Signs of the times

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft...." 1 Samuel 15:22-23

But God's warnings fell on deaf ears. Just as the American public now welcomes spiritual compromise and self-made religions, Israel traded truth and God's loving favor for a seductive imitation of Canaanite spirituality -- cloaked in  Biblical terms. Even so, God loved them and called them back to Himself -- but they turned a deaf ear:

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

"In returning and rest you shall be saved;

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

But you would not...."

 

They rebelled -- in part -- because their sensed no conviction for sin.  Jeremiah 8:10 describes the condition well:

 

"...they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly,

Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?

No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall....

 

Those who still trust and follow God can't count on His strength, peace and comfort -- no matter what happens:

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

John 16:33