Thanking God that He sent His son Jesus Christ to give us life more abundantly and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Merry Christmas!
Today I read Deuteronomy 28, informing the Israelites about the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. Today I considered that God is fierce in protecting those obedient to the Lord and even more fierce in destroying those that disobey and do not praise God for what the Lord has done for them.
Blessing From Obedience
If the Israelites listen and follow God, they will receive blessings. They will be blessed wherever they are at and in whatever work they do. Their gardens, animals, and bodies will be blessed and abundant. God will send rain to water their gardens. The Lord will strike any enemies that come at them. People everywhere will fear them and know they are God’s called children.
Curses From Disobedience
If the Israelites do not listen and follow God, they will have curses overtake them. They will be cursed wherever they go and in whatever they do. The fruit of their gardens, animals, and bodies will be cursed. They will be cursed with disease, sickness, pests, and war in the land. Some sickness they won’t be able to cure. The Israelites will be struck by their enemies. They will be under the control of their enemies and other nations, forced to serve wood and stone gods, and their children will be taken from them. Because they were not thankful to God for their abundance, others will enjoy the fruit from their labor and eat their animals in front of them. The Israelites enemies will besiege the city and even the caring man and caring woman will eat their own children from hunger. Because of disobedience, God will bring the plagues and sickness of Egypt on the Israelites and even diseases no one knows about until there are only a few of Israelites left. They will constantly fear for their lives and be slaves that no one wants to buy.
Questions and Thoughts for Today
God will give to those who love and obey the Lord all good things, but if they turn from the Lord, God’s wrath is all consuming of those blessings. Which makes me think of that phrase “I gave it to you and I can take it away.”
What does this make you realize about God from reading Deuteronomy 28?