Lord! Why Do You Permit Such Evil?Sýnishorn

God Sends Misfortune as a Punishment

“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 28:45)

When the Israelites enter their promised land, God warns them. If they obey Him, they will experience abundant blessing. But if they turn their backs on Him, a long list of curses will come upon them. God will send them “curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do.” Their crops will fail, they will suffer from diseases, enemies will take their land, their cattle, and even their children. These warnings should be taken very seriously. Later stories show that God did bring disaster upon His own people when they were unfaithful to Him. In the days of the judges, enemies stole Israel’s harvest. In Elijah’s day, the land suffered from drought. After years of warnings, the people were taken captive by the Babylonians. The city of Jerusalem, including the temple, was completely destroyed. The Israelites could hardly imagine that God would not really let this happen to His temple and people, but He did!

The people of Israel did not take God’s caution seriously. They faced the consequences. Take this as a warning! God is love, but He won’t leave sin unpunished. If you live in rebellion against Him, He will bring disaster upon you. Don’t let it get to that point!