Deuteronomy 27 Journey Through the Bible Deuteronomy 29
King James Version
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 28
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Commentary
Deuteronomy 28
The benefits of obedience to God's will are clearly drawn out in this chapter. The blessings are abundant and come to pass in detail, both great and small. Even the enemies that rise up against God's Chosen and Peculiar People shall be set to flight, and scattered abroad. The significance of being put to flight is humiliating enough, but to be scattered as they fled meant that they have no strength of numbers, and that they are not united in mind and body. They are utterly cast down. They are shamed in the eyes of the world. The name of God is exalted by His fame of overcoming impossible odds.
When we think that things are growing worse and worse, and that times simply could not be more perilous, we can be assured that God works mostly in these conditions and that He wants the world to know He can accomplish absolutely anything. None can overtake thee in the favor of God. When we are not obedient to the commandments of God, the enemy will rise against us just as they have before, and the odds will stack against us as it were before, only in this case, God shall not abide with thee, and the peril is terminal unless we repent and turn once more to the will of God and His commandments.
No matter what we do or don't do in the sight of God, He will be exalted. Either we will provoke His wrath by disobedience, or we will provoke His loving kindness by obedience. Either way, the world will know that He is above any name or power by which we shall worship, and that He can do exceedingly more than all we ask or imagine. The trouble is, when the whole world denies that God is real, they try to give natural, scientific explanations for all of the supernatural phenomena because we can't understand a God that we can't see with our natural eyes.
The wind is accepted as real. We can feel wind. We can hear as it slices past corners or bounces off of walls. We can see it carry things from one place to another. We believe that wind exists, yet we don't believe in God. Why is this thing so? We can feel God. We can hear Him in our hearts, calling us to His will. We can see His outstretched arms carrying His blessed ones through perilous times. Still, we do not believe. Maybe some do believe, and yet they still deny. Maybe accepting publicly that which is widely denounced will cause a tumult. Maybe you would rather be accepted by a fellow human over the acceptance of God?
The formula is very simple to follow. All we have to do is obey the commands of God and blessings will be poured out in our lives that exceed our imagination or expectations. All we have to do is obey. At this point there is no mention of faith. There need not be any mention, either. They have physical evidence of God, and faith is not yet factored in. The only thing God is asking for so far is obedience. Faith will come as a result. Our obedience does not come from a faith that all of this is real. Our faith comes because our obedience is real. We try God's will and find it true. We believe then. We have faith in Him. All because of obedience.
Blessed we shall be in our obedience to God, and cursed are those who defy His will, to disobey His commands. The curses are detailed equally so as are the blessings in this chapter. The People have experienced the curses and blessings of God, and cannot deny them as they are. The only denial that the People can have now it to turn a hard heart to that which they know for sure it real. This kind of denial is not to say that it's not real, but is to say that it is real and still refused. This is the kind of denial that will put curses upon the People. If a person does not believe, the mercy of God will allow that person to be brought unto the truth. He will be given clear evidence of God, by His blessings to the obedient and curses to the disobedient.
There are no excuses or gray areas. There is no provision for exception for anyone with a mental disadvantage or behavioral disorder. There is not a single condition that exists in mankind that can effectively hold someone back from fully trusting and obeying in the will of God. He provides all that we need to accomplish appointed tasks. He makes straight our way, and plain our path. We must be examples of His blessings by way of obedience. God wants to lift us up above all nations of the world, to be constant recipients of His never ending increase. We need only to obey.
In today's times, I believe our struggles are more about believing than about obeying. Sure, we will struggle to obey something from One that we cannot bring ourselves to accept as real. We have evidence of Him, yet we deny Him in a sense that we don't believe He exists. Science has explained away many of the things that God alone can do, as if these were natural and random acts of "cause and effect". This explanation or way of seeing things makes it possible to believe that God does not exist, so that we can be disobedient due to ignorance. This is no more tolerated than any other disgrace we bring to God in our heathen heart.
No more excuses. We know He is real, all of us know it. There is no place to hide from the justice of God, not even feigned ignorance. Disbelief is not an acceptable excuse for disobedience. Even if disbelief is caused by blindness, we can step out in faith and simply trust Him. Blindness will be cured and we will be able to see more clearly as we walk. No matter what, it always seems to come back to obedience.
The trouble with disobedience today is that we can explain away the consequences of our disobedience, as though it were coincidence. We try to make things look as though there is no involvement from God, and that God is not real. This will allow us to disobey Him, and to deny the result of disobedience; to pass it off as random, or unrelated to any Godly work. No matter if our denial is due to blindness or because we are disobedient, God's word on this is very clear. Obey and be blessed, disobey and be cursed. If God were to step back for a moment and leave us to our own will, we will find that our actions do lead us to blessings or curses, as results from carrying out our own wills. Will this be denied as if it were not real?
I think the denial is related to unruly hearts. More likely than not, denial is a fabricated excuse for disobedience. I will not deny the handicap of blindness, though. There are those who profess faith in God, but see nothing of the sort. They go along with this "religion" in minute detail, pretending to believe wholeheartedly, and see none of it as reality. How can this thing be? A person can behave as though he believes, he can obey to the very smallest detail, and yet he doubts the validity of God, secretly in his heart. This matter is far more common today than we might realize. Many pastors and "Godly" men only have a superficial relationship with God. It is easier to manipulate the human perception than it is to meld our hearts with God's. It's a matter that sometimes goes outside of our understanding and ability to correct. God wants us to trust Him, have faith that it's all real, act upon this faith, and be blessed for it.
God wants us to step out in faith, even in our blindness, to walk a step in His instruction, confident that things will be better for it. When we see the result of this step, we can be filled with hope that it is only the beginning of a lifetime walk with Him. Don't get discouraged if you fall down. After all, you have only just begun to learn how to walk. Soon we will be able to run, leap, jog, play sports, etc. but for now, we wabble onward, learning how to walk.
To do God's will over a significant span of time is likely to be easier than enduring the wrath of God over the same amount of time. The difference is, obeying God is a choice that we make, and will result in blessings abundant. The wrath of God is a result of disobedience, and we cannot will it away or choose to deny it. Whether we attribute this as coincidence or if we acknowledge God's hand in it, the result will be the same and there will be no stopping it until God is through, or until we repent. There is a choice, but that choice came way back when the People were still slaves. We have to choose this day, before we are set free, who we will serve. If we choose God, we will receive His blessing. If we choose bondage and slavery, we will fall victim to whatever the oppressor shall will.
We can endure for a season, that which comes against us, holding fast to the instruction and will of God, to come out as victors and over-comers, or we can endure similar struggles and discomforts as a punishment, that will not result in victory or growth, but will come to naught and waste, as a result of rebellion or disobedience. It is only easier to do good in the eyes of God in the respect that our struggles are not in vain. There are struggles in every direction, and one can never avoid them all. Let us make up our minds to endure the struggles that lead to increase of all that is good, to stand upon the right thing, to struggle for good. Let's come out ahead for once. Let's just see, once and for all, which is better... the goodness of God and the blessings thereof, or the curses of God, and His wrath.
How about we consider for an instant that the enemy has a role in this thing too. Sure, God will bless or curse, according to our obedience, or lack thereof. The enemy will come against us any chance available, whether we are obedient to God or not. It is the will of the enemy that we perish in our self-will even before we can repent and come back into the protection of God. The enemy wants us to suffer for disobedience, so that there is no reward at the end of it. God wants us to endure the struggles so that we can grow from it and be blessed.
Live don't just happen. We all experience our lives and we portray it the way we see it. We paint the pictures that we see. This don't change the reality of being, only our perception of it. We can look at it as a colorful array of goodness, or we can see it as a page with spills of paint blotched all over. The page is the same, no matter how we see it. So it is with God and man. All we have to do is turn our eyes upon Him and accept what He shows us. Obedience is the key, no matter how many different ways we try to explain it or approach it. It only takes an instant to carry on in obedience. It takes ongoing resistance to rebel. It suffers long, just as anything else, and there is no getting past that. All we can do is look at the canvas of life and decide the colors and contrast of such. Look at things from the eyes of God in obedience to His will. Any other way may seem right, or similar, or even approachable, but only the way of the Lord will bring rewards and growth.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:27am
