BLESSINGS OR CURSES?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of Deuteronomy, Chapter 27, we saw a list of curses that would come on anyone who decided to break the commands of God. As Chapter 28 opens, we now see a list of blessings to those who “fully obey the Lord…and carefully follow all His commands”. God would “set (Israel) high above all the nations on earth”, sending blessings to them and accompanying them at all times. And as we see, their blessings would be plentiful.

There would be blessings on them personally whether in city or country…whenever they came in and went out. There would be blessings on the fruit of their wombs…their land…their crops…their livestock and flocks. There would be blessings on their basket and kneading trough…their barns and everything they would put their hand to.

Indeed, God was ready to “establish (Israel) as His holy people”. He was fully prepared to “grant (them) abundant prosperity” so that “all the peoples on earth” would see that they were “called by the name of the Lord”. Yes, the Lord would “open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on (Israel’s) land in season and to bless all the work of (their) hands”. All Israel had to do was “pay attention to the commands of the Lord” gave them and “carefully follow them”, walking in His ways. They weren’t to “turn aside from any of (His) commands” nor follow or serve other gods.

Now…all this sounds easy enough. And in a perfect world, all these blessings would have come to fruition and Israel truly would have been blessed high above all nations. But there was only one problem. Israel was made up of sinners. It wasn’t a perfect world and the Israelites were far from perfect people. Once in Canaan, they were going to fail and fall. Instead of a bounty of blessings, Israel would experience a mixture of curses and blessings…curses when they decided to be disobedient and blessings when they decided to follow God’s commands.

Today, we’re not too much different from the Israelites of old. We’re expected to follow God’s word and be obedient to it. If we do so, we can expect to reap the favor of God and be blessed in all things. However, if we decide to rebel against God and do whatever pleases us, satisfying our sinful nature and defying His perfect will for our lives, then we can expect His disfavor and a curse or two on us to teach us to be obedient to what God wants us to do. I don’t know about you but I like the blessings far more than the correction God brings. I’ll take blessings over curses any day. How about you?

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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