Why did God's judgment fall on Israel in the Old Testament?
God's judgment fell on Israel when the people lost their separated character and turned to idolatry, losing belief in God. Because God had mandated Israel to remain separate from the Gentiles, any loss of that separation—such as through seduction by Gentile women—brought divine judgment.
Les teaches that throughout the Old Testament, Israel was a separated people as long as they had knowledge of God and His word. As soon as they lost that separation, God's judgment fell. Les illustrates this with Balaam the false prophet: Balak, king of Moab, brought Balaam to curse Israel because he could not defeat them militarily, but God would not let him curse them. So Balaam suggested putting Moabite girls where Jewish young men could be seduced by them. It worked, and God let judgment fall; 23,000 Jews had to be put to death because they had lost their separated character. Les emphasizes it was not because the Jew had become bigoted and proud; God had mandated that they stay separated from the Gentiles. Les also points to Acts 22, where Paul mentions being sent to the Gentiles, and the Jewish multitude rioted at the very word 'Gentile,' showing how central separation was.