August, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
307
as an added inducement to the people to obey (vs. 10-12). The country to which the Lord called them was not like the land of Egypt from whence they had come. Egypt was a land whose crops were depend ent upon irrigation and constant labor (v. 10). But the land of promise to which the children of Israel were going was one which was watered by the rain of heaven (v. 11). It was a land upon which the eye of the Lord was set, and the Lord Him self cared for it (v. 12). “ From the be ginning of the year even unto the end of the year” it would be watched over and cared for by Him. When the Lord commanded obedience of His people, His purpose was not to take away their liberty, but to enable them to possess the continued goodness. Many peo ple seem to think that when the Lord asks obedience, He curtails freedom and im poses hardship. The very reverse of this condition is to be expected. Obedience leads to continual and sure blessing from the hand of the Lord. II. T he D eciding F actor in the L and (26-28) The factor which would determine the condition of the people within the land was obedience. The possibility of receiving either blessings or cursings was set before them. The people would enjoy blessing if they obeyed God, and they would be pun ished if they disobeyed Him. All they were required to do was to obey, and then— whatever might be the purposes and power of their enemies—the Lord Himself would give His followers victory. This, after all, is always the way to obtain any blessing from the Lord. There is no such thing as one’s being set free, because he lives in the age of grace, to disobey God’s commands with any, hope of escaping the consequences of this presumption. Grace gives freedom from sin, but not to sin. The after history of Israel reveals how true God is to His Word. The promises concerning blessing are not more sure of fulfillment than are those which concern cursing. Some people think that God for gets what He has said in ’regard to the results of disobedience, and remembers only what He has said concerning blessing. These people act as though the sin of a Christian is somehow not as heinous as is the sin of an unsaved person. But sin is sin wherever it is found, and although full forgiveness is provided in the atone ment of Christ, and condemnation may be removed entirely* there is a sense in which the consequences of sin are apparent, whether in the believer or the unsaved soul. “ To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). Obedience requires the action of the III. T he R eminder in the L and (29-32) When the children of Israel should enter the land, six of the tribes were to be sta tioned on Mount Gerizim and six on Mount Ebal. On Mount Ebal, was to be recounted the cursing promised for disobedience, and when these words were uttered, all the people were to acknowledge themselves in agreement by responding, “Amen.” Then on Mount Gerizim, would be announced the various blessings which would follow obedi ence (cf. Deut. 27:11 to 28:68). When at last Israel entered into the land, this ar rangement was carried out (cf. Josh. 8:30-35). There was never any question about their going into that land and being granted, by God, the possession of it; that was all assured to them by the sovereign purpose and power of God (vs. 31, 32). But the experimental possession and en joyment of the land lay within their own choice. They were to “ possess the land which the Lord your God gvoeth” (v. 31). This method is still the one to be fol lowed for the obtaining of the enjoyment of the blessings given by God. In our day, the promised blessings are more than can be numbered, because they include all spiritual blessings in Christ (cf. Eph. 1). The giv ing of the blessings is wholly by God through grace, but the enjoyment and use of them are within the range of the Chris tian’s choice and his active faith. Points and Problems 1. “ That ye may be strong . . . that ye may prolong your days” (Deut. 11:8, 9). Undoubtedly this reference is primarily to moral and spiritual matters, but it is also historically true of the Jew physically. The “commandments” of the Mosaic law, when observed even to a limited extent, produced a physiological result that was highly im portant to the Jewish race. The physical strength and longevity of the children of Abraham were not accidental, therefore, but were directly the result of a code of laws which, even when kept very imper fectly, resulted in a high degree of physi cal well-being. Even if modern civiliza tion had no other motive than this, it would richly repay us to give a more serious con sideration to the statutes of the code of the Pentateuch. 2. “ Not as the land of Egypt . . . Y o u Can Have C O L E M A N INSTANT GAS SERVICE FOR Cooking • Lighting • ironing on the road • and everywhere I PORTABLE • LOW -CO ST • SPEEDY W h e reve r you n e e d q u ic k , powerful heat or light, there's a Coleman Lan tern, Stove or Iron that will do the job dependably and econom ically. They make their own gas from ordinary gasoline; give real city gas service everywhere. Coleman Camp Stoves light and regulate instantly, just like city gas. ♦ Coleman Pressure Man tle Lanterns are the fin est outdoor lights. ♦ ■ Coleman Self-Heating Irons make ironing an easier, happier task. M a k e s a n d burns its own gas. Lights in stantly. ♦ See you r dealer or write fo r descriptive literature ♦ THE COLEMAN LAMP & STOVE CO. Third and San Pedro Sts. Los Angeles, Calif.
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter