07/30/2008
Leviticus 26:3 - 6 (HCSB) 3“If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands, 4I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land. 6I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten ëyouû. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.
Leviticus 26:14 - 16 (HCSB) 14“But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands— 15if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands—and break My covenant, 16then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
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The events of September 11, 2001 were a grim reminder of the reality of our world. Many philosophers and theologians tried to demonstrate that the tragedy was the fulfillment of some ancient prophecy. I did not find any of their arguments convincing, yet, the truth remained that people began to be suspicious. When going to a grocery store, we seemed to look over our shoulders more. When going to a sporting event, police and security scanned the crowd for weapons. Our airports became a congested mess as security officials attempted to detect any threat. Even at church, we do not feel secure.
The verses above are not prophetic in the sense that they speak of a specific event; however, they do speak of a genuine principal. God had given the Israelites specific commands on how they should conduct their lives and how they should revere Him. God is a holy God and demands holiness from us. From this, He has made two promises: If you live holy before me, you will have what you need and sleep without fear of enemies. But, if you turn from holiness, His presence will be removed and you will find yourself terrorized and dealing with disease.
Now, let me point out that every mishap and every disease is not necessarily a punishment from God. Remember the blind man that Jesus healed; when asked whose sin caused his blindness, Jesus replied: “Neither his sin nor his parents’ sin has caused this, but he was blind so that the glory of God could be revealed.”
But, I do believe that we live in a society today that, in general, is in fear of terrorist attacks and horrific diseases because we have turned away from God. As a nation, we are ignoring the principals of holiness in favor of a humanist doctrine. The voices of Christians are being suppressed as intolerant while those living in sin flaunt their depravity.
How long can we expect to live secure and healthy lives when we allow these things to continue?
There are two things we must do: First, we must endeavor to keep our lives holy before God. And second, we must not allow ourselves to be silenced when we advocate holiness as a society.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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