Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to be Blessed (and Not Cursed) | Torah | Deuteronomy 28:16-68

Episode Date: November 8, 2022

What happens when you disobey God? Is there anything you're putting above God? Does God give curses? In today's episode, Tanya shares about God's curses for disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:16-68. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Deuteronomy 28:16-68 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Our church has a time at the end of the service where a pastor or a worship leader will speak a blessing over the congregation. One of my favorites comes from the book of numbers. It says, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

As we see in scripture, the Lord loves to bless his people. His presence reminds us of his power. His blessings communicate his desire for us to know the wholeness and abundance that comes from living for him. I'm not quite sure what would happen to the modern-day church if our pastor stood up and started talking to the crowd about curses. But that's what happened between Moses and the Israelites toward the end of his sermon in Deuteronomy. See after Moses called them to obedience and described the blessings of life with God, he told them what life would be like if they chose to live separate from God. He warned them what would happen if they didn't obey God's law, and it was horrifying.

If they refused God, they would be cursed, defeated, afflicted, enslaved, and exiled. It's pretty depressing to read this long list of tragedies in Deuteronomy, because Israel faced all of them at one time or another. Children were born into scarcity and exile and innocent people suffered for the disobedience of others. And what's the reason for all of this? Well, one verse in the chapter sums it up from Deuteronomy 28 verse 47. It says, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things. Therefore, You shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lacking everything.

It's not just depressing, it's also sobering. Who of us can say we always serve God with joyfulness and gladness of heart? Who can say we don't turn to a whole slew of other things than God to make us feel whole, complete, worthwhile, and relevant? If God would discipline His people, then what does it mean for His people? people today? Are the curses just weird, or do they point us to something really important about the gospel? And to better understand this, let's glance back at the garden for a moment, the Garden of Eden, and then we'll talk about why blessings and curses matter for us in the way

we relate with Jesus and the gospel today. When God created Adam and Eve, he pronounced the second recorded blessing. The first was over the animals, when he told them to be fruit. and multiply. But for Adam and Eve, God blessed them and told them to rule over his blessing. And they should do this ruling by eating from the tree of life. But remember, there was another tree in the garden, a cursed tree. And this tree promised an empty shortcut to be like God without having to submit to God. When Adam and Eve ate from the cursed tree, they were trying to take God's blessings on their own terms. As a result, God handed them over to the consequences of wanting life without him. Instead of abundance and life, Adam and Eve experienced shame, isolation, and death.

God cursed the ground and told them they would have to toil and labor against the land to get anything good to come out of it. And not only would they toil, but from there on, humans would be born into a land of isolation and scarcity and conflict. However, God had a plan to redeem his creation. God chose Abraham and Sarah to receive a blessing that would reverse the curse. Even though they were sinners, God promised to bless all of Israel through them. All they needed to do was live according to God's wisdom and God's instruction. No surprise, they didn't do it perfectly.

But God kept his covenant with them and through them, he sent his son, Jesus, who would do it perfectly. there is a choice between life and death, blessing, and curse. When we submit to God, we experience a fullness of life that idols cannot offer. There's peace that replaces anxiety. There's belonging that replaces shame. And what we know, especially after studying the Torah for almost a year, is that Israel hardly ever chose the blessing. Instead of submitting to God, they chose to God.

to do things like build a calf and grumble against their leaders and ask to go back to Egypt and worship idols. But we could rewrite that sentence for the way we choose dead-in paths also. But the gospel, well, it's always in the pages of the Bible. The prophets in the Old Testament trusted in God's promise and wrote about a future Israelite who would restore the blessing and reverse the curse forever. When Jesus ministered not, earth, he taught that God's blessing was coming to us in a new way, through himself. Jesus taught us that blessing is trusting in God for abundance. It is sharing God's gifts with others and even blessing those who curse us. Jesus allowed the curse to fall on him, and in his

death, the curse was put to death. As those who are united with Christ, the curse has no hold on us. I think that's hard to understand, and I like the way Galatians explains it in chapter three. It says, For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. And then it says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Paul's explaining that in light of the law, everyone is guilty and there is no acquittal. The person who breaks the law, well, that person's under a curse. And pause, that's all of us, by the way. There's no escape on our terms. But on the cross, Jesus took on or endured the curse for everyone. Those who come to him are already forgiven

and blessed. Now, that was just a quick theology minute on curses, but let's bring it to life. You might be wondering, if we have Jesus and life in his name, why do we still face the effects of the curse? And why do we still choose the cursed tree over the tree of life? Well, when we say the curse has no hold on us. That's because we believe the blessing Jesus gave us is even stronger. In Jesus, we can live with extreme faith, love, compassion, and generosity. We can experience the deep blessings we crave the most when we come to Jesus. Do you crave approval? Jesus is a deep well of approval. 2 Corinthians 1018 says, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. Do you crave love and acceptance? Jesus is the definition of love.

1. John 316 says, by this we know love that he laid down his life for us. Do you crave compassion and empathy? Jesus endured everything we could possibly face and suffered the worst on our behalf. Hebrews 415 reminds us, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with their weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are. We allow the curse to have a grip on us when we turn to shallow idols for approval, acceptance, love, and compassion. And they make empty promises, just like the curse tree in the garden. They don't love us back. And they They don't care about us at all. We have an eternal well of approval, sympathy, and compassion in Jesus.

We no longer have to find ways to get it from other things or other people. What prevents you from coming to Jesus to have these things met? Would you or could you make a practice of noting the times when you feel like you should turn to him and don't? When do you feel distant? What practices keep you from experiencing his peace? When do you experience feelings of disappointment and maybe even discussed? You can jot these down or write them out and remind yourself that the curse has been reversed. None of those things have more power over you than that which Jesus gives.

No feeling can keep you from coming before him. And nothing can separate you from his love. the Lord has put his name on you. When he looks upon you, he sees the blood of the lamb, the perfection of his son. This is why you have a forever relationship with him. This is how you were blessed. May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Before you forget, sign up for the birthday. brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.