Israel's Disobedience
We are going to study how Israel reacted on Yahweh and the old covenant. We know the old covenant as the 10 commandments. We know the old covenant very well. So I am not repeating it today. Let us read
Deuteronomy 5:1-3
Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. Yahweh, the Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today.
Exodus 24:3
Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh, the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”
Bravely did Israel speak the words promising obedience to the Lord, after hearing His covenant read in the audience of the people. They said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient". Then the people were set apart and sealed to God. A sacrifice was offered to the Lord. A portion of the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar.
This signified that the people had consecrated themselves--body, mind, and soul--to Yahweh. And Yahweh would bless them because of their obedience as we read in:
Deuteronomy 28:1-6
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
But Yahweh told them also the consequences of disobedience. Let us read:
Deuteronomy 28:15-24
“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
You can say that Israel was warned. They knew about the blessings and the curses. But when you study the old Testament very well, you discover that it is a chronicle of Israel’s repeated failure to obey Yahweh and you can read of its refusal to keep His commandments and statutes.
Yahweh sent messengers again and again to warn them. He was very patient with them because He loved Israel and His dwelling place. We can read in 2 Chronicles 36 what the consequences were because of the disobedience of Israel.
2 Chronicles 36:14-16
Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of Yahweh despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.
A lot of followers of Yeshua think that they are obeying better then Israel. But this isn’t true. If we were really better, then Yeshua didn’t have to die on the cross for our sins. We are not serving other gods? Really? Are you sure about this? We have are own modern religions and gods. Humanism, yoga, new age, pop stars, Hollywood, yin-yang, superman, computer games, TV, magic, money. As long as we love what is in the world, we’re not living a holy life. And we’re doing exactly the same as Israel was doing. We’re going to read a little more to see what happened with Israel.
Chronicles 36:17-20
Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,
Israel wasn’t blessed anymore but they were punished for their sins. The same will happen to us when we don’t start to live holy. For some reason we as human beings are always attracted to things that Yahweh doesn’t approve. We can’t resist the seducing forces. We are not capable to do Yahweh’s Will.
That’s why Yeshua had to die on the cross. That’s why the new covenant was necessary. Without Yahweh’s help and Yeshua’s help we would be hopeless. We would end in hell.
But we’re very thankful for the forgiveness of Yahweh, the restored relationship with Yahweh, the new life we got because we’re born again. The new heart Yahweh gave us and the new spirit. We are thankful for the Holy Spirit. There’s so much to be thankful for.
And we pray that one day Israel will also be forgiven and that Yahweh take the covering away from them so that they can see and hear again. That Yahweh will gather them from every corner of the world. That Yahweh make one nation of them. And that they will accept Yeshua as their Messiah. So that they will know peace too. Because Yahweh loves them and doesn’t forget them.
Let the Will of Yahweh be done in the name of Yeshua.
Amen.