Lord was Kindled Against

His ears are open to their prayer.

Deuteronomy 32:39 “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Deuteronomy 30:19 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,

Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

Isaiah 45:19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

1 Peter 3:10-12 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.”

Choice is something we have. It is an act within our heart and mind that turns into action. Seeking God for forgiveness, salvation, healing, strength, rest, peace, love, doing His purpose and plan, serving Him, and willing to be led by Him are humble life changing choices that will bless our soul.

On the other hand seeking self interest, wants, desires, putting ourselves before all others, and denying God’s call in our lives to humble serve, honor, worship, praise, follow and obey Him is a choice that will curse our soul.

Seems right

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”

Judges 12:7
Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in GileadAfter him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Judges 3:7
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan- rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan- rishathaim eight years

Judges 4:1
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan

Judges 6:1
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years

All through Judges we see time and time again of His people falling away. I think about this often and wonder how this happens. Sometimes I think it starts with one person who is looked at as a person of God. His actions and words seem right. Somewhere along the line he takes a small step way and then another and another. I have to think back in his mind he is watching the reaction of those around him for approval or not. Every little step is further and further away from serving God. It is not as though he is wanting to lead people astray but rather trying to justify the way that seems easier for him. The more people who do not speak up and hold him accountable the more others take this path as “Approved”. When men of God do not speak up and hold their brothers and sisters accountable, when they don’t encourage and warn them to honor and glorify God – history shows us how easy it is to follow what the culture is saying is ok. Proverbs states it like this:

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways”

People wonder why it is important to read and know scripture. If we do not desire it, read it, know it, meditate on it, remember it, – how can we obey it and live in such a way that all we say and what we do is honoring and glorifying God.

450 Years

And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges.

Judges 2:16
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not

Psalms 106:43
Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love

Did you take note that the time from when the Israelites took possession of the land until the time of Judges was ~450 years. During this 450 years many times the Israelites were under God’s punishment for not following Him. We can look back at this and see the first place of not obeying God was when they took over the land God had given them. They did not put away all of the people as God said to. They did right by what was in their own eyes and this lead to a continuous falling away from God. I remember shortly after I was saved, my pastor who was discipling me, said “one thing he saw and it troubled him greatly was the fact that the church seemed to always be 10 to 15 years away from whatever the current culture accepted.” What was deemed not in alignment with God’s word by the church now seemed to be ok or severely watered down within 10 to 15 years. Spend some time to think about this and see if it is not true. We ask for revival but are we willing to put away all that causes us to stumble? Have we lost sight of what God would have us do and replaced it with what the culture says God would have us do? The only way we will ever get on top of this is to personally spend time in God’s word with the intent of allowing Him to speak the truth of it into our mind and lives. If we think for a moment we will get this type of understanding from a sermon once per week we fool ourselves and will only continue to drift away from God while running full speed ahead to that which is neither God honoring or beneficial for our lives. Purpose to read daily and desire/expect God to breath life into these words in your heart, mind and soul.