to move away from evil—that is understanding.'"
In Deuteronomy 28, there are 68 verses of scripture. Verses 1-14 are the blessing for obedience, verses 15-68 are the curses for disobedience. Lets do the math here.....14 out of 68 verses spent on describing the blessings equates to about 20%. The rest of the time (80%) the Lord spends describing the curses that will result from disobedience. Why? To install fear, but not any fear...the fear of the Lord.
So again, why spend 80% of the verses on instilling fear/describing the curse? The Lord knows exactly what we humans do over and over again once our belly is full and we are living safely. We become complacent and forget the Lord, then we proceed to do whatever we want. Proof? Sure:
A couple of chapters after Deuteronomy 28, the Lord is speaking to Moses about what is going to happen:
Deut 31:16And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the 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. 17Then 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? 18And 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.
19Now
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.
20For
when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their
fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and
filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods,
and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
21And
it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them,
that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not
be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their
imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them
into the land which I sware.
22Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
Humans repeat history because human nature never changes. When is the last time you heard a pastor or priest preach on the fear of the Lord? You do not hear it because the people do not want to hear it. What did we hear from Israel and what do we hear from the world today?
Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
There is no fear of the Lord so what the world gets once again is the long list of curses laid out on Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26 and Isaiah 51. What we see in America comes straight from those chapters of scripture. Today lets look at Isaiah 51 and America. The Lord is describing for us the "cup of His fury" starting in verse 17.
Have you ever wondered why in this time of utter corruption and wickedness and oppression there are no leaders to stand up for what is right? I mean, there are hundreds of millions of people in America and not one Church leader or one political leader stands up as great leaders of the past have against all of the evil we see in our time. Why not, where are they? explanation here:
It is part of the curse on America (and the world), the cup of the Lord's fury. The people do not get who they vote for they get who they deserve:
18There
is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth;
neither is there any that takes her by the hand of all the sons that she
has brought up.
The Lord has left the wicked nations leaderless. Even worse than leaderless, He has given America a leader who hates America and Americans (Obama).
People may say "I am not under the law" or "I am not under the Old Testament" but they should ask themselves if they are still subject to discipline and the Lord's punishments for disobedience. Here is a fact: we must obey. It was the same in the Old as it is in the New Testament. When the people do not obey there are consequences.
Yesterday the Lord impressed upon me that although the Old Testament has some of the most fearful details of consequences for disobedience it also has some of the most powerful promises of protection. The example given was:
Psalm 91:
5You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day;
6Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
8Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation;
10There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the serpent shall you trample under feet.
14Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
16With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
^^These are some rather substantial promises.
It appears that the same message has been laid out for us today as was for Israel. They had the Old Testament and the law and they had to obey. We have the Lord Jesus and the New Testament and we have to obey. There are consequences for what we choose as the Lord said here:
Deut 30:19 This day I call the heavens and the 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.
and a New Testament example here, the Lord speaking directly to the Churches:
Rev 2:20Nevertheless,
I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls
herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual
immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
22So
I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit
adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
23I
will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I
am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you
according to your deeds.
Do severe punishments still exist under the New Testament? I would say the Lord striking children dead (verse 23) would qualify as severe.
We should hope and cling to the promises but we should never ever forget that we are humans and most will fall to the curses as a result of a nature that becomes fat dumb and happy forgetting the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
2 Chron 19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
grace and peace
