Division within the group Biblically known as “God’s people” began to develop en masse soon after the God of the Old Testament (the Word Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth–Jn. 1:1-4,14) freed from Egyptian slavery those whom He identified as His people. When first contacted by Moses, these people, numbering between one and three million by historical estimates, had long been separated form the One Who claimed them as His people. The honor being bestowed on them was the result of a promise God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to “Israel,” meaning “power with God.” In Exodus 3:7 we find God (the Word) referring to the enslaved Israelites (descendants of Abraham) as “My people.” Read The God of the Old Testament. Key word–Old. In Exodus 3 we find the Lord commissioning Moses to return to Egypt where He would lead this fellow Israelites out of Egypt and to the Promised Land–the area God promised the descendance of Abraham (vs 10) because of his obedience. The story of their being freed by God (Jesus–1 Cor. 10:4) is well-known and therefore need not be repeated for this study.

Fast forward several days and we find Moses, his brother Aaron and the children of Abraham at Mt. Sinai which overlooks the Sinai desert to the east and the land God promised Abraham’s descendants (the 12 tribes of Israel) to the west. It is here that the Israelites would be given the incredible opportunity to become one with the Great God Who had freed them from slavery by performing a series of miracles, ending with the drowning of the entire Egyptian army. These miracles were followed by the Lord miraculously providing food and water for the people and leading them to victory over the forces of Amalek as they made their way northward to where they would meet with the God Who had freed them.

Eventually Israel, along with a multitude of Gentiles who had become spiritual Israelites, found themselves at the foot of Mt. Sinai. There God called Moses to the top of the mountain where He gave him a message for the people. He was to remind them of what He had done to the Egyptians in order to free them from slavery and to bring them to Himself. Then Moses was instructed to tell them that IF they would “… obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant,” they would “… be a peculiar treasure to Me above all people” of the earth. IF they obeyed Him they would become unto Him “… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exo. 18:3-6). Note that the Apostle Peter uses those same words in describing true Christians in First Peter 2:9. This is Biblical proof that true Christians are in fact SPIRITUAL ISRAELITES, and that God’s true church is “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). What would make Old Testament Israelites, Gentiles and New Testament Christians God’s people indeed? Their obedience to the Law He was about to give the Israelites verbally and in stone. Now, as then, OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENT LAW IS REQUIRED FOR ANYONE TO QUALIFY FOR ETERNAL LIFE.

Having spoken to Moses at the top of Mt. Sinai, God instructed him to return to the Israelites awaiting him at the foot of the mountain where he would explain the details concerning the covenant He had proposed. IF the people agreed to His terms, the covenant would go into effect. Upon his return to the people Moses told them what the Lord had said. Upon hearing God’s Words, the people answered in one accord, saying: “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.” Returning to the Lord, Moses told Him what the people had said. The covenant He had proposed with Abraham’s descendants had been embraced by the people. With that agreement the covenant was established, both parties having agreed to the stipulations thereof. In summary, the people would obey God’s Words (“voice”), and God would be their God. Three days later God returned to the top of Mt. Sinai and audibly proclaimed the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel. The covenant officially went into effect at that time. But there was a problem.

The voice of God, accompanied by an incredible display of thunder, lightning, fire and smoke, terrified the people, causing them to panic and to distance themselves from the mountain, and therefore from God. They then told Moses that they did not want to hear God’s voice ever again. Rather, they wanted the Lord to communicate with them through Moses. This was the second time God’s people had rejected what He had said to them. Adam and Eve were the first human beings to reject His “voice” and to embrace the voice of another–Satan. As the Scriptures reveal, the outcome in each instance was the same–rejection of God’s Words and acceptance of Satan’s words. Nothing has changed.

Those known today as God’s people continue to reject His Words, preferring the voices of men who, under the direction of Satan, tell them what they want to hear ABOUT His Words. The irony is that each group demands to hear a different set of “truths.” Jesus spoke about this situation in Matthew 16:23 where He told Satan that he (Satan) was not interested in the things of God, but rather in the things of man. Satan’s mode of operation is to tell religious man what makes him feel good about his religious status. This is not a new phenomenon as we are reminded in Isaiah 30:10. Some Old Testament prophets and priests were prone to telling the people “smooth things, lies and deceits” because, as God said, “My people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31). Nothing has changed. The status quo has caused a division within the church with the vast majority choosing to follow their ear-scratching prophets (2 Tim. 4:3) and a tiny minority choosing to follow the Biblical God.

In the Book of Genesis we witnessed the second instance of division between good and evil when Abel spiritually separated himself from Adam, Eve and Cain. “Righteous Abel” (Mat. 23:35) was totally God’s man while his parents and brother chose to align themselves with Satan. We find here also the first recorded reaction of the majority of church people to the tiny few in their midst who choose to obey God–rejection. In this case the reaction evolved past rejection and into hatred. As I have stated previously, the rejection-to-hatred pattern will be the reaction of the Institutional Church toward God’s true saints just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, which I believe will take place within the next four to six years, first in America, then in other “Christian nations.”

I believe that, when the persecution of God’s true saints begins, the church masses will have the backing of federal, state and local governments which, together, will persecute God’s true saints to the fullest extent of the law. The use of the law will become more effective after America’s Hate Crimes Law is adjusted to include references to Christianity. What is now a behind-the-scenes resentment attitude will evolve into an all-out “witch hunt” like the anti-Semitism wave we see taking place world-wide. An example of what is coming is the fact that the New York Times will not capitalize the word God when it is presented in print. It is recorded as “god.” A few months ago a man was arrested for praying in front of an abortion clinic. Hatred for God is not limited to the United States. Two people in Finland are on trial for using God’s name on social media TWENTY YEARS AGO. In Canada one can be arrested for referring to Christianity publicly. A man in England has been arrested, tried and found guilty for praying in public–SILENTLY. George Orwell wrote in his novel titled 1984: “In a time of mass deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” A time is coming, and soon, when standing for the Lord will be a revolutionary, as well as a criminal act. Who will join me in the revolution? L.J.