Introduction
In the
previous seven Bible studies in this series on the book of Amos, we learned
about the history of Israel and their surrounding nations at the time Amos' prophecies were pronounced against Damascus,
Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. While studying these passages of the book of
Amos we learned the prophet spoke to the Israelites, not the judged nations. God
used Amos to speak to Israel about the surrounding nations for a reason-to lead
them to see their sin and return to a right relationship with Him before He
judged them, too.
As Amos
prophesied against the nations around Israel, he created a net that drew closer
to Israel trying to draw their attention to their sins. He began with a
prophecy of God’s judgment against Damascus and all of Aram. They continually beleaguered
Israel with assaults on their land and people. A plaque under Philistia’s name on
a wall of shame would say “persecutor”.
Amos
then prophesied about Gaza and all Philistia. They persistently raided the
Promised Land to take land, people, and possessions. Philistia harassed the
Israelites. The plaque under Philistia’s name on the wall of shame would say
“harasser”.
Following
Gaza, Amos prophesied against Tyre and all Phoenicia. They broke their covenant
of brotherhood with Israel. The Phoenicians were two-faced and worked with Philistia
to kidnap and sell the people of Israel as slaves with the help of Edom as
intermediaries. The plaque under Phoenicia’s name on the wall of shame would
say “back-stabber”.
After
weaving the net on the northern, western, and southwestern borders of Israel,
Amos began weaving the net together on the eastern side of Israel. He
prophesied against Edom after Tyre. Edom kept and fed its anger against Jacob
and his descendants for over a thousand years. They chose to retell the story
of Esau not receiving his birthright and blessing as the firstborn son of
Isaac. Edom took every opportunity they got to attack and not help the
Israelites. Under Edom’s name on the wall of shame a plaque would say “angry”.
Next
Amos wove the net to Ammon. The people of Ammon were blood relatives of Israel
through Abraham’s nephew, Lot. The Ammonites were discontent. They were not
happy with the land God gave them and their brother nation, Moab. Ammon experienced
displeasure with Israel after they defeated King Sihon of the Amorites. Sihon
stole their land and the Israelites did not return it to Ammon when they defeated
him. They wanted more than God gave them from the basin below the Dead Sea to
the Arnon River. The plaque that would go on the wall of shame under Ammon’s
name would say “greedy” or “discontent”.
The last
prophecy of Amos we studied was against Moab. Moabites came from the line of
Lot. Moab was the big brother to Ben-ammi. The people of Moab showed disrespect
toward the leaders of God’s people and toward God. King Mesha burned the bones
of a king of Edom. He sacrificed his son by fire to his god, Chemosh. Mesha did
not consider life sacred and did anything to keep the gods from being angry. He
disrespected people from the line of Abraham and people, in general. The plaque
on the wall of shame under Moab’s name would say “disrespect”.
So far,
we understand Amos prophesied against these nations showing they were
persecutors, harassers, back-stabbers, angry, greedy or discontent, and dis-respecters
of people and God. Notice the first three nations’ crimes are against humans.
The last three crimes are against humans and God. God, too, would judge each
nation for worshiping false gods.
With
Amos’ prophecy of judgment against Judah, he spoke for the first time about a
crime concerning their relationship with the LORD. Through this prophecy, Amos
wove his net much closer to his hearers, the people of the northern kingdom of
Israel. Surely by this point they would have recognized God’s charges against
the other nations were indictments against them for their own sin, too.
Today’s
Bible study will help us learn the charge the LORD laid against Judah. We will understand
the history behind the charge. We will study the LORD’s judgment against Judah
and His fulfilling that judgment. Finally, we will understand what God wanted
the Israelites to understand about this prophecy and what He wanted them to do.
We then will apply that lesson to our own lives. Join me in this Bible study about
Judah, the “rejecters.”
Who was Judah?
Judah originally
was the fourth son of Jacob by his first wife, Leah. The name Judah means
“praised”. Judah’s tribe was the largest of the Israelites. When this tribe
received their share of the Promised Land, they received the largest amount of
land in the southern part of Israel. Joshua gave part of Judah’s land portion
to Simeon because it was too large for the tribe of Judah to manage on their
own (Joshua 19). Judah’s tribal land wholly surrounded the land Simeon’s tribe received.
In time, Simeon and Judah’s tribes melded as one. Some of Simeon’s tribe moved
to Israel, and some stayed in Judah. To the north of Judah’s tribal land laid
Benjamin’s land. These tribal lands made up the southern kingdom of Judah about
whom Amos prophesied in this prophecy.
The Charge against
Judah
In the
six earlier prophecies against the other nations, God charged the nations with
crimes against people. The charge against Judah is different. Their sin is
against their LORD, the God who rescued them from Egypt, called them His
people, made them into a nation, and gave them a land. God did not pronounce a
charge against the others nations stating they worshiped other gods and
rebelled against Him. With Judah, because they were God’s people, His children,
their chief crime was their actions against God and His Law. The other nations
did not know the LORD as their God and He did not give them His Law by which to
live. Yahweh wanted the Israelites, in their faithfulness to Him, to be the
beacon of light that led people of other nations to seek and follow Him. Because
the Israelites were God’s people and received His Law, any part of the Law they
broke was sin against God.
With
this understanding, of what did God charge the people of Judah? In Amos 2:4,
Amos prophesied,
“Thus
says the LORD, ‘For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not
revoke its punishment because they rejected the law of the LORD and have not
kept His statutes; their lies have led them astray, those after which their
fathers walked.’” [NASB]
As we
have studied in the previous six prophecies by Amos, Judah had measured sin
upon sin and their sin was complete. They had a full measure of their sin and
God, as loving and righteous Father, had to charge and judge them for it. His
punishment was due and right. Amos said God would not revoke it; He would not
put it aside. In God’s mercy and grace, He pardoned them repeatedly, but Judah
continued to sin. The LORD stated Judah rejected His law and did not keep His
statutes. From understanding the Hebrew words, we learn the word “rejected”
means to despise and refuse, to cast off as not pertinent to one's self. The
Judahites considered God’s law and statutes had no worth for their lives. They
disregarded and rejected them as having no purpose in their lives. God’s Law
given to the Judahites at Mount Sinai around 1350-1400 BC, to which their
ancestors bound themselves in covenant to the LORD, held no worth for them in
760-750 BC. They were irrelevant and rejected. The Judahites rejected Yahweh’s
laws and statutes as pertinent and part of their lives. They refused to keep
them that is guard, treasure, observe, and obey them. They believed the lies
saying the laws and statutes of God had no worth, relevance, or purpose in
their lives. The Judahites, like their fathers, allowed other people and their
ideas to lead them away from the LORD and their covenant with Him.
Imagine
how that must feel. If the Israelites received betrayal by Tyre for breaking
their covenant of brotherhood, how would the LORD feel when the
Israelites broke their covenant of love with Him? With the other six
prophecies, Amos spoke of the nations and drew logistically closer to Israel each
time. With each prophecy, he wanted them to understand each sin because the
people of the nations became more closely related to them in locality and by
bloodline. Tyre had a covenant of brotherhood with them. Edom, Moab, and
Ammon had a covenant based on blood relationship with the Israelites.
Now with Judah, God showed their agreement, their covenant, was closer than all
the others. It was with the God who chose, rescued, protected and provided for,
and who fulfilled His covenant of love with them. The covenant between
the Israelites and God was a covenant of the heart and soul. It did not
just affect the physical being. The Israelites could have added another plaque
to their wall of shame with Judah’s picture and a plaque under it saying
“rejecters”.
Consider
Israel’s perspective on Judah as they heard God’s charge against them. At first
they may have pointed their fingers at Judah because their king, Rehoboam,
caused the divided kingdom to occur. They may have mocked them for corrupting
their worship of the LORD by following the “ways of their fathers”–idolatry-though
they acted devout with their holy temple to God. The people of Israel may have
snubbed their noses at the people of Judah. God wanted Israel’s attention.
Maybe He got it. Maybe some of the people of the northern kingdom understood
what God said to them with this prophecy. The people of the northern kingdom
had chased after and worshiped other gods as a nation for over 200 years, since
Jeroboam I. What God charged of the people of Judah applied to them, too. This
explains why Amos prophesied to the people of Israel about Judah.
Why is
this important for us to know? Are we supposed to apply it to ourselves today?
Let’s consider this closer by thinking about these questions.
·
Do you allow your faith to guide
your daily actions, decisions, and words?
·
Do you consider the laws of the
Bible are irrelevant in a 21st century world of technology and
globalized markets?
·
Do you live as if the ends always
justify the means?
·
Have you ever taken something
from your place of employment-stationery, food, clothes, etc.?
·
Have you ever lied so you could
“save face” or get whatever it was you wanted?
·
Have you intentionally undercut
someone so you would look better on the job and get the promotion, award, or
recommendation?
Each of
these is against the laws and statutes of God. They come from greed, disrespect
of other people, and discontent, and lead to the betrayal of people who we call
friends and disrespect of God. The charge God laid against Judah is very valid
for each of us today. We live in a world of Darwinian exercise; the strong
overcome and the weak perish. Let’s look closer at the history of God’s charge
against Judah. We will see better why God charged them as He did.
The History of Judah
Remember,
as a united nation, the palace of the king of Israel stood in the city of Jerusalem
of Judah. The temple of the LORD stood in Jerusalem, too. As a nation, we do
not see the people of the southern kingdom of Judah sin against the LORD like
the people of the northern kingdom. With King Solomon’s permission to his wives
from other nations to worship their own gods, he brought in the wholesale
worship of false gods rather than Yahweh. He made it permissible for the people
of Judah to worship false gods, too (1 Kings 11:4-7). First Kings 11:4-7 says,
“For
when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his
heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his
father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians
and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his
father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable
idol of Moab on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the
detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.” [NASB]
Solomon
was the first king of all the Israelites who actively worshiped other gods and
his leadership led his people to accept it and worship them, too. That does not
mean the Israelites of either kingdom did not worship false gods before the
time of Solomon though. Consider these passages from the Old Testament.
1.
Exodus
32 – While the Israelites were in the wilderness and Moses was on Mount Sinai,
the people made golden calves and worshiped them.
2.
Numbers
25:1-3 – While the Israelites encamped at Moab before crossing the Jordan
River, they offered sacrifices to the god of Moab, Baal of Peor, and slept with
their women.
3.
Judges
2:12-13 – The Israelites worshiped idols like the surrounding nations and
forsook God.
4.
Judges
2:17-20 – The Israelites again followed other gods to serve and bow down to
them. They did not abandon their stubborn ways. The anger of the LORD burned
against them.
5.
Judges
6:25-30 – Gideon tore down the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. This shows
the people worshiped false gods.
6.
Judges
10:6 – The Israelites worshiped idols and forsook God.
7.
1
Samuel 7:3-4, 12:10 – Because the Israelites worshiped foreign gods, the LORD
allowed the Philistines to take the Ark of the Covenant.
The nations
surrounding Israel heavily influenced them to worship their gods and idols. This
is why God told them to wipe out all the people and tear down and burn their
altars, idols, and places of worship when they took the land of Canaan for
themselves.
For
Judah, the acceptance by Solomon of other gods brought acceptability of it into
the southern kingdom. He opened the door for the people who had the temple of
God in their midst to consider other gods, fear them, and offer sacrifices to
them. Solomon reigned as king from 970-931 BC. After him, nineteen kings and
one queen reigned until Judah’s exile into captivity by the Babylonians in 586
BC. Of these twenty monarchs, God considered twelve of them bad-not following
His ways and leading their people away from Him. Consider these instances as
examples of the increasing attitude of the Judahites to worship false gods.
1.
1
Kings 14:22-24 – During King Rehoboam’s reign (931-913 BC), Judah built high
places and sacred pillars to worship false gods and Asherim. They had male cult
prostitutes, too.
2.
1
Kings 15:1-8 – During Abijam’s (Abijah) reign (913-911 BC), he and the
Judahites followed other gods as his father, Rehoboam, did.
3.
1
Kings 15:9-15 – During Asa’s reign (911-870 BC), he put away the male cult
prostitutes and removed every idol his forefathers made. He removed his mother
from being Queen mother because she made images to Asherah. Asa cut down the
Asherah images and burned them, but he did not take away the high places for
worship of other gods.
4.
2
Kings 11:18 – Queen Athaliah, who reigned 841-835 BC, worshiped Baal and set up
altars and images of it.
5.
2
Kings 17:19, 2 Chronicles 28:1-4 – King Ahaz, who reigned 732-716 BC, worshiped
other gods, walked in the ways of Canaan and Israel, offered human sacrifices,
burned his sons as sacrifices in a fire to Molech, and practiced divination. He
did not listen to God’s prophets, rejected God’s statutes and covenant, and
followed vanity.
6.
Hosea
12:2 – Hosea said all the Israelites sacrificed to Baals and burned incense to
idols.
7.
Isaiah
1 – Isaiah prophesied during Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah’s reigns
(742-687 BC). He spoke God’s prophecy against all Israelites for idol worship.
8.
Micah
5:14 – Micah spoke during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
(740-687 BC). He prophesied God would root out the Asherim from among Judah and
Samaria and destroy their cities.
9.
Isaiah
28:15 – During Hezekiah’s reign, Isaiah prophesied Judah made falsehood a
refuge and concealed their selves with deception.
10. 2 Kings 21:3 – During the reign
of Manasseh (687-642 BC), the king and Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD.
They rebuilt the high places his father, Hezekiah, tore down. He erected altars
for Baals and made Asherah images and worshiped all the host of heaven.
11. 2 Kings 22:11-20, & 23:4-7,
13-14 – During the reign of King Josiah (640-608 BC), the book of the Law was
found. Josiah read the book, tore his clothes in repentance, and God promised
he would be gathered to his fathers before His judgment would come upon Judah.
Josiah destroyed all the vessels used in the worship of Baal, Asherah, and the
hosts of heaven and the high places of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom. He broke
down the pillars and cut down the Asherim.
12. Jeremiah 6:19, 8:9, 9:14,
16:11-12, 19 – During the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiakin, and
Zedekiah, who reigned from 608-586 BC, Jeremiah prophesied about Judah. He said
they did not listen to the LORD’s words and rejected His Law. They walked after
Baals as their fathers taught them and were stubborn of heart. These kings
followed, served, and bowed down to other gods. They did more evil than their
fathers.
13. Ezekiel 20:21 – During Zedekiah’s
reign, in about 590 BC, Ezekiel noted Zedekiah and the Judahites rebelled
against the LORD, did not walk in His statutes, and profaned the Sabbath.
This
list seems to show an increasing tendency of Judah toward leaving the LORD and following
the ways of their own hearts. We can see that happened though not all the
leaders and people of Judah rebelled against God. God sent prophets and other
wise men and women to recall for them who Yahweh had been for them, their
covenant with Him, and His faithfulness to them. That God-appointed servant
then challenged and called them to return to the one true God, not the ways of
the world. The people around them worshiped false gods that had no power and
only offered fear, not peace.
God
wanted Israel to hear this message. That was Amos’ purpose for speaking these
prophecies to them. God wanted them to see that He charged each of the nations
with sins they committed against Him, too. Judah, the “rejecters,” could be
their plaque, too.
Today we
see this happens even more. Many people reject God and His laws and statutes.
They consider Him imaginary and the laws irrelevant. These people feel they can
pick what they follow and no moral right or wrong-no moral compass-exists. What
would God say to that idea now? What did God say to the people of Judah then?
Let’s consider His judgment of Judah, what He would do as punishment to bring
them back to a right relationship with Him.
Consider
areas we see this happening today –
·
Our tax dollars pay for fencing
and piping on public buildings. I need money to pay my bills, so I take some of
this metal and sell it for scrap. Is that wrong?
·
People on the road all go over
the speed limit. If I don’t go with the flow, I will get hit by another car. Does
that mean it’s right to go over the speed limit?
·
Our nation has corrupt leaders.
People talk bad about our leaders and lead violent protests in communities that
rile up cities and cause unrest. Is it right to cause protests that lead to
destruction and bodily harm? Should we rather try an approach God recommends of
praying for our leaders earnestly first then seek peaceable ways to remove the
corrupt person if he or she does not change his or her ways?
Each of these
is a moral dilemma today. Some people feel whatever it takes to get rid of the
problem or not differ from everybody else is okay to do. What does God say
though? Are His ways relevant for us today? Are the negative things happening
to us now part of His judgment on us?
The Judgment of God
Amos did
not confuse the Israelites with new terms. He was succinct and went directly to
the point. He had their attention. In Amos 2:5, Amos stated God’s judgment of
Judah. He said,
“So
I will send fire upon Judah and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”
[NASB]
We need
to note a very important point in this judgment. God included His holy city of Jerusalem
in this judgment. He did not exclude them from judgment. Jerusalem was as
sinful if not more so than the rest of Judah. It was through the kings of
Judah who lived in Jerusalem that acceptance of idolatry occurred. Jerusalem
fell under God’s judgment. It goes along with the pattern of Amos’ prophecies
earlier, too. Amos spoke about individual, but chief cities of each nation
intending them to represent the entire nation. Here Jerusalem represents the
entire nation of Judah.
In God’s
judgment of Judah, He said His fire of anger would come upon them. Remember
this fire of God could be a supernatural fire from heaven or by the hands of a
nation against which Judah battled. God’s fire would consume-completely destroy-the
strongholds, fortresses, and castles of Judah and Jerusalem. What the people of
Judah counted on to keep them safe from their enemies was manmade. Things made
by man of created materials would not stand up against God, the Creator of all
things. He has superior might over manmade things He confronts.
God’s
punishment would cause the world of the Judahites to fall. Their hearts would
grow faint with fear. Their enemies would oppress the cities and countryside of
Judah because God allowed it as their punishment for rejecting Him and His law-for
being unfaithful to their covenant with Him.
Do you
think the Israelites paid more attention when Amos spoke God’s judgment against
Judah? Being closely related by blood and location could have awakened their
attention. The Israelites ran after other gods longer and with more insistence
than did the people of the southern kingdom. Maybe now they would take notice,
repent, and return to a right relationship with God.
Let’s
consider our lives for a moment -
·
Should we consider God’s judgment
relevant to us today like He wanted the Israelites to do in 760-750 BC?
·
Are there bad things happening in
our world now that are God’s punishment of people for their rebellion against
Him?
·
Throughout current history people
have claimed God’s hand caused certain things as punishment –
o
AIDS
o
Drought and famine
o
Middle East wars and unrest
o
Lack of political peace among
nations
o
Global warming
·
What else was God allowing to get His people turning back to Him?
The Fulfillment of God’s
Judgment against Judah
Were
Amos’ prophecies fulfilled? Did a fire come upon the walls of Judah and consume
its citadels? Many people know the temple fell twice and the Israelites rebuilt
it twice. Before those dates, other things happened to Judah and Jerusalem.
In 2
Chronicles 28:1-4, the writer tells the readers King Ahaz did not do right in
the sight of the LORD as David had done. He walked in the ways of the kings of
Israel who were all considered evil by the LORD. The king of Aram assaulted the
northern territory of Judah and took many captive. The king of Israel raided
Judah, took captives, slew 120,000 people of Judah, and killed sons of Ahaz.
Obed, a prophet of God, told the King of Israel God delivered the people of
Judah into his hands because He was angry with Judah (vs. 9). After these
devastations allowed by God as punishment for worshiping and serving other
gods, King Ahaz of Judah sought to ally with Assyria. Because of Aram and
Israel’s attacks and because Edom and the Philistines attacked them, Ahaz
sought this ally who was an enemy. Assyria agreed, but they exacted a terribly high
tribute. The kingdom of Judah was almost destitute because of paying them each
year (2 Chronicles 28:16-21). The assault by the nations and the tribute
required by Assyria did not stop King Ahaz from worshiping other gods. He made
every city in Judah build high places for other gods and made them burn incense
to them (vs. 25). This provoked God to anger. Ahaz did not turn from his wicked
ways when God punished him by using other nations.
In 701
BC, God allowed the Assyrian army under King Sennacherib to attack and seize all
the fortified cities of Judah (1 Kings 18:13). King Hezekiah of Judah pleaded
with Sennacherib to withdraw from them and he would give them whatever they
imposed on him. Hezekiah took silver and gold from the treasury of the LORD’s
house and silver from the ornamentation on the LORD’s house to pay Sennacherib
(2 Kings 18:14). Jerusalem did not fall to the Assyrians at that time. Instead
the Assyrians fell because the LORD sent a plague upon their army encamped outside
the walls of Jerusalem. It killed 185,000 soldiers (2 Kings 19:35). Because
Hezekiah humbled himself before the LORD, God spared Jerusalem that time.
Consider
other times when God’s judgments visited the people of Judah. In 608 BC, the
Egyptian, King Neco, a king put on the throne by Assyria, deposed Jehoahaz, and
made Judah a vassal state (2 Chronicles 36:3). In 605 BC, during Judah’s King
Jehoiakim’s reign, Babylon defeated Egypt and Judah became a vassal state of
Babylon. In 601 BC, Judah, under King Jehoiakim, defeated the Egyptians when
the Babylonians suffered defeat. Nebuchadnezzar retaliated in 597 BC. He sought
to punish Judah. Nebuchadnezzar deported 10,000 of the people of Judah to the
capital of Babylon. These captives were professionals, craftsmen, and the
wealthy. The ordinary people stayed in Judah (2 Chronicles 36:6, and 2 Kings
24:1-5). This was the first wave of exiles into captivity. King Zedekiah, the
king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon put on the throne over Judah, defected from the
Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar responded in 588 BC. He conquered Jerusalem in 586
BC. Nebuchadnezzar caught Zedekiah, made him watch as he killed his sons, then
blinded and deported him Babylon (2 Kings 25, 2 Chronicles 36:13-17, &
Jeremiah 52). He deported about 2,000 other people from Jerusalem during this
second wave of exile and captivity.
For
seventy years, the prophets foretold and history tells the people of Judah
remained exiled in Babylon. When King Cyrus of Persia came to power, he sent
key people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and temple. That was around
536 BC. By the time the seventy year exile ended, the Israelites rebuilt the temple
and more exiles returned to Judah.
Unfortunately
for the northern kingdom of Israel, Assyria captured their kingdom and took
them into exile in 722 BC, 140 years before Judah. They could not learn from
Judah’s mistake. The people of Israel had no more time. God wanted them to hear
his judgment against Judah through Amos and the other prophets and return to
Him. They did not.
We
should consider what it will take for us today to return to a right
relationship with God. What will God allow to happen before we turn to Him?
·
Will it take a severe famine to
get a people to turn back to Him?
·
Will it take a plague to get
people to return to Him?
·
Will a scorching drought be necessary
for people to turn back to Him repenting and renewing their relationship with
Him?
These
are valid questions. What will it take before you realize you are not a god?
When will you come before God recognizing He is the One God, the Provider,
Protector, and Savior of you and all who believe in Jesus Christ? He is God and
you are not.
Recap
Amos
prophesied to Israel for a reason. A writing of his prophecies, as God’s
servant, exists for a reason. The reason for both is the same. God issued His
charge and judgments against the first six nations because of crimes against
other people either neighbors or relatives because of their sins against one
another. He issued a charge and judgment against Judah because of their sins
against Him. Yes, the first six nations’ sins against people were against God’s
laws and they worshiped false gods, but the Israelites were the people who knew
and agreed by covenant to obey and live by God’s laws making Him their one and
only God. Any sin is a sin against God. The people of a nation who do not know
Yahweh as their God would not acknowledge a sin against Him, only a sin against
humanity. Judah, as God’s people, would acknowledge His laws and recognize
their sin against Him. Israel, too, would recognize it.
Through
the recitation of the prophecies on the first seven nations, God sought to help
the Israelites recall their covenant with Him. He wanted to prick the
consciences of the Israelites hoping to draw them back to seek Him, repent, and
return to a right relationship with Him.
Conclusion
As people
who still have the Amos prophecies almost 2,800 years later, a reason
exists even now for its being here and being relevant for us. God covenants
today with His people. It’s the new covenant through the blood and resurrection
of His Son, Jesus Christ. These prophecies are relevant for non-believers
today, too. Moral laws still exist. Governments protect people and their
property. Law codes written down explain them. What Aram, Philistia, Phoenicia,
Edom, Ammon, and Moab did then is against the law in most nations around the
world today. What Judah and Israel did to rebel against God’s laws, God still
considers rebellion today. He covenants with His children, believers in Jesus
Christ. They are more accountable to God because of the new covenant they have
with Him than people who do not know Him, just as Judah and Israel were more
accountable for breaking His laws than the other six nations.
Just as
before, God gives grace. He continues to give it because of His love for us. God
wants no person to perish, but to have eternal life, peace, and hope with Him.
Peter said this in 2 Peter 3:9 when he wrote,
“The Lord is not slow about
His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for
any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” [NASB]
It may seem God does not see the wrong we do, or He does not
care because He does not stop us from doing it again and again, but that is erroneous thinking.
God cares. He is waiting on you to turn to Him for the strength to resist
the temptation to sin. When we sin, we build a wall between ourselves and
God. With each sin the wall gets higher. God can break the wall down, but He
gave us free will. We must want to avoid the sin that traps us and builds the
wall. Satan wants us to build the wall and not have a relationship with the
Lord. Because of His love for us, God does not let us continue in sin. He is righteous and
will judge sin. Sometimes He intervenes and stops our sinning by His means, like
He did with Judah and Israel. Other times God intervenes by cutting the life of
the person short because He knows the person will not change and He does not
want more people to get hurt.
How do we flee from the temptation that leads us to
sin? How do we gain the power to resist it? Can we get the upper hand on this
and not become like the Israelites? James made an excellent point in James
4:7-10. He said,
“Submit
therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God
and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be
turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of
the Lord and He will exalt you.” [NASB]
James
made it simple in this passage.
·
Follow
God and obey Him that will make you resist the devil and he flee from you.
·
Come
near to God in relationship, building it stronger each day with prayer, Bible
reading and study, and worshiping with other believers. He will draw
near to you.
·
Cleanse
your hands and purify your hearts by confessing your sins daily and letting God
wash you clean from the stain and guilt of it. This keeps walls from being
built in your relationship with Him.
·
Humble
yourself before God knowing He is Almighty and you are merely creation
of His hands.
Follow-Obey-Build
Relationship with God-Repent-Recognize He is Almighty.
What separates you
from God today?
Repentance and
returning to God bring refreshing and peace.
Don’t be like
Judah.
