Title Deuteronomy 28:47~57 (May 27, 2011)
Contents
Title: The Curse of Idolatry
Main text: (Deuteronomy 28:47~57)
Hymns: 272. To take off the yoke of pain
Date: May 27, 2011 (Fri) 5 am
Venue: Jeonju Yebut Church Small Worship Room
There is a proverb that 'the frog tadpole never thinks'. It means that people whose circumstances and circumstances are better than before do not think about the difficult times of the past. When Israel enters Canaan and forgets their life in Egypt and God's grace and worships idols, God punishes them as follows.
1. to serve the enemy (verse 48)
When Israel enjoys abundance in Canaan, the land of abundance, if they worship idols instead of worshiping God, they will serve their enemies. They know how painful it is to serve their enemies, because in the past they served the Egyptians as slaves in Egypt. However, in the future, Israel, despite receiving all kinds of blessings from God, instead of giving thanks, they practiced ungrateful acts of giving thanks to and serving foreign gods. Eventually they are oppressed by the invasion of the Gentiles. The blessing for Israel is to serve God, but they did not realize it. Please check whether we too are serving visible and invisible idols while forgetting God's grace.
2. Being invaded and betrayed (verses 49-52)
When the Israelites worship idols, the result is that they will be invaded by the enemy. Enemies are fearsome peoples from afar, with different languages, ferocious appearances, and cruel deeds. They will take all the food and animals of the people of Israel, surround the city, and starve the people to death. Parents will persecute their remaining children in order to escape starvation, unable to do their duty as nanny. Israel will also be betrayed by the nations it has promised to help and will be utterly destroyed. This has happened several times in Israel's history. It is a scene that makes us realize the thoroughness of God's judgment on sin. Those who do not serve God but worship idols, that is, those who do not have God in their hearts, cannot even live the basic life that they can enjoy as human beings.
3. The wretchedness of the curse (verses 53-57)
A person who has lost everything will do inhumane acts without hesitation. A woman from a wealthy family who has never touched the ground with her sole no longer loves her husband and children because she has nothing to eat. It's not difficult to do the heinous thing that humans shouldn't do, eat and eat children. Human nobility can be preserved only with the blessing of God. There is only hunger, poverty, and bondage in the lives of those who do not obey God. When God's judgment comes, there is no point in regretting it. Before God's judgment comes, we must realize our unbelief and turn to God. The reason He gave us these words is to set us free from the curse that will be placed upon us because of our sins.
Through the Word, we feel deeply that we must obey. However, if you look at history, you can see that there were more people or peoples who chose disobedience than those who chose obedience. That is the story of how difficult it is to obey. I hope you will find the faith to discern right from wrong and obey.
<Prayer>
1. Forgive us all our sins of idolatry!
2. Give us more discernment to discern right from wrong and more faith to obey!
3. Heal the weak patients and lead them to the place of grace!