Disaster

Joshua 24:14,20-23 – “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord…If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

1 Samuel 12:25 – But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

Isaiah 43:10 – “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

1 Kings 8:57-58 – The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.

Jeremiah 31:33 – For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Application:

• ·         Since Israel persisted in covenant-breaking conduct, it brought upon itself its own destruction.
• ·         God’s work in behalf of Israel is proof of His saving power.
• ·         Joshua appealed to the Israelites to put away the gods their forefathers had worshiped in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• ·         Solomon asked for a divine work of grace within his people that would enable them to be faithful to the covenant.
• ·         Write it on hearts so that it effectively governs their lives, in contrast to the ineffectiveness of merely presenting it in writing, though inscribed on durable stone for Israel.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV