#282 Without You

Clear Water

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

13 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. Leviticus 26: 1-24 KJV

I think it easy enough for most to see that slavery is not an ideal position. It is usually entered in to by way of hard times, kidnapping (which was by Jewish law punishable by death), or forsaking God. It is at it's best volatile, uncertain, and let me give you an example. Right now I love my boss; he is fair, honest and wants to share in the work. He is concerned with my well being and the amount of load I take upon myself. I have signed a contract as a salaried employee to the company overall though, not to an individual, so while I may have a boss that sees me now and recognizes me for my work, tomorrow one of us could be asked to go elsewhere. It is uncertain at best and I have seen my highs and lows here, but while men can change, kingdoms rise and fall, God is eternal. He is this in Justice, Love and Truth. 

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.

12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Hebrews 13: 6-12 KJV

God does not change, nor does His expectation. When I was young the idea of believing in and obeying God seemed to me a form of slavery. I saw myself as my own person, and yet I hadn't created myself, the Universe, hung the earth at just the right distance from the sun, or even tried to understand anything that would question my want. I put up idols, just like the people here were warned not to. I believed in mankind, the humanist profession of faith. The ideas of there being right and wrong, and of God deciding such, went against my every impulse. No right or wrong, unless you say I'm wrong, unless you take something from me, unless you say there is right and wrong, unless you do something that I find offensive. So here we go into this delusion, and here the humanist will gladly step in and take the seat of power, and separation from God always finds your enemies waiting at the door. Since we have lost our minds and reason though, and believe in ourselves rather than the words of the Creator of the universe, we invite the enemy in. Instead of being covered by the blood of the lamb we drink the Koolaid of human pride, and then wonder about a God who is set against such arrogance. How dare He reclaim what is rightfully His and do what He has promised He would do.