Awesome Hands – Part 155: “The work of the hands of the craftsman”

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Awesome Hands – part 155

The work of the hands of the craftsman

October 12, 2019

 

Our study today covers a very broad topic. It is a topic that has many layers, but it is also easy to understand. Our verse of focus today is Deu 27:15.

Deu 27:15  Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the  people shall answer and say, Amen.

On the surface, and just reading this verse, it is hard to understand why the Lord would consider it an abomination for a craftsman to make a carved or cast image of anything. Indeed, it doesn’t even mention worshipping this creation in this verse, but we know that is the implication by knowing other verses.

However, it is the sum of the word that matters especially with verses such as Deu 27:15. In fact, this is the first of twelve curses that the Lord tells Israel about.

Though it isn’t mentioned here, all of the blessings and curses were read together to the people versus this section telling Moses how he is to tell the Levites to read these curses, etc.

Jos 8:33  And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

Jos 8:34  And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

Before we get into the specifics of Deu 27:15, I want to read the other curses to help set the stage on what we are being told in this section of scripture.

Deu 27:16  Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:17  Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:18  Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:19  Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:20  Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:21  Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:22  Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:23  Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:24  Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:25  Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deu 27:26  Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Notice that these are all things that are done in secret or otherwise hard to be found out excluding the last curse which is a curse covering the entirety of the law.

This tells us that without a doubt no one escapes the law because all are guilty of breaking the law of God except Jesus Christ.

Yet, even Jesus took the curse upon Him, being made a curse, and then crucified it on the cross.

Gal 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Gal 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Gal 3:12  And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Today, I do not think many folks are making graven or molten images with their hands and then assigning some deity worship to it. Rather, the majority of all of us worship the work of our own hands and do the worshipping in secret.

Anyone that had done a good days work or who has created something out of their own hard efforts has set back and appreciated and admired the fruit of that hard work.

Likewise, any craftsman can tell you the joy they have in having created something that is useful for what it was created for even if it is only to admire such as a work of art, etc.

For Christians today, Deu 27:15 can teach us a whole lot about the pitfall of self-worship.

While we may not make graven or molten images to worship, we certainly engrave our own hearts and minds with the “works of our own hands”.

If you think that this has no application to you personally, think on these verses and their application to you.

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Joh 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

See, just like with Jesus Christ of whom we are to be like in this world, the works we do are either of God the Father or they are not.

Jesus connected “ye are gods” with WORKS! The works we do with our hands are works we make with our spiritual hands and SECRETLY worship them where others can not see not perceive of this happening.

In other words, we are making graven images and worshipping them as gods because it is the work itself we are worshipping. That work came from us, so we are indeed worshipping another god!

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come  a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;  so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

What then are the works of our own hands that we need to be aware of in order to combat them and not succumb to self-worship via our idols of our heart?

How do we identify idols?

Eze 6:5  And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
Eze 6:6  In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
Eze 6:7  And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 6:8  Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
Eze 6:9  And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
Eze 6:10  And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
Eze 6:11  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

When we look at what we do, say or act upon in our daily lives, are these things we see being done in Israel?

Remember, for Christians we are looking at “the Jews who say they are Jews” but are not.

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Many Christians, including all of us, believe to be a “Jew inwardly” of the heart and in the spirit. How can we know if we fall into this latter camp or if we are yet in the former camp?

Again, it all goes back to works of the Father versus works of our own hands otherwise known as works of your father the devil.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Luk 12:31  But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What is it to love Jesus? To love Jesus is to have God the Father as our Father and to not have the devil as our father.

Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1Jn 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.
1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

2Jn 1:5  And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Indeed, there are many deceivers and the antichrist’s in the world. How do we know this? I just used scripture to define the love we must have to say we love Jesus thereby being of God the Father.

While defining love, I also showed that JESUS MUST COME IN THE FLESH and is indeed IN THE FLESH.

Therefore, when did Christ, while in the flesh, say or do anything contrary to the will of God? When did Jesus Christ say, “Yeah, I have a will separate from the Father’s which isn’t touched by the will of God. I can do some things on my own of my own free will?”

If we cannot find even one example of Jesus doing something outside of the will of the Father while reading the stories of when He walked the earth more than 2000 years ago, then we must conclude that something is wrong with the doctrine that WE can somehow do something outside of the causation of the will of God.

Jesus IS come in the flesh, right now. The Truth is that Jesus is walking the earth RIGHT NOW in the flesh. To say otherwise, is a deceiver and antichrist according to scripture.

What flesh is Jesus walking around with and in? Therefore, what part of the will of Jesus, while walking in the flesh, is somehow SEPARATE from the will of God and can “do its own thing,” sometimes?

The work of the hands of the craftsman are works which build something that God Himself has not being given credit for. Good works are only good because they are works which are accredited to God.

Mar 10:17  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Mar 10:19  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

Luk 18:19  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

If Jesus says NONE IS GOOD, then I believe Him. Jesus’ will is NOTHING next to the Will of the Father.

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

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