These Ought to Die

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Gen. 1:27-28. And from these, man was to be in control of the earth as God’s representatives, but his tenure was conditional upon his obedience and his loyalty. Should he choose to sin, he thereby forfeits his position as a ruler and eventually even life itself.

Let us look at and contemplate about the story of a young ruler who received the power to reign when he was twelve years old. 2 Kings 21:1, 2, 6. Menasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign and he reigned 55 years… and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel… And he burned his sons as an offering and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. Surely, if king Menasseh were to rule today, his chances of facing a coup would be very high. His fate would be to face a firing squad. For, in many countries worldwide, some offenders have been shot to death for practicing less than half of Menasseh’s sin… He ought to die because he had imported the abominations of the heathens into God’s chosen people; he had even shed blood of the innocent, filled Jerusalem from one end to the other with every conceivable kind of wickedness; he had led the nation into sin.

And this is a question to ask ourselves. How could God think of sparingMenasseh? God must avenge the murder of His prophets, and also all the crimes done by this vicious king. One of the first victims of Menasseh had been Isaiah the prophet. For over half a century, he had stood before Judah as the appointed messenger of God. Menasseh had killed him; he must meet the consequences, yes? That is how we think; it is not how God thinks. The Bible says in 2 Chron. 33:12-18, “And when he (Menasseh) was in distress he entreated the favour of the Lord, his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers; He prayed to Him and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, then Menasseh knew that the Lord was God.” Against all odds, he repented of his sins and was forgiven. This was the kind of God that Jesus came to reveal. A LOVING GOD. A person like Menasseh who betrayed God in all ways could have faced the second death but he repented and was saved. What will it be like when Isaiah meets Menasseh, the man who killed him, the murderer, in heaven? I know he will rejoice.

Remember, when we get to heaven, we would like to interview people like David and Uriah. The right time to conduct the interview would be when the two men meet again for the first time. King David stole Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, then later he arranged for Uriah’s murder. David’s quick response when the prophet Nathan confronted him with the situation was, “As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.” 2 Sam. 12:5. “The man was to die!” was David’s own judgment. But he repented and was forgiven. In Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 356, it says, “He receives pardon through faith in the atoning sacrifice. Unlike the lifeless symbol, Christ has power and virtue in Himself to heal the repenting sinner. While the sinner cannot save himself, he still has something to do to secure salvation.” He that cometh to me, says Christ, I will in no wise cast out. But we must come to Him and when we repent of our sins, we must believe that He accepts and pardons us. Faith is the hand by which the soul takes hold upon the divine offers of grace and mercy. Nothing but the righteousness of Christ can entitle us to one of the blessings of the covenant of grace. There are many who have long desired and tried to obtain these blessings but have not received them because they have not denied the idea that they could do something to make themselves worthy of them; they have not looked away from self. Let us not think that our own merits will save us.

“This man ought to die!” was David’s own judgment. Remember, even today there are people of various caliber who have longed for another’s death in some way or another; we are not different from king Menasseh since we have all sinned. But, in Psalm 51:1-17 is a prayer where David was pleading to God for forgiveness. Likewise, it was and is my prayer and yours also, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

What a wonderful prayer! Heaven is pleased with and will automatically and instantly answer it. And here is the answer in 2 Samuel 12:13. “I have sinned against the Lord… The Lord also hath put away thy sin [and mine], thou shalt not die.” What a wonderful moment it will be to look into each other’s eyes, with the person who in the past despised you, and once more become friends! Never to part again; what a reunion it will be in heaven!

Have you ever wronged someone? Has someone seriously wronged you? Wronged you enough to an extent that you said, “If heaven is for so and so; then I don’t want to go there?” Or, if that church is for so and so, I will never go to that church? HAVE COURAGE! HEAVEN IS FOR SINNERS transformed by the power of God. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven if the sinner is willing to confess and forsake it. no sinner need to die because Jesus has once ?died on behalf of every one of us, and that is why, when we get to heaven, we shall be “surprised” to find some of the greatest sinners we have ever known, all forgiven, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.

It was early in the morning when Jesus had just come from the temple and began to teach. Suddenly he was interrupted by a group of scribes and Pharisees, dragging a frightened woman into the temple. They set her before Him. Her face was wet with tears, and drawn with terror. Her clothes were torn. She stood there in the midst, waiting for the doom to be pronounced that she knew the law demanded. “Master,” her accusers reported, “This woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?” John 8:4, 5. and they continued to ask Jesus, “Master, you know the teaching of the Old Testament where the matter of adultery is concerned. If You are the one who gave Moses those commandments, as you claim, will you agree that she should be stoned right now, to death? Jesus had already made it clear that sex outside of marriage is wrong; they even heard Jesus preaching that even thinking of extra-marital sex was evil. (Matt. 5:27) But these people knew where Jesus stood on the matter, because the Bible says that they were testing Him. They waited to see what Jesus would say, but He said nothing. He bent down and began to write with His finger in the dust, as though He had not heard them. Then His conscience-pricking words (John 8:7), “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Then He bent over and continued writing. Curiosity got the better of them. They stepped closer and saw to their horror, their own sins written in the dust in front of the temple. Startled, self-condemned, they went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the last person, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in front of Him. And when Jesus raised Himself, He saw that no one but the woman remained. And the Lord said to her, “woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” John 8:10, 11. What a friend is Jesus, who forgives us at a moment when we are walking into the valley of the shadow of death, like this woman! She was forgiven at a moment intended to be her last day on earth! Her forgiveness was too good to be true. But it was true and exact. She gazed into the Master’s face, her heart overflowing with gratitude . From that day, she was a new woman , resolved byGod’s graceto live a life appropriate to one bound for eternity. People like MaryMagdalene, a woman caught in adultery was transformed
by God’s great grace.No wonder she loved much as was granted the privilege of anointing the Lord before His burial. She was granted the privilege of meeting the Lord first after His resurrection, after all her sins, she lived to see her beloved Master. Barabbas, deserving death, walked away rejoicing, while many remained at the foot of the cross weeping and watching her Master die.

As it was in the past, likewise it is today. Many are bound with different kinds of idols. There are also many wicked rulers today, who are practicing the abominations of Menasseh. Many are like MaryMagdalene, but there is hope! The hope of forgiveness. The power that transformed them, the power that changed the heart of David, so that God could call him “a man after My own heart,” is available for all of us. The blood that flowed on Calvary is deep enough to immerse every sinner who is willing to be cleansed. No one will be lost because of the sins they have committed. Those who will be lost will be
those who have rejected God’s great grace as it is in Jesus. Rev. 22:11-12 reads, “Let the evildoers still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” So, no one ?will be saved by their track record, their performance, their good works. Salvation is in Christ and nothing else. Those who will be saved, will be saved because they have accepted what God has done in Jesus Christ. The good works that must be seen in their lives will be an automatic consequence of the work of God’s great grace in their lives.

All of us – condemned sinners
All of us – worthy of death
All of us – bound for eternal death.

The wages of sin is death, but thanks be to God for Jesus Christ who took our place and tested death for everyone. Therefore, we have no need to die the second death. Jesus died the second death for us. All we have to do is to accept His sacrifice, because He said in Isa. 43:25, “I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” And this should be our joy that as long as our sins shall be blotted away, our loving Father will not remember them anymore. And let this be my prayer and yours daily that our sins be cleansed and washed by the blood of Jesus. Heaven is waiting for us. AMEN.

Willkister A. Outah, Kenya