 | Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Friday, March 18, 2011, Unmi wrote,
After Moses gives all the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, he says "When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the LORD will blot out their names from under heaven. 21 The LORD will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. (Deut 29:19-21)
As I read this, I thought again of the pastors who preach the prosperity gospel. Often, these pastors point to specific blessings that are mentioned in the Bible. They tell followers that God will bless them if they believe. With regards to the blessings in Deut 28, what does the Scriptures say? Does it really say that if you believe, then you will receive these blessings? No! It says that if you "fully obey" the Lord's commands, then all these blessings will come upon you. If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: (Deut 28:1-2) The requirement for receiving blessing under the Mosaic Law was to fully obey all the commands, partial obedience was not good enough, even 99% obedience was not acceptable. So what is Deut 29:19-21 talking about? It says that if someone invokes a blessing on themselves, but they are not fully obedient, then instead of blessings, they will receive the full curse of the Law. The prosperity gospel teachers are not presenting this aspect of covenant. Followers are invoking all kinds of blessings that they find in the Bible, the majority of them are taken completely out of context and in doing so, they are putting themselves under the wrath of God.
This also applies to those Christian sects that practice legalism. They encourage members to follow with Mosaic law, to strictly observe the Sabbath, to observe dietary rules, etc. However, if one places themselves under the Mosaic covenant in order to receive the blessings, aren't they also placing themselves under the curses for disobedience as well? Hebrews talks extensively about the Mosaic covenant, how it has been replaced by the "New covenant". Just like the Mosaic covenant, the New covenant in Christ also has blessings associated with it. What is the promised blessing that we receive as believers under the New covenant? ... Eternal Life! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15) He has set us free from the curses of the first (Mosaic) covenant! The blessing that we are promised are not temporary earthly blessings, but everlasting heavenly blessings!
Praise be to God who takes away our sins and cleanses us from our unrighteousness through the blood of Christ so that we may have eternal life.
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| Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Thursday, March 17, 2011, Matt wrote,
In Deut. 29:19 Moses warns the Israelites of what I have heard called "cheap grace" - intentionally living an unholy, disobedient life by not following God (in part or in whole) knowing that forgiveness is just a request away in the end. Although there may be salvation in this, it is a slippery slope for sure. Who's to say that the repentance will come? Worse yet, what if God's wrath intercedes before our decision to repent occurs? Thinking about this recalled a sermon I heard on Hebrews 11. Living by faith is the only way. Like Abraham, when we hear God's voice and it says do this then by faith we must do it. No questions, no looking back and no excuses. Easy right? No, at least not for me. But armed with the understanding that this is what God desires from us is strength in itself. Sometimes being faithful in the littlest thing is the hardest. But the knowledge of God and having a desire in one's heart to glorify him (by faith) is a potent combination. My prayer today is that whoever reads this can by faith bring God glory in an area of their life that has been lacking without questioning, without looking back and without any excuses - simply because it glorifies him. Who's with me!? Blessings.
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| Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, Fernando wrote,
Going off of Chad's and Yujin's comment, after reading Chad's comments, I started thinking not that it shows his love or holiness, but that it shows our wickedness. even if we are given a list of blessings, and then presented an even longer list of punishments, when we are left to our own devices we are still not capable to respect God as he deserves. It takes God to please God, and grace to parttakers in that honor.
Yujin responds...Amen, Fernando. It certainly does show our wickedness, which in turn shows that we have violated the standards of a holy God. I think we are of the same mind on this. "It takes God to please God" is a great way to say what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God..."
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| Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, Fernando wrote,
It is horrible, but i do enjoy seeing any future telling God gives. Here we read about cannabalism, and later we see it occur in a seige. Then God talks about Israel being in exile and being forced to worship gods of wood and stone. Also, that God's absence is the reason for their way of living. We see men being horrible husbands and fathers, and women mothers and wives. I've heard this week of outrageous advertisements FOR having AFFAIRS... Without God whats the point? Everything becomes pointless and senseless. Thank the lord for caring.
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| Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, Yujin wrote,
Chad wrote...In this reading the Lord details the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. The list of curses is MUCH longer than the blessings. I think that having more curses than blessings is a demonstration of the love that the Lord has for his people and the hurt that it causes when we disobey. God is a jealous God and wants us to worship Him with our whole hearts.
Yujin responded...Interesting perspective, brother Chad! I had just the opposite sense from the greater number of curses vs. the fewer number of blessings. It tended to show the greater weight of God's holiness over His love. There are a number of occasions where God is willing to destroy the entire race for the sake of His Name. Also, the curses are in waves of increasing measure depending on the repentance or unrepentance of the people, and since all of these curses came upon Israel, it foreshadows what God already knows, namely, that Israel would be unfaithful to the fullest extent of His wrath against them. As for the blessings, they express one condition of "perfect peace and prosperity," such that you can't get much better than that.
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| Passage: Deuteronomy 28-29
On Sunday, March 7, 2010, Matt wrote,
"I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today." (Deut. 29:14)
This statement really says a lot about God. First, it says he's a loving God. How could he make a covenant with someone who isn't in his presence or even born yet? This also tells me that he's an omniscient God. He can make this covenant because he knows who, what and when. It also says he's a merciful God. He knows we can't abide by his covenant perfectly but his grace allows us to continue to have a relationship with him. In order to fulfill this covenant God is all these things for us. We, however, are sinful and selfish and only through the Holy Spirit can we begin to fulfill our part of the covenant. Without the Holy Spirit our hearts are not capable of doing anything for God.
Then later it is written in Deut. 31:13, "Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." This tells us that the covenant and associated law must be taught to the children (i.e. future generations). This is how the covenant is to be continued and fulfilled. We as believers must teach our children by reading the Word of God to them. This means we must read the Word of God. If we don't who will? The church? Sunday school? Possibly, but I don't think a piece-mealed approach is sufficient. One can go through their whole life sitting in service and sunday school and not hear or experience the whole truth of that which they base their faith on. The Bible says to teach your children (Deut. 4:9, 4:10, 11:19, Psa. 78:5). I believe the responsibility starts at home with the parents. This may seem like a daunting task and that we're not prepared to do so but that is the beauty of faith. If we trust in God to provide and we earnestly seek him out daily that is all he asks for. He will provide for our every need like he did for the Israelites in the desert (Deut. 29:5).
I thank God every day for the privilege of serving him and for the gift of him calling me to do so.
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