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| Pure Dublin Crystal |
Eccl. 8:3 “Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil
thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.”
Solomon
is speaking about a natural king and that it is not wise to flee hastily from
his presence (but rather wait until you are dismissed). However, when considering
the spiritual application of this statement which is being in the presence of
the King of Kings we say "Do not be
hasty to leave his presence." This excellent counsel reminds us of
Joshua in Exodus 33:9-11; here was a
man who was not in a great hurry to leave Gods presence. Exo 33:9-11 “And it came to
pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and
stood at the door of the
tabernacle, and the LORD talked
with Moses. (10) And all the people saw the cloudy pillar
stand at the tabernacle door:
and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
(11) And the LORD spake unto
Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into
the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out
of the tabernacle.” But his servant
Joshua…departed not out of the tabernacle. Isn’t it interesting to note that
here Joshua is called the servant of Moses, not his successor, but in actual
fact, he ended up replacing Moses. I have to wonder if maybe it was because Joshua
learned how to spend time in Gods presence and loved to hear his voice. We too should linger
when Gods presence is manifested to us, waiting to hear His voice. Solomon’s
advice was to wait until you are dismissed to leave the kings presence and that
counsel becomes even more relevant when God has come to visit us.
The
second part of this verse has a more serious tone. The whole context is; do not
be hasty to leave the kings presence “…to
stand in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him” Do not go
from His presence to participate in things He would not approve of, do not
stand in an evil thing because also in the king is the power of retribution and
he executes this power at his own discretion. In context what this is saying is
a very serious thing; we can apply it to one who is one thing while in His
presence but another thing when they leave it. We are talking about one who is
not true to the Lord out of His presence. They come to church, sing the songs
then when they are alone they have a different lifestyle; they are
participating in sinful activities. Many times believers have forfeited the touch
and blessing of God in their lives by living on both sides of the fence. Loving
the Lord while in His presence and with the saints but also loving the world
while outside of the influence of God presence. God will try us all in this area;
therefore, let us determine to be the same when in the world as we are in His
presence, true to the message, a true confession and a true lifestyle. Do not on
one hand come into his presence to be holy then leave his presence to
participate in evil things. Evil things offend His holiness and whilst God is
gracious and longsuffering to be sure He also has the power of life and death.
Life for the sincere and upright but eventually hypocrites are dealt with,
sometimes with dire consequences.
