
capitol city of Assyria. A century before another prophet of God had went
to Ninevah to proclaim its doom unless it turned from the ways of man to
the ways of God. Heeding to that initial call of repentance, they turned
from the perplexities and from the hassles of chasing life by one event
after another. Their attempt to clarify their life by just enjoying the
simplicity of experiencing life in the life of God, however, did not last.
They soon found themselves once again in the woes of a misguided search
for life. The meat of which they were attempting to live finally perished.
As Nahum says, "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and
will not acquit the wicked," those who attempt to find life in the
"meat that perishes." The meat that perishes will perish:
Assyria will fall - Chapter 1; the siege and capture of Ninevah - Chapter
2; and the reason for Assyria’s destruction - Chapter 3.
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