And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 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. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. (2 Chronicles 36:15-17)

Despising The Word Of God

The word of the Lord is how the world was created. God spoke and the universe containing the earth and all heavenly bodies were formed, established, and determined by the counsel of His wisdom. Everything that exists in the world is held together by the word of God. Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of the Lord and suffered the consequence of sin. When the early world turned away from the word of God, the Lord destroyed all life except Noah and his family. In every generation, the word of the Lord has determined whether a man would live or die. God made a promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation and that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. Through him, all nations would be blessed in the promise of a son through whom the divine Word would come into the world. Jesus was the Word that died for the sins of all humanity and in His blood, redemption was offered to those who would believe and obey.

Israel was the example of God’s grace, mercy, and love. The people of God also became the pattern to warn men of the consequences of rejecting the word of God. Israel had become an exalted nation among all nations. The Lord blessed them beyond measure, but the heart of the people turned away from God. Following the death of Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into northern and southern tribes. The northern tribes of Israel immediately rejected the word of God and were destroyed by the Assyrians. In the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the people of God struggled to keep faith in the word of God. The ultimate failure of Israel came when after repeated warnings from the Lord through His prophets were not heeded and the Lord sent the Chaldeans to take the remaining tribes into bondage.

The fall of Jerusalem came about because the people would not listen to the messengers of the Lord. God sent the His prophets night and day pleading with Israel to change their heart. His love for Israel was full and He had no desire to punish them. Instead of repenting, the people mocked the messengers, despised the preaching of the prophets, and ridiculed the preaching of the word. The wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people. So, the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them who killed their young men with no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. Then Nebuchadnezzar sent his armies taking the people captive to Babylon. The reason this calamity fell upon Israel is that they despised the word of God.

There has never been a time in the history of man that God has not revealed His word to them. From Adam until the coming of the Lord, the word of the Lord is the foundation of truth to save men from their sins. Jesus came as the word to show the way to the Father. He is the truth of the word of God and only in Jesus Christ will a man find eternal life. Through the revealed word of God (the Bible), a man can read and understand the mystery of God leading him to salvation. Yet, most men mock the messengers of God who preach the truth, despise the preaching of the word, and scoff at those who would declare the whole counsel of the Lord. Preaching against sexual immorality is frowned upon. Suggesting there is only one truth or one church is ridiculed. Showing from scripture the New Testament pattern of authority is reviled as out of date and antiquated for the modern world. Sadly, most people today do not accept the word of God as truth.

Israel faced the wrath of God for rejecting His word. There is no hope for those who fail to honor the Bible as the whole counsel of God. Denying the necessity of baptism does not change the word of God. Rejecting the belief the Lord will punish the disobedient in eternal fire will not make hell go away. There is a coming judgment on all those who despise the word of God. Nothing man can do will change the word of God. It is settled in heaven. Adding to the word or taking away from the word will only bring the anger of the Lord. There will be no mercy and no hope. That is how serious God takes those who trifle with His word. There is compassion in the heart of God as He desires all men to be saved. He has given His word to guide those who believe in Him and are willing to obey His word. Man must accept the word of God and obey.