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Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at and, And the things to come hasten upon them.’ Deuteronomy 32:35 NKJV
The most famous sermon not preached by Jesus is probably Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Delivered at Enfield, Connecticut, in July 1741, an instigator of America’s first “great awakening,” it centered on today’s scripture.
Deuteronomy 32 is a song of Moses, sung as Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. The lyrics hammered God’s people for their unfaithfulness, for making Him “jealous with their foreign gods” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Moses’ song quoted the Lord saying, “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them” (v 23).
But partway through, around verse 35, the warnings shift to Israel’s enemies. No matter how angry God was at His own people, He loved them. He would defend them against other nations that corrupted and harassed them. God will avenge His people “when he sees their strength is gone” (Deuteronomy 32:36).
In good times, the Israelites forgot God. Often, we do too. So God sends difficulties to get His people’s attention. Sometimes, we’re knocked so far down we can’t imagine getting back up. But that’s when God in His mercy steps in again, offering yet another chance to return to His love.
Are you way down? That’s exactly where God works.
Prayer: Father, please lift me up, close to Your heart.
Link to Sermon: Jonathan Edwards and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - Enfield Historical Society - Discover and Preserve Enfield CT
The most famous sermon not preached by Jesus is probably Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Delivered at Enfield, Connecticut, in July 1741, an instigator of America’s first “great awakening,” it centered on today’s scripture.
Deuteronomy 32 is a song of Moses, sung as Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. The lyrics hammered God’s people for their unfaithfulness, for making Him “jealous with their foreign gods” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Moses’ song quoted the Lord saying, “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them” (v 23).
But partway through, around verse 35, the warnings shift to Israel’s enemies. No matter how angry God was at His own people, He loved them. He would defend them against other nations that corrupted and harassed them. God will avenge His people “when he sees their strength is gone” (Deuteronomy 32:36).
In good times, the Israelites forgot God. Often, we do too. So God sends difficulties to get His people’s attention. Sometimes, we’re knocked so far down we can’t imagine getting back up. But that’s when God in His mercy steps in again, offering yet another chance to return to His love.
Are you way down? That’s exactly where God works.
Prayer: Father, please lift me up, close to Your heart.
Link to Sermon: Jonathan Edwards and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - Enfield Historical Society - Discover and Preserve Enfield CT