7.21.25 ~ He Gives Accordingly

Good morning!

Part of this past Torah portion, Pinchas (Num. 25-29:1) is remembered in Deuteronomy 4:1-4.


Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor: for all the men that followed Baal Peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.


But ye that did clingdabeq unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. (Deut. 4:4)


These individuals that clung/dabeq to the Lord were living out Deuteronomy 4:2.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. (Deut. 4:2)


It's obvious  that hey remembered the terms of the covenant that were vowed at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:6-8; 24:3,7); reemphasized in this week's Torah portion: Matot (Num. 30:2-32:42). Those 24,000 individuals that died at Baal Peor experienced the strict side of God's law/Torah.  Ezekiel 20:25-26 makes a bold statement about the Torah.


Wherefore I gave them also statutes/chok that were not good/lo tov and judgments whereby they should not live  andI polluted them in their own gifts,in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD. (Eze. 20:25,26)

God tells Israel through his prophet Ezekiel that He deliberately gave the people an evil Torah, a Torah designed to lead them astray and to destroy them.  How can this be? You might want to read these verses again, and for the serious student read all of Ezekiel 20 to see why the Lord did what He did.


If God is really the sustainer of all creation, and He is, then He is responsible for everything that happens, and in this case, He is ultimately responsible for the perverse choices Israel makes.  That doesn’t mean He is guilty of their poor choices, it just means that the very existence of Israel is God-dependent.  In other words, if a man desires to do God’s will, God will assist him, but if he desires to be disobedient, God allows the path that will separate him (Lev. 26:18-28 the scariest verses in the bible).  If Israel stubbornly clings/dabeq to pagan abominations, God will compound the guilt of the people by encouraging them to persist in their waywardness. Yikes!


Let that sink in.  It should scare us to death or empower us to live!  Do you think we’ve reached the point of disobedience and disregard for God’s ways where He has decided to give us false instruction so that we will come to destruction more quickly?  Do you think that He simply ignores that “womb-breach” of millions and just lets our world continue without consequence?  Do you think that two thousand years of replacement theology and Torah abandonment have no consequences?  What if Ezekiel is right?  What if God has already sent us down the wrong path (2 Thess. 2:10-13)?


And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess. 2:10-13)


I wonder if we blindly ignore this fact when we read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, and the rest of those dusty 'boys' from the TaNaKh (misappropriately named the Old Testament).  We’re happy to hear the beauty and comfort of the Psalms,  but are we shocked from our stupor when we listen to Ezekiel’s theological thunderbolt?  We love the Messianic prophecies.  They make us feel safe in our beliefs, but what do we do with God’s declaration here?  Do we slide over it with the excuse that it was just for God's people before the Exile?  Or do we hear the alarm clock ringing or the shofar blowing, "wake up from the dead and Christ will give you light" (Eph. 5:14)?


Today is the 1at day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil; a count that deals with intimate covenant  relationship (Rom. 11).  With each 50 day count the Lord is emphasizing an agricultural growth process in each one of His family members. to be celebrated at Sukkot (Num. 18:12; Deut. 7:13; 11:14; 12:17; etc.).


Let's produce some delicious olives by keeping our covenantal vows.


Shalom,

Alan

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