The lessons in the Bible are contained in events that happened to people as an example for us. “And they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).¹ We need to follow the Bible and its teachings. Most of the defeat that Israel experienced was a direct result of their lack of obedience to what God had told them to do. He therefore allowed the Babylonians and others to take them into captivity, a result we can still see the evidence of today by so many Jewish people living in the Diaspora (2 Kings 17:22–23; 2 Chronicles 36:18–21). In light of this, I am not exactly sure why Christians feel we can be disobedient to what God tells us to do, and yet believe that the Lord will come again, catch us all up into heaven, bring us into His presence, and bless us.

Very simply, satan recognizes that no matter how much he comes against us, he personally cannot destroy the people of God. We understand this from Matthew chapter 16. Simon Peter had the revelation of Yeshua (Jesus) and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Yeshua answered, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:16–18). The gates of Hades will never prevail against the ecclesia. It will not happen. The very gates of hell and satan himself can never overpower the Church. But that does not mean the Church cannot be positioned in a place where God has to bring judgment on us because of our disobedience and our violation of His laws and the commandments that He told us to do.

Many Christians love to teach that there is no Law, but Christ Himself spoke about the law of God and gave us commandments to follow (Matthew 5:17–19). He said, “I love those who keep My commandments” (see John 15:10). There are things Yeshua has told us to do. He commanded us to love one another (John 15:12). And He commanded us to be one (John 17:20–21). Those are two areas where we as Christians have found ourselves being disobedient to what God has told us to do. We need to be careful because if we find ourselves not fulfilling the law of God, not walking in His commandments, not doing what Yeshua directed us to do, we cannot expect Him to say, “Oh, that’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You do not have to do what I told you to do. I will still bless you and give you My presence.” That is in total discord with everything God has done in the Scriptures.

Even in the Greek text, God warns that He will repeat on us the same discipline that came upon Israel for their lack of obedience. God is very clear to tell us as Christians that these things are given as an example so that we do not follow the same pattern of unbelief and disobedience (Hebrews 4:11). We must not kid ourselves. If we follow the same pattern of disobedience as Israel and others have done throughout the history of the Scriptures, we will find ourselves reaping the same consequences. God wants us to learn the lessons of the Bible.

¹ All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).