Burunche’s Blog

“‘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:

1. The Israelites in the present day might not conceive of a day when they will refuse to obey God.
2. The Israelites will fail to teach their children the ways of God, His commands, and His warnings.
3. The Israelites will lose their respect for God as they run off to pursue pagan deities and forsake His commandments.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Promise of Blessing and Retribution

‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.  You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.

You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.

 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,  I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.

‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.”

Coming out of Egypt, the Israelites have it made! Their God has delivered them and is now giving them all the necessary instructions so that they will be able to please Him and He will bless them. God is leading them through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God is supplying them with water and manna. Now God wants to lay down ground rules so that His people will be able to receive blessings continually.

First, God forbids idolatry and commands the honoring of the Sabbath and His sanctuary. Since God is eternal, unchangeable, and beyond form or substance, making idols to represent God is pointless and dangerous. Honoring the Sabbath and the sanctuary should not be difficult.

“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”  In an area dependent on rainy seasons, droughts spell disaster. Now God is promising favorable rains, great harvests, safety from predators of every kind, both human and animal. God is also promising outstanding success in battle. Finally, God is promising fruitfulness and His presence. “‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you…. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.”

Sounds like a great deal, right? But if the Israelites rebel against God, catastrophe is looming, pounced to strike. “‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,  I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.” God goes on to detail all the disasters that might overtake a rebellious people-unfavorable weather, crop failures, famine, disease, domination by cruel nations, attacks by wild beasts, the loss of children and total desolation.

APPLICATION: Why would anybody be foolish and short-sighted enough to rebel against an all-powerful God? God is giving these commands to people who have walked through the Red Sea dry-shod, only to watch Pharaoh’s army be drowned. These people are being fed and watered miraculously. They have already witnessed God’s power and wrath at Mount Sinai. But when people want to rebel, they make up their minds and refuse to be confused by the facts. Even though God has already demonstrated His power and His might, these people are still ready to wander off after the first fertility cult that looks attractive and that doesn’t demand good behavior. The Israelites are taking God and His miracles for granted.

Today’s verses only contain part of God’s warnings. We will complete this chapter tomorrow. The question for us is this: how much do we really honor God in our lives? Is God an after-thought? Do we thank God for the blessings of life and health and families and friends? Do we complain about our jobs or are we grateful that we have jobs at all? Are we dissatisfied with our possessions or are we grateful to have them? Gratitude and obedience go together. It is impossible to obey God when you are complaining, and it is equally impossible not to obey God when you are grateful. We can’t ask God to bless us if we are habitual gripers; God might want to bless us, but our ingratitude deflects God’s blessings.

As we meditate on these verses, let’s ask God to show us anything we are doing to block His blessings. Once He shows us, let us confess those as sin and seek forgiveness, for we will surely receive it.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, open our eyes to see the places where we have been ungrateful. We confess ingratitude as sin and ask for Your cleansing and healing power. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.