Christians may participate in these behaviors without being fully aware of what they are doing or recognizing their connection to Israel’s failures. These examples are not given to condemn believers but to bring correction, encourage an honest examination of the heart, and bring every area of life back under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

1. Idolatry and Covenant Unfaithfulness Today

Covenant unfaithfulness can be seen when Christians live two different lives. They live one way among the saints and another way in the world, at work, or on social media. Their confession identifies them with Christ, but their conduct changes according to the people around them.

At work, godliness may be placed on the back burner in favor of unethical practices or morally wrong policies because the person wants professional success, financial security, or the approval of others.

On social media, a Christian may share, promote, celebrate, or participate in content that contradicts godliness to gain attention, followers, influence, or acceptance. They may present one identity before the saints and another identity before the world.

The amount of time spent on social media must also be examined. Social media can consume the time, attention, and affection that should be given to God, His Word, prayer, family, and the responsibilities He has entrusted to us. When it continually governs our attention, shapes our desires, and becomes difficult to put down, it may have become an idol.

This reveals divided loyalty because Christ is not governing our behavior in every environment (Matthew 6:24; James 4:4).

Reflect
Does my conduct remain Christ-centered at church, at home, at work, and on social media?
What receives the greatest portion of my time, attention, trust, and affection?

2. Forgetting God and Refusing to Hear Him Today

Christians can forget God by failing to spend quality time in the Bible, prayer, worship, and fellowship with the saints. They may still believe in God and attend church, but He is no longer being given the time and attention necessary for His Word, character, and will to remain before their hearts and minds.

Refusing to hear God can also include refusing to hear Him through other saints. God uses the members of the body of Christ to communicate with, correct, encourage, and strengthen one another. We should test what we hear, but we should not automatically assume that something is not from God simply because we do not like what is being said.

God used a donkey to speak to Balaam, a stubborn man who could not see that his life was in danger. The angel of the Lord later told Balaam that if the donkey had not turned away, He would have killed Balaam and spared the donkey. If God could use a donkey to stop a man from continuing toward destruction, He can certainly use another believer to speak something we need to hear (Numbers 22:22–33).

Unforgiveness can also reveal that a believer has forgotten the mercy and forgiveness God extended through Christ. The believer may know the command to forgive but allow the offense, pain, or desire for repayment to govern the heart instead of hearing and obeying God (Matthew 6:14–15; Ephesians 4:31–32; Colossians 3:13).

Reflect
Am I giving God enough time and attention to hear Him clearly?
Have I rejected something spoken through another believer because I did not like what I heard?
Am I withholding from someone the forgiveness that God extended to me through Christ?

3. Oppressing Others and Practicing Injustice Today

In Jesus’ teaching about the sheep and the goats, He described people who were hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned. The goats were condemned because they saw these needs and did nothing. Jesus said that what they failed to do for the least of His brethren, they failed to do for Him. This is injustice according to the Word of God (Matthew 25:31–46).

These needs are physical, but they can also have spiritual dimensions. A person can be spiritually hungry and need the Word of God. A person can feel like a stranger and need to be welcomed into fellowship. Someone can be spiritually sick, weak, bound, or imprisoned and need prayer, truth, encouragement, and help finding freedom in Christ.

Practicing injustice is not limited to directly hurting someone. It can also include seeing suffering and refusing to respond when we have the ability to help. We should examine whether we overlook people because their needs are inconvenient, uncomfortable, or require something from us.

The inward refusal to forgive can also produce outward injustice. When unforgiveness governs the heart, a Christian may retaliate, slander, mistreat, punish, exclude, or deliberately withhold what is right from the person who caused the offense. Unforgiveness becomes oppressive when a believer uses power, influence, relationships, information, money, or position to make another person repay a debt being held against them.

If you find yourself in this category, pursue love and seek the things that edify others. Paul instructed believers to “pursue love” and to “pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (Romans 14:19; 1 Corinthians 14:1).

Reflect
Whose physical or spiritual need have I seen but ignored?
Has unforgiveness affected how I speak about, respond to, or treat another person?
Am I using anything within my control to make someone repay an offense?