Reading: Deuteronomy 28
Introduction
We read in 1 John 4:8 that "God is love." What do we mean by this: and what do we mean by the word love? Walk down the street of any western city and ask a dozen people what comes to mind when the word 'love' is used and you will be amazed at their answers. For the fact is even the word 'love' has been hopelessly twisted. To millions it means 'sexual intercourse.' To others it means a romantic, dreamy attraction to someone. To a comparatively few it means 'devotion to one's family.' The fact is that YaHuWaH 's love is a divine principle which manifests itself in kindness, mercy, charity and patience to mankind in general and His children in particular. There is nothing romantic or sexual about YaHuWaH 's love. The Bible says:
| John 3: | 16: For YaHuWaH so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For YaHuWaH sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. |
This article, however, is not about the Almighty's love. Millions of very good sermons have been preached on that subject. This sermon is about the Enemies of YaHuWaH : about those who have rejected YaHuWaH and have now placed themselves in the camp of His enemies. For make no mistake, YaHuWaH the Almighty the Elohim of Israel does have enemies - many enemies!
1. The Almighty's Friends
But first a little about YaHuWaH 's friends. Who are they? And what makes a person a friend of YaHuWaH ? We get a few clues from these verses.
Abraham
| James 2: | 23: And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed YaHuWaH, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of YaHuWaH.
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| Genesis 26: | 5: Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Torah. |
| 2 Chron:20: | 7: Art not Thou our Elohim, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend for ever? |
Moshe
| Exodus 7: | 6: And Moshe and Aaron did as YaHuWaH commanded them, so did they. |
| Numbers 12: | 7: My servant Moshe is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. |
| Exodus 33: | 11: And YaHuWaH spake unto Moshe face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. |
We can see from these verses that Abraham and Moshe are called friends of YaHuWaH because they believed and obeyed the commandments of the Most High. YaHuWaH 's friends, in short, are those who believe and obey Him.
2. The Almighty's Enemies
Even though YaHuWaH is extremely patient, kind and merciful; and loves mankind more than we can remotely imagine, millions choose to become His enemies. Who are they?
Satan
Satan is YaHuWaH 's enemy Number 1. He is sometimes referred to as the Adversary! mainly because his main preoccupation is finding fault with the Almighty, His Son YAHUSHUA, His Word the Torah, and His people Israel. The story of the patriarch Job provides ample evidence of Satan's evil schemes.
| Job 1: | 6: Now there was a day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before YaHuWaH, and Satan came also among them.
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3. YaHuWaH 's Hate... Unbelief and Blatant Sin
Besides Satan there are others who become the Almighty's enemies: He loathes them for their unbelief and evil ways. The Bible tells us that God began to hate Esau, the brother of Jacob, because Esau despised the sacred things of YaHuWaH. He not only disbelieved, but he mocked.
| Genesis 25:29-34 | 29: ... And Esau said, Behold I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? ... Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. |
'How can it be,' you may well ask, 'that YaHuWaH loves the world and at the same time hates certain people in the world?' The following verses provide the answer to this puzzling question.
| Psalm 5: | 5: The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
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| Proverbs 6: | 16: These six things doth YaHuWaH hate: yea seven are an abomination unto Him.
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| Proverbs 16: | 5: Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to YaHuWaH : though hand join in hand, he shall not go unpunished.
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| Proverbs 3: | 32: For the froward (the pervert) is abomination to YaHuWaH... |
We can see from these and other verses that the Almighty detests evil in all its myriad forms and eventually He begins to hate those who blatantly sin or despise His ways. They are then classified as YaHuWaH 's enemies. To be sure if they repent and forsake sin they will be pardoned and become the children of YaHuWaH. But as long as a person willfully breaks the commandments, he/she is reckoned as an enemy of the Most High. This is a sobering, frightening fact. Never forget it.
4. The Fate of YaHuWaH 's Enemies
Now that we have learned who the Almighty reckons as His enemies, and why He hates them, let us turn our attention to their fate. It would be a betrayal of a sacred trust for us to keep silent about the awful fate of the enemies of the Most High. Their future is horrible to say the least. It is described in Scripture in no uncertain terms.
| Deuteronomy 32: | 39: See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand.
40: For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41: If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and will reward them that hate Me. 42: I will make Mine arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. 43: Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people: for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, and to His people. |
| Psalm 68: | 1: Let Elohim arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him. 2: As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of Elohim. |
| Psalm 92: | 9: For, lo, thine enemies, O YaHuWaH, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish ...
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| Nahum 1: | 2: Elohim is jealous, and YaHuWaH revengeth; YaHuWaH revengeth, and is furious; YaHuWaH will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.
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| Malachi 4: | 1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith YaHuWaH Tz'va'ot, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2: But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith YaHuWaH Tz'va'ot. |
| Matthew 13: | 40: As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41: The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42: And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
Many will classify these passages as ludicrous, religious bigotry at its worst! Call it what they may, these are not my judgements, but the words of the living YaHuWaH. And they must be printed: because millions of souls are totally ignorant of their fast approaching fate.
5. The Fear of YaHuWaH
How may one escape such terrifying judgements? What has one to do to obtain mercy? The answer, in a nutshell, is to put your faith in the Almighty and keep His commandments. As king Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13,
for this is the whole duty of man."
| Proverbs 8: | 13: The fear of YaHuWaH is to hate evil.
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| Psalm 97: | 10: Ye that love YaHuWaH, hate evil ...
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| Mark 16: | 16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
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| John 3: | 16: For YaHuWaH so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17: For YaHuWaH sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. 18: He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of YaHuWaH. |
6. Become YaHuWaH 's Friend
Is it possible for us ordinary people to become friends of YaHuWaH ? The answer is yes, it is. By putting our faith in the Almighty and doing what He says, we are reconciled to Him. We, who were once His enemies, now become His friends and His children! That is another eternal fact you should never forget.
| 1 John 3: | 1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of YaHuWaH : therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
2: Beloved, now are we the sons of YaHuWaH, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. 3: And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. |
7. Love not the World
How is this process of self-purification possible? Who is the power behind it? What does purification mean anyway?
The answer is: the Almighty gives the true believer power to overcome sin, to become pure, to put away the things which alienate us from Him: those cherished sins which distanced Him and made us His enemies.
| 1 John 2: | 15: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17: And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of YaHuWaH abideth forever. |
Will it be worthwhile? The Bible assures us that it will.
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