We read in Genesis 22:18, “Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me." (ERV)
We also read in Genesis 3:14, “So the LORD God said to the snake, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the wild or domestic animals.”(GW)
Genesis 22:18 describes the blessings that God pronounced on Abraham because of his obedience to offer up his only son Isaac to be sacrificed as the Lord instructed him to do. However, Genesis 3:14 expounds the curse that God declared on the serpent for being cunning and deceiving Eve at the Garden of Eden, thereby instigating them to disobey God’s command. When God created Adam and Eve He blessed them to be fruitful, multiply and rule over all of God’s creation, but this blessing was subject to their obedience to God. The words of blessings God articulated on Abraham made his name great, while the curse of God on the serpent brought it to the lowest position.
1. Blessings come from obedience and curses from disobedience
Blessings and curses are the words spoken by God, and while the words of blessings will build and lift us up, the curses that are spoken will result in our downfall. A man’s life is truly blessed when he chooses to live in obedience to God’s word, while the curses are the consequence of disobedience and rebellion to the word of God. Many people wrongly perceive that the obedience to the law is from the Mosaic period applicable only to the period of Old Testament, and not for the believers of the New Testament, as we are living in a period of grace. If we study the Bible thoroughly, we will understand that the commandments of God did not just originate with Moses, but were instituted right at the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve.
God not only commanded Adam to take tend and take care of the garden that God had placed him in, but also forbade them to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The reason Adam and Eve lost the blessings of God was because they chose to disobey the command of God by eating the forbidden fruit, and so they became objects of God’s curse.
Lessons from the deliverance from Egypt
The people of Israel were in bondage, and the Lord worked out their deliverance in a mighty way. The blood of the lamb that was smeared on the door and lintels of their houses, gave them security and spared them from death, when the angel of death passed by that night. Until the point of bringing about their deliverance, the Lord graciously accomplished everything for the Israelites, irrespective of who they were or how they lived. However, the very same people were subject to God’s judgement in the wilderness for their murmuring, disobedience, idolatry and immorality. Though there were more than six lakh people who were brought out of Egypt from bondage, all of the adults 20 years and above died in the wilderness with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, who alone entered the land of Canaan that the Lord promised them.
It is indeed true that we are children of the new covenant, and we cannot do anything to attain our salvation or to escape eternal destruction. Jesus gave His life up for us, and we only need believe on the finished work of Jesus on the cross, to receive our salvation. But, it is necessary that we continue to walk in faith and obedience to the word of God till the very end. Salvation is a free gift of God, and Jesus paid the price for it, but once we have tasted it and experienced the mighty hand of God in our lives, if we backslide, we will become objects of God’s judgement.
The Lord expects those who have partaken of this great salvation to walk in daily obedience to the word of God, if they are to experience the blessings of God. This faith life that God has called us into is one filled with challenges, trials and difficulties. It is therefore imperative, that we walk in total trust and surrender to the Lord. If we journey through this life that God has called us unconcernedly or carelessly, we will most certainly lose out on all the blessings that the Lord has in store for us. Just as the people of Israel died in the wilderness, we will experience spiritual death in our souls, if we do not summon the voice of God, and decide to live in obedience to Him in every area of our lives.
The Great Commission and Jesus’ command to obey
We read in Matthew 28:20, “and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." (GNB)
Above are the words of Jesus to his disciples after His resurrection, just before his ascension into heaven, where He commissioned them to go out into the world, and teach everyone to obey all that He has commanded them. The gospels are loaded with the teachings and commandments of Jesus that He diligently taught His disciples, and those who followed Him.
For instance, Jesus taught how we ought to give alms (do it in secret). However, when we publicize our giving, we lose out on God’s blessings. Jesus taught us to pray in secret, but if we say lengthy prayers in public, and have no personal time of prayer with God, we miss out on His blessings. Jesus also taught in detail about fasting, worry, handling money, love of money, use of our eyes, about seeking God and on many other aspects of our lives. If we choose to disobey God’s commands, and yet desire His blessings that would be an impossibility. We must remind ourselves constantly that the blessings of God are always subject to living and walking in obedience to God and His word.
The Kingdom of God is like a judiciary, subject to the laws that He has established. God has fenced us around with His divine protection, but by our disobedience we allow Satan to gain a foothold. God does not fail us for He has promised to be with us till the very end of the age, but when we fail to set right those areas that are not pleasing to God, and do not keep in congruence with His word, the enemy comes in to create havoc in our lives. We may have the main entrance of our hearts closed shut to Satan, but every time we fall into any sort of temptation, either with our eyes, or by grumbling, gossiping or any other form of disobedience to God’s word, we are giving room for the devil to gain entrance in a subtle way. We should be able to say as Jesus said in John 14:30, “…the ruler of this world is coming, he has no power over me” (GNT). The enemy is like a thief, he does not gain entry through the main door, but looks for that point of weakness, whereby he can encroach into our lives with the only intent to steal and destroy our joy and happiness. The commandments of God are all for our good, and if we they were not given to us, we would realize that our lives would be messed up and ruined.
Let us read Colossians 3:5-6, “You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry). Because of such things God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.” (GNB)
Paul writing to the Colossians church clearly lists all those areas where we can give room for Satan to infiltrate our lives, thereby becoming objects of God’s wrath, and lose out on His divine blessings. Every little sin, gives room for the dominion of the evil one in our lives, and it is only in repentance and abdicating these sins, the Lord will forgive our sins and these entry points will be closed, so that we can experience the manifold blessings of God in our lives. We must learn to pray about everything, and seek the Lord’s divine presence to be with us and go before us.
God’s original plan was for man to rule with authority and what man lost in the Garden of Eden, Jesus restored it back to us. Therefore, God’s call for us is to rule and be overcomers just like Jesus did when He was here on earth. Jesus overruled the storm, overcame want at the wedding of Cana, cleansed leprosy that was considered a contamination, raised the dead, and by the powerful miracles he performed He proved over and over again that He was the supreme ruler over everything.
2. Obedience to authority results in God’s blessings
We read in 2 Samuel 6:18, “When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Armies.” (GW)
In 2 Samuel 6:20, “When David returned to bless his family, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How dignified Israel's king was today! He was exposing himself before the eyes of the slave girls of his palace staff-like a mindless fool might expose himself!" (GW)
In 2 Samuel 6:23, we read, “So Saul's daughter Michal was childless her entire life.”
As the ark of the Lord returned to the city of David, David was overjoyed that the presence of the Lord was finally returning back to the people of God. As David danced with joy in the presence of the Lord, after having blessed the people in the name of the Lord, he wished to bless his family, and headed towards his home. But, David’s wife Michal, the daughter of Saul, slighted him, laughed and mocked him. Though David did not curse her, Michal’s words of disrespect to her husband resulted in her becoming barren all the days of her life, because the Lord withheld that blessing from her. The sorrowful part of this incident was that when blessings of God were drawing near to her family, Michal by her mockery turned it into a curse.
The head of the family is endowed with the responsibility to bless their family. God has ordained leadership in every area so as to maintain discipline and order. The husband is the head of the wife, parents are placed in authority over their children, a pastor or shepherd is the head of a church, an officer is placed above us in our workplace and it is good to keep in mind that the words of those who are in authority over us will affect our lives for certain. It is important that a wife must speak respectfully to her husband, and a husband must also love his wife. So also, children are to obey their parents, though sadly in many families this has become a rarity. Those who didn’t respect their parents in their younger days, should not therefore be dismayed if their children show similar disrespect to them when they are older.
In every area of our life where God has placed people in authority it is our duty to obey them as is commanded by the Lord. When there is disobedience to God’s word, and rebellion to authority, we lose out on the blessings of God for the family, and incur His curses instead. It is only when we live as God intended for us to live, will we receive the bounteous blessings that God has designed for the family. If we repent and ask God to help us walk in obedience to every authority that is placed over us, we will experience the blessings of God overflowing in our lives. We will surely experience peace in our families, good health and a sound mind.
The blessings of God on Hannah and Elkanah
In 1 Samuel 2:19, we read, “His mother would make him a robe and bring it to him every year when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.” (GW)
In 1 Samuel 2:20, we also read, “And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house.”(BBE)
Hannah was childless, she prayed most fervently to the Lord at the temple and made a promise to the Lord that if He were to bless her with a son, she would present him back to the Lord. The Lord answered her prayer, and as Eli prophesied she gave birth to son, whom she named Samuel. Hannah kept her promise to the Lord, and brought back her little son Samuel to serve with Eli at the temple all the days of his life. Every year when Hannah visited her son, she would bring a robe, and give it to Eli for her son. Each year Eli blessed Elkanah, and his wife that God would grant them offspring, in exchange for their sacrifice in giving Samuel to the Lord. The Lord indeed blessed Elkanah and Hannah with five more children, three sons and two daughters. The obedience of Hannah and Elkanah and their respect for the priest Eli, brought about manifold blessings on their lives.
The curse of God on Eli’s sons
While Eli’s words of blessing brought joy into the family of Hannah and Elkanah, he could not bless his own sons.
In 1 Samuel 2:24-25, we read, “Sons, the report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading isn't good! If one person sins against another, God will take care of him. However, when a person sins against the LORD, who will pray for him?" But they wouldn't listen to their father's warning-the LORD wanted to kill them.”(GW)
Eli and his sons were ordained by God to be priests in the temple. However, the wickedness of Eli’s sons had become a stumbling block to the people who came to worship at the temple. Eli warned his sons that their sins were against the Lord, and there would be no way to recompense for such sins, but his sons paid no heed to their father’s advice. The consequence for such disobedience of Eli’s sons was that the Lord intended to put them to death. Though they were the sons of the priest Eli, God cast them aside and chose to replace them with young Samuel. As Eli’s sons gained God’s wrath, Samuel grew in favor with God and man. God was with Samuel and the thing that made Samuel unique was that God ratified every word that Samuel prophesied, so that nothing fell to the ground or remained unfulfilled.
As believers we are cautioned from the above mentioned incident that we must not in any way be instrumental to lead others astray or become a stumbling block for someone who is growing in their faith.
We are called to submit to every authority that the Lord has ordained, walk in total obedience to God and His word and shutting off every loophole that would allow the enemy to infiltrate and have a stronghold in our lives and in our families. If we truly repent of every sin and surrender our lives to the Lord daily, we will experience the true and abundant blessings of God in our lives.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
