(Deu 29:15) but with him who stands here with us today before Jehovah your God; and also with him that is not here with us today.
(Deu 29:16) For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations through which you passed.
(Deu 29:17) And you have seen their detestable things, and their idols of wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them;
(Deu 29:18) that there not be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you today a root that bears gall and wormwood;
Interesting verses here...to go and serve the gods of these nations...now that we know what we know, is there any nation ever or even now who serves God truthfully. We all can see and have experienced these idols of the heart the world serves. Is it any different now than it was then?
Interesting word, wormwood, here is some more verses connected to this word, it's a little long, but nonetheless sounds familiar, coming out from babylon.
(Jer 23:15) So Jehovah of Hosts says this concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them wormwood, and make them drink poisonous water, for ungodliness has gone forth from the prophets of Jerusalem into all the land.
(Jer 23:16) So says Jehovah of Hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
(Jer 23:17) They say to those who despise Me, Jehovah has said, You shall have peace. And they say to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, Evil shall not come on you.
(Jer 23:18) For who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah, and has seen and heard His Word? Who has listened to His Word and heard?
(Jer 23:19) Behold, the tempest of Jehovah has gone forth in fury, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl on the head of the wicked.
(Jer 23:20) The anger of Jehovah shall not turn back until He has executed, and until He has set up the purposes of His heart. In latter days you shall understand it perfectly.
(Jer 23:21) I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
(Jer 23:22) But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My Words, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
(Jer 23:23) Am I a God near by, says Jehovah, and not a God from afar?
(Jer 23:24) Or can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I do not see him, says Jehovah? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth, says Jehovah?
(Jer 23:25) I have heard what the prophets said, those who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
(Jer 23:26) How long is this there in the heart of the prophets, the prophets of lies; yea, the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
(Jer 23:27) They plot to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, even as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.
(Jer 23:28) The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What has the chaff to do with the wheat, says Jehovah?
(Jer 23:29) Is not My Word thus like fire, says Jehovah, and like a hammer which breaks a rock in pieces?
(Jer 23:30) Then, Jehovah says, Behold, I am against the prophets who steal My Words, each one from his neighbor.
(Jer 23:31) Jehovah says, Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, He says.
(Jer 23:32) Jehovah says, Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies, and by their frivolity. Yet I did not send them nor command them. And they will not profit this people at all, says Jehovah.
(Jer 23:33) And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? You shall then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says Jehovah.
(Jer 23:34) And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.
(Jer 23:35) And you shall say each one to his neighbor, and each one to his brother, What has Jehovah answered? And what has Jehovah spoken?
(Jer 23:36) And you shall not mention the burden of Jehovah again, for each man's word shall be his burden. But you have perverted the Words of the living God, of Jehovah of Hosts, our God.
(Jer 23:37) So you shall say to the prophet, What has Jehovah answered you? And what has Jehovah spoken?
(Jer 23:38) But if you say, The burden of Jehovah, therefore so says Jehovah: Because you say this word, the burden of Jehovah; and I have sent to you saying, You shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;
(Jer 23:39) therefore, behold! I, even I will utterly forget you and cast you off and the city that I gave to you and your fathers, away from My face.
(Jer 23:40) And I will put on you an everlasting reproach and never ending shame on you, which shall not be forgotten.
Now go to the words of Christ and it's talks of worldly religion and its hypocrisy.
(Mat 7:22) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many works of power?
(Mat 7:23) And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; "depart from Me, those working lawlessness!" Psa. 6:8
(Psa 6:
Depart from me, all workers of iniquity, for Jehovah has heard the voice of my weeping.
(Psa 6:9) Jehovah has heard my plea; Jehovah will receive my prayer.
(Psa 6:10) Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back, ashamed in a moment.
He is constantly warning us to heed His word, to not get caught up into the ways of the world, over and over again. We must truly be a stubborn and stiffnecked people to be warned over and over by Him. Truly, His right hand is fully extended to help us, if we would only listen.
I thank God it is not of anything we can do ourselves, but what He is doing. His will be done.
God bless,
Gary