"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."
Deuteronomy 32:20
This seems like a very interesting consequence... in this chapter the Lord has been leading the Children of Israel, and then they turn to other Gods and make sacrifices to devils instead... and so, as a consequence of this, God hides his face and waits to see what will happen to them without him. It's a harsh consequence, actually... but if you think about it from a teaching point of view... getting the Israelites to understand the natural consequences of their actions is a good tactic. And when we reject God, the natural consequence is that he no longer responds whenever we call on him... instead, we have to do some work in order to have him back in our lives. We have to admit the truth first of all... that he is there, and that we need him. Sometimes that is all it takes, and sometimes it takes some honesty about who we are and where we are going, and a determination to change our ways. Mental effort, but sometimes incredibly difficult... especially for the Israelites here who had some faith problems. :) And hard, too, for us when we have truly rejected God, because honesty and sincerity are paramount. God knows if we are just asking him to pull us out of the fire and planning on forgetting him again the next day. In some ways, I think the entire gospel is about honesty. Being honest with yourself, God, and others... finding that truth in our lives that is sometimes hard to face. Getting past the shallow half-truths that we tell ourselves to justify whatever it is that we want to do. Finding the deeper truths and the deeper joys.
Deuteronomy 32:20
This seems like a very interesting consequence... in this chapter the Lord has been leading the Children of Israel, and then they turn to other Gods and make sacrifices to devils instead... and so, as a consequence of this, God hides his face and waits to see what will happen to them without him. It's a harsh consequence, actually... but if you think about it from a teaching point of view... getting the Israelites to understand the natural consequences of their actions is a good tactic. And when we reject God, the natural consequence is that he no longer responds whenever we call on him... instead, we have to do some work in order to have him back in our lives. We have to admit the truth first of all... that he is there, and that we need him. Sometimes that is all it takes, and sometimes it takes some honesty about who we are and where we are going, and a determination to change our ways. Mental effort, but sometimes incredibly difficult... especially for the Israelites here who had some faith problems. :) And hard, too, for us when we have truly rejected God, because honesty and sincerity are paramount. God knows if we are just asking him to pull us out of the fire and planning on forgetting him again the next day. In some ways, I think the entire gospel is about honesty. Being honest with yourself, God, and others... finding that truth in our lives that is sometimes hard to face. Getting past the shallow half-truths that we tell ourselves to justify whatever it is that we want to do. Finding the deeper truths and the deeper joys.
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