It becomes an exhausting read; the account of Israel’s unfaithfulness and love affairs with gods of stone that are the craftsmanship of the imaginations of men. God’s WORD, does not try to cover Israel’s sin because God married the nation as His bride; she clearly, “whored after the Baals and Baal-berith their god.” These creations of men, required the sacrifices of babies and young children by throwing them into fire pits, an act that should have been as abominable in their eyes as it was in God’s eyes.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, my LORD, thank you for choosing me and filling me with your WORD and giving me a heart to respect you. I praise your Holy name Jesus and give you all reverence. Keep me in your arms
Judges 8:33-35 ESV As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. (34) And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, (35) and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
Our world is the same today. As a college administrator in the 1980s, many of my colleagues were full professors who had earned at least one doctorate degree or more. There was a common joke that Ph.D. stood for; piled higher and deeper. Sometimes their knowledge seemed so disconnected with the real world; it was just so much more manure, piled higher. Not all, but a significant number lacked “common sense,” a now obsolete term, because if it once existed, it does not today. Another joke was that professor’s worn slip on shoes, because they didn’t know how to tie laces. This was my world; working in academia. This was the tendency: the higher the education, the less respect and reverence for God and in fact, the intellectual mind says, “There is no God.” Intellectualism; becomes the love of one’s own acquired knowledge and love for self above all others, even God. Few of my colleagues even believed that God even exists.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The Bible says that we need the “Fear of the LORD.” Is God looking for us to be afraid of Him? How can we love Him if we are supposed to be afraid of Him? The word fear is translated from the Hebrew word, yir'âh; which means reverence or respect. Our children today are being brought up with little to no respect by parents who were never taught reverence and respect. My generation was the last to be taught respect. It was respect that taught me to arise in the presence of my elders and to take my hat off upon entering a house, public buildings, especially schools and seats of government. These little disciplines are found in Good’s WORD.
Leviticus 19:32 ESV "You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.”
Proverbs 1:7 ESV The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:29-33 ESV Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, (30) would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, (31) therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. (32) For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; (33) but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."
Proverbs 2:1-8 ESV My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, (2) making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; (3) yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, (4) if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, (5) then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. (6) For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; (7) he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, (8) guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
Proverbs 9:10-12 ESV The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (11) For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. (12) If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
Isaiah 11:2-4 ESV And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. (3) And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, (4) but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Israel did not fear God. The result was a cycle of whoring after Baal; reaping the curse of being apart from God; pain and suffering that made them cry out to the LORD; being rescued by the man of God, a judge sent by the LORD; victory and restoration and then the cycle began all over again.
The murmurings of Israel in the wilderness were replaced by the whoring after pagan gods in the Promised Land. When God came to His people Israel in the New Testament as Jesus Christ; they hate Him and despise Him and kill Him. Jesus came for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. Yet even today, the world despises Him. World population going into 2011 was just under 7 Billion people. It is estimated that 2.1 billion of the world population are professing Christians. But that is like saying that Israel professed the LORD and then worshipped Baal. They were Jew in name only. But let’s not judge any one. Approximately 30% of the world; profess to be Christian. There have lived on earth an estimated 110 billion people since man was created. The percentage of God professing people has probably been the same down through the ages (30%); those who have lived their faith; are most likely a fraction of that. God has been dealing with the rebellion of man on a very large scale. There has always been a witness to proclaim God. Man has always had the choice to choose the LORD. We have that same choice today. Many have been called, but few answer to become the chosen. The stakes are very high!
Matthew 22:2-14 ESV "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, (3) and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. (4) Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.' (5) But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, (6) while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. (7) The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. (8) Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. (9) Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' (10) And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. (11) "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. (12) And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. (13) Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (14) For many are called, but few are chosen."
Copyright © 2006, 2011 Thomas C. Blake
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