In Joshua chapter 1, the Lord spoke to Joshua and anointed him to take Moses’ place, to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. In Joshua 1:11, Joshua told the people, “Prepare … for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land…” The people said they would do as Joshua said if it be that God was with him. They even went as far as to say whoever didn’t obey Joshua would be killed. Sin has always had a penalty.
In today’s society, if you are looking through the eye of faith and know the scriptures, it is easy to see that we live in a world of rebellious people. When sin is glorified and when Christians rise and say anything against it, they are bullied and threatened with harm. Then the world is directly against God. They are rebelling.
Rest assured, what God says, goes. He demands obedience. Why shouldn’t he expect obedience? He is our creator. He is the one who gives us all of life’s blessings. He asks those of us who know him as his children not to rebel against him but to do what he commands us to do.
In our society today, homes are broken because of sin; because of rebellion. This is easy to see in the word of God. When Mommas and Daddys go against God, don’t live for God, don’t raise their children to fear the Lord, and don’t bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, then there is a penalty to be paid. But good news, there is also a remedy for this.
1 John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Simply put, this is saying that you and I, who know the Lord, are commanded not to sin, but when we do, we have an advocate or someone who will go and plead our case to the father to find forgiveness for us.
God is slow to anger and full of mercy, but he will also show his wrath. God does not enjoy executing his judgments on people, governments, or nations, but it does become necessary. Israel was God’s chosen people, and they rebelled against him so much during the time of the Old Testament that they had to be punished repeatedly.
For those of us living in society today, we can take comfort in knowing that we are not living under the law; we are under grace. But we cannot misuse this grace. The apostle Paul told the people to stand in the liberty they have in Christ but don’t use that liberty as a cloak for maliciousness. In other words, just because you’ve been saved and your sins are covered, don’t use that as an excuse to sin because even though your sins are covered, you still have to pay for the sins you commit. God is a righteous judge, and he will execute judgment upon wrongdoers.
Ricky Wilborn
Fort Payne, AL
