By Mark Benedict
Proverbs 3:33 "The curse of the LORD is in the house of
the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just."
Proverbs makes a clear statement about God's moral government over human affairs --God
treats the house of the wicked differently from the home of the righteous! Do you see the
Holy Spirit's careful inspiration in the wording of this scripture? The wicked
may own a house, but only the righteous man lives in a home. Money can buy
walls and a roof, but it is righteousness and the Lord's blessing which brings the love
and harmony essential for a "home".
Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow
all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the
nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey
the LORD your God:”
Moses promised the Israelites they would experience God's special protection if they
obeyed the Lord. Moses provided specific details on all the different ways they would be
blessed if they maintained their covenant relationship with God. Deuteronomy 28: 1-14 is
only one of many passages enumerating God's covenant promises towards Israel.
God promised Israel would be blessed in city, country, fruit of their womb, crops of
their land, young of their livestock, calves of their herds, lambs of their flocks, full
baskets, and kneading troughs, coming in, going out. He promised their enemies who rose up
against them would be defeated, that he would bless their barns and everything they put
their hand to, and that he would bless their land with abundant prosperity--in the fruit
of their womb, the young of their livestock and the crops of their ground -- with opened
heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, with rain in season and his blessings on all the
work of their hands.
Today, we can take great encouragement from these promises because as Christians, we
too have been brought into covenant relationship with God. Many of us appreciate the rich
heritage of promises in the Old Testament scriptures. There's only one problem with the
way we appropriate these wonderful promises for our own use. We sometimes filter out
anything which we perceive as being negative by rationalizing to ourselves, “Well,
that no longer applies today, for we are not under law, but grace!”
Those who believe this way are making a serious mistake, for even though God does not
deal with us on the basis of law, his moral law still guides the application of his
government over our daily lives. Paul explains:
1 Timothy 1:8-9: “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We
also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the
ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious...”
When we deliberately choose to sin we place ourselves back under the authority and
power of the law and it rightly condemns us! The force of many Old Testament scriptures
which are commonly viewed as "negative" are brought to bear upon us
individually, whenever we disobey God's Word.
For God, this approach is not incompatible with His grace. Though many Christians
believe grace eliminates the need for God's judgment in the life of the believer, this
idea is based on a flawed understanding of God's character and methods.
Any view of God is defective if it fails to acknowledge that even his past judgments
against the Israelites were motivated by his love and concern for their spiritual welfare.
Today, he brings discipline into the life of the Christian for the same reasons.
Scripture is clear that everything God does is motivated by his love. It is not unloving
for God to govern this universe so that appropriate consequences result from our choices.
His ways encourage us to do what is right. He orders our lives so our experiences confirm
the wisdom of obeying Him in all matters, great and small.
The verses from Deuteronomy summarized above don't stop with the promise of God's
blessing on Israel's obedience. They promise with equal certainty that disobedience would
bring swift and sure judgment!
Prior to discussing God's deliberate judgments in response to our sin, we need to
remind ourselves that not everything that happens to us is a specific judgment from God.
Many difficult to explain events in our lives are simply the natural result of being where
we are when someone else chooses to do wrong. We all experience adverse consequences from
wrong choices made by others.
Unexplainable tragedies happen to many Christians who suffer evil at the hands of
others, because mankind has fallen into sin as a family. The effects of one family
member's sin are transmitted through the entire family. We experience difficulties as a
result of Adam and Eve's original sin. They chose to become self centered rather than God
centered by responding to Satan's temptation in the Garden of Eden. Their choice to
disobey lead mankind into the life of confusion we now share. This is why trouble and
sorrow is sometimes totally unrelated to any act we've committed.
Having established that not all adversity is the result of sin, let's consider the
specific times when God deliberately arranges our universe so that we will experience
trouble! When we disobey, he often takes special care to make things go badly for us!
We all know there are times when God catches us red-handed and acts to make sure we
regret our disobedience. This is not unloving! Successful parents recognize one of their
primary duties is to reward good and punish mischief! When our children make poor choices
we do our best to ensure their experience teaches them to choose differently next time! We
rejoice when they realize that God rewards virtue and punishes sin because we know this
knowledge will help them avoid a life of hardship and additional corrective training in
the fool's school of experience.
When our daughter Ruth was a toddler we lived in a country home equipped with a
pot-bellied wood stove for winter heat. When it turned cold we continually warned Ruth not
to touch the hot stove. When she was in the living room we dared not take our eyes off her
because she did not understand the invisible danger radiating from the wood stove. As with
most small children, she was magically drawn to the wood stove by the simple fact that we
had forbidden her to touch it!
One morning, despite our many warnings, her curiosity overcame her. From across the
room I told her once more, “Ruth, don't touch, it's hot!” She was set on
discovering what was special about that stove.
Knowing the stove had cooled somewhat, I decided not to restrain her this time. She
looked at me across the room and reached tentatively towards the stove to see if I would
rush across the room as on prior occasions. I held my place and her tiny little fingers
touched the stove just long enough to feel the heat. Crying out in pain, her eyes showed
new understanding as she jerked her hand away from the stove. Picking her up, I ran her to
the sink and poured cool water over her hand.
As I comforted her I reminded her again, “Ruth, I told you it was hot.” She
finally understood that my commandment was to protect her from danger. Afterwards, we no
longer worried about her getting too close to the stove. She carefully avoided it and
warned us when we were too close that it was “hot!” Her experience taught her a
valuable lesson about obedience.
God's moral government over his own children is designed to reinforce our choices and
motivate us to respect his commandments. Moses clearly taught the Israelites that their
choices would determine what kind of life they would lead in the promised land. If you,
dear friend, have not realized the connection between your daily obedience to God and many
of the things which happen, both good and bad, from day to day, you are are destined for a
a spiritual roller coaster ride. Your life will be up and down with frequent
disappointments.
God's government over our daily affairs continues under his grace. He uses the law and
the discipline of his judgment to lead us back to his grace when we stray. He desires that
we choose what is right, and warns us solemnly of what will happen if we disobey. His
discipline against all disobedience is sure. Though grace motivates his discipline, he
will never reject those who have trusted in him. He is a loving parent and cannot reject
his Son, who secures our salvation. We should not take lightly the Old Testament
scriptural warnings, for God's moral government is as certain today as it was then.
Deuteronomy 30:19 "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you
that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that
you and your children may live"
Deuteronomy 28:14-15 “Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you
today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. 15 However, if
you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees
I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”
God was just as careful to enumerate the curses resulting from disobedience as he was
to describe the blessings that would reward godly living. Deuteronomy 28 promised the
Israelites they would be cursed in all the ways they would have been blessed, had they
obeyed. It warned them of cursing in the city, the country, in their basket and kneading
troughs, in the fruit of their wombs, crops of their land, calves of their herds, lambs of
their flocks, when they came in, when they went out. It promised curses, confusion and
rebuke in everything they put their hand to until they were all destroyed and come to
sudden ruin because of the evil they had done in forsaking God. God, through Moses,
explained exactly why they would have these troubles:
Deuteronomy 28:45 "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and
shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he
commanded thee:"
Later, the great prophet Jeremiah proclaimed the Word of God to the Israelite nation as
they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians, explaining to them:
Jeremiah 11:8 "Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked
every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the
words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not."
God promised to bless the Israelites and prosper them. Under David and Solomon, the
nation prospered and grew mighty until their hearts slipped away from God. Then just as
Moses warned, God brought all the promised curses upon the Israelites. Just as not one
good thing failed to take place, not one curse failed to materialize after the Israelites
turned away from the Lord.
It's tempting to think, “God does not use such extreme measures today. We have the
gospel of grace, God is no longer in the business of cursing men for disobedience.”
This line of reasoning betrays great ignorance of God's Holiness and moral government.
The Apostle Paul's gospel was not a feel good gospel. His preaching did not portray God
as a cosmic do-gooder, seeking to help us out a little here and there as he overlooks our
sin and transgressions. Paul preached the LORD JESUS, crucified for our
transgressions. In his gospel you aligned yourself with God and accepted His salvation or
you were subject to the full consequences of his wrath! Paul told it plainly and warned
his listeners that there was only one appropriate response to God's demands.
His gospel was not designed to puff up our self esteem. It was aimed at bringing us
into an obedient relationship with the Son of God! Paul felt great urgency to bring others
into right relationship with God. However, he did not reduce God's righteous demands to
suit men's fancy. He firmly believed that God would not overlook any unbelief or sin in
the life of the believer. He taught that unbelief and self will was no trifling thing to
the child of God. Paul revealed his feelings toward the disbelieving and disobedient in
his statement:
1 Corinthians 16:22 "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be Anathema Maranatha."
Paul was not being intolerant. He was not bashing those who didn't see things his
particular way. He was stating the reality that was repeated time and time again in the
Old Testament scriptures: Disobedience to God brings the curse of God. In the case of the
Christian who lives in unbelief it brings God's judgment in the form of chastisement.
His chastisement comes in many different forms. It may involve the removal of his
protection and blessing from our lives, leading to financial loss. Sometimes it's
sickness, accident, or a breakdown in family relationships. Whatever form his judgment
takes, it is administered with the objective of restoring our relationship and full
fellowship with God.
Deuteronomy 30:1-5 "And it shall come to pass, when all these things
are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou
shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I
command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and
will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered
thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will
the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God
will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and
he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers."
This is a wonderful promise, full of instruction for the child of God experiencing
spiritual captivity as a result of straying from obedience. Take to heart his correction
and repent of your disobedience! God promises to meet you in your captivity and show
compassion. He will restore you to the place of spiritual blessing and return what has
been lost. This is a great incentive to the children of God to carefully search their
hearts for displeasing motives and attitudes. God always responds favorably to our
heartfelt admission of sin and disobedience. As a loving and wise parent He arranges our
lives to reward obedience and discourage all disobedience.
This passage is a valuable promise for parents who have already failed in following
scriptural principles in raising their children. Though our families may suffer as a
result of our past poor choices, if we turn to God, he will grant mercy and begin to
restore his blessing to our household.
In review, not every bad or unpleasant event is God's judgment. He makes the sun shine
and the rain fall upon good and bad alike. We are all bound to suffer the results of man's
disobedience occasionally through no fault of our own. We are living in the family of man,
which has rejected God's truth. As a consequence, we experience suffering which defies
explanation. God can use these experiences to soften our hearts and keep us from pride.
But there are many other times when God deliberately arranges tribulation for us in
response to the choices we make. We usually know in our hearts when we are resisting his
grace. But even when we deceive ourselves, he is faithful to apply pressure to bring us to
repentance. He desires our fellowship and will do what it takes to turn our hearts back.
It is in our best interest to respond quickly when he disciplines us. God is very
practical in his dealings with us. He knows when we should experience adverse consequences
for our decisions. We should obey him in all things if we would avoid unnecessary
tribulation and distress.
When we are disobedient we need only turn back to God to experience his blessing once
again. God does not always shield us from experiencing the consequences of our sin because
he knows it is sometimes in our best interest to be reminded of the lasting consequences
of the choices we make. Once we are humbled and sincerely seek him, we open the door to
receive his continued blessings. |
