Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. I Kings 16:26
It is possible to provoke God to anger if we continue in vanities.
vanity means:
- excessive pride or admiration of one's own appearance or achievement
- quality of being worthless or futile
- following that which produces no result and is useless
- pursuing that which is empty, without substance
The continual pursuit of vain things can be a serious problem.
Instead we are exhorted to make ourselves of no reputation as Jesus did. We have to chose to go another way.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Phil. 2
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isa. 53
Jesus did not try to attract attention to Himself by His physical appearance. Nor was he impressive in schooling and such. He just went about speaking that which God gave Him and doing the works of God. And in one instance when he did a work of God the people begged Jesus to leave their town.
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. Mt. 8
Yet God's praise of Jesus will continue forever. The labor done by Jesus will never be in vain. And we are told this: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. I Cor. 15:58
A man doing honest work and providing for his family is a labor in the Lord for that is God's assignment for the man. Gen. 3
A woman taking care of her children and husband is a labor in the Lord for that is God's assignment for the woman. Titus 2:4
For those assigned by God to care for the church, diligence in that is a labor in the Lord and will not be in vain. (I Cor. 12 / Eph. 4)
But to follow after vanities of appearance and to try to make yourselves look good to other humans in various ways can end up provoking God to anger.