A TIME OF ANTICIPATION

Do you remember those times from your childhood when something special was about to happen; maybe visitors from out-of-town were coming to your house, or maybe a more formal event than usual was taking place, like a wedding or just a special gathering with relatives or friends that you don’t often get to see because they live so far away?

Remember the tension and the anticipation in the air before the happening that was about to happen?

Israel was right in that place with God.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our every-Thursday ongoing bible study called COME AS A CHILD.  Today we will be studying from Leviticus Chapter 26.  We are so glad you joined in with us today.

If you missed last week’s lesson; you can review it here:  https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/did-god-approve-slavery/.

A TIME OF INSTRUCTION

Remember how those days were for you?

Your parents would be giving you instructions as to how they wanted you to behave for weeks and weeks ahead of the special event.

The conversation might have been a little like this:

“Now I want you to be good while our company is here. If you are really, really good and you mind all of your manners and do all the things I’ve explained and taught you to do; then I will have a very special treat for you when our company goes home.”

That part of the anticipation phase would sound just great to you!

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BLESSING

But; those instructions were always followed up by another conversation that went a lot like this:

“If you do NOT do the things I’ve taught you and you don’t mind all of your manners while our special company is here; I’m going to punish you and I promise you it will not be fun.”

GOD DESIRES OUR OBEDIENCE

This is a lot like the conversation that God was having with the Children of Israel as they were about to leave the wilderness and cross over to the Promised Land.

God wanted his people to be obedient.

There would be consequences for their good if they remained obedient and followed all of the instructions He had so carefully given them.

God did NOT want his children to disobey his laws and statutes.

There would also be consequences if they were disobedient; and those consequences were not good.

So how had God asked them to obey Him?

WHAT CONSTITUTES OBEDIENCE TO GOD?

He did not want them to have idols. God would be their One and Only God. He wanted them to observe the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy. They were asked to have reverence for God’s Sanctuary.

Today the church (God’s Sanctuary on Earth) has become a building made up of living stones; it is made up of the people that worship God. Where ever they go and where ever they take their praises; God comes to dwell among them. They are alive and active and moving and the Sanctuary of God now exists inside the hearts of men who have decided to follow Jesus. We all walk around in spiritual tabernacles that belong to God.

The same rules for obedience to God apply today.

We could make this very simple by breaking it down into easy to remember short phrases:

Worship God.
Be reverent in His Presence.
Have no idols.
Observe Sabbath.
Be holy.

THE BLESSINGS THAT FOLLOW OBEDIENCE

This is how God summarized how His people living in the Promised Land should be obedient.

If they did these things there would be rewards that would come in the form of blessings.

We can read of those rewards in Leviticus 26:4-13:

I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beast from the land and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am The Lord Your God that brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

A PROMISE THAT BRINGS HOPE

Are these not the most beautiful words you have ever heard?

I’m going to print them out this year and put them on my Thanksgiving table as a memorial to how God has blessed us.

Even today these words bring hope to the children of God.

These words let us know that our Heavenly Father has a future all planned out for us. This future is good and rich and abundant and full.

All He requires of us is our obedience to His best ways to live. They are for our best interest and should be a pleasure for us to carry out.

THERE IS A PROMISED LAND FOR EVERYONE

These blessings that come from being obedient are still valid today.

We will one day come to a place in time when Jesus will return.

His people will be gathered around Him and it will be similar to how the People of Israel viewed living out their lives inside The Promised Land.

ALL BLESSINGS COME FROM OBEDIENCE

The blessings the obedient Israelites experienced from God are still available.

All we have to do to reap the abundant rewards of God’s free children is:

Worship God.
Be reverent in His Presence.
Have no idols.
Observe Sabbath.
Be holy.

The requirements for obedience have not, nor will they ever change.

THE REQUEST THAT JESUS GAVE

There was, however, one addition from a later time which Jesus gave when He came to live among us; “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We can make the list even simpler with that addition:

Love.
Worship God.
Be reverent in His Presence.
Have no idols.
Observe Sabbath.
Be holy.

GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES

If we do these things in our lives; God will keep His promises to bless us.’

We will be blessed according to how we carry out these things in our own lives.

The blessings may come immediately, or they may come later; but they WILL come and along with them will be joy everlasting and eternal life with God The Father.

What more could anyone ever want?

 

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