Never worship in the way that it’s being done here today, where everyone does whatever he considers right. Deu. 12:8 GW

In those days, Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right. Judges 21:25 GW

               During my morning Bible reading in Deuteronomy, I noticed this verse. Moses is giving instructions, reminders, and warnings to the generation that will enter the Promised Land. God’s people will serve as His agents of judgment on these nations that have been living idolatrous and vile lives.

               This promise to Abraham provided insight into the Lord’s patience and His holding nations and peoples accountable for their sins and actions.

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Gen. 15:13-16

               The Lord God is not just the God of a nation or people. He is the God of the universe and world, even if He is not recognized as such. We see this when Jonah went to Ninevah and the entire capital city of this nation repented and stayed God’s judgement at that time. Even though they were Israel’s enemies.

               Moses’ basic commands from the Lord to God’s people were, “don’t live like the nations that you will conquer and replace.” Yet we see that God’s people did not follow the Lord wholeheartedly in future generations. They were warned against idolatry, but they became idol worshipers. They were warned about the sinful behavior of the nations, but they followed that sinful behavior. In the end, the Lord expelled them from the land, just as the Lord had said He would.

               Yet in the Lord’s discipline of His people, He allowed them to return from their captivity in Babylon. This shows that the Lord is faithful to hold people accountable yet provides for restoration.

               We see the ultimate path of restoration in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  2 Cor. 5:21

               John the apostle, like Moses of old, provides a warning to us today. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:15,6 NKJV

               When we live or desire that which is of the world and act and follow the world’s priorities and practices, we are like the Children of Israel who refused to follow God’s instructions on how to live a prosperous and fulfilling life.

               This is an ongoing challenge. Yet when the Holy Spirit convicts us, we find that God is ready to forgive and restore. When we ignore those promptings, we will continue to spiral down into a miserable existence.