Obedience - Disobedience - Judgement
Notes
Transcript
This week we are going to look at the Torah portions in reverse order so that we can spend some time reviewing the verses in Exodus.
Prayer
So we will start with the New testament portion (Brit Hadasha)
side note — did you ever wonder where the term Brit Hadasha comes from Look at Jeremiah 31:31
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
The “new covenant” if you look in your interlinear translates as Chadasha Brit. Outside of the Jewish world this is the most read collections of writings in the world. And it was prophesied by Jeremiah.
The Brit Hadasha this week is.
17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
We will see in this weeks Torah portion the hardening of Pharaohs heart.
Reading from the Prophets:
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”
11 Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.
12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 The Lord also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
But the Lord will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.
17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
18 And it will come to pass in that day
That the mountains shall drip with new wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;
A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of Acacias.
19 “Egypt shall be a desolation,
And Edom a desolate wilderness,
Because of violence against the people of Judah,
For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall abide forever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted;
For the Lord dwells in Zion.
Here we see Egypt shall be a desolation. After the Israelites leave and plunder Egypt they never again obtained the power that they once had.
On to the Torah Portion for this week:
We will set the stage by staring at :
14 So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”
This set of passages on the first plague can be divided into three parts.
Gods instructions to Moses and Aaron. They were to meet Pharaoh when he went out to visit the Nile. The Nile regarded as a god was considered the source of Egypts livelihood. When the Nile flooded its banks in July and August it inundated the soil, thus making it possible for the people to grow bountiful crops. They considered the Nile to be the sacred bloodstream of the god Osiris, who was the ruler of the realm of the dead in the mysterious region below the western horizon. Sothis, Hapi, Isis , Khnum and others were the gods of the Nile and watched over it and protected it. It is speculated that maybe Moses and Aaron interrupted one of the ceremonies to these gods. When God turned the Nile into blood and filled it with death, He was actually showing the Egyptians His power over all their gods and that He alone was God.
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Here we come to part 2: Obedience
Moses and Aaron followed the Heavenly Fathers instructions obediently. The result was a miracle through Moses and Aaron, the Nile river turns to blood.
Think how this must of affected the inhabitants of Egypt. There was disappointment and disgust throughout the land. The immense scale on which the plague was inflicted is seen by its extending to “the streams,” or branches of the Nile—to the “rivers,” the canals, the “ponds” and “pools,” that which is left after an overflow, the reservoirs, and the many domestic vessels in which the Nile water was kept. The great expanse of the blood rules out any natural condition or disaster causing the blood. (Red Tide) This first plague can only be attributed to the Heavenly Father.
All the fish of the river died and the river stank. Fish which formed such a large item of food for the Egyptians were gone. Remember
5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
The Israelites yearned for the fish of the Nile while in the wilderness.
Since the Nile was so vital to Egypt’s agriculture and economy, this miracle was alarming. Many ancient cultures had great reverence for the rivers that watered their lands and were literally the lifeblood of their nations—their source of life. It was the same with the Egyptians. The suffering of the people from the lack of water and fish must have been severe.
At this time the Israelites were also affected by this plague, it wasn't till later that they were excluded from the plagues. It wasn't until the fourth plague when they were excluded.
Remember this plague lasted 7 days. Nothing could more humble the pride of Egypt than this dishonor brought on their national god and on Pharaoh. We need to remember Pharaoh was thought of as a god.
Lets continue on:
22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
Part 3- Disobedience of Pharaoh
The magicians also turned water to blood with their enchantments. Because of this Pharaoh hardened his heart. But if you think about this, they could not turn the blood of the rivers back to water. An interesting note, the word used here for magician (khar-tome) is only used, except with one exception in Daniel 2:2, when speaking of Egyptian magicians. This goes back to Genesis when Joseph was interpreting the dreams for the Pharaoh into Exodus, when confronting Moses and Aaron. This suggest an Egyptian origin for the word, which is derived from “one possessed of occult knowledge, diviner, astrologer, magician.
The hardening of Pharaohs heart was his choice. It does not say that the Heavenly Father hardened Pharaohs heart as in the past.
3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
In this plague and many others we will see the phrase : “as the Lord had said”. This shows that the Heavenly Father had fore knowledge of what Pharaoh will do.
Why was the first plague was blood. Blood is related to redemption as in the sacrifices in the temple, the blood on the lintel and door posts at passover and as in the Blood of the Lamb Yeshua. Pharaoh had no repentance in his heart.
But blood in this context is an impurity to signify that Pharaoh by his resistance and rebellion was bringing impurity on Egypt. Impurity is an invitation for judgement, when we think things, say things , or do things that are impure, we are inviting judgement and correction from the Heavenly Father. The resulting plagues are a result of Pharaohs rebellion and invited judgement on the Egyptians.
Hard Heart
lets look at this term “Hard Heart:” Just what is a “Hard Heart” ?
You have a hard heart when you ignore, spurn or reject the offer of the Heavenly Father to be part of His life. A person with a hardened heart cannot see the Heavenly Father working in their situation. A harden heart causes us to be insensitive to the movement of the Heavenly Father in our lives and the lack of compassion to other people.
Yeshua explains this in the parable of the sower, who sows the Gospel seeds on four types of soil, the hard road, the thin soil over the rocky layer, the soil infested with thorns and the good soil. A harden heart is the thin soil over the rocky layer. We sprout and grow and then fall away.
16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
This is what we see in Pharaoh and sometimes in our selves, there is no solid root in the words (scriptures) and works of the Heavenly Father. Our heart is weighed down by the things of this world.
We must be molded by the purpose of the Heavenly Father and submit to the truth of the Heavenly Father not the truths of the world.
We also see hardening of the heart when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness we see this addressed in :
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
“as in the rebellion” just as Pharaoh are we in rebellion? Do we question the goals and workings of the Heavenly Father. Are we allowing The Heavenly father to work in our lives? Am I behaving in accordance to the Heavenly Fathers expectations? Or is my heart hardened by the things of the world?
Pharaohs focus was on the world and his vision for the world. Don’t be lead by your vision of the world but our vision should be on the cross and the Heavenly Fathers vision.
You know there is a word for this obedience! We need to be obedient to the instructions of the Heavenly Father just as Moses and Aaron were in the deliverance of the plagues on Egypt.
To avoid hardness of heart, we must submit our hearts to the Fathers Word and the Fathers ways, especially in times of trial.
How do we do this?
1. Submit to the Fathers authority through His inspired word. Just as Lex stressed of the inspired word last week.
What the scriptures says, the Heavenly Father is saying to us now. This is our operations manual, we must learn from the scriptural stories how to avoid the sins of those who lived before us.
As Paul reminds us:
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
2. We must make sure our hearts are in alignment with the Fathers. This means we must have a relationship with the Father. Our heart shows the depth of our relationship.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Be in prayer, be in the word follow the Holy Spirit , these are heart building exercises we should be performing daily. The only way we come to know the Fathers ways, are as He revealed them in scripture, search scripture to find His ways.
3. We must recognize and submit to the Fathers ways
We cannot plead ignorance. Its all here(scriptures) it is our responsibility to search out the answers here.
Listen closely to the following verses:
20 Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
21 She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”
If we neglect wisdom when we have opportunity to learn it, we will be overwhelmed when trials and tribulations come our way
We hear about all the prepping for coming days and such, the place we need to be prepping is right here (scriptures). The words here will sustain us through all things.
OK, back to the Torah portion, sorry for the detour.
We will pick back up in 8:1 — Frogs the second plague
First we have the instructions:
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. 3 So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”
The Egyptians regarded frogs as having divine power. In the Egyptian pantheon the goddess Heqet had the form of a woman with a frog’s head. From her nostrils, it was believed, came the breath of life that animated the bodies of those created by her husband, the great god Khnum. Therefore frogs were not to be killed.
The Heavenly father said He would cause another of their deities to be a curse to them, not a help. These sacred animals would multiply and infiltrate people’s bedrooms. This is ironic since the frog-goddess Heqet was believed to help women in childbirth. Here the frogs entered people’s kitchens and even crawled on the people themselves. The frog, which was now used as an instrument of affliction.
Then Obedience
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
The frogs would normally stay near the Nile but now they left the Nile, invading the houses , courtyards, and fields. Here again this is not a natural occurrence but was by the hand of the Father.
We also see that the Pharaohs magicians could raise up frogs but again they could not return them back to the Nile. Pharaoh has no confidence in the magicians’ ability to stop the plague, despite their ability to imitate it.
To continue on:
The Disobedience
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”
10 So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. 13 So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
Think how this must have looked to the Egyptians. Not only was there a stink over the land again but a symbol of one of their gods which they were not to kill, were dead over all the land.
We see an interesting turn of events with this plague. We see a progression in Pharaohs knowledge of the Heavenly Father. He goes from
2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
Proclaiming no knowledge of the Father or what he can do.
Too
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
Where Pharoah asks Moses to entreat (pray) to the Father for relief from the frogs. As we go further in the plagues we will see this knowledge of the father grow in Pharaoh. Pharaoh acknowledges the ability of Moses to mediate with the Father for the restoration of normal conditions within Egypt. Not only that but the Text says “entreat to the LORD”, uppercase LORD meaning Yahweh. His request suggests that he knows that Yahweh is behind all that has befallen Egypt. Pharaoh is growing in the understanding of the faith and people of the Lord.
Moses even give Pharoah a choice as to when the Frogs will go away, further showing the power and authority of the Father. Here again no natural occurence can remove the frogs at a specific day or time only the Heavenly Father can act in such a manner.
What does Pharoah say “tomorrow” . What is this about? Pharoah thought he could trick Moses. He thought Moses would think that Pharoah would say now and that Moses had prior knowledge that the frogs were already receding but they were not. This is a key verse in this whole series. Pharaoh will now know that there is only one true God.
This also demonstrates that mere knowledge does not result in repentance or true humility before the Father. Pharoah asks for signs to prove the Fathers power, through Moses and Aaron, the Father produces 11 wonders , yet even after seeing these proofs Pharaohs knowledge does not lead him to believe.
Righteousness is not just believing in the Heavenly Father, not just by adhering to the Fathers commands but by trusting the Father in all things.
Pharaoh believed but did not trust.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
What about Abraham:
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
But Abraham did more then just believe, He trusted the Father in everything. Even the life of his son Isaac.
Abraham didn't only believe but he acted on and out of that belief.
4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
So we see that Pharaoh believed but he did not act on that belief.
Another term I ran across in 1 Peter that I think is very applicable here is “conscience toward God”.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
When you hear the word conscience what does that mean to you? Is it that little nagging voice that reminds you when you are falling off the path. No that little voice is the Holy Spirit guiding you back where you should be. Many times we call that our conscience.
I think a better definition for conscience is a “persisting awareness”. In our minds there should be a persisting awareness of the Heavenly Father. That “conscience toward God” should be in our every thought, word and action. This is the kind of belief that Abraham had and that we should all strive for also.
Back to the Torah scripture for this week
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18 Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
Here again we see the instructions, the obedience and then the disobedience.
This time there was no warning to Pharoah of the coming plague. This is also true of the sixth and ninth plagues. This may have been because of Pharaohs false promise of release. The judgment was sudden. Aaron struck the dust with his staff, and flying, biting insects covered man and beast. The word here used is lice but some translate that as gnats. Either way can you imagine being covered with lice or gnats.
This plague may have been an attack against Set, god of the desert. Also it may have been directed against the Egyptian priesthood. The priests prided themselves in their purity with their frequent washings and shavings, and their wearing of linen robes. Here the Heavenly Father polluted the religionists with pesky insects.
Here we see the magicians unable to duplicate the plague or to end it. They attribute it to “the finger of God”. We will see this in coming chapters :
18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
And again we see the “just as the Lord had said”. The Fathers foreknowledge of what Pharaoh was going to do.
To summarize this Torah portion what have we seen:
The Heavenly Father giving instructions to Moses and Aaron.
We have seen the obedience of Moses and Aaron in carrying out the Fathers instructions.
We have seen the disobedience of Pharoah with no remorse or repentance in his actions and only growing more stubborn.
What else have we seen in all of this?
Judgement & Consequences
This may be a concept we don't think about much but it is a reality we all must face. Judgement, consequences, discipline .
Many say that judgement is an Old Testament thing and we should not worry about it.
Yeshua himself speaks of judgement many times:
For example:
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
Job reveals many sins for which we will be judged. I think this is one of the more important reasons:
24 “If I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
26 If I have observed the sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
What is this in reference too? I think Job is talking about making idols of worldly things. As written above “an iniquity deserving judgement”.
Why is this so important to us today. Many of us can fall into this trap of worshipping our worldly goods.
Why is this so dangerous? Because of a quote from Calvin” The human heart is a perpetual idol factory”. This means that our heart has a natural tendency to create false gods and idols which can detract us from worshiping the one true God.
Here is the dangerous part, which we all lean to occasionally, idolatry is not only that we worship something instead of the Father but that we are worshiping something along side of the Father. I am going to say this again idolatry is not only that we worship something instead of Father but that we are worshiping something along side of Father. This is a very easy place to slip into and we have to continually check our heart for this. I dare say we have all been there at some point in our lives. I would ask that if after examining your heart you find yourself in this condition, pray, repent ask the Heavenly Father for forgiveness.
Along with that are we really trusting the Heavenly Father for everything or are we just trusting ourselves. Or are we relying on ourselves, our skills, our reputation , our success, our stock market portfolio or 401K plans or are we really trusting in the Father or are we trusting these things along side of the Father.
The Heavenly Father sees and wants us to confess these things. Our society today praises the self made man, the people of great skill, those who excel in today's world. We think we can be independent the rugged individualist , I am a man of the world. This only tempts us to forget where our real provision comes from, to forget where our grace comes from. forget who is the giver of that grace, The heavenly Father and Yeshua through grace alone.
This kind of thinking leads into idolatry and worshipping other things along side of the Heavenly Father. It is always His grace that gives us the opportunities we have, It is by His grace that we remember who the glory goes to and to who’s name it is for. Israel forgot whose name they should keep first and they were judged for that. Are we going to go down the same path and share the same fate?
Here is the fate explained in Ezekiel:
1 Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’
6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
Do we want to be “estranged from Him because of our idols”.
We can never forget, He is the one who goes before us, He is the one who protects us, He is the one who provides for us. We do not want to get so caught up in our own selves, our own projects that we loose focus on Him. We don't want to forget to pray, forget to be in scripture, We don't want to forget the Heavenly Father or He will forget us, estranged form us. And to me this is the definition of hell “a place without the Father”. With out the Father in our life what is our purpose. We need the grace of God in our lives everyday.
The Heavenly Father is Holy and must judge sin. We cannot see it but the Father can, we build strongholds and idols in our hearts. A lot of times we think we are fine because we are people of the Lord, but if we are not continually testing our heart and our motives we will become trapped within our own strongholds. We all have idols in our heart that we need to confess to our Father. That is the only way we will ever tear those strongholds down.
Just because we are under grace does not mean we can do what ever we want, that grace is not unlimited. There is no spiritual ATM that we can just draw grace out of when needed.
Things to remember
Remember the Blessings and the curses from Deuteronomy 28 . They are real.
If the Heavenly Father does not judge us because we are His people then the Father is not a just judge.
Also the Father does not judge on a curve. There is no halfway here. There is only pass or fail.
Another thing to remember judgement not only falls on us but also on those around us. Ask the men in the boat with Jonah, because of Jonahs sin all were going to perish.
And we must remember the words of “1Peter 4:17
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
It begins with us first. That is why it so important the we have our house in order. How can we lead others if our house is in disarray.
In closing. The Heavenly Father judges but grace is close behind. There is always grace behind judgement and for that we always have to be grateful.
Th Father saw that we could never fulfill his covenant with Him so He sent Yeshua to fulfill that for us, Yeshua does what the rest of us could not do, hold up our end of the bargain. He takes our place upon the cross, he takes our sin and becomes our righteousness before the Father.
We talked about believing and trusting earlier here is why:
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
Grace after Judgement. That is why it is so important that we not only believe but we walk as Abraham. That we have no idols along side the Heavenly Father. That our daily focus is on Him who through His sacrifice on the cross brings our salvation. Yeshua