I'm a first born. I've always been a rule follower. This week, I read all about what it means to be a "Biblical Rule Follower" (BRF for short). We hear throughout these passages that when obeying God, blessings flow; when we disobey, curses flow.
Deuteronomy 28:1-68 --- In the first chunk of this Scripture passage (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), titled "Future Blessings," we are told that obeying God will benefit by being blessed. God shows mercy, and will defeat anyone who attacks us. We are to keep God with us at all times, and by doing so, we will be blessed beyond measure. The second portion, verses 15-68 called "Future Curses," we hear the opposite: if we do not follow God's commandments and continue to disobey, then we put ourselves under the curse -- a horrible, nasty curse. As much happiness as can be found in obeying God? Flip the coin and that's how much unhappiness is found in disobeying!
Joshua 23:1-16 --- In this passage, which is the entire chapter, we read about Joshua (can I get a unison *DUH* for that last statement!?!). Joshua has grown old and is giving reminders about how faithful God has been in his lifetime. He urges us to remember to be faithful, as he has known God to always be faithful as well. Joshua 23:10 says "This is because the Lord your God fights for you, exactly as he promised you." In Joshua's eyes, we are to remember to be faithful, as turning from our faithfulness will bring the undesirable consequences we have been promised. He also warns about following false idols. If we trust in God's love, then we trust His faithfulness.
1 Samuel 12:1-25 --- This passage of 1 Samuel again urges the people to obey the Lord, but also includes that historically, when people have cried out to God for help, God has shown up. Because of this, Samuel says
So now, here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. Yes, the Lord has put a king over you! If you will fear the Lord, worship him, obey him, and not rebel against the Lord's command, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God -- all will be well. But if they don't obey the Lord and rebel against the Lord's command, then the Lord's power will go against you and your king to destroy you (1 Samuel 12:13-15 CEB).Samuel's writing reminds us that while we have done evil things, we shouldn't turn our backs on God, but instead should fear and serve the Lord.
2 Kings 17:5-18 --- From the very beginning of this passage, things feel a little different than in the other passages. In it, we learn that this is written about the invasion of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians, leading to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This passage feels like the "told you so" passage -- God told us the people to obey, they didn't, destruction ensues. End scene. "Disobeying God for Dummies" could be the book title of this situation. "But they wouldn't listen. They were stubborn like their ancestors who didn't trust the Lord their God" (2 Kings 17:14 CEB).
2 Chronicles 36:11-21 --- In the final chapter of the book of 2 Chronicles, we see the fall of Jerusalem. Under Zedekiah, the people, including the priests, became increasingly unfaithful to God. As a result, God sent the Babylonians over to play. "Red rover, red rover, send the Babylonians right over" - and that He did! Jerusalem and its temple were burned and destroyed... BUT as the last verse tells us -- the land finally enjoyed its Sabbath as a result.
The first three sets of passages (those from Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Samuel) all seem a bit more personal, we might say. They seem to come from places of personal experience. For example, in Joshua, he speaks from a perspective of the relationship between being faithful and God's blessings. He has witnessed and received first-hand the way this relationship works throughout his lifetime. While it may seem harsh to tell the Israelites that they should "obey or be doomed," I really did feel like the warnings/urgings by Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Samuel were more relatable, or more personal perhaps. On the other hand, in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, we read this from the perspective of destruction of entire cities. These two books' descriptions of disobedience were much more harsh to me than the first three I mentioned. Why? Perhaps reading about the actual destruction that has come as a result of disobedience is more vivid than simple warnings of what may come.
How have you experienced God's blessings by being faithful?
T-OOTLE-oo!
Melissa
Melissa - I cannot tell you HOW much I did the exact same thing this week. I even read the passages on Wednesday, thought, wow, they were overwhelming...but I'd be ok with my commentaries but when it came down to it, I struggled to get the ball rolling today for my post! However, I too saw a lot of the common themes - it's interesting especially that the first 3 were common in their structure and the last 2 had more historical contents in them, however that common thread intertwined in all of them. Thank you for you insights this week - I too agree that the first three passages seem much more personal even though they still have the 'obey or be doomed' clause to them to some degree.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your writing style, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the 1st three passages sounding like they are coming from personal experience reminded me of a comment from our google hang outs this week. I believe it was something along the lines of 'often times rules are made because there is an issue with past behavior'. If there weren't problems/issues being caused by certain behaviors there wouldn't be a need to state the rules! I think the example used was rules on a syllabus, i.e. no texting in class etc.
Anyway, seems very applicable here.
Thanks for your post!
I too was a first born and a rules follower (perhaps that's why I related so well for so long to the basic structure you see in scriptures like these - do this and don't do that). :) Also like you, I can see the passages in groupings but see the first three more as a reference to show the people of Israel had been warned/taught about the blessings/curses that come through their relationship/lack thereof with God. The last two then demonstrate that they didn't listen and heed what they were told in the first two sections.
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