Such were the words of Moses just before his death and their entrance into the promised land. He had taught them a song to remember. In that song, he reminded them of all that God had done for them. Additionally, he reminded them of their rebellious hearts which taunted against God’s grace and love for them. He reminded them of how often God had reached out his hand in grace; but, one day when God Says Enough, Judgement will come. Why would they or we be so foolish as to presume upon His grace so much that we cast all His Goodness and Righteousness aside for our own stubborn will? How can we believe that our will, desires, and way are better than the perfect will of He who created everything?
Yet, that is exactly what we do! That was also what the children of Israel did. This brings us to the final chapter concerning the Northern tribes of Israel in 2 Kings 17. As we read these words, look closely around us. Evil is spinning out of control. How we would feel lost, if we did not know that this is also controlled by God.
Deuteronomy 32:
1“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and like showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
All that is good. Everything that is righteousness. All the powers of love are Him; yet, that means He must be just. Can you say you love your child and let them destroy their life in disobedience? This is something, I face every day with my grandchildren. Love must bring discipline. Justice demands that sinners deserve the full penalty of death. How evil could my own heart be if it were not for God constraining it? And for all those who do not know Him, who would they be apart from His restraining grace?
Jonathan Edwards wrote in his sermon: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God’s restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. lvii. 20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;” but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God’s restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
When God Says Enough, Judgement will come
35 Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’
39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
When God says Enough, Judgement will come. It is in His hands. The increasing evil, He has allowed, although still He restrains. It is a slippery slope that humanity stands upon. One day their feet shall slip. We see the ever-increasing psychopathic overlords trying to control everything around us. There are pandemics released and a potential greater one being developed in the same labs. Famine is increasing due to proxy wars. The progressive elites demand we bow before their demands for reducing the carbon footprints, while they fly their jets around the world. Yet, their demands are forcing farmlands to be destroyed and inflation to rage throughout the world. There is drought throughout Europe only adding to the crisis. Needed energy is restricted while we fight proxy wars for corrupt oligarchs, while humanity suffers.
Our own nation so filled with corruption, we cannot help but feel despair and sorrow. We cannot help but hear God saying,
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
Nor is there any understanding in them.
29 Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end! Deuteronomy 32:
When God Says Enough
Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria…
Reason #1 Idolatry
7 For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, 8 and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
9 Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves [a]high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images[b] on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, 12 for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 2 Kings (NKJV)
GUILY AS CHARGED–#2—They Stopped Believing God IS God
13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” 14 Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. 2 Kings NKJV
#3—They Ignored God’s Commands
16 So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.
And What About Us? When God Says Enough
It was several years later, but Judah did not listen despite watching all that happened. Oh, they had a few revivals. But nothing lasted. Such has been the story throughout the ages. God has been patient, long suffering with such hard necked people; but there will come a day when God Says Enough and the remainder of prophecy will be fulfilled.
God spoke of Israel and does of Our Nation today:
You grew fat, you grew thick, (with prosperity and pride)
You are obese! (with self-righteousness)
Then he forsook God who made him,
And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation……
And He (GOD) said: ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;
They have moved Me to anger by their [f]foolish idols.
But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And shall burn to the [g]lowest [h]hell;
It shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will heap disasters on them;
I will spend My arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword shall destroy outside;
There shall be terror within
For the young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hairs. Deuteronomy 32 NKJV
Judgement will come. Are You Ready?
Paul sent a letter to the church in Thessalonica. They were being severely persecuted by the world around them yet stood strong in their faith. To all who believe, I challenge and encourage you with these same words.
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and [a]tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest[b] evidence of the righteous judgment of God,
that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with [c]tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who [d]believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
For Prayer or Comments
If you have a prayer request feel free to email me by clicking here
Furthermore, if you would like to share your story or thoughts, you can comment here
PREVIOUS
DISCLOSURES
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2021
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Credits
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Photo licensed through Goodsalt.com