Few In Number

Synopsis     Deuteronomy 28:53-63     3/22/2018

Moses prophesied concerning the Israelites. He warned them about failing the covenant and what would happen if they did. He anticipated that as the Israelites experienced the curses, they would become intensely selfish. He used the example of a famine so intense, the Israelites would disavow their love for community and even for family members and look to preserve their own lives at any cost.

Few In Number

Moses also described how the Israelites would become few in number as a result of the curses and plagues. He deliberately juxtaposed this against the promises to Abraham – that his descendants would be more numerous than “the stars of heaven”.

With this warning, the Israelites were told that they could not rely on the righteousness of their ancestors to secure their relationship with God. They were, Moses insisted, responsible for their own relationship with God.

The takeaway: It was possible for God to be faithful to His promises and yet for them to suffer curses – both personally and collectively.

God is Faithful

The possibility of my life is rooted in the promises of God. If I am attuned to Him – not just to His laws or precepts or commands – but to Him personally, then I can expect to enter into my possibility. But I have to be careful with this knowledge. It’s not really an exchange. It’s not a giving of one thing in order to receive another.

Being attuned to the person of Jesus is the possibility and the choice. Whatever the reality of that relationship might bring is a fruitful by-product that He is free to choose.

“No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” 1Cor 9:27