“‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’ ”
These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.”
Today, God continues to warn His people of the consequences if they abandon Him for other gods, and those consequences are horrific. Pestilence, defeat by enemies, famines so terrible that ten women can all bake bread in one oven because there will be so little flour, distributing bread by weight so that everyone gets a little-this will just be the beginning. There will be sieges so severe that those in the cities will turn to cannibalism. This later happens during the ministry of Elisha the prophet. (2 Kings 6:28-29)
God also promises that those who worship idols will be slaughtered in the wreckage of their pagan temples. If the land is denied its Sabbaths, God will remove His people so that the land will enjoy its Sabbaths. Those in exile will live in terror and waste away.
But God also holds out hope. If those in exile will repent and return to the God of Israel, then He will bless them. “But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’ ” And eventually, that is exactly what will happen.
APPLICATION: Sometimes, reading this part of the Old Testament is like watching the beginning of a horror movie. You just know that murder and mayhem are lurking as soon as the hero/heroine moves into that spooky old house or drives down that deserted road at midnight in a blinding rainstorm. Those in the audience find themselves screaming at the characters on the screen, “Don’t go in that attic! Don’t go down those basement stairs! Leave while you can!” Of course, the characters in the movie proceed to put themselves into danger. The Israelites are going to do the same kind of thing.
The mind-boggling question raised by this passage is “WHY?” Why don’t the Israelites listen to God? Why don’t they obey Him? Why don’t they believe what God says? These are the same people who have been miraculously delivered repeatedly by the God who is now issuing these warnings. Do these people think God is joking? What will go wrong with these people?
Sadly, the tragedy of the Israelites will have several root causes:
- The Israelites in the present day might not conceive of a day when they will refuse to obey God.
- The Israelites will fail to teach their children the ways of God, His commands, and His warnings.
- The Israelites will lose their respect for God as they run off to pursue pagan deities and forsake His commandments.
- The Israelites will eventually practice a form of religion that has little or no substance, saving their passion for the fertility gods, for Molech, and for other evils.
- The Israelites have an incredible sense of entitlement, feeling that they are so special that God really won’t punish them.
Much of the rest of the Old Testament will document the disasters that befall the Israelites for failing to listen to God in the first place. But are we any better? Do we listen to God and follow His commands, or do we compromise and manipulate, somehow thinking that we can deceive the God who knows us better than we know ourselves?
In Revelation 2:4-5 God warns the Church of Ephesus, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Later, God tells the Church of Sardis, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.” And finally, God tells the Church of Laodicea,” I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!” Was God kidding? Today, all these places lie in ruins, their churches forgotten. God is no joker!
We live in an age when evil is not only being condoned but even celebrated. Are we trying to turn a blind eye, or are we actively resisting that evil? Even when we feel we are helpless, we can still pray and God will move in answer to our prayers. Let us search our own hearts, confess our sins, and pray for revival!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we have allowed evil to creep into our lives and the lives of our families. We beg You to cleanse us and help us to pray aggressively and persistently for revival. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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