Joab's Fire Chapter 12 Discussion Question 2

In this chapter, Dixon comes into the restaurant where the crowd is discussing the latest news: the fire on the Black's property. While Mrs. Clumpit chides them, Abbadon jumps in with his perspective of humanity.

Abbadon tills the ground to lay the seeds of doubt and questioning in the minds of the townspeople.

Q. 2 How did the patrons of Mrs. Clumpit's restaurant respond to Abbadon? The people begin to voice the thoughts they already had.

Dixon then goes to the Richards boarding house across the street. He attempts to find out the movements of Abbadon from Mrs. Richard. How did Mrs. Richard respond to Abbadon? She acts like a silly woman, all but in love with the man. She was "twitter pated".

Let's turn to II Corinthians 11:12-15.

We will look at two issues with respect to our response to the suffering of our neighbors.

1. Who we listen to and what we hear;
2. What we do.

In this passage Paul commends himself to the church of Corinth.

v. 12 "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we."

Abbadon found occasion to defame Joab. How did he do this? By raising questions about Joab's integrity.

Often people who stir up people against another begin by raising questions about the person's integrity. The Pharisees tried to trip Jesus up with questions they thought for sure would cause Him to stumble. When they couldn't succeed, they outright lied about him.

v. 13 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."

Abbadon is a deceitful worker.

Let me take you to another man in the Bible that Jesus rebuked. In Mark 8, Jesus asks the disciples who they think He is. How does Peter answer? "Thou art the Christ."

Now Peter had some perceptions of who Christ is. I imagine Peter at this time thought like many of the Jews: Christ had come now to establish a kingdom and rule in a manner we see human rulers rule. It was a case of not understanding the Scripture with respect to God's timing. In Mark 8:31 we see Christ correcting this, telling them of what will happen to Him.

Peter takes Jesus and rebukes Him. Can you imagine rebuking God? Yet, Peter had a perception, and what Jesus was saying didn't match that perception.

Note Jesus response in v. 33.

"But when he turned about and looked on his disciples..."

Did you ever wonder what Jesus was thinking at that moment. He loved those disciples. He knew what was about to happen--a most horrible thing that would bring them all down, shatter their beliefs, shatter their lives. I think He was concerned about what they just heard and what they were thinking.

Peter needed to be rebuked.

1. because he exalted himself above Christ.
   
2. because he was speaking what he didn't understand.

By exalting himself above Christ, Peter acted as Satan, who exalted himself above God. Jesus said, "Get thee behind me Satan," the very words He spoke in Luke 4:8 to Satan during His temptation.

Sometimes we say things that are good and right, then turnaround and say things that are wrong, just like Peter.

How can others know whether what we say is right or wrong?

• Ask more questions
• Go to the source
• Compare what they say with Scripture
• Examine their relationship with the person
  

Sometimes we can't determine. Sometimes we don't know why things happen or why someone is saying what they are saying. What then?

• I Corinthians 13:5 says that love "thinketh no evil."
• I Corinthians 13:6 tells us that love "rejoiceth in truth." Sometimes the truth isn't nice. However, difficult truth can be kinder than lies. Truth leads to confession and repentance and ultimately to establishing or returning to a right relationship with God.
  

We need to be careful not to judge others when we don't have all the information. To be quite frank, we rarely, if ever, have all the information. More often than not, we have distorted information, one-sided information, and downright lies. We've all seen the sitcoms where the show reflects the two different perspectives of the characters and how very different they are.

When Lazarus died, Jesus wept. I believe to some extent He entered into the sorrow of those who mourned.

Romans 12:15

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

Part of brotherly love and not judging is to enter into the sorrow or the joy of the party in question. Does this mean that we allow ourselves to be fooled? No. An expression of a false emotion is usually a cover up for a real emotion and the truth behind the story.

For example, have you ever been with someone who was startled then lashes out in anger? Is anger the true emotion? No. Fear is. They are hiding their fear behind the anger.

We are not God and therefore cannot know the mind of another person, but God has given us the power of observation and an imagination. Use those for good.

So, what should we do when we see another suffer?

• listen
• have compassion - put yourself in that person's place
• pray and ask God what you can do to help
• Ask the person how you might help - don't fail to do good when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27 "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."
  

Sometimes we can't do something to help another, but we can always pray. We can always keep up with them, asking them about their situation - perhaps via email, Facebook, telephone call. Then, perhaps the time will come when you can help. Be ready to do it.