Deuteronomy Chapter 28 discusses the rewards and punishments from God for obedience and disobedience. These come to the people in the form of blessings and curses.
WELCOME
Welcome to the Thursday Bible Study called COME AS A CHILD. We are walking through Deuteronomy together; and hopefully all of the rest of the way through the bible. It has been our goal to take our time and move slowly; hoping not to miss one tiny part of God’s word to us through the scriptures. Today’s passages were taken from Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
THE BLESSNGS FOR OBEDIENCE
Our Almighty God is always slow to anger and quick with mercy. It is his delight to bless those who are obedient to His ways.
If the people forming the new nation of Israel in the Land of Promise came there to fully obey God and carefully follow his commandments; God promised that He would set them high above all the nations of the earth.
Not only would they gain the respect of the other nations; but they would be blessed with many abundant blessings.
Both the city and the country would be blessed and the children of all living in those places would be blessed.
The work of their hands would be blessed.
All of the crops they planted and harvested, and all of the livestock that they tended to would multiply.
(God will be delighted and accept their first-fruits offerings and bless them for bringing appropriate sacrifices at the end of each harvest.)
FOOD IN ABUNDANCE
We hear that their basket and their kneading trough would be blessed.
The basket is used for gathering and holding the Firstfruits (the early harvests) and then it is used again to gather the rest of the harvest for consumption as daily food.
The kneading trough is used for kneading the doughs of the wheat crop (the latter harvest) so that the leaven in the bread may rise into dough making it good for offerings and for food.
Where ever the people went in their lives; they would be blessed by God. Whether it was coming home to Israel or going out to other places; God had them in the palm of His hand; and He was blessing them.
As long as they were obedient to God; no enemies were ever successful against them. God always sent them running away and scattered them. The land produced plentiful harvests that were stored in these barns. The livestock that lived in the pastures were multiplied greatly.
Above all other blessings; they had God’s promise to establish them as a holy nation. Israel was blessed to be the nation from which Messiah would come to save the people.
OTHERS WOULD KNOW THEM BY THEIR BLESSINGS
When God blessed them in such a way; and established them to be so prosperous and successful; all of the other nations would be looking on and they would quickly see that the People of God were blessed!
All other nations would know that it was The One God of Heaven and Earth who blessed Israel and made them great.
Every year that they remained obedient, the rains would come in season, right on time; and the crops would grow abundantly in the fields. Obedient Israel would always prosper. They would prosper so much that they would reach the place of lending to other nations; but they would never need to borrow, because the Lord would make them great, and all of the other nations of the earth would respect them and admire them.
This all depended on the obedience of Israel’s people. They were never to turn to the right or the left in order to worship other gods; especially the fertility gods of the Egyptians.
LAWS GOOD FOR MODERN LIFE
These basic laws of Israel are just as beneficial to any nation that keeps them before God today. We serve an unchanging God.
Proverbs 14:34 says “Righteousness exhalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
This doesn’t just apply to Israel; it applies to all of us living on this earth.
When nations acknowledge God and place him at the center of their lives; those nations too may be blessed abundantly with all of these same blessings. We have seen this pattern in our own days; the blessings that came from our ancestors who honored God and the curses that have arrived from the present generation’s lack of respect for God and His ways of living.
ALL NATIONS ARE DEPENDANT ON THE GRACE AND MERCY OF GOD
The point for Israel, as well as the point for every nation today, is that ALL are dependent on Our Great God and this must be recognized above all national laws and events and plans of any good nation.
These same basic facts were prevalent when the founders of America founded The United States.
No matter what the erroneous history books of this generation may tell you; our founders had in their minds and hearts to establish a country that would guarantee religious freedom.
This was deeply desired as the American people living in that time deeply honored God, both with their hearts and with the fruits of their labor.
It was the determination of the founding fathers of the country to keep America dependent upon God; knowing that nothing would ever be possible without His help and guidance.
This great foundation has worked in our favor for many generations.
LOSING THE BLESSINGS
But; like the fate of Israel; many men of the country have lost their focus on God.
Now we are seeing, as Israel did, that when we leave God’s ways and fall into disobedience; the blessings end and the curses follow.
Men in powerful positions of our government now have no desire for God to be first and center in our country.
Slowly, Christians have been forced to leave our prayers out of the public square, and our voices are being censored by a wealthy, lie-telling media.
Hence; any teachings that are godly (or relate to living in a godly way) have been removed from our public school systems, and those laws governing public education which WERE working well in our favor, have been replaced by systems that cater to Socialism and Marxism.
Thus; secular celebrations in communities now far out-weigh religious celebrations.
Hardly any cities or even small country places celebrate The Holy Days of God anymore.
DISOBEDIENCE BRINGS DETERIORATION
Life for Christian families trying to live out Christian values are deteriorating rapidly.
Therefore; the facts that have kept us strong over the years are being denied to us. Lies are taking their places.
The younger generations have been fed these lies for so long that they believe they are truth. The real truth is no longer tolerated.
Extreme problems are facing us; the types of problems that the Hebrews were told would come to those who disobeyed God.
WE HAVE CHOICES – BLESSINGS OR CURSES
Next week we will discuss the curses that come with disobedience. Most any child should be able to understand why God warned of these.
The writing on the wall is as clear as the moment that we are living through.
Will we wake up and decide to live under God’s ways again?
This is our only hope!