The Severity Of God’s Judgment

The word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty.
–Hebrews 2:2

The writer of Hebrews says we should respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ right now because of the severity of God’s judgment.

In Hebrews 2:2, he wrote, “The word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty.” He was saying to the ones who loved angels, “Remember what the angels did? It was the angels who gave the Law of God.” Psalm 68 and Acts 7 say it was not just Moses up there with God; it was also the angels who played a part in communicating God’s Law to Moses when he was on top of Mount Sinai. By the way, God’s Law is more than the Ten Commandments. The Old Testament Law had over 600 regulations about how to eat, how to dress, what to eat, and so forth. You were not allowed to obey only the parts of the Law you liked. Deuteronomy 27 said, in effect, “Cursed is everyone who does not obey all things written in God’s Law.” There was no changing God’s Law. God’s punishment was swift and certain.

The writer was saying: If God’s Law is that exacting and that severe, what hope do you have of surviving God’s judgment? What hope does America have for that matter? In the Old Testament, God gave three reasons for His harsh judgment against Israel: (1) unjudged murders (Numbers 35); (2) unnumbered adulteries (Jeremiah 3:8); and (3) unkept marriage vows (3:1). Because of those transgressions of the Law, God sent His judgment.

Just look at what is happening in America today. Every year our nation kills 1.4 million children in the womb through abortion. We not only tolerate it; there are many in this country who celebrate a person’s right to make her own choice–a choice to murder her children. God hates the murder of children. Or people think adultery is normal. They say we are not made to be monogamous; we have these desires. Our unkept marriage vows are celebrated on television all the time. Now the Bible says there are some biblical reasons for divorce, but many people in our country change marriage partners almost as often as they change their clothes. The Bible says God hates that. God does not hate divorced people, but He hates the process of divorce because of what it does inside of us and what it destroys about the object lesson about Jesus Christ. How in the world is our nation going to survive when we so willingly violate God’s laws?

It is so easy to read that and think, “That’s right. I know a person who did this and that.” We do not have to look at anybody else–let’s look at our own transgressions. How many times do we violate God’s will in what we say or think or do? How are we going to survive the exacting judgment of God? Nahum 1:3 says, “The Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.”

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “So Great A Salvation” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2013.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.