Promise of Blessing and Retribution
‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.”
Coming out of Egypt, the Israelites have it made! Their God has delivered them and is now giving them all the necessary instructions so that they will be able to please Him and He will bless them. God is leading them through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God is supplying them with water and manna. Now God wants to lay down ground rules so that His people will be able to receive blessings continually.
First, God forbids idolatry and commands the honoring of the Sabbath and His sanctuary. Since God is eternal, unchangeable, and beyond form or substance, making idols to represent God is pointless and dangerous. Honoring the Sabbath and the sanctuary should not be difficult.
“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” In an area dependent on rainy seasons, droughts spell disaster. Now God is promising favorable rains, great harvests, safety from predators of every kind, both human and animal. God is also promising outstanding success in battle. Finally, God is promising fruitfulness and His presence. “‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you…. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.”
Sounds like a great deal, right? But if the Israelites rebel against God, catastrophe is looming, pounced to strike. “‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.” God goes on to detail all the disasters that might overtake a rebellious people-unfavorable weather, crop failures, famine, disease, domination by cruel nations, attacks by wild beasts, the loss of children and total desolation.
APPLICATION: Why would anybody be foolish and short-sighted enough to rebel against an all-powerful God? God is giving these commands to people who have walked through the Red Sea dry-shod, only to watch Pharaoh’s army be drowned. These people are being fed and watered miraculously. They have already witnessed God’s power and wrath at Mount Sinai. But when people want to rebel, they make up their minds and refuse to be confused by the facts. Even though God has already demonstrated His power and His might, these people are still ready to wander off after the first fertility cult that looks attractive and that doesn’t demand good behavior. The Israelites are taking God and His miracles for granted.
Today’s verses only contain part of God’s warnings. We will complete this chapter tomorrow. The question for us is this: how much do we really honor God in our lives? Is God an after-thought? Do we thank God for the blessings of life and health and families and friends? Do we complain about our jobs or are we grateful that we have jobs at all? Are we dissatisfied with our possessions or are we grateful to have them? Gratitude and obedience go together. It is impossible to obey God when you are complaining, and it is equally impossible not to obey God when you are grateful. We can’t ask God to bless us if we are habitual gripers; God might want to bless us, but our ingratitude deflects God’s blessings.
As we meditate on these verses, let’s ask God to show us anything we are doing to block His blessings. Once He shows us, let us confess those as sin and seek forgiveness, for we will surely receive it.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, open our eyes to see the places where we have been ungrateful. We confess ingratitude as sin and ask for Your cleansing and healing power. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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