Deuteronomy 28.1,2,15 ” Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the LORD your God. ” But it shall come about, if you will not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”
Is God saying that He is demanding obedience of us? Is it that if we do as He says He will be happy and bless us? Or if we don’t do as He says He will be angry and bring curses on us? Let me answer this question with an illustration. If we stood on the roof of a two story building and I told you that if you stayed on the roof then all will be well, but if you jumped off you will hurt yourself at least, or you may die. Am I blessing you with being well because you stayed on the roof? Am I cursing you with injury because you jumped off?
All I did was tell you what the results would be of whichever action you took. Based on choices set before you, you would determine your results by the choice you made. I would allow you to be well or allow you to be hurt because of whatever choice you made to act on. It is the same with God.
He has set choices before us. He tells us where the blessings and the curses reside. He has given us free will, free choice to pick what direction we want to go. We can choose to live in the blessing or in the curse. There may be some things we have chosen to live in the blessing, and other areas we chose to live in the curse. You might say “I don’t think there is one single person who would choose to live in the curse!” This is true and it is why the Lord has given us instruction for proper choices. In ourselves we do not know the right choices to make and therefore go head long into the curse. But when we hear the instruction of the Lord, then we can choose properly.
The Hebrew language better states that The Lord will allow us to be blessed or allow us to be cursed. As I would have to allow you to be safe or hurt depending on your choice on the roof, so also the Lord has to allow based on our choice. He will not stop your choice because then it would not be free choice based on a free will. God has given us free will to choose and will allow the outcome because it was our choice.
Deuteronomy 30.19-20 ” I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live…..”
Don’t let the curses hide on you and unaware step into them. Don’t be uninformed about stepping off the roof. Learn the wisdom of God, listen to His instruction, choose wisely. Choose life for you and your descendants. For this is your life and the length of your days.
