Day 36, Year 1 Crooked People Cannot Be the Children of God

“They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation.” (Deuteronomy 32:5 NASB)

“And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’” (Acts 2:40 NASB)

In the first verse of today, the word “perverse” in Hebrew is ‘iqqesh, as mentioned previously, it means “crooked, twisted, distorted.” The word “crooked” in the same verse is pathaltol in Hebrew, meaning “twisted, tortuous,” it is derived from the word pathal (2 Samuel 22:27). In the second verse, “perverse” in Greek is skolios, meaning “curved, winding, crooked, unreasonable.”

For at least several thousand years from the time of Moses to the present, most humans have been living in the crooked generation. This crookedness began when Adam and Eve adopted the devil’s lies and twisted God’s words. Since then, various forms of crookedness have permeated different human hearts and societies. The first verse indicates that those who act perversely toward God are not His children. The word “He” in this verse refers to the God whom Moses trusted (Deuteronomy 32:3). And the word “corrupt” in the first verse, shachath in Hebrew, also means “to spoil, ruin, pervert, morally decay.” In other words, these two verses urge us to be purified from all filth and crookedness, avoid acting to spoil or indulge ourselves with evil desires like sinners but seek and follow God’s righteousness in order to become His children.

A noteworthy point in the second verse is that Apostle Peter urged believers to rely on Jesus’ salvation to be delivered from this crooked generation. Indeed, Jesus wants to save, but we who are delivered by Him must also save ourselves from all crookedness, including being freed from the corruption of our families and societies, if any. Thus, we have to examine ourselves in every facet of our lives to see how much we have been corrupted by distortions or wickedness. We have to eradicate all forms of crookedness, including self-indulgence which tends to extinguish God’s words within us, eliminate any stubbornness against Him, and then transform ourselves into His children with integrity and righteousness. This process begins by assuring that our decisions align with God’s words and guidance, rather than conforming to peer evil pressure or secular trends.

As mentioned earlier, by truly resisting the wickedness of authorities, we could take a further step to resist any crooked currents and trends in our generation. When we rely on God to stand firm against the pressure of sinners, we can be eased from fear or loneliness with the empowerment of His Spirit of Truth, and dare to do what is right in His eyes. Contrarily, if people do not confront their own crookedness and dishonesty, they might eventually perceive Jesus as deceptive and lose His salvation.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you feel you have a problem with evil desires, spoils, or moral decay? If so, how could you be cleansed by the Lord?

2) How will you trust Jesus for His salvation to get out of this perverse generation and remove its influences on you? Think about how to get rid of one or two of them if you have been influenced by secular trends.