Can I Know The Will Of God? Pt. 21 God Will Judge Sin. He Will Bless Those Who Obey.

God's will forbids idolatry. 

Leviticus 26:1,2  Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. 2)  Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 

As we continue to study the will of God, we move toward the end of the book of Leviticus. 

God's will is made very clear and plain. His people are to flee from idolatry. They are not to make any images, no statues, no stone monuments, nor were they to ever bow down to an idol. 

Why? Because Jehovah Elohim is the One, True, Living God. Instead of worshiping lifeless lumps of material, they were to worship the Living God of heaven. They were to keep His sabbath day holy and have a proper fear and respect of God in His sanctuary. 

In our culture, idolatry looks very different from the Old Testament times. Let me remind us of a practical definition of idolatry that will help us avoid this great sin.

An idol is anything or anyone that we love and serve more than we love and serve God.

I would also point out that the Pilgrims and Puritans who migrated to America, believed that God would honor these same promises. They believed that if they lived in obedience to His Word, He would bless them. And He did!

No one can deny that in the past, God blessed this nation in special ways. We have been blessed in so many ways that it is not possible to list them all here. 

However, America has taken a drastic turn away from God and His Word in the last 70 years. 

It began with some liberal theologians determining that the church must become more like the world, in order to win the world, even though God says come out from among them and be separate.

Our pulpits ceased to flame with the righteousness of God, and a social justice gospel began to replace the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

God's will is to bless those who obey. 

Leviticus 26:3-5  If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4)  Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5)  And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 

Bear in mind that these promises were given to Israel. However, there are principles and truth that apply to believers in Christ today. 

All believers from any generation will be blessed when they obey God's will. This is an undeniable fact. Obedience and blessing are joined together by God. 

Blessing may be physical ones or they may be spiritual ones. There may be times when believers in Christ enjoy both physical and spiritual blessings. 

However, the reason that God blesses us is always the same: obeying His will brings blessing. 

In this text, God promised to send rain needed to grow crops so that His people would enjoy an abundant harvest. 

The barley harvest in Judea was in the middle of April and the wheat harvest about six weeks after, or in the beginning of June. After the harvest came the vintage where grapes, olives and fruits were gathered. 

Moses instructed the Hebrews that if they were faithful to God, there would be no idle time between the harvest and vintage, because each harvest would be so abundant.

The Old Testament historical narrative makes it clear that God sent drought as judgment for a nation's sins. He commands the elements and they must obey their Creator. 

It is not shocking to see increasing numbers of wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, drought conditions, flooding, record heat waves, water sources drying up, or more severe storms.

God is trying to get our attention, yet all people seem to talk about is global warming. People are looking at the wrong thing. 

God is judging nations of the world for sin, idolatry and perversion. His judgment is always progressive and it will get worse, if people do not repent of their sins and turn to Christ for salvation. 

God's will is to protect those who obey Him. 

Leviticus 26:6-8  And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 7) And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8) And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 

Obeying God's will brings peace to a nation and people. He promised to remove evil beasts from the land and to keep war out. He promised courage and valor to those who obey His will.

God's will is to keep His covenant with those who obey Him.

Leviticus 26:9  For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. 

Leviticus 26:12  And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 

Certainly, there is great blessing of becoming a fruitful people whom God multiplied. God took 75 people of Jacob's family and greatly multiplied them in the land of Egypt.

He promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the sand by the sea shore and as many as the uncountable stars in the heavens (See Genesis chapters 12; 15; 17, 22).

God's will is to call out a people of faith who would be His unique treasure. He promised to walk among them and be their God, and take them for His people. 

This is known as the Abrahamic covenant and it is the covenant of faith that believers are under today. God is still calling sinners to Himself through gospel preaching. 

God's will is to extend mercy to those who obey. 

Psalm 103:17,18  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; 18)  To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. 

The mercy of Jehovah is everlasting because He is the eternal God who inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15). Mercy means that though we have sinned and deserve punishment and death, because we turned to Jesus Christ with repentant faith, He lovingly extends His grace and mercy upon us. 

God withholds and removes the wages of our sins, which is death. He turns away His wrath from each believer in Christ because He poured out His wrath on Jesus when He was on the cross, dying in our place. 

Thus, God pours out His mercy and sends His grace to us. The fullness of this blessing is reserved for those who fear Him, who live according to the covenant of faith conditions and who obey His word.  

Thoughts to Ponder...

God is using weather events as a form of judgment because He has done this throughout human history.

He sent a global flood to wipe out sinful humanity, saving only Noah and his family.

He divided the singular land mass into separate continents when He confused the languages of the people. 

He has used fire, drought, hail, swarms of bees and famine to judge nations and people for their refusal to repent of sin. 

God's will is to bless those who hear and heed His Word. He will always judge those who rebel against Him by sinning more and more. 

Let the people of God be the first ones to repent and pray for our fellow citizens. Let us be the ones who are living examples of gospel power and Christ in us, the hope of glory. 

Let us be ready worshippers and witnesses of Jehovah, telling others about saving faith in Christ. Let us be ready to speak of the new birth and new life that God will give them.

Bob