Deuteronomy 28
28 1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:
God’s blessing inside the city, God’s blessing in the country; God’s blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl; God’s blessing in your coming in, God’s blessing in your going out.
7 God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.
8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
10 All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.
11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the underdog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.
“My momma DROWNED all her dumb kids!” When I was in pediatric surgery training in Memphis Tennessee, one of my professors who was from the deep South used to say this when a situation was so obvious that nobody should have drawn a wrong conclusion. Look at the fantastic promises God is making: blessings without number wherever the Israelites are living, good health for families and animals, bountiful harvests, economic prosperity-the list is endless.
BUT there are conditions: “If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God… God will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the underdog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.”
Even as Moses is pronouncing these commands, there are likely guys standing in the back, trying to figure out ways to avoid them and remain blessed. In the beginning, God keeps His promises and these blessings do fall on the Israelites. But it takes practically no time at all before God’s people pull out the idols left over from Egypt and wander off to explore the wonders of Canaanite fertility cults. After all, why not? Is God really watching them THAT closely? Of course, the answer is yes, God is watching and keeping track of those who obey and those who don’t. Tomorrow we will consider the results of spiritual rebellion; however, the question for us now is this: Were these blessings only limited to the ancient Israelites?
God doesn’t play favorites and when we honor Him, he will also honor us. Sometimes believers feel that somehow God “owes” them-“God, I’ve been faithful so You should do ____ for me! I’m claiming the blessings of Deuteronomy 28!” God is not a machine nor is He stupid. He who has created the human heart knows us better than we do ourselves. Many times, our “faithfulness” is superficial while God is looking for those who will serve Him whole-heartedly. I have heard pastors teach these verses in a “name it and claim it” fashion-again, using God’s Holy Word to manipulate Him. Galatians 6:7-8 tells us, “Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.”
God’s Word is seamless with no inconsistencies between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The key to God’s blessings is obedience and a willingness to receive God’s Will, no matter what happens. As I write these words, I am sitting with an ankle brace on my left ankle. Here we have lots of motorcycles and Motokings. A Motoking is a small wagon attached to a motorcycle, and Motokings have become one of the most popular means of transporting goods and people in northern Ghana. The problem is that the drivers frequently are careless and thoughtless, speeding along public paths with no regard for pedestrians, bicycle riders, or even larger vehicles. Fed up with these traffic menaces, someone in our village blocked a public path using a log; unfortunately, I found that log with my bicycle and fell, injuring my left ankle. Once I incurred a small injury, those who had placed the log realized that this was a lousy idea and that it could have resulted in tragedy and death for motorcycle riders and disgrace or worse for them. Now I am confined to non-weight-bearing and an ankle brace for six weeks, but I am sure that God will use this time for His purposes and His glory. And I thank God continuously that nobody was badly injured because of my small accident.
May God help each of us, so that we will obey Him because of His great mercy and love!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, thank You that Your promises are forever if only we will obey. But help us to remember that we must be prepared to receive bad things as well as good things, realizing that nothing can come to us except through Your Hand. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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