Blessing or Curse – Which Will You Have?
The important aspect though of the history of Abraham is his obedience to God, which brought down God’s blessing upon him.
And the Lord said, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; …And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou has obeyed my voice.[1]
Afterward, Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph gets sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, and the seventy-five descendants of Abraham wind up in Egypt. First they are guests of Pharaoh, but after the memory of Joseph and all the good that he did for the land of Egypt is forgotten, Abraham’s descendants are forced into slavery. They learn the ways of the Egyptians and turn from the Lord to the god’s of the Egyptians. But in their affliction of slavery they cry unto the Lord for a deliverer, and God sends them Moses, a man who chooses God instead of the riches of Egypt.
With God’s blessing upon him because of his obedience, Moses leads the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Reading through the books of Exodus and Numbers you can see all the problems Moses and God had with the Israelite people. On various occasions God wants to blot them out of existence, but Moses intercedes on their behalf and God hearkens unto him. Moses also himself gets so angry with the rebellious people that he loses his temper, and as a consequence God doesn’t allow him to enter the Promised Land.
Before his death on Mount Nebo overlooking the Jordan Valley where the Children of Israel would enter the Promised Land, Moses gives his last warning to the people.
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.[2]
And thou shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.[3] Because thou served not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart.[4]
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou may love the Lord thy God, and that thou may obey His voice, and that thou may cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of days: that thou may dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them.[5]
And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shall sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a-whoring after gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.[6]
Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.[7] And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this Law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, saying, Take this book of the Law, and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.[8]
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the Latter Days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.[9]
We must face the consequences of our behavior both as individuals and as nations. Eventually the Children of Israel enter the Promised Land, with Joshua leading the way, and they begin the quest of the pagan nations inhabiting the land. As long as they are obedient to the Lord, God blesses them. But when they are disobedient, God brings them under oppression by the nations surrounding them.
Finally, they desire a king over them, and reluctantly God yields to their request. Under Saul (1020-1000 BC), David (1000-970 BC), and Solomon (970-930 BC) they become a rich little kingdom. Insomuch that the Bible says,
So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.[10] [To go to the next group of chapters click on link]
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Notes:[1] Genesis 22:17-18
[2] Deuteronomy 28:15
[3] Deuteronomy 28:37
[4] Deuteronomy 28:47
[5] Deuteronomy 30:19-20
[6] Deuteronomy 31:16-19
[7] Deuteronomy 31:22
[8] Deuteronomy 31:24-26
[9] Deuteronomy 31:29
[10] 1Kings 10:23-24
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