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CALL TO OBEDIENCE #356

"On Meddling"

By Reimar A. C. Schultze

 Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates : and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah ? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not—2 Chronicles 35:20-21.

     To “meddle” is “to involve oneself in a matter often without invitation.” All of us have meddled and have been meddled with. Happy is the man who does not meddle in what is not his business. His burden is lighter and his days are brighter.  However, every godly person is called upon to meddle, invited or uninvited.

      We are our brothers’ keepers and must “meddle” to help the ungodly find everlasting life. James said, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17). When Paul addressed incest in one of the churches and drunkenness in another, he certainly was meddling appropriately. God speaks to all of us in Ezekiel:  When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood (Ezek. 3:18 NIV). The Great Commission is a call to meddle. The backslider, the sinner, the Buddhist, the Muslim and the communists say: keep out, but Jesus says: go in.

     There are two things that make most of us hesitate to meddle with the sins of others:

1) We feel that we have enough sin in our own lives that we have no right to meddle with the sins of our brothers. But Jesus’ plan of redemption is not for us to continue in our sins, but to get rid of them so that we can help our brother to get rid of his. Jesus said, first take the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye (Matt. 7:5 NIV). The moment you stop helping others to salvation, the rivers of life stop flowing into your heart (Rev. 12:11).

2) Many of us will not meddle with our brothers because of the fear of man. We are more concerned about preserving our popularity than losing our life for the gospel's sake.       

     Although we are called upon to meddle with men's souls, we are never called upon to meddle with God. Let us learn something from two great men who meddled with God. 

    King Josiah is one of the most under-advertised kings in Israel 's history. He was a reformer, a revivalist and a great force for righteousness. “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might …neither after him arose there any like him” (2 Kings 23:25). Josiah had a spotless record for the 31 years of his reign! But just at the height of his spiritual life and success, he decided to meddle with God.  He went to battle against the Egyptian king Necho who was passing by on his way to fight the Assyrians. Necho said: I am not against you! Don't meddle with me, for if you do so, you meddle with God. But Josiah went to war against Necho anyhow and was killed. Why did Josiah do this? Did he want to be king of Egypt also? What was in his mind? Josiah clearly stepped out of God's will by meddling with God. All meddling out of God's will is bad.

     Moses led Israel admirably for 40 years: he was the meekest man on earth and he talked with God face to face. God told him to speak to the rock to turn it into a spring. That was God's plan. But here's what happened: “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice” (Num. 20:10-11). Suddenly the "we" who used to be God and Moses now became Aaron and Moses. God was now shut out. Furthermore, Moses now called his sheep “rebels.” When Moses was thinking "God and me," he had the grace to cope with the aggravation and sin of Israel . When it was "Aaron and me,” he ceased being a shepherd and became a judge. READ MORE >  

#356 "ON MEDDLING"

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