• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Accursed of God?
D
euteronomy 21:22-23, “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he beto be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night uponthe tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for aninheritance.”
T
o be hung on a tree was more than just a death sentence, but a humiliation and greatshame. This one was said to be detestable, execrable (
appalling, disgusting, deplorable,repulsive
), wicked, malignant (
evil 
) and wretched – accursed of God. To be accursed wasto transgress the very will of God (
to be separated from God 
). The violator was to be buried the same day that the land not be corrupted. When Joshua led the children of Israelinto the Promised Land, he was told to utterly destroy the peoples (
 Deut 7:2, 24, 9:3
),their writings (
 Num 33:52, Deut 12:39, 18:9, 20:17-18
) and their idols (
 Ex 34:13, Deut 7:5, 12:2-3, Josh 23:7 
). These people, through their actions, were wicked (
accursed 
) before God and this was His judgement upon them (
Gen 15:16, Deut 9:4-5, 18:12, 31:3
).Israel was not to be as these peoples because they did all the things which wereabominable to God (
 Lev 18:1-30, 20:23, Deut 18:9-12
). God had told Israel the land had been defiled by these peoples, through their wicked actions, and now it would vomit itsinhabitants out (
 Lev 18:25
). Joshua warned Israel before the first battle at Jericho thatthey were not to take any spoil from the city. Joshua 6:18, “And ye, in any wise keepyourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.” These peoplesand their land were accursed of God and appointed to utter destruction. After the victoryat Jericho, Israel had a bit of difficulty defeating the city of Ai due to a transgressor of God’s will (
troubler, 1 Chr 2:7 
) within their own ranks (
 Josh 7:1-26, 1 Chr 2:7 
). Oncethey defeated Ai, Joshua dealt with it’s king. Joshua 8:29, “And the king of Ai he hangedon a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that theyshould take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of thecity, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.” When the fivekings of the Amorites gathered together against Israel, they met a similar judgment.Joshua 10:26, “And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them onfive trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.” This is the fate of those who have made themselves abominable to God – for they are accursed.
I
srael went on to become more wicked than the nations whose land they possessed (
1 Kg 14:22-24, 2 Kg 21:9, Ez 16:47 
), because they transgressed God’s will by seeking their “own way” (
 Ps 106:39-40, Jer 32:30
). They disregarded God’s commandments andsought after idols, and lived in the manner of the wicked peoples around them (
 Deut 31:16, 32:16-19, Ps 78:56-58, 106:35-36, Josh 2:8-13, 2 Kgs 17:9-12, Jer 32:33-35
). For ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you (
 Ez 11:12
). Israel even exceeded thewickedness of the peoples they dispossessed (
 Ez 16:47-48, 51, 2 Kg 21:9, 11
)! God sentJudges (
 Jdg 2:18-19
) to deliver the people and later provided kings. Yet the peoplecontinually did evil in the sight of God, constantly provoking Him with their vanities1
 
(
 Jdg 10:6 
). The kings of Israel were a foreshadowing of “The King” that God would later send. The people were to be submitted and obedient to the king’s direction (
 Jdg 17:6,21:25
), and this was an object lesson (
an allegory
). God also sent prophets who spokeHis Words. In all cases the messages of the prophets were for the people to turn from(
 forsake
) their wickedness and rebellion (
 Jer 18:8, 2 Chr 7:14
), and come back to God,who would have mercy
1
 (
 Is 55:7 
). Jeremiah 25:4-5, “And the LORD hath sent unto youall his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened,nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way,and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given untoyou and to your fathers for ever and ever.” Turn ye, turn ye from “your” wicked ways – from your path (
 Ez 33:11
). God said: Isaiah 65:2, “I have spread out my hands all the dayunto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good; after their ownthoughts.” The Lord also said, “Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their souldelighteth in their abominations. They did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes,and chose that in which I delighted not (
 Is 66:3-4
).” The Lord said they had a revoltingand rebellious heart (
 Jer 5:23
) and would not walk in the good path (
 Jer 6:16 
). God has been very consistent in His expectations of man from the beginning: Deuteronomy 10:12-13, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORDthy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God withall thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and hisstatutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” - to cleave to Him in obedience(
 Deut 13:4, Jer 7:23
)! This is the first great commandment (
Mk 12:29-30
). The messageis to surrender to God’s authority. God’s prophets were “not received
2
” and weremistreated (
beaten, cast into prison
) and killed (
Mt 21:35
). 2 Chronicles 36:16, “But theymocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, untilthe wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” An end, theend is come - enough (
 Ez 7:1, 6 
)! An evil, an only evil is come – the day of trouble (
 Ez 7:5, 7 
)! I will have no pity, but will recompense for their abominations (
 Ez 7:9
). Jeremiah25:7, “Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me toanger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.” They plowed wickedness, reapediniquity; ate the fruit of lies (
the forbidden fruit, the devil’s lie
): because they didst trust intheir own way (
 Hos 10:13
). Drastic measures were taken by God to get Israel’s attention(
 Jer 32:23
). God said he would destroy His people because they turned not from “their ways” (
 Jer 15:7, 18:11-12
). The Lord would recompense them according to their abominations (
 Ez 7:3-4, 8-9, 20, 27 
). God sent His four sore judgments of the sword,famine, pestilence and noisome beasts (
 Jer 15:2-3, Ez 5:8-12, 6:10-14, 7:15, 14:21
).Those who survived were carried off into Babylonian exile (
 Jer 4:18, 5:13, 16:12-13
).This was intended to get Israel’s full attention. Jeremiah 2:35, “Yet thou sayest, Because Iam innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, becausethou sayest, I have not sinned.” Israel had not been able to see their iniquity or self seeking ways in anything they did (
 Jer 4:22
). They were not submitted to God, butthought they were in “their way.” The Lord did not do this without a cause (
 Ez 14:23
). InBabylon, they would have frame of mind to ponder such things (
 see things as they are
).Ezekiel 20:43-44, “And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, whereinye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evilsthat ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought2
 
with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.” AND Ezekiel 20:35-38, “AndI will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face toface. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and Iwill bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you therebels (
those who rebelliously walk in their own way
), and them that transgress againstme (
those who follow the devil’s lie
): I will bring them forth out of the country where theysojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am theLORD.” Jeremiah 24:7, “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD:and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me withtheir whole heart” (
also Ez 11:19-20
). Ezekiel 7:16, “But they that escape of them shallescape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning,every one for his iniquity.” Seventy years later, a remnant returned to the land of Israeland rebuilt the Temple and began to lay a religious foundation for serving God (
 Jer 25:11, 29:10, Ez 
). In the ensuing years a tremendous religious system was developed, yetdegenerated into a work of man (
Mk 7:7, Rm 10:3
). This system had form, but no heart,love or compassion (
Mt 15:8
). God had clearly established with Abraham (
the verybeginning of the nation of Israel 
) that He was to be approached through faith. This meantthat man would submit to Him in love, trust and obedience in all things. Man’s “way”(
less than faith
) again had fallen short of God’s expectations. God would now provide“His Way” (
 salvation
) once and for all for those who would surrender their will and fullyturn to Him with a whole heart. God sent His only begotten Son (
 Jesus Christ 
) to take the brunt (
burden
) of His wrath toward man; to deliver the people from their iniquities (
Mt 1:21, Jn 1:29, Acts 3:26, 1 Jn 3:5
); and to lead them back to God (
 Rm 5:10-11, 1 Pt 3:18
). Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to hisown way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Men were followingtheir own paths which led to destruction (
away from God 
). God’s creation of man had been rebellious and self-seeking since Eden. Man is persistently stiffnecked, obstinate, pertinacious, hardhearted, stubborn, impudent, contentious, and tenacious in his rejectionof God’s authority and in seeking his “own will.” Man walks by his own sentiments(
combination of feelings and opinions as a basis for action or judgment 
). The wholehistory of man supports this conclusion – there is no doubt. Particularly in God’s very personal dealings with Israel
3
, whom He chose for His own people (
 Deut 4:37 
). All of this rebellion goes back to the original lie of the devil that man accepted: which falsely proposed that you could transgress God’s will and seek your own way (
be as gods
) andnot die (
 ye shall not surely die, Gen 3:4-5
). Is it it wonder that God hates lies (
 Ps 101:7, Jer 9:3
) and that “all liars go to hell” (
 Rev 21:8
). This lie is now burned into man’s verynature! – the fallen nature. Even though man accepted the lie, he is not united with thedevil in his rebellion. God placed a curse of enmity (
hostility, hate
) between man and theserpent (
devil, Gen 3:15
). The devil is man’s adversary; and as a roaring lion, walkingabout, seeking whom he may devour (
1 Pt 5:8
). Satan appeals to man upon the basis of the rebellion (
the trap he set, the lie
); he lures man to seek his own lusts (
his
 
way or path,2 Cor 4:4
) which leads to bondage and death. To transgress God is to die. Jesus came todestroy the works of the devil (
all offense resultant from the lie
) and lead us back to God(
 Jn 10:4, 1 Pt 3:18
). 1 John 3:8, “He that committeth sin (
offence
) is of the devil; for the3
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...