Greetings in the Name of Jesus the Christ. Grace and peace to all in the Forum. Special greetings to the Forum Owner and Admistration for creating this forum and allowing me to become part of this Community....I go by the name of "Chopper" probably because of my motorcycle background....I honor Jesus Christ Who saved me at the age of 34. I have been a Baptist Pastor/teacher for 38 years now, although ritired from the full time ministry at the age of 73, I still remain active in teaching the Scriptures and counselling various people in various situations....I have a question for the Forum. I spend a lot of time each day studying the Old Testament. I have been deeply grieved for Elohim (the Name of the triune God) because of the rebellion of the Nation of Israel, especially in the Words of the Prophets. I have discovered 4 areas of sin that led to their rebellion. 1. They married foreign wives. 2. They did not have the Holy Spirit's indwelling. 3. They did not make it a practice of praising God daily for His great deliverances. 4. # 1,2,3 produced a stiffnecked people who would not listen to God. I hope you Old Testament students would let me know if you can think of other reasons for their rebellion. Thank you so much.
Hello Chopper. I hope you do not mind some interpersonal questions. I am curious do you still ride a motorcycle at 73 years of age?
Concerning your questions concerning the reasons for Israels rebellion, and a few other miscellaneous comments.
1--You mention the marrying of foreign wives, that would be a reason, but it is also a symptom of their rebellion.
2-- You mention that they did not have the indwelling of the HS. There is a lot of biblical theology packed into such a short statement. It raises the question of Pentecost and exactly what happened on the day of Pentacost. John the Baptist said that there is one coming who is mightier than I, and he will baptize your with the Holy Spirit and fire. Christ fulfilled those prophecies on the day of Pentacost. This is such a huge subject, that it should have its own thread. Yet there were obviously Spirit filled individuals in the OT. David begged that God would take not his Spirit from him. There were some sort of HS ministries in the OT, and exactly what occurred at Pentecost has different explainations by charismatics and cessationists.
3-- They did not praise God.
4-- They were stiff necked.
Of course in my opinion, #4 is the key. It explains all. The question is why was Israel stiff necked? I would like to elaborate here. In Deuteronomy 29:
2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
3 the great trials which thine eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders:
4 but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Notice verse 4. There is a reason that the Jews were stiff necked. God did not give them the heart to be obedient.
This is later confirmed by Isaiah in chapter 6
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they sea with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,
The message or the oracles of God were to go forth through the prophets, but the people would not hear. Miracles would be preformed, but the people could not see the truth. The most important part is in verse 10, hey could not understand with their heart. The heart terminology is the same in Deuteronomy 29:4. There they could not know with their heart, in Isaiah they could not understand with their heart.
How could the people of Israel be anything other than stiff necked? If Deuteronomy 29:4 says that God did not give them a heart to know, their rebellion was only natural. If you go back to Genesis 6:5
5 And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Here you can see that the wickedness of man was so great that his heart was "only evil continually."
The truth of it is that ever since the fall of Adam, there has always been a heart problem with man. Rebellion is our natural state. This is confirmed by so many other scriptures, but I will not labor the point. Man, in his natural state, has nothing good in his heart.
There is no answer to the problem. We have no ability to change our nature. We have no ability to leave our rebellion. Yet God is greater and more glorious than even our sin and rebellion. If you go back to Deuteronomy 29:4, you will see that the answer is in the very next chapter, Deuteronomy 30:6.
6 And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
The ability for righteousness all lies with God. His ability of righteousness is so great, he can change the heart of man.
One of the things that amazes me is how we wiggle and squirm at the righteous actions of God. We work so hard to claim this work for ourselves. Please pay close attention to the words "God will." It does not say we change our own hearts, but "God will circumcise thy heart."
As to your question, why did Israel disobey.... They disobeyed because disobedience and hardness of heart is natural to the entire human race including the Jew. But God will circumcise their hearts. The question is when will he do this. As later as the days of Jeremiah, God was still promising to change their hearts. Jeremiah writes in chapter 31...
"
31 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."
Notice the continued promise to change their heart. This promise is not like the former covenant when God took them out of Egypt, but it is a later more fuller covenantal promise that he will "circumcise their heart." Why did Israel not obey, they did not obey because they could not obey.
Some things never change and this is one of them. In John 6:44 notice how Jesus speaks of the incapability of the Jews to come to Christ, the messiah.
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No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day.
In the words "No man
can" speak of ability. The greek word behind the word "can" in this passage is dunamis. That word speaks of ability. Since the fall of Adam, rebellion has been a part of our nature and we cannot come to Christ. But thanks be to God that he changes hearts, or circumcises hearts, or gives us a new heart. He takes away the heart of Stone and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26). Without this work of God, even we would yet be in our rebellion. Why did the Jews rebel? It was for the same reason the rest of the world rebels, sin is our master until Christ breaks the power of sin. We have no power in us to stop our rebellion, so we get no glory. To him be all glory.
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