Joshua 11:16So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. 18Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
and here:
Exodus 11:4So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.
5Every
firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who
sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at
her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.
6There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.
7But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
8All
these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and
saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will
leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.
9The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.”
10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
The aftermath of the American presidential election has unveiled a rage and hatred unlike many of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. This nobody would argue that these hate and rage filled individuals are being marked for destruction. There is a hardening of hearts taking place. Why is the Lord hardening the hearts of these people?
Matt 24:9“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Because the love of most has turned cold. But what has the Lord instructed us to do?
John 13:34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Can a person in one breath say they are a disciple of the Lord and in the next breath spew vile filth and toxic hatred toward their fellow man? Thus, we are identifying what and who people really are.
2 Timothy 2:24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
The Lord is bringing about justice on this earth. One might look around and say "where are you Lord? How are these people getting away with their vile wickedness?" The answer is nobody is getting away with anything. Our God is busy doing His work today and every day. Today's letter to you was written to present evidence of that work. Our God knows what He is doing and He has everything on track to fulfill every letter of His Word just as it is written. His Word and His will, will be done!
The lesson for us in what is happening is 1. to not become hardened in the midst of all the lawlessness and hatred around us and 2. that we love each other as our Lord loves us.
No one said this would be easy, but with Him and in Him all things are possible.
Keep the faith, remain in His love. Be patient, persistent in well doing and strong in the strength only our Lord can give.
The grace and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you in abundance.
