Tag: drawn away

52.x. Wilderness – 17.c. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today”

 

 

Deu 30:11-20  “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

It is an intentional choice of the heart and mind and soul to continually follow, trust, rely on, obey, and have faith in Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. It is all or nothing and it is an intentional choice. We choose to humbly serve, honor, and obey in every aspect of our thoughts, words, and actions so that Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. If we give partial nods toward this absolute, we are not committed, nor have we chosen to give our whole self and all we think, say, and do to honor and glorify Him. 

Being lukewarm is a denial of His worth to be honored and glorified and praised and worshipped. What kind of commitment is this to the one and only Son of God who willingly left heaven and came to earth to be beaten and nailed to a cross for our sins?  Neglect of God’s Word will lead to being lukewarm at best. Neglect is an intentional choice. Neglect happens when we allow the busyness of life or sin to rule over our commitment to Him. 

Our growth in the understanding and knowledge of God comes through His Word and the application of it through the Holy Spirit’s leading. If there is a lack of His Word in our lives we deny the importance of it and are intentionally choosing not to get closer to God. It would seem we fail to understand this principle. Can a person spend too much time in God’s Word? No. Can a person be affected by the lack of His Word in their lives? Yes

Take some time to look into your time in His Word. If you would be embarrassed should anyone know, then you have answered the question. It should be out of humility that we do this and not with pride. The more time we spend in His Word the more we will understand of His grace, mercy, and love.  This understanding will humble you in ways that lead to reverence and the want to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions continually. 

Spend time in His Word with an open heart and mind. Ask Him to fill you with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom. 

51.b. Wilderness – 15.h. “Obey the voice of the LORD your God”

 

 

Deu 13:12-18  “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Jdg 2:1-2  Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’

Here is the case of a city revolting from the God of Israel, and serving other gods. The crime is supposed to be committed by one of the cities of Israel. Even when they were ordered to preserve their religion by force, yet they were not allowed to bring others to it by fire and sword. Spiritual judgments under the Christian dispensation are more terrible than the execution of criminals; we have not less cause than the Israelites had, to fear the Divine wrath. Let us then fear the spiritual idolatry of covetousness, and the love of worldly pleasure; and be careful not to countenance them in our families, by our example or by the education of our children. May the Lord write his law and truth in our hearts, there set up his throne, and shed abroad his love! (Henry)

If reports arose regarding an Israelite city given over to idolatry, there was first to be a careful investigation. This guarded against a harsh judgment; perhaps there were a few idolaters in the city who needed to be punished, but perhaps the city was not given over to idolatry. God commanded a careful investigation. If the investigation finds that the city is indeed given over to idolatry, it is then to be treated as a Canaanite city. They were to utterly destroy the city, including its property. The property was to be given to the LORD by destroying it, a form of “sacred destruction.” The destroyed town was to be left as a heap forever. The Israelites were never to regard ethnic or national bonds greater than the bonds that tied them to the LORD God; if their fellow countrymen were given over to idolatry, they were not to be spared. This chapter asks an important question: What would it take to lead you away from God? Would signs and wonders do it? What if your mate forsook God, or all of your friends? What if culture, or nationalism, or ethnic ties called you away from Jesus? We must never allow such ties to come before our bond to Jesus. We must decide, as the song says, “Though none go with me, still I will follow.” (Guzik)

“The term abominable thing is used in the Old Testament for something that is totally displeasing to God and denotes something impure, unclean, and totally devoid of holiness.” (Thompson)

The divine judgment of God is pure, righteous, and holy. We have the ability to justify and excuse and tolerate that which is not pure, unrighteous, and unholy. Little by little our understanding of what is good and bad, right and wrong, holy and unholy gets eroded away. The lines get blurred. What used to be clear is now clouded with cunning words of worldly men and women who have no thought of God or respect for His holiness.  What was never allowed is now being tolerated and condoned as being right. 

We need to be very diligent in our study of God’s Word and our obedience to it. We need to protect ourselves from the culture and social norms and what it teaches and proclaim as truth. We need pastors that call out the sinfulness of sin and the holiness of God. It is nice and right to hear of the grace, mercy, and love of God, but there must be an understanding of His judgment, anger, and wrath. Without this, we are lop-sided and will not walk in reverent fear of God in the light of His holiness.  Johnathan Edwards preached a sermon, “in the hands of an angry God”. Look it up and read it. I was telling a pastor and their daughter about it and they both said, “There is a book, In the hands of a loving God” and that they preferred this over the other. I would tend to agree it is nicer on the heart, mind, and soul to hear of the love of God without hearing about His judgment, anger, and wrath, but it is not good for the heart, mind, and soul. John 3:16 is often quoted showing the love of God. John 3:17-18 speaks of judgment, condemnation, evil, and darkness.

Love is God’s call to a person’s heart.

Judgment is God’s warning to a person’s soul.

49.p. Wilderness – 13.v. “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully”

 

Deu 4:15  “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly.

Deu 4:19-20  And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

Exodus 19:5-6     Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;  and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ 

 Psalms 28:9     Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

 Psalms 33:12     Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

 Ephesians 1:18     having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

 Titus 2:14     who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 1 Peter 2:9    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

As the people had seen no form or figure when God spake to them, so they were to beware for their very lives (cf. ver. 9) of acting corruptly by making any kind of image, whether of man or of beast, for the purpose of worshipping God as represented by it; they were also to beware of being so attracted by the splendor of the heavenly bodies as to be forcibly seduced to worship them and offer them religious service. They were not in this respect to imitate the heathen; for God, who had delivered them out of the furnace of Egyptian bondage, had taken them for himself to be his special possession; and therefore they were to take heed not to forget the covenant of Jehovah their God, nor to offend him by making any image or representation of him as the object of worship. Among the heathen, and especially in Egypt, images were the very pillar and support of religion; but in Israel, as God had revealed himself to them without form, it was as a spirit he was to be worshipped, and not under any outward representation. (Unknnow)

God did not deliver us from the bondage of sin so that we could do our own “Thing”, but so we would do that which honors and glorifies Him. There is so much more to learn of the Holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin. Every single day our sinful nature must be recognized in the light of His Word. When recognized, it must be turned away from. Every day we have the opportunity to grow in our understanding of God’s Holiness and the sinfulness of sin. This knowledge and understanding do not come to us naturally but by and through His Word and with a heart, mind, and soul desiring to know and understand so that we might not sin against Him but rather honor and glorify Him. 

Every day we have the opportunity to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God and things of God if our heart’s desire for it does not become dimmed by worldly distractions. 

128. But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away,

2 Samuel 20:1  Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!” So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy 13:13     that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known,

Judges 19:22     As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door.

2 Samuel 23:6    But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand;

Worthless man, worthless men, what is it that keeps their heart from being softened and awakened to Jesus Christ?  At some point in their life there had to be a turning away, a choice to step over the line, a want to do something they knew they shouldn’t.  See, they were not worthless and foolish to start but their choices, over time, lead them on a path that took them down the foolish and worthless highway to destruction. They became hard in the heart and deaf in their ears to the things of God.  See what Spurgeon said about how easy the fall is.

Spurgeon – I will give you another symptom, from a different quarter, and that is, the extreme easiness of conscience which we see in many men and women. They can commit a great sin, wash their hands, and then be done with it, as if the very washing of the hand or the wiping of the mouth was quite enough to put away all thought of the wrong. Many will sit here tonight, who have, through a long life, committed a hundred sins of which they would be ashamed to be reminded, and yet they are not ashamed of them. They would only be ashamed to be found out; they are not ashamed of the sin itself. A man truly awakened by the Spirit of God feels the memory of his sin to sting him as with scorpions. He cannot bear it. But the great majority of people do a thousand wrong things, and yet they are not troubled but feel quite at ease. Some of you are probably within a very short time of death and judgment, and yet you can make sport of sin. How often does it happen that people come to the place of worship, and go their way, having rejected solemn appeals: and they will never hear anymore! They have had their last warning. Oh, if they could only know that, during the week, they will fall down dead, or be laid aside by sickness, never to leave the bed again! Yet they trifle, on the brink of fate, on the very verge of everlasting woe. If you saw a man going straight on to the very brink of some dreadful precipice, and you saw him about to take another step, you would say, “That man is blind. I am sure that he is, or else he would not act like that.” People do not go into terrible danger with their eyes open; yet there are many of our fellow men, perhaps many of ourselves, going right on, carelessly and heedlessly, to the very brink of the awful abyss without a thought of danger. They must be blind. This horrible peace of conscience, this quenching of the Spirit whenever conscience does stir itself, this playing and trifling with death and judgment, prove that they are blind.

112. Worthless and good for nothing

1 Samuel 25:1  Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

Deuteronomy 13:13    that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city,

  Judges 19:22    As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house

2 Samuel 23:6-7     But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand;  but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

1 Kings 21:13    And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people,

1 Samuel 2:12     Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

Steven R Cook – In several places in the Bible there are references to worthless persons.  The term worthless translates the Hebrew בְּלִיָּעַלbelial, which occurs 27 times in Scripture. The word means “Uselessness, wickedness…good for nothing.” These are people whom God designates as worthless because they continually resist His will and disrupt the activities of His people.  Worthless people revels in the natural inclinations of his own depravity and in his activities spread strife among men.   Scripture describes the worthless person as one who “digs up evil”, “makes a mockery of justice”, and “plots evil against the LORD”. He leads others away from the God, is given to lewd behavior, hides from justice, is unreasonable, defies authority, is willing to lie against the innocent and promote injustice, and seeks to overpower the timid.  They can attach themselves to a godly leader and cause trouble.   It is a mistake to see the worthless person within the narrow context of criminals or public mischief-makers, although it certainly includes them. Rather, we must see them as permeating all aspects of society. Broadly speaking, worthless persons are males and females, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, educators and students, politicians and citizens, bosses and employees, religious and irreligious, wealthy and poor, and they live to provoke rebellion and discord.

Josh Christophersen – Men use all kinds of standards to determine their worth, but the word of God determines a man’s worth by whether or not he “knows the Lord”. It doesn’t matter how smart or educated you are, how strong or athletic you are, how wealthy or business savvy you are.

It would seem this is a path in life that is easy to follow or be influenced toofollow.  It is the path of self, self importance, self righteous, self centered, self worth, self made…. There are people on this path because they chose to deny God and there are people on this path because they are neglecting God’s word and are being influenced by the world, culture, society of complacent mediocrity.

73. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Joshua 8:34   And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

Deuteronomy 31:10-12    And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths,  when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.  Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,

Nehemiah 8:2-3     So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah 9:3    And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20     “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.  If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,  I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,  loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

There was times past when God’s word was read to an entire nation, a time spent listening to His word and time spent in confession and time spent in worship.  It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to not have God’s written word immediately available and easily accessible.  Wh don’t have to wait until there is a special day for His word to be read to us, we can read it at anytime we choose.  Is it possible that His word is so readily available that we don’t find the need to spend time in it every day?  Is it possible that because it is so accessible that we just tuck it away until we think we need it?

God’s word is not to be seen or used as a remedy quick fix book for when we come to hard times or sickness, or troubles, or trials.  God’s word is to be food for every moment of every day.  His word is to be so needed that it is consumed like the very air we need and breath.  If His word is not active in your life is it possible that it is void from your choice of needing it, relying on it, clinging to it, wanting it??????

Choose to spend time in His word, neglecting it will always lead to your heart, mind and soul drifting away from Him.