Ezekiel 20:7. Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Oh Friends, is it just my perception, or are the days moving along more quickly than usual? It’s already the tenth of October, and the month just began last week. Ah well, let’s just hope that the cold, dreary winter days pass just as quickly, if not quicker, although I won’t bet on that. (smile) But today we’ll continue talking about the Lord’s warning to Israel re their disgusting, ungodly behaviour. And it will be mostly scriptures having some bearing on the topic, with very little verbiage from me, hopefully. (smile) Anyway, the Lord instructed the Israelites to: ‘Cast ye away every man the abominations of (which are before) his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ Now hear this bit of scripture from the early days of Israel, when Moses taught them the Lord’s law as recorded in Leviticus. It comes from a section dealing with forbidden acts of immorality. ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of (what is done in) the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances (statutes). Ye shall do my judgements, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgements: which if a man do (does, keeps), he shall live in (by) them: I am the Lord.’ (Lev.18:1-5) And Joshua, in his farewell address also warned Israel: ‘Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (the Euphrates river), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt (harm), and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them (made for them) a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.’ (Josh.24:14-25) Ah Friends, you see Joshua was faithful to his divine calling even till his dying days and tried to set the people straight before he was called home. He gave the people options, and they chose the wise one, had all the correct answers, and promised faithfully to serve the Lord God of their fathers who had done such great signs and wonders in bringing their fathers out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Note too Joshua’s careful reminder that you can’t serve God in a wishy-washy fashion, or forsake Him because He will turn right around and cause you harm immediately after doing you good, for He is holy, just and very jealous of His good name and all that pertains to Him. Oh Friends, I’m asking us today, like Joshua asked the Israelites long ago: whom are you going to serve, the Lord God Jehovah or Beelzebub? The choice is yours. The wise and sensible choice though is the Lord God Jehovah, since He is wiser, stronger and more faithful than Beelzebub. And above all, He has the best rewards going; salvation and eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. Unfortunately the Israelites in Joshua’s time didn’t have that avenue available to them, but luckily we do, so please let’s use it wisely and choose to serve the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It will eventually prove to be the wisest decision we’ve ever made. But remember, once we choose to serve Him, we have to pull up our socks, forsake the things of Beelzebub and the lustful things of this world, else we’ll pay for our wrong doings because our God is a LOVING but serious God and will only put up with our shenanigans for so long. So till tomorrow, with God’s approval, when we’ll have a little more to say on this subject, go in peace to LOVE and serve the Lord. Much LOVE!…whom will you serve…as for me and mine…we will serve the Lord…
SCRIP-BITS 