Part 2: Man's Imagination Builds Self-Exalting Structures THE FLOOD AND MAN'S VAIN IMAGINATIONS In Part 1, we saw that there was one neutral use of the word "imagine." From here on, we will be hard pressed to find to a positive connotation to the words, "imagine" and "imagination" and their various forms, i.e., imagined, imaginations, etc. For instance, in Genesis 6 we see God observing the wickedness of man,
(Gen 6:5 KJV) And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that EVERY IMAGINATION OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY. This was, of course, right before the Lord called Noah to build the ark, and he called him because "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Man's thought were not God's thoughts, and man developed his thoughts about who God was through his imagination. God, then, sent the flood, and only Noah and his family were left to repopulate the earth along with all of the animals, and Noah offered sacrifice to the Lord. In Genesis 8, we read,
(Gen 8:21 KJV) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; FOR THE IMAGINATION OF MAN'S HEART IS EVIL FROM HIS YOUTH; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. What was the difference between Noah and all who drowned during the flood? I believe we could rightfully say that Noah built his life on what God said and not on the imaginations of his heart. Noah didn't change what God had said through his imagination or devise a plan to save all humanity, but obeyed God perfectly out of fear of Him, knowing His word alone would stand when put to the test. In other words, Noah RMEMEBERED God in his imagination also so he didn't have to imagine anything about about the greateness of God. THE TOWER OF BABEL AND MAN'S VAIN IMAGINATIONS After the earth was repopulated, we read again that man's imagination got him into trouble with God:
(Gen 11:6 KJV) And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have IMAGINED to do. God's word is not a flexible standard and there is no room for developing it through our imaginations. When He speaks it is as a two-edged sword and no imaginative thoughts can dull that sword, though such thoughts can dull the hearing of that word and thus lessen our understanding and obedience to it. Nor is there any reason to develop the presentation of His word through the use of our imaginations. Again, His word in itself is spirit and life to the one who hears it,
(Heb 4:12 KJV) ". . . piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. In the heart are man's thoughts and out of the structuring of those thoughts comes spiritual plans of action. But when man's thoughts and actions do not come out of what God has said, God calls them vain imaginations. Many have been imaginative even with the word of God and we now stand in a world of cults, their offshoots, and an apostate "revival." Why did we have a flood? Why did we have the scrambling of languages at the tower of Babel? Why do we have a drive to make humanity one again as in the time of Babel? Because of man's imagination exalting itself against the known word of God and pursuing these through agendas and strategies. By their imaginations, they replaced God's word with what they conjured up in their imagination. But God asks,
(Psa 2:1 KJV) Why do the heathen rage, and the people IMAGINE a vain thing? VAIN IMAGINATIONS AND DECEIT How much of the "revival" can be attributed to the true word of God, and how much to vain imaginations? You can't have both. The "revival" is based on deceit, and Scripture says,
(Psa 38:12 KJV) They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and IMAGINE DECEITS all the day long.Have you heard mischievous deceits that come out of the imaginations of some "revivalists"? I have. One recent one was the statement I heard by Benny Hinn when he said something to the effect that those who have opposed the anointing will wish they hadn't because of the greater power that is being unleashed. He truly believes this is a word from God, but it is nothing but vain imaginations rather than the will of God. Yet Scripture says,
(Zec 7:10 KJV) And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you IMAGINE evil against his brother in your heart. Yet, our comfort is in the fact that God sees and hears:
(Lam 3:60 KJV) Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their IMAGINATIONS against me. These verse shows that man's imagination in his fallen condition will come to exalt himself and his imaginings against the Lord. [Continued in Part 3] |