We have studied a number of passages of Jehovah’s great displeasure in disobedience. All but one of the 10 commandments incurs the death penalty. Why is Jehovah so adamant about obeying His commandments? Where is forgiveness? Where is a second chance? Where are the allowances for those who haven’t heard or didn’t quite understand?
Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 4:25 "When you become the father of children and children's children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and
do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger,
4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
13:5 "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk.
So you shall purge the evil from among you.
17:6 "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
17:7 "The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
What is Jehovah making very clear to all of us? Just like a bad apple can spoil the entire bushel, so can one evil deed lead to another and another evil deed. This is especially true when a leader does the evil! Let us look at yet another example of this.
Numbers 25:1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 25:2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 25:3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.
You shall no other gods before Me. What is so hard to understand in this phrase or better said, warning? They, as do we, all know that the land promised to them by Jehovah was entirely filled with idolatrous nations. Jehovah warned them to not participate in their evil deeds, but destroy all shrines to their demonic gods.
Exodus 34:10 Then God said, "Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
Exodus 34:11 "Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
34:12 "Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.
34:13 "But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim
They were commanded to remove all evidence of this demonic worship. If not, it will come back to ensnare them. Was Jehovah right?
34:14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—
34:15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice,
34:16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.
Even with this warning from Jehovah, Israel ignored it and fell for the apparent attraction of this pagan, highly sexualized, immoral, ungodly worship.
Numbers 25:4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel." 25:5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor."
Wow!!! Take the leaders and kill them in front of everyone! What kind of barbarous response was this? Isn’t Jehovah a god of love, forgiveness, kindness, and blessings?
25:6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
The people were confessing, weeping, and repenting of this terrible sin and Jehovah’s wrathful and righteous condemnations. When this one man boldly walked by them to have sex in his tent with a Midianite harlot.
This is outright insubordination. For those of us who have been in the military, is insubordination allowed or tolerated? No, of course not! It is dealt with swiftly and completely. So, if the world knows the problems of not dealing with insubordination, we can not fault Jehovah not dealing with it either. Remember, He knows the heart of everyone. No one claim ignorance or innocence in His presence.
25:7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 25:8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body.
So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. When good men do nothing, evil prospers. Here we have Phinehas doing exactly what Jehovah requires all true believers to do, rid evil from their midst.
Now, we must also remember that this theocracy is not in existence today. Yet, we are still told to remove sinners from our gatherings if they will not acknowledge their sin before Jehovah and repent, which leads to restoration to the gathering.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
The very first response is to go to him and try to restore him. But, not everyone can do this, especially some who may have been once tempted by the very same sin. As an example, we would not send a recovering alcoholic into a bar to try and restore a brother. We would send those who would not be tempted in the same manner.
1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife.
5:2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
Their are many gatherings who will not condemn any sin, as being judgmental. This is a false, deadly compassion.
5:3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5:5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
5:9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 5:10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
Many go too far in this separation. As if any difference would corrupt them. We need to be discerning and not make a spec into a log. Our mission field is the very world around us.
5:11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 5:13 But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
Jehovah’s warnings have not changed, but His retribution is now entirely in His hands, not ours.
Hebrews 10:30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
25:9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
These 24,000 fell into the hands of Jehovah for condemnation and eternal punishment.
Jehovah’s view of sin, displeasure with sin, and punishment of sin have not changed and never will.
More next Saturday.