In This Issue:
When God’s Hand of Blessing Was Removed
Wrath of God
God’s Restraint
Curse of Sin
A Free Pardon
Volume: 893 January 16, 2023
Theme: Wages of Sin
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When God’s Hand of Blessing Was Removed
Bill Brinkworth
The Bible has recorded that when people disobeyed or disregarded God’s commandments, their sin would cost them much. It is clear, by the countless examples in the Word of God, that no person or country gets away with iniquity.
Here are a few biblical examples of what a people did to lose God’s blessing and to be cursed by the Almighty:
- God cursed Adam and Eve, all their future generations, and the earth (Genesis3:14-19) because of Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience.
- God cursed Canaan with slavery (Gen. 9:25) because of Ham’s sexual sin (Gen. 9:22).
- God destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah, and two other cities (Deut. 29:23) because of their wickedness (Gen. 13:13).
- God removed qualified, honorable, experienced God-approved leadership (Isaiah 3:1-3). He then allowed inexperienced, youthful men (Isaiah 3:4-5) and those whose leadership would harm their country (Isa. 3:12) to rule.
- God allowed foreigners to invade Israel (Judges 6:1-6) and to take away Israel’s freedoms, belongings, and peace.
- God allowed Israel’s place of worship, Jerusalem, to be destroyed (Nehemiah 1:3) because the people did not keep God’s commandments (Neh. 1:7). God also allowed the people to be scattered from the land He had given them because of their sin (Neh. 1:8).
God also promised, usually to His people, that He would allow them to learn from the consequences of their sin when they violated His laws. Here are some other reasons God promised to curse people and nations when they broke His commandments:
- God promised to curse those that cursed the offspring of Abram (Israel): Gen. 12:3.
- God will curse those that curse their parents: Proverb 20:20.
- God will curse those that do not obey the Lord’s commandments, including going “after other gods”: Deut. 11:28, Jer. 44:8.
- God will curse the wicked: Pro. 3:33.
- God will allow a people to go through wars, captivity, famines, pestilences, and to be disliked by other countries because they did not obey God’s words: Jer. 29:1-19.
- God would allow His people to face wars and famines if they insisted on returning to the world from which Lord delivered them: Jer. 44:12.
- God will curse those that do not give glory to His name: Mal. 2:2.
- God cursed those that would not give Him their tithes (at least 10% of what God allowed them to earn): Mal. 3:9.
Many consequences of sin to earlier people are also occurring today. Since God never changes (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8), sins He would not tolerate then will not be put up with today.
No one gets away with evilness. The people of Israel did not get away with iniquity, and neither will we!
Many say that if we do not turn from our current wicked sins, we may suffer the curse of God. According to the biblical examples, we are already facing the after-effects of God’s curse on a rebellious people. His hand, which often blessed this nation, may have been removed, and we may be suffering the same “lessons” that earlier people faced.
The curse of God is always intended to halt the violations against Him. God intends that the hardships He allowed to happen will stop iniquity, and people will turn to Him.
There is always hope for those that turn from their wickedness. When people face hard times, they usually realize they cannot handle them without God and turn toward Him in obedience.
It is possible to be blessed by God because of obedience to His commandments rather than be cursed. Hopefully, people, and eventually as a nation, will see their wickedness and turn from it.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chron. 7:14
“The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.” Prov. 3:33
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present. The waters increase and rise higher and higher until an outlet is given. The greater the waters rise, the more rapid and destructive its course will be when the waters are loosed.
If God should withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open. The floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury and come upon you with omnipotent power. If your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in Hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
“No one gets away with any sin!”
God’s Restraint
Jonathan Edwards
The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow is ready on the string. His justice aims the arrow at your heart and strains His bow. It is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
Oh, sin! How hast thou curst us! Thou hast thrown up a barrier between ourselves and God; with thy chilling breath, thou hast extinguished the light of our household joys. Thou hast unstrung our harp and filled the air with discordant cries. Thou hast unsheathed the sword and bathed it in human blood. Thou hast dug every grave in the Earth’s bosom, but for thee, we should not have known the name of widow or orphan, tear and sigh, and sorrow and death, but for thee our hearts would not have known pain.
A prisoner was taken out to die, and as he rode along in the death cart, his heart was heavy at the thought of his demise. None would cheer him from the watching throng. The gallows tree was in sight and blotted out the sun for him. But lo, his prince came riding up in hot haste, bearing a free pardon.
Then the man opened his eyes, and he returned to happy consciousness as if he had risen from the dead. The sight of his prince had chased all gloom away. He declared that he had never seen a fairer countenance in all his days. When he read his pardon, he vowed that no poetry should ever be dearer to his heart than those few lines of sovereign grace.
Friends, I remember well when I was in that death cart, and Jesus came to me with a pardon. Death and Hell were before me, but I rejoiced exceedingly when I saw the nail prints in his hands, feet, and the wound in his side.
When he said, “Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee,” I thought I never saw such loveliness before and never heard such music in all my days. Eternity itself shall never disclose anything sweeter. My pardoning Lord hath no peer nor rival. Oh, what a Christ is He who appeared to me, a guilty, condemned sinner, and on the way to Hell! Blessed be His name. Jesus bore my curse, shame, and death, and I am free!
“Life has taught me to forgive much and to seek forgiveness still more.”
— Bismarck
In the future, pleasepost articles that only pertain to the article you are attaching it too. If you want to post an article that does not pertain to a posting, please send it to me first at brinkworth@frontier.com. There are some interesting facts in this long article that I did think some would be interested in, though.