2012-07-13
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For the last nine weeks, the Holy Spirit has had me writing about “Covenant Assurance” as a segment of this “Our Covenant” series. Most of the assurance is very positive, but the other side of the coin must also be examined, because with commitments, there are consequences for breaking the covenant. This is as true today as it was in ancient times. God’s relationship with Israel is a good example, one that demonstrates His love and patience, but also His discipline of His originally-chosen people. Israel’s disobedience is something both David and Jonathan knew about, and they had to deal with the consequences of it- particularly David, who became king of Israel. God’s punishment of Israel’s disobedience came in cycles or waves.
The first cycle can be seen in LV 26: 14-17, “But if you will not listen to Me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject My decrees and abhor My law and fail to carry out all My commands and so violate My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because Your enemies will eat it. I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.” There are other Scriptures that support this, e.g. PS 78: 33 and MAL 2: 2, “So He ended their (the Jews in the desert who were complaining and overate on the quails) days in futility and their years in terror…’If you do not listen and if you do not set your heart to honor My name,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘I will send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor Me.’” We get a good look at God’s heart in PS 78: 38-39, “Yet God was merciful; He forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time He restrained His anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.” What God really wanted from the disobedient Jews, and from us today, is clearly seen in EZK 15: 7-8, which is referring to the idolatry practiced in Ezekiel’s time in Jerusalem. “’I will set My face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.”
The second cycle of punishment is seen in LV 26: 18-20, “If after all this you will not listen to Me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, or will the trees of the land yield their fruit.” Examples of supporting verses are found in PS 99: 8 and 127: 1, “O Lord, our God, You answered them; You were to Israel a forgiving God, though You punished their misdeeds…Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stands guard in vain.”
The third cycle of punishment is seen in LV 26: 21, “If you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to listen to Me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.” GN 4: 15 supports this, as it was God put a mark on Cain after he slew Abel, so that no one would kill Cain. He would live out the rest of his life ostracized due to his extreme sinfulness.
The fourth cycle of punishment is seen in LV 26: 22-26, which is even more dire. God says He will send wild animals to eat children and livestock, send plague into the cities while the disobedient are there, cause the sinners to eat without being satisfied, and give the disobedient over to their enemies. Anyone who knows the stories of the OT knows God did all of these things, but still forgave those who accepted His correction early in this cycle. PS 105: 16-17 is an example of Scriptural support recalling famine and the sending of Joseph into Egyptian slavery.
The fifth cycle of punishment is seen in LV 26: 27-39. Parents will cannibalize their children (29). Altars to false gods will be cut down, and dead bodies piled on them (30). God will lay waste to the land, appalling enemies of the Jews who live there (32). Israel’s people will be scattered and her cities ruined (33-34). Israelite captives will be so frightened, most will flee their captors; and, the others that remain will waste away in captivity (35-39). Certainly history supports this with the advent of the Assyrian Captivity in the north in 722 BC and the Babylonian Captivity of the south in 586 BC. PS 58: 7 is an example of Scriptural support. “Let them vanish like water that flows away, when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted.” While all of this is gruesome, God still has not given up on loving His people, the Jews, and now, in addition, Gentile believers. Anyone who teaches replacement theory, saying the Jews have been replaced as the people God loves lies!
PRAYER: O Lord, while it was hard to write a devotion that goes into the punishment God promises for breaking our covenant relationship with Him, it is necessary. All of us need to see that You mean business. In looking at the asset vs. debit sheet on entering into a covenant relationship with You, the assets far outweigh the debits. RO 3: 25-26 expresses why it is necessary for You to give negative consequences for people who choose sinful rejection of You as their lifestyle. “God offered Him [Christ], so that by His death He should become the means by which people’s sins are forgiven through their faith in Him. God did this in order to demonstrate that He is righteous. In the past He was patient and overlooked people’s sins, but in the present time He deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate His righteousness. In this way God shows that He Himself is righteous and that He puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.” We understand that if we don’t sin, we have no need to be afraid we will be punished. So You, Dearest Abba, are a just and righteous God. We accept Your guidance and submit to You, expressing this with a prayer from PS 31: 3-5, “ You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” When we refuse to accept the devil’s temptation to sin, we are able to claim Your wonderful blessings. PS 34: 8-9, “See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust in Him. If you belong to the Lord, have reverence for Him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs.” You are a loving God, Who punishes only when the need arises, and always with the best eternal interests of people in mind. We praise and thank You forever! In Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will see that God has never stopped loving His people, including Israel. Hopefully, the Holy Spirit’s command for us all to better understand Israel’s present predicament-her trouble within and from without, by examining her troubled covenant relationship with God. Remember that the name “Israel” means “He Struggles With God.” We are wise if we are reverent and willing to learn from mistakes of the past. That means we need to keep in eye on the past while making decisions on how to grapple with the challenges of the present and future. We can find real comfort from 1 JN 4: 4, 7, 13-15, “You Dear Children, are from God and have overcome them [worldly spirits], because the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world…Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” With daily study of the Scriptures and an active prayer life, we are positioning ourselves to be obediently faithful to Him and to possibly avoid some of the pitfalls people run into who don’t do these things. Our God loves us very much and deserves to be honored always with our praise, integrity, willingness to glorify Him in our lives, and thanks.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15