Sickness – Praying Pint

52.p. Wilderness – 16.v. “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart”

Deu 28:21  The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed. “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.  The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.

Deu 28:34  so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.

Deu 28:37  And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.

Deu 28:45  “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.

Deu 28:47  Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,

Deu 28:58-59  “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.

Deu 28:61  Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.

Deu 28:63  And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you.

Deu 28:66-67  Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see.

The same variety of expression is used in these terrible curses, as in the preceding blessings, to intimate every kind of prosperity or adversity, personal, relative, and public.

If we do not keep God’s commandments, we not only come short of the blessing promised, but we lay ourselves under the curse, which includes all misery, as the blessing all happiness. Observe the justice of this curse. It is not a curse causeless, or for some light cause. The extent and power of this curse. Wherever the sinner goes, the curse of God follows; wherever he is, it rests upon him. Whatever he has is under a curse. All his enjoyments are made bitter; he cannot take any true comfort in them, for the wrath of God mixes itself with them. Many judgments are here stated, which would be the fruits of the curse, and with which God would punish the people of the Jews, for their apostacy and disobedience. We may observe the fulfilling of these threatenings in their present state. To complete their misery, it is threatened that by these troubles they should be bereaved of all comfort and hope, and left to utter despair. Those who walk by sight, and not by faith, are in danger of losing reason itself, when every thing about them looks frightful. (Henry)

Oh that our hearts and minds would grasp the holy blessings of God in light of the wrathful curses. Sin has a way of blinding us to only see blessings from God. Sin blinds us to the holiness of God. Neglect of His Word deafens our ears to the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin.

May the Word of God open your hearts and minds to His holiness and give you a deep desire to honor and glorify Him more and more each day. We do not honor and glorify Jesus christ for the blessings we receive, but for who God is.

50.d. Wilderness – 14.j. “You shall therefore be careful to do”

Deu 7:11-15  You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 4:1    “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:32    You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

John 14:15    “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,…. The laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, urged thereunto both by promises and threatenings, in hopes of reward, and through fear of punishment: which I command thee this day, to do them; in the name of the Lord, and by his authority; by virtue of which he made a new declaration of them to put them in mind of them in order to observe them. (Gill)

We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those who do such works. Whatever brings us into a snare, brings us under a curse. Let us be constant to our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God’s mercy. Diseases are God’s servants; they go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies, thoroughly to mortify the sin of our souls; which is our rule of duty. Yet sin is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful and diligent. In all this the Lord acts according to the counsel of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms no excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in no degree the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of the church, and the destruction of the enemies of the soul, are not done immediately, therefore they will never be done. God will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but at length there will be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us. (Henry)

What does it mean to be careful to do the commandments, rules, and statutes? How is this manifested in the life of a believer? What would you expect to see in their lives, or for that matter, your personal life?

We seem to look more outward than inward. We can apply what it looks like to another person but for ourselves, we seem to be, if not clueless, less critical. Why is this? I think the root of our indifference stems from a lack of commitment, purpose, and the desire to wholly serve, honor, obey, trust, and rely in and on God. Our desire to have our sin made known to us so that we might grow and mature in our honor and glory of Jesus Christ, seems to be lukewarm at best.

Do we wake each day with the first thought of thanksgiving and how we might better honor and glorify Jesus Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions? Do we ask God to show us our hearts? Do we really want to know our hidden sins? Do we want to grow in our understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and love? Do we seek to understand His holiness and our sinfulness? Do we spend time in His Word? Do we spend time praying? Do we truly love others? Do we seek to encourage? Do we find fault with other’s actions all the time? Do we criticize others frequently about what they said or didn’t say, or did and didn’t do? Neglect and complacency are the effects of a lukewarm heart, mind, and soul toward service to God.

31.h. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Matthew 6:7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Ecclesiastes 5:2-3     Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

1 Kings 8: 37-39 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,  whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,  then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind)

Daniel 9:18-19   O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

Philippians 4:6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

The right kind of prayer does not use vain repetitions, which is any and all prayer which is mostly words and no meaning; all lips and no mind or heart.

One can pray long – but to the wrong god. In 1 Kings 18:26 the prophets of Baal cried out, “O Baal answer us” for half the day. In Acts 19:34 a mob in Ephesus shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” for two hours. The true God isn’t impressed by the length or eloquence of our prayers, but the heart. “Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. The eloquence of prayer consists in the fervency of desire, and the simplicity of faith.” (Clarke)

“Christians’ prayers are measured by weight, and not by length. Many of the most prevailing prayers have been as short as they were strong.” (Spurgeon)

We don’t pray to tell God things that He didn’t know before we told Him. We pray to commune with and appeal to a loving God who wants us to bring every need and worry before His throne.

“Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven, and to put him in mind that THERE is his Father, his country, and inheritance.” (Clarke)

Sometimes we pray as though we are informing God and think by giving Him this information will help Him make the right decision in favor of what we are praying about. God is never shocked by what is happening. He already knows. He also knows our hearts and thoughts. Nothing in the future is hidden from His sight today. He is God of all there is, all there will ever be, and He is full of grace, mercy, and love towards mankind.

Some may think wrongly about prayer and say why should I pray if God is in control and His will will be done. I should just accept my lot for the day and move on. The fact is prayer will take us before God. It will allow us to keep a firm hold of who God is. Our prayer is in communion with Him and holds together the foundations of our faith, reliance, trust, and hope that is in and through Jesus Christ. Our prayerful concerns communicated with steadfast faith in God are uplifting and strengthening to our souls. Our hope, trust, faith, and reliance are flames that burn away the doubts, worry, and confusion our human nature conjures up.

Prayer is not to inform God, but rather, to communicate with Him. It is in prayer where we find strength, courage, and hope as we trust, wait, and rely on God.

2.q. Because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

2 Chronicles 21:1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray. And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

Another example and story of a father passing the reign to his son and the son not giving a thought at all to his father’s example. It does not tell us when Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter and if this was an arranged marriage by his father. Either way, Ahab was one very very bad person and led the people away from God and toward idol worship. His daughter more than likely had an influence on Jehoram but Jehoram made the choice to lead the people away from serving God. He chose a path that did not honor or glorify God. What kind of hardening of the heart must take place to abandon God and kill your brothers? What kind of false life did he live prior to his father passing away? A person just does not change overnight. He might have given head and mouth service to God but not his heart, mind, and soul.

Choices to depart from God begin innocent enough but soon cloud the mind with ideas that replace service to God with any and everything. The person who departs does not know the day and time but at some point in their life, they closed their ears and turned their back to God. The drifting away is blinded from their mind because they give no thought to or about Him. I wonder how many of us spend enough time in His word, meditate on His word, seek and desire His word, want to hear Him speak into our lives, and are able to discern what actions are honorable and pleasing in the sight of God.

If His word is not refreshing our heart, soul, and mind every day something else is. That something else will always set us on a drifting away course in life. We have been given examples of both Godly and ungodly men/leaders in the bible. We do well to follow the Godly examples given to us and take heed of those that are not. Practice the presence of God at all times.

Notice the people from Edom and Libnah. They revolted from under his rule because he had departed from following and serving God. These are people who took their walk with the Lord very serious and took action not to get swept up onto this path away from serving, honoring, following and obeying God. We do well to keep God first and place all thoughts and actions in line with His word to protect ourselves from being pulled along at the influence of the culture.

172. Is it because there is no God

1 Kings 22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.

2 Kings 1:1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went. The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’” But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.

I am intrigued by this statement; “Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire”. How many times are we needing to walk with God but we search for something else to comfort, satisfy, or to trust in. When God is first in our life, His presence is always there with us, in our heart, mind, and soul. When God is not first, and though He is there, His presence is not in our heart, mind, and soul. The reason it is not there is that we do not want it there. We don’t want to submit. We don’t want to live to honor Him with our whole heart, mind, and soul. We don’t want to leave the pleasures and comforts of our lifestyle. We want to be the one in charge. We want to be the one who decides what will be prioritized in our life each day. We want control.

God is always there but will not share (our heart, mind, and soul) with another. If we push Him out – out He will stay, howbeit knocking at the door to our heart. We need to be intentional in our commitment, service, following, trusting, reliance, and obedience.

1. Walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes

Exodus 15:26  saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Deuteronomy 7:12-13     “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.  He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

Deuteronomy 7:15    And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 28:1-15     “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 12:28    Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

1 Kings 11:38    And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

2 Kings 22:2     And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

When I read these verses I think about how is a person to know they are carefully obeying, listening to the voice of the Lord, giving ear to His word, being faithful, doing what is right, not turning aside to the right or the left? Maybe the other question that should be asked is what is keeping us from all of this? What is the measuring stick or means to know the path you are on is in line with the purposes and plans of God for your life? Why do things get clouded and confused when trying to answer these questions?

Our culture speaks into our lives. True, false and slanted news taints how we think and live. Laws, tolerance, live and let live, separation of church and state, biased views based on liberal agendas and the list can go on and on. All of these eat away at our ability to carefully obey, listen, give full ear to God unless we are intentional about it. Intentional would mean we are staying in His word, growing in our knowledge and understanding of Him, growing our faith through times of testing, using His word to challenge the prevailing thoughts of our culture, using His word to speak to our heart and mind, desiring to hear His whispers of leading, seeking to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, follow and obey Him.

We can look very good when we compare ourselves to the culture we live in. We only have to be a little be different to falsely think we are right in God’s eyes. I can remember 35 years ago a Pastor telling me he continues to see the church always 10 to 15 years behind adopting what is not acceptable now. It only takes that short time to weaken our thoughts and resolve if we are not faithful in our time in His word, faithful in our walk with Him, faithful in our intentional commitment, faithful in seeking Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul.

Times of Despair

“For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.”

Psalms 6:3

My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long? Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love

Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;

Psalms 31:9-10
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.

Psalms 38:8
I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

Proverbs 18:14
A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

Psalms 42:11
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God

Psalms 116:4
Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”

Isaiah 38:17
Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

“A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” It is true. Pain caused by sickness or accident we can get on the other side most of the time. But it is that crushed spirit, broken heart, and deep heart hurt that seems unbearable and more than we can handle. Some of this comes from consequences of our actions or others but none of it is hid from God. He knows our heart and all the times we are in deep pain, despair. No one will say take me to the place of deep hurt and despair. Yet we all seem to find ourselves there at different times of our lives. I wish I could say there was a magic prayer or something we could do to keep this from happening but it will surely find us at some point. You can read it in scripture from David and how he communicated in word the anguish in his heart. I do know that God is near us through times of blessing and despair. He hears our prayers. He is our strength in times of trouble. And when we seem unable to carry on He picks us up and holds us in His loving arms. Do not turn away from God in these times – RUN TO HIM – His arms are wide open just for you.

Judgement – Sodom and Gomorrah

“My people are bent on turning away from me,
and though they call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.”

Hosea 11:1
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
but Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword shall rage against their cities,
consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them because of their own counsels.
My people are bent on turning away from me,
and though they call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

Deuteronomy 29:22
And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— all the nations will say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land,

Deuteronomy 32:37
Then he will say, Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,
who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
let them be your protection!
“‘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.
For I lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
if I sharpen my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? Most will know the story about Sodom and Gomorrah and how God rained down His wrath on them but he also included the the towns of Admah and Zeboiim for the same reason. God’s wrath is being stored up and will once again will come upon mankind on the day of Judgement when every knee will bow and confess Jesus is Lord. I wonder what it will be like when we come face to face with Him. Will we bow before Him in humbleness, awe, and thankfulness or will it be in shame, sorrow, and great remorse? Will we hear well done my faithful servant or I do not know you and be cast into the lake of fire? Just because we live in a time of blessing and prosperity does not mean we are in any way shape or form humbly serving Him, living for Him, following His leading, seeking to hear Him, loving Him, or honoring and glorifying Him. Jesus said “Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” He was speaking of those who hear the word and neglect it. Peter said it this way “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.” In Jude we read “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” How will God find you on the day you pass from now into eternity? Do we think we are immune to judgement for how we live for Him now? Trusting in God is not an insurance policy for eternity. It is a new life lived out in humble service to honor and glorify Him.

Running Away

” I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.”

Hosea 5:13
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Isaiah 1:5
Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.

Ezekiel 6:9
how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord. I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

Are you looking for God to return into your life? Are you wondering where God is in your life? Why does it seem like there are times when God seems so far away? When it says “I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols” – does it speak to your heart? God is alive, He sees all, He knows all and nothing is shielded from His seeing and knowing. He knows our commitment, our desire, and our thoughts. Knowing this He sent His son to be a sacrifice so that we could have communion with Him. He did this out of grace and mercy to draw unto Him a people who want to humbly serve Him, who desire above all else to honor and glorify Him, who live for Him and His purpose. If God seems far away or distant it is not because of Him not pursuing in love, but rather because of our want to do what is right in our own eyes without giving any thought to service to Him. I can’t even comprehend how much time I’ve wasted on things that bring no honor or glory to God. How much time have I spent thinking about temporary things this side of eternity without any thought to serving Him and what His purpose is. Many times we are reminded in scripture how generations lost all knowledge and understanding of God and yet I wonder how it looks in God’s eyes to see a generation with God’s word so easily available yet treated as nothing more than dust on table.