Judgment on God’s People Continuing to Go Astray
In 2022, repentance and turning back to God “wholeheartedly” will be key for His people still living in sin. Trouble and bad times will follow God’s people who have become thick-skinned and insensitive to the Holy Spirit, even after facing the consequences of sin. What I mean by thick-skinned is refusing to hear the voice of God or hearing His voice but knowingly turning a deaf ear to it—not obeying it, not acting on it, or choosing to remain passive.
Jeremiah 5:3 – O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.
For such people of God, the situation will exactly be the opposite of the promises given in the below verses:
Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God’s people who refuse to have the Lord as their Shepherd, meaning those who deny His Word and don’t want Him to lead their life will see trouble and bad times follow them, instead of goodness and mercy. Likewise, those who willingly fall out of the Kingdom of God and pursue sin instead of righteousness will see evil added to them instead of blessing.
When the pandemic began, I heard some of God’s people saying it is not from the Lord, downplaying the reality of the perilous times we are in and the urgent need to submit to God.
Jeremiah 5:12-13 – They have lied about the LORD, and said, “It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”
Jeremiah 6:13-14 – “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
False prophecies are a sad reality. In 2022, the judgment of God will come upon false prophets, unless they humble themselves before Him and repent.
Jeremiah 5:30 – “An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 14:15 – Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in My name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.
Some of God’s people went one step further and spoke against or mocked God’s servants who warned about the judgment of the Lord and the urgent need for repentance and turning away from sin. This reminds me about people during the biblical times who disregarded God’s voice and mocked the prophets, even Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah 18:18 – Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
2 Chronicles 36:16 – But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
Matthew 24:38-39 – For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 26:67-68 – Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
In 2022, the judgment on God’s people continuing to go astray, however, can be avoided through repentance and setting the heart right before God. The people of God still living in darkness need to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit once again. Prolonged sinning makes your spirit numb, so that you no longer feel the conviction and the need for repentance. Your spirit turns blind and deaf, so that you can’t connect to God.
Matthew 13:15 – For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.
Jeremiah 6:10 – To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
Jeremiah 5:21 – ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:
Jeremiah 5:23 – But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed.
The fear of God is also very important for His people, if they are to avoid the judgment in 2022.
Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.
Philippians 2:12 – Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
Deuteronomy 6:24 – And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
Proverbs 10:27 – The fear of the LORD prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.
Proverbs 28:14 – Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.