39 Those of you who remain will pine away in the lands of your enemies from guilt over your misdeeds and those of your ancestors. 40 Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me. 41 At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; 42 then I will remember my covenant with Ya‘akov, also my covenant with Yitz’chak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will lie abandoned without them, and it will be paid its Shabbats while it lies desolate without them; and they will be paid the punishment for their misdeeds, because they rejected my rulings and loathed my regulations. 44 Yet, in spite of all that, I will not reject them when they are in the lands of their enemies, nor will I loathe them to the point of utterly destroying them and thus break my covenant with them, because I am Adonai their God. 45 Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt — with the nations watching — so that I might be their God; I am Adonai.’”
46 These are the laws, rulings and teachings that Adonai himself gave to the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai through Moshe.
RG AUDIO 042715"Blessed To Bless!" by Author: Stephen M. Long
In Leviticus 26 the Lord reminds Israel of the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. This ragtag tribe of disobedient misfits had to have their memory jogged from time to time about what living in covenant was all about. God had promised to multiply their descendants, give them the land of Canaan, and make them a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:1-3). His blessing, however, was conditioned upon their obedience.
Although Yahweh delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, it was hard to get the unrighteous ways of Egypt out of them. So the Lord draws a line in the sand; what will it be? Blessing or cursing? He desires to give good gifts to His children (Matthew7:11), but sin causes a road block. Removing that block begins with confession: when we agree with Him how our sins have harmed us and others. When we turn from that sin the good news is that God will blot out our sin (Isaiah 43:25).
It is true today; God will restore us when we turn away from sin in true repentance and walk in obedience to His will.
Hymn for Today: "I know God's promises are true"
He promised He’d never forsake me, He promised never to leave me alone.
He promised to lead me beside still waters,
When my heart was heavy as a stone.
He promised that I could live forever, in a land where we’ll never grow old.
He promised leaves for healing,
Then He promised the half was not told.
Yes I know God’s promises are true,
He’s been tried and tested and always come through.
He lives through the ages, yet He’s always brand new.
Yes I know God’s promises are true.
He promised He’d go with me through the valley,
He promised me shelter in times of the storm.
He promised to send back His Spirit, to comfort and lead me when I’m worn.
He promised a mansion in glory in a land where there will be no more sin.
He promised a river flowing gently and He promised He’d come back again.
No comments:
Post a Comment