"You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you." vv.53
Read chapter 28
Gross I know, cannibalism. This can be a hard and depressing chapter to not just pass over of the long list of curses and horror that happen and become of the Israelites. We read of all this happening hundreds of years later after Moses said these words; compare verse 53 with Lamentations 4:10 for example. This wasn't to happen no matter what but the Lord knew that their hearts would turn away from following Him. Many innocent of Israel still suffered because of the guilty among them since they were a nation as a whole. In verse 47 Moses says this will happen "because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything." The people of Israel welcomed the blessings of the Lord but would not honor Him for it, which led to their destruction. "Idolatry begins with a proud and selfish heart that loves the gifts more than it loves the Giver, and it ends by losing both the Giver and the gifts" (Be Complete, Warren Wiersbe). You may ask how can a loving God allow this to happen? Jesus says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Rev. 3:19). To love is to do so in truth, which is not just allowing someone to do whatever they want which ultimately is hurtful to them than beneficial Just as the Israelites would later learn that serving the Lord wasn't so difficult after all and would bring freedom rather than bondage. Do you serve the Lord God with joy and gladness of heart as the great Giver of gifts? How has loving the gifts more than the Giver cause one to not fear or honor God?
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