In
Deuteronomy chapter 28 the nation of Israel is presented with a
simple choice. “If
you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His
commands… the Lord will set you high above all the nations on the
earth. All the blessings will come upon you if you obey the Lord
your God“.
The chapter then lists the blessings of obedience to FULLY following
God’s statues, decrees and commandments. “You
will be blessed in the country and in the city… the fruit of your
womb will be blessed…crops… livestock and herds… you will be
blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out… enemies will
be defeated… The Lord will establish you as His holy people… The
Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty… do not
turn aside from any of the commands I give you… following other
gods and serving them“.
Clearly there are tremendous physical, spiritual and financial
advantages to worshipping the one true God. Because we are given
free will, there is a choice given. God will not force anyone to
lovingly obey Him.
The
chapter continues, “However,
if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all
His commands and decrees, all these curses will overtake you.”
Next, follows several pages of consequences of NOT following God.
Many of the curses are horrific, some sound very familiar to those of
us that did not accept God’s offer of salvation until later in
life. “You
will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country… the fruit of
your womb will be cursed… confusion and rebuke in everything you
put your hand to… disease, fever and inflammation… be defeated…
you will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will
be oppressed and robbed with no one to rescue you… your sons and
daughters will be given to another nation… an object of scorn and
ridicule to all the nations… you will harvest little… they will
go into captivity… you will serve the enemies the Lord sends
against you… the Lord will bring a nation against you from far
away… even the most sensitive man will have no compassion on his
own brother or the wife he loves… You will be uprooted from the
land, then the Lord will scatter you among all the nations… among
those nations you will find no resting place… the Lord will give
you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing and a despairing heart…
terror will fill your hearts at the sights your eyes will see“.
Of course, most of these curses were fulfilled in the history
provided in the Bible. Sadly this chapter has also been used to
justify the persecution of the Jewish people from the time of Christ
as well. Rome, Assyria, the Nazis, even the church attacked the
Jewish people for political gain and out of ignorance of scripture.
In Genesis 12:3 God declares to Abraham, “I
will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you“.
In spite of their rebellion, the Jewish people are still God’s
people. Romans 11:1-3 explains, “God
did not reject His people. By no means!“
Well
meaning preachers and evangelists often present the gospel of
blessings and curses, leading people to believe all of life’s
problems will disappear the moment they follow Christ. Legalists
likewise present a gospel of “dos and don’ts” as a measure of
spirituality. The Bible teaches believers from beginning to end that
God is perfectly Holy and Righteous and we are not. Our God is a God
of compassion and He loves to bless all His children. Romans 9:16
explains about salvation, “It
does not therefore depend on man’s desire or effort, but God’s
mercy“.
We have a choice; we can either trust in our own efforts to fully
follow all the requirements of the Law of Moses or we can believe
that Jesus completed all the work necessary for us to be restored.
We are made holy by faith and faith alone; adding anything to that
diminishes God’s requirement for perfection. Showing loving
kindness to one another is simply the only way we have to express our
thankfulness to God for the free gift we have received. If you are
frustrated at your own inability to be good enough, congratulations,
you are ready to embrace the gospel of grace!