Deuteronomy 7:12-1 6
IN THE first part of this chapter Israel were told that when they entered Canaan they were to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, lest their idols should be a snare unto them and turn away their hearts from the Lord. If they were obedient and carried out these commandments the Lord would bestow upon them His blessings in richest abundance.
"And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: He will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
"Thou shalt be blessed above all people: . . And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt . . . upon thee."
We believe the Lord is telling us here, just as He told Israel, that He loves us and wants to bless us. But we must get rid of out of our lives those things of the flesh, the world and Satan—so hateful to God. Then He can come in and bless us according to His heart of love.
We are reminded of the time when Jacob was returning home after those long years in Padanaram. He had stopped at Shechem and in doing so had gotten into terribly sad and humbling circumstances there. The Lord, we read, appeared unto him and told him to go up to Bethel. "Then Jacob said unto his household, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel." So they put away all the strange gods that were among them, and as they journeyed, "the terror of God was upon the cities that were around about them."
"And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him . . . And He called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty:. be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee I give the land".
Do we want to be blessed, dear young Christian reader? Then let us seek grace to get rid of anything in our lives that is not pleasing to God and to separate from any unholy association with the world which put to death His beloved Son, our Saviour. May our prayer be like that of dear Jabez who said: "Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve mer' God, we read, "granted him that which he requested."
It is well for us to see that Israel's promised blessings here were all earthly, whereas as Christians we are blessed "with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3)). God will take care of us and supply all our needs as we pass through this world, but He doesn't promise us earthly riches, good health and freedom from sickness. He may grant us a measure of prosperity and good health, and we can thank Him for these, but they are not always signs of His blessing. Some of His choicest saints have enjoyed very little of either. These things pass away with time but our blessings in Christ we will enjoy through all eternity.
Messages of the Love of God 1/5/1975