Isa. 63:10

10 But they rebelled [marah], and vexed [`atsab] his holy [qodesh] Spirit [ruwach]: therefore he was turned [haphak] to be their enemy ['oyeb], and he fought [lacham] against them. KJV-Interlinear

10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. NASB

Despite all that God had done for the Israelites, they rebelled. This rebellion was not one where arms were taken up and God is attacked. This was a rebellion of indifference, antagonism, incessant complaining, and ungratefulness.

God did things for them over and over again, but it was never enough. The Israelites were even ungrateful while they were in the process of being freed from slavery. They feared Pharaoh more than they feared God. They were more concerned with what Pharaoh could do to them, like cutting back on their straw ration, than they were concerned with Gods abilities, like giving them freedom.

And yet, at the appointed time, the first Passover, all of Egypt s first-born died, and Israel, nearly two-million strong, walked out of the country that very night. Then their backs were to the wall at the Red Sea. Pharaoh was coming and the complaints came again. God divided the waters, with walls of water on both sides, and the path to freedom was again given to them. This was a bit more of a dramatic event, that every individual could witness for themselves.

Pharaoh was thoroughly destroyed and the threats of the world ceased. Then there was no water and water was provided. There was no food and food was provided. Moses went up the mountain and the Israelites became perturbed. They built a calf and began to worship it.

And so the problems continued for forty years. One incident after another. One series of complaints after another. There was no pleasing them. Ungrateful people are never thankful. They only complain and find fault.

The Book of Judges is a series of stories of the unfaithfulness of Israel. Repeatedly, they drifted away from God and time and again, they suffered from the repercussions of their own decisions.

Then they wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations. God chose David. They chose Saul.

When Saul passed on and David came to the throne, the nation became divided politically. It was not until after Solomon that the country split into the northern and southern nations. The people continued to be defiant toward God and finally the northern kingdom was overrun by Assyria. It never recovered.

Eventually the southern kingdom was overrun by Babylon, and then was thoroughly dismantled by the Roman Empire.

Israel always pursued the ways of the world, and God allowed them to do as they wished. However, in pursuing the world one comes under the rules of the world, the laws of the jungle. Those laws are never good for anyone. And even though you might be rich, talented, or witty, or think you are tough and can beat the odds, you can t.

When you evict God from your life, then you prevent the Holy Spirit from doing Gods will in your life. God, as it were, grieves over your poor choices and the inevitable problems that you will face in your life as a result.

Gods fight against you as a believer, as a negative believer, is to allow you to live in the jungle, and by its rules. He hopes that you will learn your lesson quickly, but as history has demonstrated, most people do not.

The Israelites are the quintessential example of just how long a people can remain defiant. Despite their repeated miseries from the world they remain, in general as a whole people, negative toward the true God. They may worship the Father, but in rejecting the Son, they in effect reject the plan of the Father and therefore reject the Father. God does not allow people to define their own path to Himself.

In fact, God does not allow people to define their own life at all. Mans definitions always end up in some form of evil, which is bad to ones self and for all of humanity. The Tribulation will be the ultimate demonstration of man s failure from trying to define his own destiny.

Now is the time to post a prayer.