Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke the following to the people who were besieged by the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 38 ... Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. 3Thus saith the LORD, This city (Jerusalem) shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.
Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Because of their evil doing, God put a penalty on the people of Israel and it was determined by God that they would go into bondage to the Chaldeans for a period of 70 years. God used Jeremiah the prophet to instruct the people. Jeremiah told them to surrender to the Chaldeans. This really sounded wrong. But it wasn't wrong. It was the word from God on the matter.
After Jeremiah delivered the "surrender" message, they took him and threw him into a pit and he would have died there except for an Ethiopian eunuch who went to the king and pled for Jeremiah's life and the king had Jeremiah removed from the pit. (Jeremiah 38) ... After this, the king sent for Jeremiah and asked him to share the message he had heard from the Lord. Jeremiah said: Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: 18But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
But when the Chaldeans surrounded Jerusalem, the king and his men fled through the gate of the garden. The Chaldeans caught them and here was what happened: Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. 7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon. 8And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah told the king to surrender to the Chaleans but this message did not seem good to the king so he went the opposite way and tried to escape. Jeremiah told him he would not escape. He did not escape. Jeremiah told him Jerusalem would be burned with fire if he did not surrender. The king did not surrender and Jerusalem was burned with fire. And what a terrible thing for the king to have to see his own sons slain and then to have his eyes put out and be taken away in chains to Babylon.
Sometimes the message from God can seem hard but it is an easier way to go than anything else. And above all when the message is from God it is God's word on the matter and God's word on the matter is all that is important regardless of how it may seem. (Consider the writing: Divorce/remarriage: What the Bible teaches ... page one, listed on right hand side of our Internet page.)
I've heard people say, "OH, my God would never do THAT!"
But people who say this so often do not know the Bible and are only aware of the image they have of God from their fleshly minds. They continually rebel against God because it doesn't make sense to their minds.
Consider this example from the Bible ... God speaking to Ezekiel the prophet ... Ezekiel 9 ...He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand... And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary...The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. 10And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. 11And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
I know the ways of God are not the ways of man. God often does things that seem unreasonable to man due to man's fleshly image of God and what he thinks God should do. Man, in such cases, sets up a false image of God just as surely as if he had taken a block of tree trunk and carved a face on it and worshiped it. He doesn't worship God in truth, nor in the Spirit, but rather in his own fleshly mind and his own fleshly will.
But those of us who have read the Bible have many examples of acts of God which do not fit the thinking of man. And we know God is God and HE does as HE wills and not as humans who are so often rebellious and disobedient will.
If you want to know God, you must have HIS Spirit in you to show you God. And it would be helpful also if you read the entire Bible over and over. I read through the Bible from Genesis to the end of Revelation. Then when I finish the last chapter of Revelation, I start over in Genesis. I've done this for 30+ years. And each time I read the Bible, God shows me things I hadn't seen before because the Bible is the living word of God. But I have the Spirit of God in me to show me things of God. We can't do this unless we have HIS Spirit in us.