Month: February 2021

96. Be  Well with Them

Deuteronomy 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.

The repeated conditional promise that it will be well with those who keep His Commandments is given here as a wish, or even a dream, of the Lord. God knows everything, of course, and here He knows that if His created humans will keep God’s Moral Law inscribed in the Ten Commandments it will be well with them. It is a positive consequence of doing the right thing, but it is also a promise that life will go well and be much better and kinder to us when we obey the Law of God. This promise should encourage us to fear and love God so that we will do these things according to God’s ideal plan for living well.

When family, marriage, property, reputation, bodily life, mental health, and etc. is preserved and protected life is better for everyone. It will be well with you if everyone else in your world kept the Law, for then you could live safely, securely, comfortably and well. And it will also be well with you if you yourself would keep the Law. In other words, if other people didn’t sin your life would be better; if you didn’t sin your life would be better. We can only dream of the wonderful, ideal life we could all live if everyone perfectly obeyed the Law of God. Imagine!

God also dreams of such a life for all His creatures. “O that there were such a heart in them.” The people had promised that they would hear and do the words of the Lord. God’s response: “if only that were so.” But God plans on making His dreams come true. He executed His plan by sending His Son to the earth and the Holy Spirit into the hearts. He is working all things out together for good in the end. And He will finish the job. God promises it will be well with you and you children forever. Trust Him to do it. Believe that God’s life is the best. Believe that He gives that life to you. With faith in Christ we can confidently say, “Life is good!”

95. It May Go Well with You

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

This specific Commandment contains a conditional promise. It is the same promise as the general promise for keeping all the commandments: you will have a good and long life if you do this, that is, honor your father and mother. The NT in Ephesians 6:3 repeats this Commandment and says that it is the first commandment with a promise.

The principle is a general truth, and we believe God’s Word when He says you will live well and long if you honor your parents. This doesn’t seem like it should be true, but it is not wise to deny the Word of God. His Law is the law and there is a reason for it. To honor father and mother is to serve and obey, love and cherish them. Negatively, to dishonor is to despise, neglect, and just plain disobey. Presumably, for the disobedient child it will not go so well with that person as an adult. The reason for this seems to be that obedience produces a strong character, especially with respect to one’s father. There also seems to be a correlation between learning obedience to parents and having trust in God; it is easier to hold a strong belief in God when one has had a strong and loving father as a child. We can see the problems caused by absent fathers and abusive fathers.

God wants strong, loving, safe and happy families because they will produce strong, loved, secure and happy adults. This Commandment has much to say to the parents, especially fathers, who have the privilege and responsibility to raise obedient children who learn trust and respect for authority, especially trust in God. 

But all parents are sinners raising sinners, and no one does a perfect job of raising children. We live in a flawed world. Nevertheless, the Lord forgives errors, mistakes, and failings and restores what we have messed up or failed to do well. He is in the business of repairing what was broken and fixing up what isn’t working well. By God’s grace and power through the Gospel the Lord makes long and happy lives.

The real promise is eternal life, a perfectly blissful life that never ends, given by grace to all and received by all who believe in Christ. Because of Jesus, we may lay hold of this promise and claim a long and well-lived life.

94. Be Well and Live Long

Deuteronomy 4:40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statures, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with the children after thee, and that thou mayest  prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

Here is the classic conditional promise of the Law. If you keep the commandments, then it will be well with you and you will prolong your life. Simply put, anyone who loves God and neighbor will live a long and happy life. There are consequences for good, upright moral behavior, good consequences that make life happy, meaningful, worthwhile, peaceful and satisfying. Living according to the basic Moral Law will cause happiness and wellbeing and the consequent result of a long life. Health and wealth are not included in the promises of God, but to some general degree people who keep the Ten Commandments will be happy and prosperous during their earthly life.

This conditional promise is both obvious and hidden. Murder obviously does not produce a long and healthy life, obviously for the victim but also in a hidden way for the perpetrator. There are many good deeds and righteous acts we do according to the Commandments of God that have a direct and indirect benefit on our souls and bodies for a long and happy life. We don’t usually see the results of obedience on our bodily and mental health, and we can’t make the connection between my obedience or disobedience and the consequences of my good behavior or my sins upon my life and living. Therefore, God tells us in His Word that this is true. There is a direct connection, a cause and effect relationship, between keeping the Law and living well. We need to believe God’s Word in order to see it.

Of course, all sinners fail in keeping the Law perfectly; therefore, all sinners suffer in a life that does not always go so very well, and so often die too early. That is why we live in the mess we are in, too many sins in and around us. If we could all only live perfectly loving lives we would be living in a heaven on earth, a utopian paradise. And Some Day it will be so in the heavenly paradise.

The bottom line: if you want to live a better and longer life, be perfect according to God’s Law. The line below the bottom life: repent of sin and failure and believe the Gospel. Faithfully hear the Gospel and change for the better will gradually come about. Believe in Jesus who lived a perfectly obedient life for you.

93. Never Forget the Covenant

Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he sware unto them.

Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will never forsake you, destroy you, nor forget the covenant. Mercy means He knows, He cares, He loves, He is kind, He is gracious, and He forgives. He swore a covenant promise on oath to our fathers in the faith, and so you can be absolutely certain He will keep covenant. God the Father has kept His promise in Christ, fulfilled the covenant, and gives us freely the blood of the covenant in His Holy Supper.

The Lord will not forsake, neglect, or abandon you. Abandonment by parents is every child’s greatest fear, and when those fears are allayed the child has the greatest security. When God made you His child He placed you in the most secure position of security possible. It is true that will and He must forsake all sin and evil, and He will always separate Himself from every sin. Holiness demands it. God, however, did forsake His own Son on the cross because at that moment He was bearing the sins of the world upon Himself, suffering and dying for our sins and thereby freeing us from all sin forever. Because of Christ the Father will never, ever forsake us.

The Lord will never destroy us or cause us to perish eternally. The holiness and justice of God burns into wrath against our sin causing death and destruction for the one who is bearing the sin. Not only must God separate Himself from Sin, but He must also destroy it, for sin cannot continue to exist in God’s presence. God destroyed sin in Christ, and most importantly, He destroyed Sin in us who believe in Jesus. We daily drown the Old Man in baptism and repentance. By destroying Sin in us He saved us, the person, made us holy and cannot destroy us.

The Lord will not forget the covenant. Wisdom is knowing what to remember and what to forget. God does the 100% right thing in regard to us saved sinners. He forgets every last sin of our whole life, and He remembers mercy toward us, the people who have the Life of God within. He remembers what Jesus does, not what we did. He sees Jesus and us combined in unity by the mystery of faith. We live by faith in the covenant promises granted through faith in Jesus.

92. Inheritance

Deuteronomy 4: 20, 21 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day….and that I should not go into that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

The promise of land is our inheritance. The kingdom of God is the inheritance of the people of God. Thus we are a people of inheritance. Moses confessed that he would not get to go into that good land, which the Lord gives you for an inheritance. From Genesis 12 and the covenant promise to Abraham and all the way through the OT the “Land” figures prominently in the Salvation Story. This thread follows through and comes out in the NT promise as the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is the inheritance that is given to us who believe in Jesus. 

As “a people of inheritance” we have the inheritance as a seal and a pledge. The Holy Spirit seals the inheritance, the land, the kingdom in the heart of baptized believers, and it is guaranteed. The kingdom (land) is now a spiritual reality. After our own death and resurrection we will walk into the physical and tangible reality of the Kingdom of God, and it will be awesome. We wait eagerly for that redemption of our bodies to draw near, for the Resurrection Day, for the entrance of soul and body into the eternal Kingdom.

Meanwhile, as we wait we have eternal life in the spirit, the kingdom rule in the heart, the life of God connected to our earthly life. This invisible, spiritual aspect of the inheritance is ours today to live in and enjoy. Hebrews 11:13-16 says about believers: “They are seeking a homeland…they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one….God has prepared for them a city.” If we could see it now, or just get a glimpse, it would change our lives forever. Ah, but we have seen this inheritance in the Scriptures by faith, and this vision has changed our lives forever. We are heirs, heirs of a glorious paradise with God.

91. God Fights for you

Deuteronomy 1:30 The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.

This promise was given specifically to Moses to give to the people on the occasion of their near entry into the Promised Land. The Lord will go in front of the people and He will fight for them. He did it before and you saw Him fight for you and defeat your enemies in Egypt. Now you can trust Him to do the same for you, as you get ready to conquer and occupy the land that the Lord promised to you. Go forward with this promise in you mind: The Lord will fight for you. The Lord did indeed fight for the people many times through Joshua, and the Judges, and David, and the other kings of Judah.

This promise can be extended to apply to each of us as believers in Christ. Just as God has fought for His people through the OT fulfillment of the promise, just as He fought for us against our spiritual enemies in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Victor, and just as He has fought for us throughout history and through the history of our own lives, so He will fight for you today and in your future. The Lord is going before you into your new day each day, and while spiritual enemies will ambush and attack your soul and body the Lord will fight for you.

This wonderful promise means we are not alone to try to fight off sin, death, and the devil by ourselves. On our own we would surely lose. But the Lord is on our side, and He has already gained the victory over each of these spiritual enemies. We will still fall into sin, we will die, and the devil is always nearby with his lies and scares, but we know beyond a doubt that we, through Jesus, will win in the end. Sometimes while we are in middle of issues we can’t see a way out. We forget what the Lord did for us in the past, and we may be uncertain about the future, so we get distressed in the present. That is when we need this promise: The Lord fights for me. Give it to Jesus and let Him do the fighting. He did it before, and He’ll do it again.

90. Possess the Land that God Gives

Deuteronomy 1:8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

Over and over God promised the Land to the patriarchs and the people of Israel. The Lord repeats the promise to Moses, who speaks to the people on the plains of Moab just across the Jordan River from the Land. Moses led them up to the land, and now he gives the command of God to go in and possess it. This possessing is what the Book of Joshua is all about.

“God gave freely, but we are commanded to possess.” This is a bit puzzling, but it is crucial to our understanding of our relationship with God. It is the tension between Grace and Faith. God gives but we must still receive. Faith is the hand that takes hold of the free gift. We are justified by grace through faith. The Land that God gives, and we must possess, is Eternal Life, the Kingdom of God, or Heaven in our hearts now and Heaven in eternity with God later. The Land is the Life of God, the Holiness and Righteousness of God, the Love and Peace of God, and all the blessings that the Lord has for us. It is our inheritance, earned as a right by Jesus Christ, freely given, and guaranteed to us by the Holy Spirit. But we must still believe God, which is how we possess. We cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Christ, but God helps us believe by calling us to faith through the Gospel. If we have heard the Good News and believed it personally, it is the Holy Spirit who has given us the faith to believe.

Just as with Joshua, it feels like we are doing the work of possessing, driving out the evil, and doing the believing. But it is actually God’s doing entirely: He initiated the possessing, carried it out, and will finish what He started. So it is with all the thousands of promises from God. He gives by grace, but we must still must take it and receive it. The Spirit grants the faith to possess when we hear the Gospel. Once we possess it, it is ours, and we live in the Land, the spiritual kingdom of God. 

“To possess the Land” is the same thing as ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God,” and the same as “Whoever believes in me has eternal life.” So how do we “possess?” By repenting and believing the Gospel, for the kingdom has come. Joshua (Hebrew for Jesus) is our Commander who takes us into the Land God gave for us to possess.

89. Star and Scepter will have Dominion

Numbers 24:17, 19 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

Balaam had already blessed Israel three times, contrary to Balak’s commission, and now he takes up another prophecy. This Messianic Prophecy contains the promise that the Messiah will destroy the enemy and take dominion. The ministry of Christ has finished the job and fulfilled the promise.

Jesus Christ is the bright Morningstar that has arisen out of the descendants of Jacob. Jesus is the Star that shines brightest on the earth; He brings light and life and salvation. Just as the Morningstar promises that the new day is about to appear, so does this star lead us out of darkness into the Light of God. Jesus is the light that shines brightest; He gives light to us on our way; and He makes us shine like stars.

Jesus Christ is the Scepter that has risen out of the children of Israel. A scepter is the rod in a king’s hand that is symbolic of his authority to rule. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to the Son of God. He is the absolute monarch: whatever He says goes; whatever He decides happens. This kind and gentle lamb is our King. He died for us and so we can submit to His Lordship since we know He is good. He loves us and He is good to us.

As the Ruler, who was born on earth as a Jew, He has come to take over our life, our world and our destiny. He has brought us out from death to life, given us a new kingdom, and guaranteed a certain future. Jesus has destroyed the Enemy and He has dominion over all the evil things, events, and personal beings that are opposed to our living well and enjoying life. He promises to destroy all sin, death and evil that seeks to destroy us. Who will win? Who will destroy the other? We know the answer for the Lord gave us a promise.

88. Victory over Enemies

Numbers 24:8, 9 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cured is he that cureth thee.

Balaam’s prophecy for Israel continues with the promise that the Kingdom of God will destroy the Enemies of the Kingdom. We have the Kingdom of God that lives and reigns within us. That kingdom within, where the Spirit rules and Jesus is King, will eat up the unbelieving enemies of God, and of us. The People of God are pictured to be as strong as the strong animals that we see and hear about: He (the kingdom) has the strength of a unicorn. The unicorn may or may not have been mythical; if it once existed, it does no longer. But it was known for its almost supernatural strength. This kind of strength God promises to us, His own people living in His Kingdom. This unicorn breaks bones and pierces with arrows. (In the mixed metaphor, a unicorn shoots arrows.) 

He (the nation of God’s people) is also like a lion, the king of beasts; the great lion, the strongest of animals, crouches and lurks, ready to pounce whenever he is stirred up by an approaching evil prey. This is the Lion of the tribe of Judah with great strength to defeat the Enemy, who also looks like a slain lamb. This mixed metaphor shows that the strength of a Lion resides in the sacrifice and vulnerable love of a Lamb.

Whatever metaphor is used, the truth is the same: we have the promise of strength to overcome all spiritual enemies. God promises that we will drive out Sin, Death, and the Devil from the kingdom of God within us. The Blood of Jesus Christ and the Strong Name of Jesus purges this “Land” that lives within.

The promise given to Abraham is repeated: “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cured is he that curseth thee.” This enduring promise is significant for us who believe in Jesus, because no power on earth, or in heaven, or under the earth can bring us down. The enemies will flee. We just believe and confess the Gospel.  

87. Exalted Kingdom

Numbers 24:7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

Balaam continues to bless Israel and speak God’s promises for the people. The spiritual prosperity of the kingdom of God will continue to grow, for God’s people will enjoy much water and plenty of seed. The king of Israel will be higher than the king of the Amalekites. The kingdom of Israel will be exalted. The blessing Balaam gives is extended to include Christ and all the believers in Christ who make up the kingdom of God under the exalted King, Jesus.

We pray according to this promise: “Thy kingdom come.” The kingdom of God is the spiritual reign of God in the spiritual realm of the hearts of all believers in Christ. This invisible, spiritual, and eternal kingdom will One Day become visible and tangible to the physical senses and it will go on into eternity. This is the promise of the Bible and the promise of the Kingdom. While we wait for the redemption of our bodies we enjoy the abundant blessings of the kingdom of God within us now. And we pray with faith for the kingdom to come and rule in our hearts and lives, our marriages and families, our churches and communities, our nation and world.When God rules unhindered and we willingly submit and surrender all to His benevolent rule and good will everything is as peaceful and prosperous as the life of God dwelling and reigning within. So we believe “Thy kingdom will come.”

This Kingdom will be exalted. While Jesus will be exalted to the highest place and given a name above all names, so also will we who are in the Kingdom. We shall be exalted with Jesus in the heavenly places. The glory of the humble kingdom within will be revealed and the unseen spiritual kingdom will become the eternal kingdom of God ruling the new heaven and new earth forever. The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. That exalted kingdom lives in us today. God promises.