August 14, 2022
(continued from yesterday)
“Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.” Deuteronomy 25:19
There have been times when the justice of God was executed through people. History shows that this principle has worked in both directions: God’s disobedient people punished by surrounding pagan nations and pagan nations punished as God empowered His people to stand against their rebellion against Him. Such temporal judgements, as He works with our fallen race, have much larger implications when contemplating the war between light and darkness. We must understand that the Lord’s ultimate goal is to rescue us from sin. Those who refuse to be rescued will, in the end, be choosing for themselves death instead of life.
In this warfare between good and evil, our choice to participate—should we choose to follow Jesus—will mean that we agree that His eternal kingdom will not contain sin in any form. Most professed believers will agree wholeheartedly that sin is deadly. But the problem is made more complex when the influence of our crafty enemy, who also works his counterfeits through people, weakens our faculties and blurs distinctions so that we may not recognize sin as sin. Why should we desire to be free of a destructive habit if it is painted as “acceptable” to God? The enemy takes full advantage of our fallen natures to plant and cultivate ideas contrary to the word of God. Like a virus, we not only fall prey, but will propagate deadly ideas if we are not solidly grounded in this word from heaven. It is frightening to contemplate that modern technology can spread a single bad idea exponentially and with great speed. But our God is the God of good ideas, winning ideas, saving ideas! With Him, there is no middle ground. Jesus said:
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Matthew 12:30
God’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all of their animals (1 Samuel 15:3) was an intertwining of His justice and His mercy. Not only was their unrepentant rebellious direction displayed before the universe in their outward actions of extreme cruelty, but recent archeological findings show that their wicked practices ushered in horrendous diseases, both genetic and microbiological, rampant among their people and their animals. Rebellious man has yet to comprehend the extent of harm and suffering—especially among innocent children and animals—that results from disobedience to the Lord’s clear instructions, given to us for our good always, that He might preserve us alive (Deuteronomy 6:24). It is a wise man who looks to God and heeds His word! Ironically, many who exalt their own intellect often pronounce “judgement” upon God. If only they would learn of the character of Him who is infinitely loving and merciful!
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4