Centuries later in the same place Jesus made a whip and drove out traders . If Jesus had requested “ Please go out , this is a holy place ,” do you think they would have complied ? Jesus was angry at sin just like Ezra and Nehemiah . Even God was enraged with the Israelites when they went after idols and expressed His anger in red hot language . When you don ' t fight against evil , you encourage it .
Do you see today this kind of an anger and reaction to sin ? All we hear is , “ We ' ll forgive you 7 × 70 times . Don ' t worry , your future sins are also forgiven .” Good motivation for a sinner to repent , eh ? People don ' t worry about their conscience anymore . People do not feel guilty anymore . What in the world will restrain sin ? What ' s going to motivate people to obey God ? Let ' s not be afraid to show our anger at sin . We sing , “ Twas grace that taught my heart to fear , and grace my fears relieved .” Before grace can relieve fear of punishment , it teaches our hearts to fear sin . Christians have not realized the seriousness of sin . They will do in hell , when it will be too late to do anything about it . The prophets of doom were angry with the sin of people . That ' s why a remnant escaped .
Think of all the abused people - the poor who are robbed , the relatives of victims who were murdered , the victims of domestic violence ... Don ' t they need justice ? You tell them to forgive 7 × 70 times ? That is injustice . They are not rubber dolls to meekly shake their heads and say , ' I forgive '. They have feelings , emotions , spirit that gets wounded , heart that aches , body that aches from the battering . So understand 7 × 70 in the proper context and hold the culprit answerable for his sin . Then the chances of more people escaping to become a remnant is possible . Don ' t be like the false prophets who bandaged wounds without painfully squeezing the pus out first .
“ We have ESCAPED like a bird out of the fowler ' s snare ; the snare has been broken , and we have ESCAPED ” ( Psalm 124:7 ). A snare is a device to cleverly trap us and is kept hidden from our eyes . It has something to attract us as a bait . So are the attractions the devil offers us . They look harmless , they are exciting to experience and often promise quick recovery . ' Only this once and no more ,' we think , but our feet are caught . How do we escape ? Easy . All you have to do is to keep yourself under the Almighty and trust in Him for deliverance . Then He shall surely deliver you from the snare of the fowler , who is the devil ( Psalm 91:1-3 ).
How to keep ourselves under the Almighty ? Come to 1 Corinthians 10 . Of the vast army of people who started off from Egypt , only two reached Canaan . This is too small a remnant . Why were the others not able to make it ? God was not pleased with “ most ” of them ( v5 ). They forsook the Living God and made idols for themselves ; they indulged in revelry ; they sold themselves out to sexual immorality ; they tested the Lord ; they grumbled . We are surrounded by the same sins today also ; but God assures us : “ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man ; but God is faithful , who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able , but with the temptation will also make the way of ESCAPE , that you may be able to bear it ” ( v13 ). The author continues to say , “ Therefore , my beloved , flee from idolatry ” ( v14 ). God needs our cooperation . He is faithful to limit our temptation and provide an escape door for us . Our responsibility is to flee from temptation .
“' I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven ,' declares the Lord . ' Come