This is part two of our forsaking of GOD, in this post I will look at examples of this and then our estrangement as our topics of interest. We must remember that Israel is the chief target of most of these outlooks as it's history is littered by the bodies of dead people who stood as people of the rebellion and resistances to the voice of GOD. Also keep in mind that may of these are overlapping in time, in these statements, though authored by others who were tools of the LORD God, as they spoke His words.
Examples of Forsaking GOD,
Deuteronomy 28:20 of 20-24 "The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until HE has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed."
Judges 10:13 of 10-16 "The people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals." And the LORD said to the people of Israel, 'Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to Me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.' And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to You. Only please deliver us this day." So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and HE became impatient over the misery of Israel."
1Samuel 8:7b-8 of 4-9 "Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, 'Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, for they have rejected Me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.'"
1Kings 11:33 of 26-40 "Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken Me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My rules, as David his father did. Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David My servant whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David My servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put My name. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.'" Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon."
2Chronicles 12:1 of 1-6 "When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, 'You abandoned Me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.'" Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is righteous."
2Chronicles 21:10 of 8-11 "In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers. Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray."
Ezra 9:10 of 9-15 "For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. "And now, O our GOD, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.' And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, shall we break Your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? O LORD, the God of Israel, You are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before You in our guilt, for none can stand before You because of this."
Isaiah 43:22 of 22-24 "'Yet you did not call upon Me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of Me, O Israel! You have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. You have not bought Me sweet cane with money, or satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities."
Jeremiah 17:13 of 12-17 "A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be put to shame; those who turn away from You shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise. Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!" I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before Your face. Be not a terror to me; You are my refuge in the day of disaster."
Estrangement from GOD, some general references to,
Psalm 58:3 of 1-5 "Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter."
Jeremiah 2:5 of 4-8 "Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: 'What wrong did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? They did not say, "Where is the LORD Who brought us up from the land of Egypt, Who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?" And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination. Your priests did not say, "Where is the LORD?" Those who handle the law did not know Me; the shepherds transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.'"
Ezekiel 14:5 of 1-5; 44:10 "Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came to me: 'Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let Myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from Me through their idols.'"
Ezekiel 44:10 of 9-14 "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. For the Levites who went far from Me, going astray from Me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. They shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment. They shall not come near to Me, to serve Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it."
Matthew 15:8 of 1-9 "Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat." Jesus answered them, 'And why do you break the commandment of GOD for the sake of your traditions? For GOD commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' But you say, "If anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father." So for the sake of your traditions you have made void the word of GOD. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said (in Isaiah 29:13): "'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (How much more is this Truth active in our time by the use under a different name are these abominations being practiced by wicked humanity?)
Ephesians 2:12 of 11-22; "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without GOD in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For HE Himself is our peace, Who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that HE might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to GOD (Who resided in His flesh as we are now) in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility [enmity]. And HE came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of GOD, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the LORD's [indwelling]. For In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for GOD by the Spirit."
Ephesians 4:18-19 of 17-24 "Now this I say and testify in [by] the LORD, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of GOD because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!--- assuming that you have heard about Him and are taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your [hearts] mind, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness [Who's image we all are] of GOD in true righteousness and holiness."
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