God’s blessing have always been conditional upon our obedience. Just like a father today who tells his child, “You will get a surprise if you clean your room.” The reward is contingent upon the child’s obedience. A clean room equals a surprise. So, it is with us. A clean life equals an eternal reward from our Father in Heaven (James 4:8).
It was the same with Old Testament Israel too. God had promised, concerning the angel (second person of the Godhead) that He would send before them, “if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that speak: then I will be an enemy unto think enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries” (Exo. 23:22). Thus, obedience to God’s Word would mean numerous blessings for the people of Israel.
First, God would bless their bread/water and take away sickness from them (Exo. 23:25). In other words, they would not suffer hunger from famine, thirst from drought, and they would not be afflicted with disease. God would see to it that rain would nourish their crops and nothing would endanger their lives if they obeyed His voice.
Second, God promised that none would miscarry or be barren (Exo. 23:26). What a blessing to know that every baby and every animal would be born without harm (Deu. 7:14)! Furthermore, the humiliation of being barren would be taken away if they simply obeyed God’s voice.
Finally, God promised that their days would be long (Exo. 23:26). The Israelites could rest easy knowing that they would not die young, but flourish even into old age. Of course, this went hand in hand with His command to, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Exo. 20:12).
God’s blessings will only be upon us if we obey His voice today. Sinners must obey the call to salvation (Mat. 11:28) and Christians must obey the call to faithfulness (Col. 1:23). Only then can we be presented holy and unblameable before God (Col. 1:22).
It was the same with Old Testament Israel too. God had promised, concerning the angel (second person of the Godhead) that He would send before them, “if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that speak: then I will be an enemy unto think enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries” (Exo. 23:22). Thus, obedience to God’s Word would mean numerous blessings for the people of Israel.
First, God would bless their bread/water and take away sickness from them (Exo. 23:25). In other words, they would not suffer hunger from famine, thirst from drought, and they would not be afflicted with disease. God would see to it that rain would nourish their crops and nothing would endanger their lives if they obeyed His voice.
Second, God promised that none would miscarry or be barren (Exo. 23:26). What a blessing to know that every baby and every animal would be born without harm (Deu. 7:14)! Furthermore, the humiliation of being barren would be taken away if they simply obeyed God’s voice.
Finally, God promised that their days would be long (Exo. 23:26). The Israelites could rest easy knowing that they would not die young, but flourish even into old age. Of course, this went hand in hand with His command to, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Exo. 20:12).
God’s blessings will only be upon us if we obey His voice today. Sinners must obey the call to salvation (Mat. 11:28) and Christians must obey the call to faithfulness (Col. 1:23). Only then can we be presented holy and unblameable before God (Col. 1:22).