Will God judge the righteous, the self-righteous, and the unrighteous? Will He withhold His blessings and pour out His curses on entire nations? Two whole chapters are devoted to these questions as they relate to God’s chosen people.
Leviticus 26:1-3 You shall make no idols to yourselves; and you shall not set up for yourselves graven images, or a memorial pillar. And you shall not set up any image of stone in your land in order to bow down to it. For I am Jehovah your God. You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am Jehovah. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them,…
The following 10 verses detail God’s blessings on His people for their obedience and allegiance to Him alone. However, He details 32 verses if His curses upon them for disobedience!
Leviticus 26:14-16 But if you will not listen to Me, and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall despise My statutes, or if your soul hates My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, so that you break My covenant; I will also do this to you:…
The curses will cause you to wonder at God’s judgment against His own chosen people. The curses include His foretelling the depths of their soon coming depravity. When you read them in your own Bible, see if you don’t see a frightening likeness to what is happening today.
A very similar summary can also be found in Deuteronomy 28. It also starts with the blessings for obedience for 14 verses.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today, Jehovah your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God.
But it is followed by 42 verses of curses and warnings.
Deuteronomy 28:15 And it shall be, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, all these curses shall come on you and overtake you.
Why such disparity in emphasis? Why 3 times more written on curses than blessings? I will give you one reason based on human behavior. We are quick to read, believe, and remember the blessings God promises and provides. But, we tend to pay scant attention to His oft-repeated warnings, judgments, and curses. Who wants to read about these things? Most think these curses don’t really apply to church going ‘Christians”.
What do you think? Are they just for another people, another time, another covenant? Has God’s righteous requirements of us and His holiness changed with the times?