The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Deuteronomy 3:2b,
"Do to him [Og, king of Bashan] what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
Here Moses recounts when God told him to annihilate Bashan, just as he had the Amorites. The Lord used Israel at this time (and it was a limited time in Israel's history), to destroy the nations of the promised land because those nations had deteriorated to such a level of wickedness the Lord determined to eradicate them from the face of the earth in a divine genoicide.
We read in Deuteronomy 9:5, "It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
This act of Lord was nothing new. Recall the flood of Noah's day was for precisely the same thing. Then, it was not just several nations but all people, save Noah and his family. We read in Genesis 6:5-7, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.'" And wipe them out he did!
There is a level of depravity the Lord is unwilling to allow to fester. All mankind exists in some form or state of sinful condition since man's fall in the garden, but there is a measure at which the Lord will not allow it to continue. Don't ever let anyone tell you that any culture or society is as equally appropriate as any other. That is simply a lie.
"Do to him [Og, king of Bashan] what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
Here Moses recounts when God told him to annihilate Bashan, just as he had the Amorites. The Lord used Israel at this time (and it was a limited time in Israel's history), to destroy the nations of the promised land because those nations had deteriorated to such a level of wickedness the Lord determined to eradicate them from the face of the earth in a divine genoicide.
We read in Deuteronomy 9:5, "It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
This act of Lord was nothing new. Recall the flood of Noah's day was for precisely the same thing. Then, it was not just several nations but all people, save Noah and his family. We read in Genesis 6:5-7, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.'" And wipe them out he did!
There is a level of depravity the Lord is unwilling to allow to fester. All mankind exists in some form or state of sinful condition since man's fall in the garden, but there is a measure at which the Lord will not allow it to continue. Don't ever let anyone tell you that any culture or society is as equally appropriate as any other. That is simply a lie.
Where do we, as Americans, stand in this measure of things? I think it bears sober consideration. The slaughter of millions of babies while still in their mother's wombs does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The rejection of God as our creator as expressed in the "gender identity" flight from reality, as well as the insistence we all play along, does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The depravity and debauchery expressed in homosexuality and sexual immorality does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. The outright rejection of God in our schools and the public square, the banning of God's word, and the purging of all things God by our society does not bode well for us before a holy and righteous God. And to think that these things embraced becomes the "moral high ground", that very much does not bode well for us.
When God removes an entire nation from the face of the earth, who gets impacted? Think about it!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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