Exodus ,
which is the dispensation of the Law or the Law age the lasted for 1500
years. During this time God gives man a greater revelation of Himself. Not only does He reveal Himself through a visible manifestation of a
pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21) and as a Law giver
(Exodus 20:1-17), but one of the greatest revelations that God had given
to man during this time, is that He reveals His very nature to
him (Exodus 34:5-7) This is very important to understand because the
LORD does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8)
The Apostle Paul tells us that the purpose of the Law is to show a
sinner their guilt before God and stops them from justifying themselves
(Romans 3:19), it brings the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20) and it
defines sin (Romans 7:7). The Law does not give the knowledge of or
define God, but only sin.
God sets up a temporary system to deal with mans sin (Leviticus 1 - 7,
Hebrews 9 - 10) but we see something revealed that shows us God's true
nature even though the Law had been given. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 we see
that God is the one who blesses not the one who curses or causes bad
things to happen. However, in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 it seems
to indicate that God does cause bad things to happen to His people. This
is where many people have learned to believe that bad things come from
God. After all God does not change and bad things are happening to His
people so it must be true for today also. But let's take a closer look
at what the Bible reveals.
"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD
your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes
which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and
overtake you:" (Deuteronomy 28:15) The first thing we need to note
is that this does not say that God will cause all of the curses to come
upon them, but the curses are a result of their decision to disobey God,
sound familiar doesn't it (Adam and Eve). The curses would come upon
them due to their CHOICE to disobey. It was the same thing that happened
to Adam when he chose to disobey God and become the slave to sin and
Satan. The same principle that applied to Adam also applied to Israel.
However, God in His true nature of being merciful, gracious,
longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, gives Israel
the principle to live in His blessings and not the curses of sin and
Satan.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have
set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the
LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to
Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may
dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
All Israel had to do was choose God rather than sin and Satan to live a
blessed life on earth free of bad things happening to them. However, if
we look through Israel's history we see that they repeatedly rejected
God and became slaves to sin which opened the door for Satan to have his
way with them. Remember, Adam had forfeited his perfect life and all
his authority to Satan and in doing so took himself out from under God's
freedom and blessings to become Satan's slave. It was the same for
Israel. They did not choose God's authority, protection and blessings to
flow in their midst which would bring health, wealth and long life
(Deuteronomy 28:1-14) but chose to reject God and let sin and Satan
have their way bringing curses and ultimately destruction upon them. We
see this very thing occurring throughout Israel's history as recorded in
the Bible (Deuteronomy 28:15-68 the curse for disobedience)
We must see things from a correct perspective. God created man in
perfection and gave him choice. It was man who chose to reject God and
accept Satan as his master and all the evil that came with it. It was
Israel that God chose and wanted to bless. It was Israel who chose sin
(Satan) to rule over them through their rejection (disobedience to) of
God. God does not choose bad things to happen to man, He permits them to
happen because He will not encroach man's will to choose. If man
chooses sin and Satan then he will reap the destructive nature of that
choice. However, if man chooses God, he becomes a benefactor of all the
blessings that God has promised, it is just that simple.
There are many believer that might say, "I am a believer and I did not
choose this sickness, disease, financial problems, etc. so it must be
God's will." However, when you look closer you will find that a
statement like this is made due to one of two thing. First, many
believers let their body and soul have rule over their life and
therefore open the door for sin and Satan to exploit them. The other is
because many believers live their life in a natural type of faith that every person has. It is called sense knowledge faith or mental
assent. It means that ones faith is based on ones mind and or
senses, that is, seeing is believing, (John 20:24-25) and not revelation
faith that emanates
from the heart (recreated spirit) that is, believing that you have received even
though there is no tangible evidence (John 20:29, Hebrews 11:1) These
things prevent believers from understanding the fullness of
redemption which God has provided through Jesus Christ.
For many believers, redemption has been reduced to accepting Jesus
Christ as LORD and Savior for the purpose of eternal life only, rather
than seeing that redemption has completely restored man to what Adam was
and had before the fall. This can only be realized through faith in
Christ and in the integrity of God's Word. When believers come to
realize that bad things do not come from god they we begin to
understand that they no longer have to live in defeat nor will they have
to live a life constantly trying to defeat the devil, because he is
already defeated. (Colossians 2:15) They will rest in the LORD because
their faith has brought them to know that it is "God who ALWAYS leads us in triumph in Christ..."
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