Covenant + LawSample

What happened to Israel when they failed to keep God’s Law?

God sent Israel out of the land He gave them and into exile. Then He removed His presence from the temple.

The greatest consequence of sin is separation from God. Because God is holy—that is, because God is so good and pure—He can’t be in the presence of evil and sin. These are the opposite of what is holy. 

The authors of the Bible understood exile to be a curse that God had put on them, one that required repentance in order to have the curses lifted and to be restored to their homeland (Deuteronomy 28-30 and Daniel 9:4-19). When we are separated from God, the proper response is to repent.  

It works like this. Because God is holy, His nature and presence makes war on what is corrupt and unholy—even when it is within us, the people He loves. Not because God isn’t love, but because He is! His holiness and love will fight against everything that is trying to destroy us, even when it is within us.

But when we’re unholy, there’s a danger in us being close to the holy presence of God. God’s holiness is at war with the sin within us.  

This is why Adam and Eve were banned from the garden. This is why it was dangerous for the Israelites to approach Mount Sinai where God appeared. And this is why God sent the people of Israel into exile when they broke the covenant, failed to keep the law, and became sinful. As a punishment, God expelled them from the Promised Land so that they would experience the loss of their relationship with Him.

Have you ever experienced feeling separated from God? We want to be close to Him and to be in a vibrant relationship with Him. But that requires that we be holy, so we’re left wondering how we can become holy. 

It is simple as well as life-changing. We turn from sin and turn to Him. We ask His forgiveness and trust His mercy for us in Jesus. As we commit ourselves to prayer, to Scripture-reading, to fellowship in a local church, and to serving others like Jesus did, we begin to see His mercy at work in us.

Spend some time today thinking about how you can turn from what separates you from God so you can be closer to God and to His people.