"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me." --- Deuteronomy 28:15-20
Roland in his comment on the post just below this one mentioned one reason why God should not bring judgment and that is love.
God's love is far beyond our limited minds to comprehend. Heavy is the emphasis on His love and mercy throughout the Scriptures. Perhaps that is one reason why things have gotten badly out of balance over time -- the focus has been totally on and emphasis given to God's "love" to the point in some cases of denying the reality of Hell as a place of everlasting torment.
Perhaps you have heard it in one form or another -- "God is a God of love and He would never send anyone to Hell!" Plus a heresy which is also a back door approach to denying the existence of Hell -- we're all going to end up in Heaven which is commonly known as universalism.
Truth demands that we look at this thing in the light of a coin with its "head" side and its "tail" side. God is a God of love beyond doubt and we are at that time of year when Christians review again the proof of His love in the giving of His Son, Jesus, for the sins of the entire human race -- His death on the cross was the perfect sacrifice for every sin you and I have ever committed in our lifetimes! And so mercy and forgiveness are offered on the condition of repentance and faith placed in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
But, God is also a God of judgment and wrath, and this too is clearly spelled out in the Scriptures, beginning with the "biggie" -- the flood at the time of Noah! What isn't realized is that mercy was offered for about 120 years before that devastating judgment took place. It is noted in 2 Peter that Noah, in addition to constructing the ark, was also a "preacher of righteousness." Except for his immediate family, no one else listened.
God's methods in dealing with cultures of people are mainly two -- when His Word is not heeded, He begins a series of chastising actions which may extend over quite a period of time. This is suggested in some of the Old Testament prophets. As long as there is chastising, there is hope for revival, healing and reconciliation. You see mention of God's efforts in this matter in the book of Amos.
However, if the chastising doesn't produce the desired results, then God's agenda changes and judgment is initiated. That means all hope is gone -- nothing but devastation and destruction will result -- God will not respond to the prayers that are uttered at such a time. Before you jump on that with "God always answers prayer!" thing, check Jeremiah 7, 11, and 14 for statements in which God explicitly says not to pray because He will not hear! Note again in the post before this one regarding the reference to 2 Chronicles 36 and the statement "till there was no more remedy!" That meant in no uncertain terms that they had crossed over the line -- no more chastising actions which offered hope of forgiveness and reconciliation with God -- now it was total destruction and NO HOPE!
I urge everyone who reads this to spend a lot of time with Jeremiah and Ezekiel (who was a contemporary of Jeremiah, but among the earlier captives) and see what was pointed out by way of spiritual, moral and ethical shortcomings. You will be amazed at how up to date these two are! But it's also a bit discomforting as well -- it might cause us to conclude as King Josiah did when words were read to him out of a long neglected dusty scroll -- "We're in a heap of trouble with God!" (that's a paraphrase, but that's precisely what he meant!).
"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country...... --- Deuteronomy 28:1-3
2 comments:
Maverick, check out Church of the Open Door
Look at the sermon from 2 weeks ago. Focus in on the part @ 24 minutes and about 30 seconds and listen for 2 minutes.
Yeah, I go to a church that preaches love. Unashamed love. And we haven't quite reached that point you are talking about. But I will admit, it does seem to be getting closer.
Eventually God will say 'Enough'. God will say it. We just need to warn about it. You do that part well. :)
Good post.
Yea, will check your church and the message to which you refer. Basic message for each Christian should be a sharing of God's love made real to us in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Certainly these are times also which call for God to raise up some prophets who will come out of obscure places as did John the Baptist (who did no miracles as such, but had a God-anointed message and who was filled with the Holy Spirit from time of birth) or an Elijah as well as a host of others.
And, brother, we've got to hang together in times such as these, or as a friend often said to me, "If we don't, they'll hang us separately!"
God's best to you and family each day as our Lord tarries in His return to this sin ravaged planet.
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