“…then all the nations will ask, ‘Why did Adonai do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?’ People will answer, ‘It’s because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”-Deuteronomy 29:24-25
Verses 24-25 of Deuteronomy 29 tell us that after the Lord has kicked His People out of Canaan and devastated the land, foreigners, when they travel to Israel and see all of this destruction will be utterly amazed and mystified.
They will say to themselves what in the world caused Israel’s God to do this to His own people?!
The amazement of the foreigners who visit a destroyed Israel will be a powerful testimony to two things.
FIRST, it will be a testimony that the God of Israel was known as a very powerful god
SECOND, it will be a testimony to just how overwhelmingly fruitful and blessed the land of Canaan actually was.
The foreigners will be scratching their heads in wonder and asking themselves…
…”What is the meaning of such furious anger by Israel’s God?”...
…or…
“What could Israel have possibly done to cause such wrath and curses to fall upon their heads?”
What’s interesting is that not only Israel’s neighbors but the direct descendants of the Israelites themselves will be scratching their heads in amazement.
Well, here’s the thing.
The nature of rebellion is such that it’s not a one time super dramatic event that instantly results in the judgement of God.
No…it’s much more subtle than that.
It’s something that creeps up on you slowly but surely.
In fact, real rebellion is so under the radar that it almost feels and appears perfectly normal.
And that’s why it’s so deadly…because it can go unrecognized and even disguises itself as being something pious…usually an activity that is politically correct of which the majority of people are in agreement.
It starts off small but the compounding effect can be deadly.
Think about the holocaust in WWII.
It didn’t start off on day one by rounding up a huge population of Jews and then slaughtering them.
No…it started with one little speech that was maybe laced with one or two anti-Semitic remarks engineered to brainwash the Germans into believing the Jewish people are a menace and the cause of all their economic ills.
As a result, maybe a few months later, one or two anti-Semitic laws are established.
Finally, before you know it thousands of innocent Jews are being imprisoned, tortured and then mercilessly killed.
Even the Christian church was involved this (this is historical fact folks).
Heck, Hitler worked in collaboration with the Church to hunt down and persecute the Jews.
The same principle applies to sin in our daily lives.
For example, while surfing the internet, you say to yourself, I’m just gonna take one quick glance at this porno site and then I’ll get back to work.
Yeah, right.
Before you know it, your so-called “one glance” has turned into a three hour binge of wasted time in front of a computer screen.
The same goes for the alcoholic who tells himself I’m just gonna have one drink at the bar before going home to his wife and kids.
Well, that one drink turns out to be 12 drinks and the poor undisciplined soul finds himself lying in the gutter outside the next morning.
Another perfect example is to take a good look at a large portion of the gentile church today (and liberal Judaism as well to be fair).
In an attempt to be seen as more favorable in the world’s eyes, they have promoted abortion (aka the murder of babies), legitimized homosexual marriage and side with the Palestines when it comes to the land of Israel.
Again, all of these anti-Scriptural abominations didn’t happen overnight.
It started with small habits, customs and actions the church took in order to win approval from and get closer to the world.
Nothing has changed since ancient times.
And nothing will change until Messiah returns.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
You adulterous people,
don’t you know that friendship with the world
means enmity against God?
Therefore, anyone who chooses
to be a friend of the world becomes
an enemy of God.
-James 4:4
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