In the year of our Lord 2018, I wrote a brief series: God’s Love Through John which includes Scripture from his Gospel, letters and Revelation. Last year in A.D. 2020 we explored John’s Gospel in more detail. Our next three Scriptural Reruns explore John’s look at the sign of the raised serpent, looking back near the beginning and also toward the end.
Tomorrow we will zoom in near John 3:16 and finally we’ll take a glance at Genesis to Revelation.
“No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
WE do NOT like to be told the consequence of our SIN against the Lord. Preaching consequence of turning against God often begets more sin. Jesus was crucified on a Cross and Prophets of Israel suffered for preaching what God Commanded in the Law.
Blessing IF you obey OR Curse IF your heart turns away
We began in the New Testament Gospel, looked back to Deuteronomy and TODAY will return to the consequence of turning against the Lord.
“… whoever does not obey [apeitheō– {from G545; to disbelieve (wilfully and perversely)}]
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
John 3:36b {after the ‘God so loved the world’ invitation to grace in 3:16)
“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed.
– Deuteronomy 30:17-18a NLT – the Word of the LORD through Moses
Then the Spirit of God covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper?
So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.
Preaching consequence from history
IF you are anything like me you likely dozed off a time or two during history class. And when we read the historical record from Moses to Jesus we miss some preaching of consequence to which we ought to have paid attention.
So in today’s conclusion of this 3-part Summer Scriptural Rerun you may find a warning or two of consequence you never heard preached or rarely read in the Bible.
It was part of Moses’ warning, wasn’t it? The LORD will bless you,BUT IF YOUR HEART TURNS AWAY, woe to your children cursed for your disobedience.
What’s wrong with this picture?
No, I’m not asking what’s wrong with this picture of Joshua and the men of Israel about to cross the Jordan to conquer the promised land. (Yes, they had already been disobedient to the LORD.)
I ask you what is wrong with the picture of the LORD having to remind the Hebrews about their disobedience. In fact, it is a foreshadowing of further breaking of many covenants which eventually will lead to the fall of Israel, Judah and Temple worship.
Pictures of a future curse
So when you first look at the picture of two models of worship side by side in Jerusalem ask yourself, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’
In fact, buildings of these two religions cannot stand side by side. They oppose each other.
Worshiping the place of worship is forgetting the LORD God you claim.
You say you believe the word of the LORD to Moses, so what happened?
What made the hearts of your fathers turn away?
And why have you not gone back to the beginning of Scripture to remember that, ‘These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness..’, my fellow child of God?
Have you forgotten their curses? Do you doubt the covenants of your fathers with the LORD, which turn upon you if you heart turns away?
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
The Good News of John 5:46 – Words of the Messiah Jesus
Scriptures
Deuteronomy 30
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. –
