335. INCORRECT PRESUMPTIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS

(Information & Edification Series – Batch 12)

Never presume upon God’s goodness, his grace or his favour. Never take for granted what he has done for you, where he has placed you or think in pride that you are entitled to his continual blessings, no matter what you do or how you live or how you treat him and other people.

Never think in your heart that you will never be moved, that once you have reached your mountaintop, that you will never experience the lowness of the valley again. Delude not yourself into thinking that God has respecter of persons, that because of who you are he will have regard to it and that you are untouchable.

All these were the sins and folly of Israel, the people of God. God urged them to repent and they did not. He warned them that he would bring them down but they did not believe. After all, they were the Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Surely they were special and no matter what they did, they would thrive and continue to prosper!

Indeed, they were now so great that their attitude of indifference revealed that in in their hearts they wonderred, was the God of their fathers even relevant? Did they really still need to follow his laws and obey his Word? They believed that they had reached a point, a pinnacle, where God no longer deserved a place in their hearts and lives. They didn’t just place him on the backburner. They fired him!

This mentality, this great wickedness was the cause of their undoing. God brought them down with a mighty hand. The Israelites who belonged to the northern kingdom were taken captive by the Assyrians and the people of Judah who belonged to the sourthern kingdom but were also from the people of Israel, God raised up an enemy to destroy their abode and take them away captive to a far off land called Babylon.

In recounting the story of the people of Judah while they were still in exile, in Ezra 5:12, it is reported that they stated:

“But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzer the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.”

Before their great fall, which God had sanctioned, he had told them what he would do if they did not humble themselves, repent and return to him. He had told them through his Prophet:

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words…and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon…

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy…For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” (Jeremiah 19:15; 20:4-5; 21:4-7,10)

In Jeremiah 22:21-22 and 25 -27, God told them through his Prophet:

“I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyest not my voice. The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness…And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzer king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.”

The very Nebuchadnezzer, the king of Babylon who the Lord used to bring down his proud, rebellious and disobedient people, had his own humbling experience at one point, where God brought even him down to nothing. When he restored him, Nebuchadnezzer, having learned his lesson, gave testimony of what he went through. He spoke and published to the people, how God brought him down from his lofty place and humbled him, before raising him back up again. He declared:

“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation…”

After recounting what had specifically happened and what he had gone through, he continued, his eyes having been opened by the truth of who God was and his greatness:

“I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” (Daniel 4:1-3, 34 and 37)

In Psalm19:13, David prayed to God stating, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”

We would do well to pray likewise. The lessons to be learned from the people of Israel and Judah’s demise are endless. They presumed that because of what God had done for them in the past, who their ancestors were and how great they had become, that they would never be moved but God moved them. He personally intervened to bring them down.

In our own life story, there are some key things that we should remember, which the people of Israel and Judah apparently, forgot. These are as follows:

Firstly, remember from where you came.

As I wrote many years ago, “It always good to remain humble, to remember your humble little start and to be mindful of your humble little finish”. The Israelites had apparently forgotten that they were once strangers and slaves in the land of Egypt, where they experienced much hardship and suffering.

Secondly, remember who brought you to where you are now.

The Israelites forgot in their prosperity, that it was God who had taken them out of Egypt and from bondage as slaves and with a mighty hand and taken them to the land he had promised them, flowing with milk and honey.

Thirdly, remember to never take for granted the one who helped you, delivered you, sustained you and keeps you.

The Israelites and the people of Judah got to a place of complacency in their comfort and prosperity, them no longer being thankful or grateful for what the Lord had allowed them to have and where he had placed them. When thankfulness and gratitude are absent, entitlement steps in. They felt entitled to what they had and where they were as if they had a right to it, believing that not even God could separate them from it.

Fourthly, remember that God is not mocked. Whatever you sow, you will reap.

The xhildren of Israel and the people of Judah, sowed sin, unrighteousness, folly and idolatry, all of which God hates. They did this without remorse and without repentance, hence the reason that when God’s judgment fell, they reaped shame, hardship, death, stagnancy, sterility, suffering and captivity.

Galatians 6:7-8 states:

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.“

In Hosea 8:1-8, God stated of his people the children of Israel through his Prophet:

“Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.”

Fifthly, remember that you are not immovable and that your good fortune which God has allowed you to have in his mercy, is not irreversible.

Every good thing that you have now, he can strip you of tomorrow, whether it be job, finances, a boyfriend, spouse, home, children, good looks, health, friends or anything else. This is why it is so important not to put your confidence in any of these things. Job placed his confidence in God, so when the Lord removed the good things he had blessed him with like all of his children who he allowed to be killed on the same day, all of his riches, all of the respect of those around him and even his own good health, Job still trusted in God, although he could not understand why God had done what he had done and God eventually honoured him by giving him more than what he had had before.

The Israelites including the people of Judah, apparently believed that they were too great, too strong and had come too far, to ever be brought down. They believed that they would never again be in bondage in any land, like they had been when in Egypt so many years before and that the Promised Land would be there’s to live in forever. They assumed that the things that they had and the comfort they experienced in the land of promise would never be taken away from them but they were wrong. They had a rude awakening, as the same God that gave them all the good things that they had acquired was the same God that took them away. Similarly to how Adam and Eve were removed from the garden of Eden when they sinned against God, God removed his people from the very land he had caused them to inherit and placed them in far away lands in Assyria and Babylon, without rights, as captives.

Sixthly, remember that God is no respecter of any person.

What this means is that he is not afraid to take whatever action he deems fit in your life, no matter who you are or how great or special you think you are. He does not esteem you in importance over and above other people but regards you equally. If he needs to intervene in your life, he will. If you are deserving of punishment or chastening is warranted and he deems these fit, he will mete it out to you and not hold back. If he desires to bring you down, no matter how high you have reached in society, he will.

Romans 2:11 tells us “For there is no respect of persons with God.” In Acts 10:34-35, Peter also stated “…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Colossians 3:25 further warns us of God’s righteous hand of judgment on all men, irrespective of who they are or how high they have reached in life or who regards them on earth. It states “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

Seventhly, remember that pride goeth before a fall and whoever exalts himself, God is able to abase.

It is no secret that God hates pride. He tells us in his Word that we ought not to think too highly of ourselves but should pattern our lives according to the example of Jesus Christ, who displayed humility perfectly. Romans 12:3 states:

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

In Philippians 2:3-11, it tells us:

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Eighthly, remember that God expects you to serve and obey him, always.

He is the one that created you and the one that gives you breath from day to day. You are his and do not belong to yourself. It is therefore your duty to serve him as Lord and to do the things that please and bring glory to him, not yourself.

Acts 17:28 states, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” In Micah 6:8, the Prophet declared, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Ninthly, remember that you are not captain of your own ship. You are not in control and never will be. God is and always will be.

His role is therefore to lead as Lord and yours is to submit to his will and to his way. If you seek to assert control and to do your own thing and to live your life how you want to live it and as you deem fit, you are bound to run in to problems.

Tenthly and finally, remember that obedience always brings favour and blessings but disobedience and rebellion, shame and curses.

God warned his people from the onset before they had even stepped foot in the Promised Land, through Moses his servant, as to what they could expect if they disobeyed him. He made it abundantly clear that obedience would bring blessings but disobedience and rebellion, curses. They knew it but in their prosperity, when they got into the land that God put them in, in time, they forgot this basic truth. In time, they deluded themselves into thinking that they could live as they pleased, they did not have to listen to God or to his servants the Prophets but could be lord over their own lives. As a result, the curses of which the Lord spoke, fell on them.

In a lengthy chapter, Moses told the people in Deuteronomy 28:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:And all these BLESSINGS shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these CURSES shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee…

The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them…Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee…

If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord Thy God;Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.

And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life..And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”

(Written on 6th June, 2026)

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