In the time of Israel, rebellion was checked over the years and as the Jewish nation mingled with the heathen nations, they picked up on their worship traditions of idols and prayers etc. God is a patient God and put up with Israel's rebellion and the only way He could check it was through adversity and humiliation. They were even taken into captivity by the Babylonians and as they lived there they adjusted to the Babylonians way of life and became comfortable with their style. Not all were subject to rebellion and let their light shine throughout the Babylonian kingdom and time after time they came in contact with kings and rulers and they were led to led to proclaim the supremacy of the God of the Hebrew captives.
After their return from Babylon much attention was given to religious instruction, synagogues were erected and schools were established but even these agencies became corrupted. Many of the people had learned a lot of heathen ideas during their captivity and they introduced them into their religious teachings. In many ways they conformed to the practice of heathen idolaters. Thus they departed from God and lost sight of the teachings that had been instituted by Christ Himself. In every part of the service that Christ Himself had instituted was full of spiritual beauty and vitality. Instead of trusting to the Christ who had formed the services, they trusted to the forms and rituals and sacrifices and made up their own laws and rules until they became a burden to the people. They measured their holiness by the multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with pride and hypocrisy.
With all their minute and burdensome requirements, it was impossible for them to keep the law. Those who tried to keep the law and observe the rabbinical precepts, toiled under a heavy burden and they could find no rest for their troubled conscience. That's how Satan worked to discourage the people and to lower their conception of the character of God, and to bring the faith of Israel into contempt. He hoped to establish the same claim put forth when he rebelled in heaven, --that the requirements of God were unjust, and could not be obeyed. Even Israel he declared, did not keep the law.
The Romans had come in and taken control of Israel and instead of seeking to find God because they loved Him, they looked for the Messiah to come as a conqueror and break the Romans power and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Savior when He came.
This is how subtle rebellion is, when we make friends with the world, instead of teaching them the love of God we pick up on their habits until they become part of us, thus rebellion sets in and we do not realize it until it has taken hold of us, just like in Israel's time.
This is why the world is in such a rebellious state today. Do we want to be a part of the rebellion or come back to God and worship Him out of true love for Him and wanting to be like Him in character and life? Personally, I want no part of rebellion, the Bible says it is the same as the sin of witchcraft. 1 Samuel 15:23. Please consider the Israelites and their rebellion through their lifetime and see it as instruction to us to not follow the same path that they followed. There is a cure and we will find out what it is as we study to find the true path which leads to the city of God and not to destruction. Grandma Joan
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