Your Examples Hold You Accountable

Ezekiel 14:20

Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Jerusalem had no excuse for their sin and compromise. Twice God said to Israel, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, that He would not deliver them from the judgment to come. The reason God would not deliver them is because they had the examples of these great men to follow, but they chose to go a different way. Were these men sinless? Absolutely not! After Noah’s great victory, he got drunk. Job lived a life of self-pity for a few months. Daniel may be the only one of the three that we don't have anything negative to talk about, but we do know that he was a sinner as all are people. However, the examples of their lives were well known to these people, and God held this generation accountable for what they did know.

At this stage in history, every believer has NO excuse for not knowing better because we have a plethora of human examples of what to do and what not to do. God has given every believer all the Scriptures to read and to learn from, and it is not God’s fault if you don't read them and learn from the examples He gives to us in them. Not only do we have the Scriptures, but we have the examples of men of God from the past to learn how we ought to serve the Lord. The fact that we don't learn from their examples is not God’s fault but ours. In the digital age in which we live, we have examples of those in the past at our fingertips. We could learn from these men and how God used them if we took the time to study their lives instead of tearing them down.

History is a great teacher, but sadly, many criticize those in history in their attempt to make history, resulting in history repeating itself. Most try to prove that they are the exception to the rule, only to find out that they are not the exception to the detriment of their potential. Let me share a couple thoughts about the importance of learning from history.

First, God holds you accountable for what you do know and what you could know if you studied history. To be purposely ignorant of history’s lessons does not negate your responsibility to learn from it so you can do right. Every generation is held more accountable because every generation has one more generation to learn from. This is one reason that one day God will no longer be able to put up with what the world is doing because His spirit will not always strive with man. God gives example after example to teach you, but to ignore those examples only hurts you.

Second, you would be wise not to tear down history, but to build upon it. We have had great men that we have known in this generation. Many of us have seen the ministries of Lee Roberson, Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson, and other great men, but we cannot learn from them if we are busy tearing them down. These men are men at best, but they were great men that God used in a mighty way, and we would be wise to learn how to get those same blessings in our lives by following the examples of these men.

Third, you are responsible for how you live your life and not for the mistakes of those in the past. What you do with history’s lessons determines God’s blessings or chastening in your life. Let history be a teacher for righteousness and good, and you will find that God can use you as He did with those in history.