(This is an excerpt from the Spiritual Madness breeds Apostasy chapter from ‘Restore the Altar in Times of Apostasy’ volume of work)
Deuteronomy 28: 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
The Amplified translates verse 28 as follows: The Lord will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart and mind.
In Deuteronomy 28, the Lord gave His people a choice – seek Him and be blessed, or be cursed because of a lack of obedience. And this cursing simply implies the consequence of a life separated from the truth, counsel, strength and the power of God, thus life of the Lord, which comes through disobedience and rebellion. Such a curse is upon those in Revelations 22 who will forever be outside the gates of Jerusalem. It says verse 15 Outside are the dogs [the godless, the impure, those of low moral character] and the sorcerers [with their intoxicating drugs, and magic arts], and the immoral persons [the perverted, the molesters, and the adulterers], and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying (deception, cheating). Indeed, those who are on the outside – thus separated from the Lord – are those who reject the Lord and His Truth (thus rejecting God’s knowledge and so fall into the trap of unstable mind).
Indeed, under the Blood of Jesus we are no longer under any curse, and we have been liberated from the work of the enemy, but then we MUST REMAIN under the Blood. We must thus remain in the Lord, for IN the Lord there is no condemnation. And if we are IN the Lord, abiding, we shall surely obey, folly, submit, yield and follow. Question remains, are we truly ABIDING, for great apostasy is upon us because we have drifted away from God, following the ways of the world that breeds spiritual rebellion and instability.
In Deuteronomy 28 we are dealing with ‘madness’ and the bewilderment of heart and mind because they did not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and statutes. To be bewildered speaks of a state of confusion, anxiety, doubt and double-mindedness. To be bewildered is not the reality of 2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul writes: For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? We live this in a state of carnality, of envy, strife and divisions when we are not walking in the Spirit of the Lord, thus we are state of mind is bewildered, thus not a state of mind which is sound and wholesome. This is the magnitude of those drifting further away from the Lord and His Truth.
We read of bewilderment in Romans 1: 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, [p]unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. So the reason for their condition of the mind, described as based or a reprobate mind is because the people had forsaken the ways of the Lord, thus they did not retain God in their knowledge. So for their rebellion, they walked in the bewilderment of mind, for they were left confused to the truth of the Lord.
In Galatians 1:9, we read of those who are accursed for not preaching the Gospel of the Lord. Thus, they become a curse by which they preach and advocate, just as those would be cursed for not listening to God or obeying the Lord according to Deuteronomy 28. Are we hearing the Lord? If we disobey the Lord, and continue to rebel and mock Him, we shall become accursed, and as we become of such a nature, we become ‘mad’ and suffer the astonishment of mind and heart, which speaks of fear, anguish, distress and wickedness. All of this is as a result of disobedience. And remember, the one who is cursed is the devil himself.
Deuteronomy 28 also speaks of being smitten with blindness. Again, this speaks of a spiritual blindness. Thus those who are walking not by a sound state of mind are those who are spiritually blind, for they walk in ignorance, and deception and they are blinded to the truth of God. For this reason the Lord said in John 3 that those who are reborn by the Spirit will “see” the Kingdom of God. Praise the Lord. We are cured from our spiritual blindness when God heals us from our spiritual madness and the bewilderment/astonishment of heart. For Jesus is still the Balm of Gilead and he wishes to heal us from such afflictions, but then we must abide in Him and thus walk in blessing and not curses.
In John 12 we read of those who are stubborn and rebellious in their ways: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.” Take note of understanding with their hearts, because those who are drifting away from God move further away from wisdom, understanding and knowledge. As we become separated from God’s ways, we become unstable in mind and the way we think.
As we drift further away from the will and the way of God, we succumbed to the truth of Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Just so, we have to constantly seek the Lord, seek His ways, and stay close to Him order to walk in a renewed mind and heart that glorifies and exalts the Lord. This is after all the intention and the purpose of the New Covenant, spelled out in Jeremiah 31: 3 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Thus, for those who remain under the Blood, true to the Covenant, thus abiding in the Lord, they shall be of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7), and their heart will beat with the heart of God and they see and walk in the ways of the Kingdom of the Lord. Yet when we drift away from God and His Truth, our hearts remain so wicked and who can know it, and our minds will stray to depravity, carnality and spiritual corruption.
On the road to Damascus, Saul was struck blind by the Lord. But even before he was struck blind, he was already spiritually blind and he was spiritually not of a sound mind. After all, he opposed the truth of Jesus, and was blind to the Gospel. He persecuted the followers of the Way. And so he was in a state of rage. This speaks of the bewilderment of mind, and it speaks of someone who is clearly accursed for not speaking the Truth of God or accepting it. When he met the Lord on the road, God was not interested just to heal him from his physical blindness, but also from his bewilderment of heart, from the madness and from spiritual blindness!
So when the Lord opened Paul’s eyes, the man could not just see physically, but he could comprehend the truth of God and thus he begun to walk in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. This is a man who wrote about the fruits of the Spirit, about moral conduct and behaviour. This is a man who with great passion, commitment and determination preached the Gospel to Gentiles despite all the persecution. Paul was healed from spiritual madness, blindness and the bewilderment of heart! He now chose God, understood the Kingdom, “saw” the light of his folly and set on a course of declaring the Gospel to all who wish to hear.
John 12 speaks about healing for those who should understand with their hearts and turn. Indeed, Paul understood and he realised the truth of his folly, and he was healed! How we need more of this healing in our churches, where we “see” the light of our folly, the arrogance of our ways and the fallen nature of our religious outlooks. Paul truly saw the truth, walked in the wisdom of God and thus wrote in 1 Corinthians 1: 8 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Indeed, God’s people perish because of a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Yet when we abide in the Lord, then we shall not perish (John 3:15). There is still power in the Blood to heal the malady of our mind, our heart and our spiritual condition! Indeed, because of disobedience, iniquity, idolatry and spiritual apostasy, we find the manifested consequence to be smitten with spiritually ‘madness’, thus not sound in mind concerning spiritual truths, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. Because of the rebellion and the disobedience of the people of God, in light of what we read in Deuteronomy 28, consider what the Lord says in Isaiah 6: Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Indeed, when we fail to obey the Lord, or to follow Him, or to seek Him, we shall become a people who do not spiritually perceive, we do not understand, or see. Thus a people ‘mad’, thus an unstable mind or a mind not healthy, for the mind is clouded and darkened by a lack of walking by the light of God’s Word and Truth. The church is truly in a state of apostasy because of foolishness, because of our arrogance [toward God and the true prophets] and because so many in churches still love the world and its wickedness. This is by foolish behaviour. Of foolish behaviour we read in Psalm 53:1 [folly of the godless]: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.
We can only cultivate a sound mind as we are led by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Timothy 1:7), thus walk in the ways and the counsel of God. God’s wrath against rebellion is clearly spelled out in Romans 1. And this is because they who were rebellious were vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Thus, they were foolish, and fell prey to a reprobate mind. Take note of the clear warning in Romans 1:28 (KJV) which says “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient …” The word ‘reprobate’ is the Greek word adokimos, which signifies "not standing the test, rejected". It speaks of a mind of which God cannot approve, and which must be rejected or cast away by Him, the effect of refusing "to have God in their knowledge. It therefore refers to something which is depraved, unprincipled, or wicked, even worse, thus a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation. It therefore speaks of a people who had become darkened in their knowledge of God, thus walking in foolishness. Such behaviour was evident in the days of Noah, of which we read in Genesis 6: 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
We therefore read in Romans 1 that they were handed over to such a mind. Why? Because they refused the knowledge of God. They failed to pass the test, in terms of abiding in the will of God. The idea of being cast away is also expounded on in John 15: If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Therefore, there is a clear warning that if we do not abide in the Lord, then we are in danger of adopting a reprobate mind, thus drifting further away from God, until we are no longer abiding in the Lord and thus are in danger of being cast away. If we fail to abide in the Lord, we shall drift further away from His Truth, and thus fall into apostasy and rebellion, thus a reprobate mind. Are we in this day truly standing in the knowledge of God, seeking Him and abiding in Him? This calls for constant pursuit, constantly seeking Him and being in fellowship with God.
The only way to avoid being a reprobate is to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, and to seek God all the time by abiding in Him. It says in Romans 8: 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. The word mortify speaks of putting to death, to destroy and to render extinct. It speaks of liberation from the bond of anything, literally to be made dead in relation to (something). The context goes to the heart of Paul's doctrine of the union of the believer with Christ. This union has given the soul a new life, flowing (through the Spirit) from Christ in the heavenly world, so that the remnants of the old corrupt life-principle are now dangerous excrescences. Hence, they are to be destroyed, just as a surgeon removes the remnants of a diseased condition after the reestablishment of healthy circulation. This is the walk of a believer – destroy all things that stand between the union of the believer and God.
Sadly, right throughout history, up to now, mankind has constantly struggled with rebellion against God. Such rebellion infiltrated the minds of the Israelites, even the prophets and leaders. Thus they were foolish. And today still, there is great foolishness in churches, for many so-called prophets are mere fools and many spiritual leaders are acting like mad men as in the days of Hosea.
Reality, many will continue on their foolish ways and with an unstable mind, for they reject the ways and the truth of God. And so we read in Revelations 9: 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. Such days are upon us, where arrogance and pride is so great we openly resists God and His Truth, seeking to defy to the point of perishing.