The people of Israel was chosen by God among all nations, but this did not make them a people without mistakes. When we read their story we realize that they have strayed from the path many times, going behind idols, and because of that is why we are going to see a constant struggle of the prophets telling them to turn to God.
Ezekiel in his book describes the people of Israel as a hard-hearted people: “I, therefore, send you to sons with a hard face and an obstinate heart, and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh.’ (Ezekiel 2: 4) This people lived falling and falling, but God always urged them to return, through the prophets and judges.
God did miracles, wonders and signs for them that only reading them makes a great impression on us, and we ask ourselves: Were they still so hard? And it does not stay there, Jesus on the other hand also performed miracles that had never been seen before and yet this people crucified Him. Do you realize how far the hard heart of the people of Israel has come?
And of course, God does not want us to be as tough as them, and that is why He gives us the following warning:
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
(Hebrews 3:7-11)
Today we have the powerful Word of God, which gives us instructions on how to live the Christian life. The Bible is the voice of God for us, and we should not overlook what is written there. There are many Christians who even find it boring to read the Bible, however, how can we know God if it is not through His Word? What could happen to us if we become deaf or blind to what is written there?
We have the history of the people of Israel, and we have to learn from them, from their mistakes, from their virtues. And this is a way of not making the same mistakes and also of copying their great virtues. Pay attention to the divine voice of God through His Word, do not overlook it. The Bible can be useful for everything, it advises us, it exhorts us, it reproves us and it reprimands us. In the Bible we can find the best of all existing advice.
So, let us not be deaf to this great book, let us not be like the people of Israel. Let us give all our senses to the service of the gospel and I assure you that God will be with us.
