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Psalm 106:40
Therefore the LORD burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
38They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.
39Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
40Therefore the LORD burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
41He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.
Notice
“Therefore” ties God’s burning anger to the blood of sacrificed children, and “his inheritance” makes his abhorrence of his own people stark.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does the account of sacrificed children shape your reading of “Therefore”?
Write on thisWhat does “his inheritance” reveal about the relationship wounded by these deeds?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 78:59When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel,Both psalms describe God’s anger and abhorrence directed toward Israel, the people who belong to him.
Judges 2:14The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all …Both accounts describe the LORD’s burning anger against Israel, followed by his handing them over to enemies.
Leviticus 26:11I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you.Leviticus promises that God will dwell among his people without abhorring them; the psalm records his abhorrence.
Deuteronomy 32:19The LORD saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.Both passages describe God abhorring those bound to him, named as his children in Deuteronomy and his inheritance in the psalm.
Deuteronomy 9:29Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”Both passages name Israel as God’s people and inheritance, though Deuteronomy recalls deliverance while the psalm records anger.
Ezekiel 23:18So she uncovered her prostitution and uncovered her nakedness. Then my soul was alienated from her, just like my soul was alienated from her sister.Both passages describe God’s rejection, with prostitution named in Ezekiel and in the psalm’s preceding account of Israel’s deeds.
Psalm 89:38But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed.Both psalms speak of God’s anger and rejection toward those marked as his own: his inheritance and his anointed.
Judges 2:20The LORD’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my …Both passages describe the LORD’s burning anger against Israel in response to their disobedience.
Judges 3:8Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served …Both accounts connect the LORD’s burning anger against Israel with their subjection to foreign rulers.
Amos 6:8“The Lord GOD has sworn by himself,” says the LORD, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the …Both passages speak of God’s abhorrence and the handing over of his people, with Amos naming Jacob’s pride.
1 Kings 11:25He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, in addition to the mischief of Hadad. He abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.The shared thread is abhorrence toward Israel, though Kings describes a human ruler’s hostility and the psalm describes God’s judgment.
Ezra 5:12But after our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this …Both accounts connect God’s wrath against his people with his giving them into the hands of foreign powers.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
This is a hard account of God’s judgment against his own people. Their children’s blood matters to him; belonging to him does not excuse their violence.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).