Today as we are coming to study Deuteronomy Chapter Seven in our COME AS A CHILD Bible Study lessons; we also face some huge and very comparable problems in our own modern-day homeland which are almost parallel to what the Israelites were facing during those ancient times.
WATCHING OUR FREEDOM ERODE
There are powerful people today who would not want to know that these types of bible study lessons are being written; or that godly people are still taking them to heart.
The situations are very similar to what the Israelites of Moses’s time were about to face in a pagan land; only today we are facing such changes while living in a country that has proclaimed religious freedom for over two hundred years. Right now; we stand by watching anxiously as that freedom slowly erodes.
These old Israelites were at the beginning of their times of freedom.
Let us pray that modern-day Christians in America are not at the end of their times of freedom.
God was instructing the Israelites in all of the ways to protect this new found freedom. We should listen carefully too; because our freedom must also be protected and preserved immediately; or it will be lost forever.
Many of today’s elected officials are not godly people. They actually go beyond not being godly themselves; they even hate all those who ARE godly because it interferes with their ability to pass laws that focus on how THEY want the world to turn
In the process of all of their efforts to change the world to their way of thinking; these ungodly people forget the One who set the globe upon it’s axis and caused this universe to spin into existence.
RECOGNIZING OUR ENEMIES
As we read of God bringing a chosen people and a new nation into a land that He has designated especially for them, despite the nations that will rise up against them (the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites (seven nations altogether); we look out to see that our own land is currently full of governors and mayors and elected officials who have the arrogance to proclaim that electric power and water utilities will be cut off for many of the common people who chose to continue to worship God; either publicly (in a church building,) or privately (inside their own homes.)
Just like these seven enemy nations that came against Israel; the ungodly in our own country also rise up against God’s people today.
Using the pandemic as the excuse for their control; some elected leaders in certain areas of the country are saying that to have just one person visiting your house – whether it is to pray with you in a time of trouble, or to “sit Shiva” with the dead as orthodox Jews do, or even just to study God’s Word together – is now illegal. They use the same logic for closing down churches – even those who are taking every precaution for preventing the spread of disease.
No one in these areas of the country is being allowed the freedom to worship. This is terribly wrong.
These public officials have no legal right to do this; yet they are physically enforcing such craziness; even when all of the proper precautions are in place and used. At the same time they allow protesters and revolutionary riots in the streets where people stand shoulder to shoulder without masks or precautions and commit violence in the name of stopping hate. In actuality; they are simply protesting hate with more hate. No one seems to care about this – it has been declared perfectly legal.
I smell a rat; and it has been dead for awhile now.
The law of the land in many areas of the country has become very controlling; and most of all; very ungodly. None of these new laws were put into place by the people of the land.
NEW INSTRUCTIONS FROM GOD ABOUT DEALING WITH ENEMIES
Long ago, God was instructing these Israelites who were following Him and beginning to come into the land that He was giving to them, with the facts of exactly what to do when trouble arose because of their religious beliefs.
God said “When the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them or show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly; but thus you shall deal with them; you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire.”
Those were the words that God gave to Israel for dealing with the enemies that were opposed to His will for them and their lives.
Again today; we see all across our land; a people who are still opposed to the God of Israel and His ways. They want to erase all evidence of God from history and destroy all the evidence that a Messiah has come who will deliver God’s people from their times of troubles such as these that we are living through which are so very similar to what the ancient early children of God faced long ago.
Today we have witnessed a pool of out-of-control local officers, mayors and governors, who openly support bible burning Marxists revolutionaries. These revolutionaries seek to undermine our Judeo-Christian values and they want to erase our unalienable rights to religious liberty and freedom of speech and worship.
FACING THE AMORITES
It appears that we are facing modern-day Amorites.
Those ancient Amorites who hated Israel and God’s ways were a sneaky group of people.
They would always attack from the rear and prey on the weak, the old and the poor. The tactic they always used was to hide from view and suddenly jump out as the Godly people approached; always hoping to catch them off-guard and unaware. Then they would proceed to destroy them and their families.
This manner of attack is very much like the sneaky way that certain politically motivated groups are attacking God’s people today. They hide behind a façade of good works and twisted words and fake causes; but they speak differently among themselves and in private. The groups wanting a revolution move like highly organized machines. They use deception as a tool for getting their way.
Many are the so-called “fact checkers” of social media; paid agents by a well-known reformed Nazi who decided that America would be easier prey than Germany. However; he is proud of his past life where he helped a greedy and insane government strip his fellow Jewish citizens of their prized possessions. Many would be embarrassed to admit it; but he thinks of those years as some of the best years of his life, and admits it publicly.
This wealthy man and his minions along with others who use their wealth for control; try to claim help for the oppressed; when they are actually the oppressors themselves; destroying years and years of good work and racial healing among people of the land; filling people’s previously renewed and changed minds with new forms of hatred, constantly carrying them back to the days of past hatred and violence that they had begun to forget and forgive. These so called “protests” NEVER leave peace; but they walk through our cities stirring up strife and discontent.
EVEN THE ELECT CAN BE DECEIVED
As Jesus promised would happen; even the elect are deceived.
The ignorance of some Christians begins to show as these trustingly join in with the people of these organizations who are pretending to do good in order to rape us of our heritage and freedom and family values. They trick people and use our own against us.
All the way back to the times of Deuteronomy Chapter Seven; God warned his followers not to make covenants with such people.
Our Heavenly Father commands us to steer our children away from their altars, sacred pillars and wooden images. Actually, most of their altars are their own causes. They ironically sacrifice all to defend them.
God was forming a new and holy nation from Israel. They were to be the pattern from which the Bride of Christ was cut The shadow of the things to come that would grow and build into a holy church.
Today; God is forming a perfect unblemished bride from the ashes of churches that have been shut down and destroyed for false and untrue reasons. What you do and the decisions you make now will determine your destiny with God. Like Moses and Abraham before us; we have all entered out times of testing. The weeds are being pulled from the chaft. The winnowing process is in motion. God wants to know who will be true and who will be a traitor to our causes.
And as we read this passage in Deuteronomy Seven we hear; “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh; King of Egypt.”
TO FOLLOW IS TO NOT LOOK BACK BUT TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD
Whether we think of Pharaoh and being redeemed from slavery; or King George and being redeemed from religious persecution; we must know and remember that if we belong to God; we are a chosen and called-out people. Like this generation of Israelites who have chosen to follow God no matter what; we too are a generation of those who have chosen to follow God and not look back.
Together; today’s true Christians will still serve the God who destroys the pagan altars and breaks down the enemies of true worship.
It doesn’t matter what place or time in history your story falls; if you are a child of God, you belong to His-Story. You are a part of the events on God’s timeline for mankind.
Your actions matter.
YOUR ACTIONS MATTER
Whether a child of God in the desert headed for Canaan and The Promised Land; or a child of God in America that has stood for God’s ways for over two hundred long years; obedience is the right action
We are called to a fight; a deep spiritual battle that could heal a physical land and a nation.
Our God who calls us all His special treasure will one day bring us out of this time. He will again redeem us from being in bondage to men who are greedy and hateful and selfish. He is a faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments. Read it straight from Deuteronomy Chapter Seven. It is there in black and white.
THE SILENT MAJORITY
There are still many men left who are followers of Christ; faithfully keeping God’s ways, praying, protecting, willing to give their lives if needed. You will not see them on the media; but they are there. I actually think they are the silent majority. All of these must rise together in every crucial moment that our future holds.
The most encouraging part of it all is that all we have to do is stand our ground.
Our part is simply to keep the faith.
He will fight for us.
This passage in Deuteronomy Chapter Seven tells us that He repays those who hate Him to their face. He will eventually destroy them. Our God will not be slack with those who dishonor him, or his people.
Moses simply reminds us; if we chose to keep obeying the commandments. God will do the rest. If we do this part and have faith; He will see us through. It was good news as the Israelites waited patiently in the valley below Moab; and it is good news for us living today.
THE BLESSINGS FROM OBEDIENCE
Verse twelve of Deuteronomy Chapter Seven speaks of the blessings that come from the obedience of God’s people; “because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks in the land which He swore to your father’s to give to you.“
Have you lost your business, your livelihood, your way to make ends meet during this pandemic?
Take heart God is here.
He sees you.
He delivered Israel from slavery and brought them to a land of plenty; He will not forsake His people this time either.
GOD NEVER FORSAKES THE RIGHTEOUS
God gave Israel the land of Canaan; The Promised Land.
Fast forward in time to us.
He has given us America!
When God’s people needed a place of liberty and freedom and a way to escape the chaos of too much government gone wrong; God gave them America.
Both sets of God’s people have been blessed beyond measure. Good and fruitful times have come from these amazing blessings; so very undeserved yet so very much appreciated.
WHERE THERE IS GOD; THERE IS HOPE
We can look down into scriptures and read the passage a little further to see hope again.
In verse 15 it says: “And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible disease of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.”
Does it feel to you that your life just doesn’t matter in the whole big picture and scheme of things?
You could not be more wrong.
Forget the hateful political movements of the day and talk to the God who sees you. He will bring you out of your troubles and to a better place.
Never put your trust in man; always trust God. He has all the power Men will always let you down.
THOSE WHO REJECT GOD WILL SUFFER
Have you noticed that when the plagues came to Egypt; only the pagan people of Egypt suffered? The Godly Israelites were disease free. This isn’t to say that all who have contacted COVID-19 are being punished by God; don’t misunderstand; we DO know that God blesses the good and the bad together; but in relation to our fear of this disease; could this same scenario happen again?
Could God save his people who are following Him with all of their hearts through very tough times of rampant disease once more?
Time will prove this out
Verse 16 says: “Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord Your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their god, for that will be a snare to you.
SUCH A TIME AS THIS
But we aren’t at war…..
No not yet; though we are a country divided. It is like a cold war.
Everyone sees this now.
I do not anticipate a physical battle here; but a battle at the poles Your vote will determine how you are fighting for The Kingdom of God in this world.
Some very prominent leaders would like to keep churches out of order and dysfunctional due to the fact that our views have become complete opposite of each other and they think if they can eliminate organized religion from our lives that we will cave and begin to forget our values and their ways and customs will seep right into our days; and we will forget about God and the part He plays in ruling over His people in this nation. They would love to silence the churches.
But; I know that God’s Holy Spirit is still hard at work in the hearts of God’s true people. There is still so much that we can do.
IF MOSES COULD SPEAK TODAY
Like Moses did in those days before God’s people walked on through their troubles straight into a great victory for their nation; I want to give some warnings; some things that you can do to prepare your hearts for the future.
God’s people of today will need to fight and stand strong. It will not be a physical battle; but one done on our knees declaring the sword (The Word of God) over our nation.
Every person who follows God will need to vote.
ALL VOTES MATTER.
To remain silent or turn away from voting in such a time as this is to deny your destiny. Your voice is your vote. Turn off those voices that deceive you. Quit listening to the media. Turn off the hate talk and the false-love talk. Seek God’s will and you will find it. Vote accordingly. Then live the life that you have voted for.
Remember that Christ is coming for us soon.
Prepare your heart by studying the word. If every bible in America gets burned; have those words burned inside your heart and into your brain. Teach them to your children as you go about your daily tasks.
Keep the Sabbath and fellowship with God and your love ones.
Show love and compassion in a quiet and humble way to those of us who have been left in need. Be kind to strangers and even your enemies; let God show you how.
MAKE GOD-CENTERED CHANGES
If a change is what people want; let’s give them one that is God-centered.
Pray for our leaders and back those who stand up for God’s ways.
Chapter 7 of Deuteronomy speaks of how God accomplishes his purposes with Israel “little-by-little.” This means one small victory at a time. This was for their own good; because if God had wiped out everyone who was an enemy at once; the wild beasts of the fields around the Promised Land would have overcome the people. Their enemies became a human shield until the dangers passed.
Little by little we can replace the human cancers that have ruined our government. We can elect new people. There are new laws that can be passed and wrong laws that can be ruled out.
Sometimes we can only take baby-steps in the right direction; but let us not forget to do this. It is critical and timely.
Walk like a child; trust like a child, love like a child.
God will do all the rest.
Trust Him.