All Humans Are Helpless

By Emmanuel Oghenebrorhie

The term Managing Your Measure Maximally means optimizing
your personalized measure of joy and sadness, surplus and scarcity,
prosperity and peasantness or peasantry, etc., as long as you live. All
humans have their high and low seasons, best and worst seasons, good
and bad seasons. Ecclesiastes 3 attests to these but how we manage
such season matters. How we manage our lives maximally amidst the
realization that you are inevitably vulnerable is the real issue here. God
Almighty has the fi nal defi nition of what is good and bad, acceptable and
unacceptable at any point in time. Therefore, cleaving to and looking up
to Him always, is one of the best things to do in life. If parents can hurt,
strength can fail the strong, wealth can fail the rich, and wisdom would
not immune from vulnerability and attendant misfortune, then, there is no
better wisdom than depending on God who is not subject to the law of
inevitable vulnerability.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Mar 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469183015

Emmanuel Oghenebrorhie

Rev Emmanuel Oghenebrorhie can be described as a Paper-pulpit Pastor and Bible Preacher by publication. He is divinely ordained to teach, preach and publish the Gospel of Christ Jesus and has been teaching and preaching since 1994. He began to publish in 2004 and presides over Emmanuel Oghenebrorhie Ministries, that encompasses several arms. He operates Christ Redemption Publications, based in Ibadan, Nigeria. He has been published by other publishers overseas. He makes the working word of God relevant to daily living, to prepare the saints for heaven. He hosts a monthly Bible Seminar every second Sunday at his Nigerian base, Ibadan. His audiences often comment that he gives a realistic interpretation to the word of God in a way they never heard or read previously and that he directs the word of God to where it matters in a man’s life when it matters most. He can be reached on [e-mail] or [e-mail] or 234-7037825522 or 234-8182022262 or 07055989850

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Copyright © 2012 by Emmanuel Oghenebrorhie.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4691-8300-8

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4691-8301-5

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Unless otherwise indicated, scriptures are from the Today’s English Version (TEV), New King James Version (NKJV), New Century Version (NCV) (THE MESSAGE), The New English Translation Bible (The NET Bible), The Living Bible (TLB), Amplified Bible (AMP), Contemporary English Version (CEV), New International Version (NIV), New Living Translation (NLT), King James Version (KJV), GOD’S WORD (GWB), New American Standard Updated (NASU) and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Desperation Factor

God’s Planned Purpose

Relative Nature

The Strong’s Predicament

Repulsive Vulnerability

Vocational

The All-inclusive

Vices’ viciousness

Vulnerable Victors and Winners

Victors/Winners Victimization

God authored vulnerability

God’s Purpose for authoring vulnerability

God’s Solution to Vulnerability or Voiding Vulnerability

Other Published Titles by the Author

Dedication

The meek and weak of the earth

Appreciation

All glory to God that this is available for others to read. Lord, a thousand tongues are not enough to express my gratitude for this unique opportunity to be a blessing to my generation and future generations. Surely, everything in this call and commission is your doing and it is marvellous in my eyes.

Doris Okocha’s editorial support is highly appreciated. May God swell your heavenly accounts richly, in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Introduction

There is this song I enjoy greatly that says, That they may know that you are God, Oh Lord arise. The prayer in it is so that those who are watching the events of my life unfold would acknowledge that you are the only hope I have, Lord arise and spring a surprise and of course, partly silence my mockers, critics and detractors, like the conception and birth of Samuel stopped Peninnah from mocking Hannah. We can adapt from the wordings of that song to say, Because I know that only You are God, Oh Lord, I bow in reverence. Also, Because I know that You alone are strong, Oh Lord, I bow in reverence. Therefore, since You alone are truly strong, I understand that I am not stronger than my subordinates, therefore, I should treat them equally.

Someone got angry and told his victim, I am not your mate and I can do whatever I like to you without any repercussion. I will deal with you when we resume work on Monday. The horrible outcome however, was that he died in his sleep at the wee hours of the same Monday which was just twenty-four hours after his threat to deal with his subordinate at a ceremony on Saturday evening. Post-mortem tests revealed he died of a heart attack. The threats terminated with his death. He was boasting with his authority whereas, he was vulnerable to death through his heart disease. His threatened subordinate was not vulnerable to heart disease. Meanwhile, the subordinate could not boast because he was likely to be vulnerable to another disease. If we are wise, we will not boast that we are better than any other person because we all have our vulnerable points. God did not intend that we boast about anything. Prompted by God’s Spirit, II Corinthians 10-12 says the great Apostle Paul says it is foolish to boast (II Corinthians 11:16-33).

There are those we can readily classify as the visibly vulnerable, the invisibly vulnerable, the least vulnerable, and the most vulnerable of society. It is easy to believe that the poor are vulnerable to manipulation because of their desperation for survival. It is presumed that most people who are used for suicide missions are easily amenable to their hirers because of the promise of glory and comparatively huge sums of money in their local currency for their surviving family members. Recently, I was discussing with a beloved brother concerning the plight of the electoral populace in his country. He believed that the head of the national electoral body would not allow politicians to influence him to manipulate the elections in their favour. And his reason was that this man had been among those in the forefront of the struggle for justice and fair-play in the nation. Then, after hearing him out, I told him that his past credentials were not enough reason to say he could not be vulnerable to manipulations. If he had spent the last 25 or more years of his life fighting injustice, what is the assurance that he would continue in the midst of huge sums of money that had been approved for him to spend to conduct presumably credible elections? What is the assurance that he did not compromise at the point of taking the job? Supposing he chose to rethink his anti-injustice stance after he had gotten this stupendous money-laden position so that he would not remain poor after this assignment. Supposing, (and there are several of such suppositions if we want to be ridiculous) he could not resist the temptation to get rich in order to enjoy the rest of his life? Obviously, rulers offer sumptuous positions to consistent critics to conscript their conscience and constrain them from antagonizing their reign and regime. There was nothing to suggest that Joseph could exploit the desperately needy to please his boss until he was made the Prime Minister of Egypt and the seven years of famine immediately following the seven years of bumper harvest peaked. Valiant Samson was trapped with Delilah by his enemies. There is no strong man that does not have his vulnerable point and times or seasons. The poor could steal just as the rich could steal, depending on the amount involved and the circumstances. Someone told me that his former pastor used to reiterate that some of the thieves who claim to have repented and turned a new leaf and lease of life, cannot convince him until such persons are pressed for a need and they see what they could steal to meet that need but they do not, before he could believe that they have repented indeed. It is one thing to make claims and another to remain committed to it. We are all vulnerable to evil, just as we are all vulnerable to sickness and disease. We are all vulnerable to lying and cheating, as circumstances may dictate. As long as all humans have their strong and weak points, and there is no one without a weak point, so we are all inevitably vulnerable, though the degree might differ, depending on the circumstance. We are vulnerable to mistakes, hence we all say or agree that to err is human, though the degree differs. We are all prone to anger, pride and prejudices. We are all prone to resentment for whatever reason(s). Bitterness is common to all humans at one point or the other. Jacob fathered 12 sons and a daughter, yet, he preferred Joseph the eleventh son to all the others. Leah and Rachel were both rivals and siblings but Jacob preferred Rachel to Leah and never hid his disdain for Leah from the point he met them until he died nearly seventy-six years later. Leah was not as beautiful or attractive as Rachel but she bore him six sons and a daughter while Rachel bore him only two sons, and in fact, died bearing the second son Benjamin. Leah outlived her. Unattractive looks was Leah’s weakness or vulnerable point while child bearing fruitfulness was her strong point, meanwhile, the reverse was the case for Rachel. Some are brilliant and gifted but intolerably badly behaved; meanwhile, the reverse is the case for some others.

Chapter 1

Desperation Factor

Desperation goes a long way to determine uprightness. I would say that All humans are liable to dangerous desperation or All Humans are Dangerously Desperate which means that all humans are dangerous when desperate and that Desperation Differentiates. This means that when people are desperate, they become inevitably dangerous—desperation demonizes all humans. II Samuel 11 confirms that when presumed delightful David was desperate to protect his image from the fact that he committed adultery with the wife of one of his finest officers, Uriah the Hittite, he arranged his death when other means of using him to cover up did not yield the desired result. I Samuel 27 says when David was desperate to have sustenance for himself, his wives, officers and their families, he killed and maimed for them to have something to live on. Yet, I Chronicles 14:1-2 and 18:14 confirm that when he had become king, he ensured that his subjects were treated fairly. This was the same David whom II Samuel 18-24 and 26 confirm defied human logic to forgive Saul who threatened his life earlier. II Samuel 1-4 says he abhorred the shedding of blood to enable him become king according to God’s planned purpose. Deuteronomy 28:53-57, II Kings 6:24-33 and Isaiah 49:15 say—

53   "When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54-55 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56-57 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children.

24   Some time later King Benhadad of Syria led his entire army against Israel and laid siege to the city of Samaria. 25 As a result of the siege the food shortage in the city was so severe that a donkey’s head cost eighty pieces of silver, and half a pound of dove’s dung cost five pieces of silver. 26 The king of Israel was walking by on the city wall when a woman cried out, Help me, Your Majesty! 27 He replied, If the Lord won’t help you, what help can I provide? Do I have any wheat or wine? 28 What’s your trouble? She answered, The other day this woman here suggested that we eat my child, and then eat her child the next day. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him! 30 Hearing this, the king tore his clothes in dismay, and the people who were close to the wall could see that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 31 He exclaimed, May God strike me dead if Elisha is not beheaded before the day is over! 32 And he sent a messenger to get Elisha. Meanwhile Elisha was at home with some elders who were visiting him. Before the king’s messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, That murderer is sending someone to kill me! Now, when he gets here, shut the door and don’t let him come in. The king himself will be right behind him. 33 He had hardly finished saying this, when the king arrived and said, It’s the Lord who has brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for him to do something?

15   So the Lord answers, "Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you. (TEV)

God indicates that only He cannot become so desperate as to forget to help man. But all humans could. Ordinarily, a woman is so covetous, possessive and protective of her son or child that she could not forget her son. However, God acknowledges that there are instances when a woman would become so desperate that she would throw away her child and beloved husband in order to survive personally. This is a proof that there is a desperation point when throwing away our most precious possession becomes inevitable. The women in the time of King Ahab proved it. Their mothers never killed them as children because there arose no such desperate moment, but when they faced such a crisis, she gave her son for food. Even the king agreed that he could not help the woman and opted to vent his anger on Prophet Elisha. When some claim that they can never do certain things, they have to prove it in the face of crisis. A preacher was quoted as saying that he does not believe anyone has repented until such an individual is confronted by the same vice or sin until he restrains himself from committing it again in the face of a temptation. He meant that until a chain smoker who claims to have hacked down the habit from his life stays in the midst of smokers and does not join them to smoke, would he believe that truly the chain-smoker has quit smoking. Desperation determines the degree of determination. Tension tests commitment to claims. That is why many fall away from keeping their resolutions, including New Year resolutions.

Chapter 2

God’s Planned Purpose

We are all vulnerable to God’s will and planned purpose. After God chose Joseph to be greater than his siblings, there was not much that his siblings could do to change it. They got angry with the arrangement, but their efforts to reverse it failed. God never meant Saul’s tribe to provide royal leadership, therefore he could not keep the throne which God gave him without him asking for it. Apparently, because God meant David’s tribe to rule Israel, he had the grace to do what pleased God consequent upon which God agreed that he and his descendants should keep the throne forever. Because God had preferred Jacob to Esau, even before they were born, it became imperative for Esau to make the mistake which led to his losing his birthright to Jacob and he is still blamed for so doing. There is a spiritual force which accompanies God’s decision and declaration to fulfil it. It is for this reason that Isaiah 55:10-11, Luke 7:1-10 and John 6:60-65 say—

10   "My word is like the snow and the rain that come down from the sky to water the earth. They make the crops grow and provide seed for planting and food to eat. 11 So also will be the word that I speak—it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do.

1   When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. 2 A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. 4 They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, This man really deserves your help. 5 He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us. 6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, Sir, don’t trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, 7 neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 8 I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it. 9 Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel! 10 The messengers went back to the officer’s house and found his servant well.

60   Many of his followers heard this and said, This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it? 61 Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, Does this make you want to give up? 62 Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? 63 What gives life is God’s Spirit; man’s power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God’s life-giving Spirit. 64 Yet some of you do not believe. (Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) 65 And he added, This is the very reason I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for him to do so. (TEV)

There is a spiritual force which accompanies God’s word to establish it. Once God has spoken, the spiritual forces goes to wherever that word concerns to ensure that everything and everyone concerned cooperates to establish the word appropriately. The Roman officer understood this principle, that there is a chain of command which implements Jesus’ words and He needed not come over to his home before his beloved servant could be made whole. Once God had determined that Moses would lead the freedom of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, even when he had to escape to Midian for forty years, God did not use another person. He waited until He thought it fit for Moses to return before He used him to free them. Once He had decided that David would rule after Saul, nothing could stop it. Much as He made Abner influential, He did not allow Abner to resist this plan for more than seven and half years. He allowed Abner to die for so doing. We can go on and on.

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15, 6:1-2 and 10-12, 7:13-14 and 9:1 and 11-12 and Jeremiah 10:23 say—

14   I know that everything God does will last forever. You can’t add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him. 15 Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again.

1   I have noticed that in this world a serious injustice is done. 2 God will give someone wealth, honor, and property, yes, everything he wants, but then will not let him enjoy it. Some stranger will enjoy it instead. It is useless, and it just isn’t right.

10   Everything that happens was already determined long ago, and we all know that a man cannot argue with someone who is stronger than he. 11 The longer you argue, the more useless it is, and you are no better off. 12 How can anyone know what is best for a man in this short, useless life of his—a life that passes like a shadow? How can anyone know what will happen in the world after he dies?

13   Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? 14 When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.

1   I thought long and hard about all this and saw that God controls the actions of wise and righteous men, even their love and their hate. No one knows anything about what lies ahead of him.

11   I realized another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the races, and the brave do not always win the battles. Wise men do not always earn a living, intelligent men do not always get rich, and capable men do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone. 12 You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it. (TEV)

23   Lord, I know that no one is the master of his own destiny; no person has control over his own life. (TEV)

23   I know, Lord, that we humans are not in control of our own lives. (CEV)

23   I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, that men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life. (THE MESSAGE)

What else can we add to the above? Eventually, God determines what happens to all humans. If our plans succeed, it is because God approved, otherwise, our efforts would be wasted. Consider the truth mentioned above, that God could help someone to get all his heart’s desire, only to pass it on to whoever God likes that never worked for it. God can do no wrong but it is painful that such a thing could happen. And to avoid such labouring in vain experience, Proverbs 16:1, 3 and 9 says—

1   We may make our plans, but God has the last word. 3 Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out. 9 You may make your plans, but God directs your actions. (TEV)

If God directs your actions, you would end up doing His will and purpose rather than achieving your own plans, hence the counsel to confirm His will and preferred pursuits for you while making your plans so that He would help you to realize your goals. The best thing is to plan and work towards His aims and objectives through you. He knows how to manipulate you to achieve His aims and objectives. He made Joseph’s older siblings to send him to Egypt where they eventually went to submit to Joseph according to God’s plan for them which they abhorred twenty-two years later. It was to prevent it that they believed they sold Joseph to Egypt as a slave.

The claim that we cannot run our lives successfully and take charge of our lives conveniently consistently did not make an exception. Therefore, it includes the rich and the poor, great and small, influential and inconsequential. Man can plan but cannot prevent everything he or she abhors always or get everything he or she desires all the time. Wealth and any form of power possession cannot prevent aging and the associated challenges and vulnerability. Nothing can prevent the day of death. If anointing could prevent death, Jesus would not have died. Not even accomplishing God’s purpose can prevent death, otherwise, Jesus, John the Baptist, Apostle Paul, King Josiah of Judah and the great King David would not have died. As anointed as Prophet Elisha was famous for getting a double portion of the anointing of his master, Prophet Elijah, he still died. He was so anointed that his dry bones in the grave restored a dead man to life, yet, he died of illness. When it is time for God’s planned purpose to happen, man is most helpless and vulnerable.

Despite that the priest Abiathar used the ephod to find out God’s will to guide David, he failed to use it to confirm whom God had decided would succeed David. So he wrongly supported Adonijah’s candidature against God’s will. And when Solomon had become king according to God’s will and purpose, Solomon disgracefully dismissed him from serving as priest and curiously, I Kings 2:26-27 says that it was meant to fulfil the latter part of God’s punishment against Eli and his descendants for the misdeeds of his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, which he condoned to God’s disgust. This meant that despite the fact that he was using the ephod to guide David, God had decided that he would not remember to use it to confirm who should succeed David so that he would make the mistake that would compel Solomon to punish him as a descendant of Eli. This means that even the man that God is using to help others could still be vulnerable. It is a case of when the one helping others needs help personally; when the strong needs support or when the rich needs gifts. There is no one that does not have a need.

II Kings 4 tells the story of two households with a striking contrast but more importantly, they both needed the Prophet Elisha’s help in different ways. While the prophet’s widow was going to lose her sons because of poverty, the rich woman needed a son to inherit her. Just as the poor are easily manipulated by the rich, so also, the rich are easily manipulated by their spiritual guides and marabous. And then, all humans are inevitably vulnerable to God’s manipulation. I Kings 17:8-17 confirms He manipulated the heart of the widow of Zarephath to provide for Prophet Elijah. He had told Abraham about the sojourn, suffering and freedom of his covenant descendants four hundred years before it happened. Everything about Jesus attests to this fact because His life and activities on earth had been foretold long before He lived in the flesh. God ensured that everything happened as He had said. The fact that Jesus and Daniel spoke about the things that would happen towards the end of the age also confirms that God manipulates events to achieve His purpose. Furthermore, II Chronicles 36:17-23, Ezra 1:1-8 and Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1-13 say—

17   So the LORD brought the king of Babylonia to attack them. The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him. 18 The king of Babylonia looted the Temple, the Temple treasury, and the wealth of the king and his officials, and took everything back to Babylon. 19 He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. 20 He took all the survivors to Babylonia, where they served him and his descendants as slaves until the rise of the Persian Empire. 21 And so what the LORD had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed. 22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the LORD made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 23 This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The LORD, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God’s people, go there, and may the LORD your God be with you.

1   In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the LORD made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire: 2 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The LORD, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in