ugmug
Member
The Last Days Will Be Full of Coercion
Recently I attended a church service where the pastor brought up the subject of slavery. He rightly said that the newly freed Israelite slaves did not arrive at the promised land in one huge leap, but through a series of small journeys. He also said that when they all arrived at the 'promised land' God did not just 'open the door' for them but told them to go and possess the land, meaning that one must avail themselves to every opportunity God presents to us or else we all will wander through the desert aimlessly for years.
The one important point this pastor left out was the intervening stop in their journey to pick up God's Ten Commandments, meaning the two tablets of stone that were eventually placed in the Ark of the Covenant. One must remember that these newly freed slaves waited impatiently as Moses went up into the mountain to receive God's commandments to ensure that 'God's people', whom God brought out of slavery to worship him, didn't just become another carbon copy of the hedonistic Egyptians left behind back in Egypt. But many did!
When Moses returned down from the mountain with the tablets of stone, bearing God's commandments, he found the freed Israelite slaves indulging in every evil imaginable. When God judged the sin of the hedonistic practices of those wayward participants he wasn't just judging their evil self indulgent conduct, but also their forced coercion of others who tried to resist all of the sinful practices. A sinful person becomes an evil person when they willingly promote the evil that they are practicing.
If anything of value about the story of the 10 Commandments is to be learned, and must be learned, it is that God deals severely with harsh judgment towards anyone who promotes evil and all of its seemingly harmless manifestations. Many people today act like the freed Israelite slaves and think that they are now entitled to be led straight to the 'Promised Land' by God without first picking up God's 10 Commandments that will guide one's conduct in that 'Promised Land' !
God freed the Israelites so they could worship him, not to become entangled in the same sinful practices of those who enslaved them. Many people believe that going to church for one day will cancel out all of their sinful conduct practiced on the other 6 days (six day sinner - one day saint syndrome). But noticed that evil is never practiced alone. Every time God judges mankind he judges them for trying to ensnare others in their sin. Take for example Sodom and Gomorrah where the visiting Angels were accosted by all the inhabitants to get them to participate in their sin. And with the 10 Commandments the freed slaves coerced all the others into participating in their sin for which God brought harsh judgment upon them.
Ultimately God sent his own son Jesus Christ to become a man to bear the harsh judgment of God's righteousness that all of our sin demanded. Jesus didn't coerce people into sin like Satan did in the Garden of Eden but instead implored people to reject the sinful practices of others and return to a Holy fellowship with God that will indeed lead to the true 'Promised Land' with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit in heaven forever. Accept Jesus Christ as your savior and gain the peace of God's forgiveness and truly step foot in the 'Promised Land' teeming with green pastures flowing with milk and honey!
God Bless
note:
It is interesting that as we enter mankind's last days you find people eagerly coercing others to join them in their sinful practices just like the freed Israelite slaves did impatiently waiting for Moses to return from up high upon the mountain of God. (hint: as we now wait for the return of Jesus Christ!)
Look at any inner city and you'll see the desolation wrought by those who willingly coerce others into the sinful pleasures of evil. Not only are whole neighborhoods desolated by the coercion of sin but now it is extended to television, movies, concerts, politics, etc, where those who practice sin feel compelled to coerce others into practicing evil as well.
It is no coincidence that governments, politicians, and organized groups are becoming more coercive in demanding that everyone accept sinful practices that mock and defy basic biblical tenets, especially those concerning morality.
When man sinned God provided a remedy for restoring the sinner through a belief in his son Jesus Christ. But when a sinner seeks out others to join him in his sin using deceptive and/or forceful coercion, like Satan did to Eve and subsequently Eve did to Adam, then God will bring judgment upon them all.
We truly are in the 'last days'...............
Recently I attended a church service where the pastor brought up the subject of slavery. He rightly said that the newly freed Israelite slaves did not arrive at the promised land in one huge leap, but through a series of small journeys. He also said that when they all arrived at the 'promised land' God did not just 'open the door' for them but told them to go and possess the land, meaning that one must avail themselves to every opportunity God presents to us or else we all will wander through the desert aimlessly for years.
The one important point this pastor left out was the intervening stop in their journey to pick up God's Ten Commandments, meaning the two tablets of stone that were eventually placed in the Ark of the Covenant. One must remember that these newly freed slaves waited impatiently as Moses went up into the mountain to receive God's commandments to ensure that 'God's people', whom God brought out of slavery to worship him, didn't just become another carbon copy of the hedonistic Egyptians left behind back in Egypt. But many did!
When Moses returned down from the mountain with the tablets of stone, bearing God's commandments, he found the freed Israelite slaves indulging in every evil imaginable. When God judged the sin of the hedonistic practices of those wayward participants he wasn't just judging their evil self indulgent conduct, but also their forced coercion of others who tried to resist all of the sinful practices. A sinful person becomes an evil person when they willingly promote the evil that they are practicing.
If anything of value about the story of the 10 Commandments is to be learned, and must be learned, it is that God deals severely with harsh judgment towards anyone who promotes evil and all of its seemingly harmless manifestations. Many people today act like the freed Israelite slaves and think that they are now entitled to be led straight to the 'Promised Land' by God without first picking up God's 10 Commandments that will guide one's conduct in that 'Promised Land' !
God freed the Israelites so they could worship him, not to become entangled in the same sinful practices of those who enslaved them. Many people believe that going to church for one day will cancel out all of their sinful conduct practiced on the other 6 days (six day sinner - one day saint syndrome). But noticed that evil is never practiced alone. Every time God judges mankind he judges them for trying to ensnare others in their sin. Take for example Sodom and Gomorrah where the visiting Angels were accosted by all the inhabitants to get them to participate in their sin. And with the 10 Commandments the freed slaves coerced all the others into participating in their sin for which God brought harsh judgment upon them.
Ultimately God sent his own son Jesus Christ to become a man to bear the harsh judgment of God's righteousness that all of our sin demanded. Jesus didn't coerce people into sin like Satan did in the Garden of Eden but instead implored people to reject the sinful practices of others and return to a Holy fellowship with God that will indeed lead to the true 'Promised Land' with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit in heaven forever. Accept Jesus Christ as your savior and gain the peace of God's forgiveness and truly step foot in the 'Promised Land' teeming with green pastures flowing with milk and honey!
God Bless
note:
It is interesting that as we enter mankind's last days you find people eagerly coercing others to join them in their sinful practices just like the freed Israelite slaves did impatiently waiting for Moses to return from up high upon the mountain of God. (hint: as we now wait for the return of Jesus Christ!)
Look at any inner city and you'll see the desolation wrought by those who willingly coerce others into the sinful pleasures of evil. Not only are whole neighborhoods desolated by the coercion of sin but now it is extended to television, movies, concerts, politics, etc, where those who practice sin feel compelled to coerce others into practicing evil as well.
It is no coincidence that governments, politicians, and organized groups are becoming more coercive in demanding that everyone accept sinful practices that mock and defy basic biblical tenets, especially those concerning morality.
When man sinned God provided a remedy for restoring the sinner through a belief in his son Jesus Christ. But when a sinner seeks out others to join him in his sin using deceptive and/or forceful coercion, like Satan did to Eve and subsequently Eve did to Adam, then God will bring judgment upon them all.
We truly are in the 'last days'...............
