BIBLE STUDIES

TOPIC: The Blessings of God

Blessings of God to the one who Obeys God:

1- "And if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

2 - And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

3- Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

4- Blessed shall be the fruit of your body

5- Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. , and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

6- Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out

7- "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways... (Deut.28:1-7).
You may read it in full in Deut.28:1-14.

Curses of God to the one who does not Obey God:

Notice that it is the Lord God Himself the one who curses, the one who punishes!

1- "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

2- Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

3- Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.

4- Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

5- Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

6-"The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your doings, because you have forsaken me.

7- The LORD will make the pestilence cleave to you until he has consumed you off the land which you are entering to take possession of it.

 8- The LORD will smite you with consumption, and with fever, inflammation, and fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.

 9- The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

10- The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with the ulcers and the scurvy and the itch, of which you cannot be healed.

11- The LORD will smite you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind;

 12- ... and you shall not prosper in your ways; and you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you... (Deut.28:15-29)

You may read it in full in Deut. 28:15-69.

The Difference Between
Temporal and Eternal Blessings

God’s temporal blessings are not inconsistent with suffering. In fact, suffering can be a blessing in the hand of God. If we are a child of God, we know His eternal plan allows only those things into our lives which result in our ultimate and eternal good:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

But what of God’s eternal blessings? These blessings fit the definition laid down in Proverbs 10:22:

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

These blessings are not fulfilled in this life, but in the next. They are not experienced in time, but in eternity. These are the blessings our Lord Himself brings to pass in His second coming. They are based upon His sacrifice at Calvary but are realized in His coming to judge the earth:

Tithes and Offering

Please Read: Malachi 3:8-12 & Luke 6:38

The promise

1.      I will open for you the windows of Heaven, blessing overflow.

2.     I will rebuke the devourer (satan) so that he will not distroy the fruit of your ground.

3.     I will let the vine bear fruit for you in the field

4.     I will let all nations (people) call you blessed.

5.     I will give you back what you gave away with an interest,

6.     Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be given back to you, according to how much you give.

 Principles Pertaining to Divine Blessing

(1) God’s blessing refers to His purpose, pronouncement, and process of bringing about a person’s good.

(2) God’s curse is the process of bringing about man’s deserved retribution of divine judgment.

(3) God’s blessing is opposed to cursing. His blessing is the reversal of the curse (see Genesis 12:1-3; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28).

(4) God has the right to bless or to curse men (see Romans 9:19-21). He blesses men out of His grace and curses out of His holiness.

(5) God is able to bless men because He has borne their curse in Christ, and thus His holiness is maintained in His grace (see Romans 3:24-26).

(6) God’s glory is revealed in both His blessing and His cursing (see Exodus 34:5-7).

(7) Divine blessing is based upon divine grace and not human merit or effort. God not only graciously blesses men, He also graciously delays the curse so that men might be saved (see Romans 9:22-24).

(8) Divine cursing or condemnation is based upon an individual’s decision and works. Men are not only condemned because they are destined to destruction, but because they deserve it and have decided for it (see Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 28; John 3:18; Revelation 16:5-6).

(9) Blessing or cursing are not necessarily evident in the means God employs to produce His desired goal. Cursing may be accomplished by what appears to be God’s blessing. Blessing may be accomplished by what appears to be God’s cursing. The story of the rich man and Lazarus underscore this principle (see Luke 16:19-31).

(10) Blessing and cursing have present manifestations, but they are not fully manifested until the second coming of Christ. Blessing and cursing are both temporal and eternal, the temporal being partial and mixed with sorrow, while the eternal is full and complete. Temporal blessings are experienced by sinners, living in a sin-cursed world. Eternal blessings are experienced by saints who have been transformed into the image of Christ, whose mortal bodies are left behind and who live in a new world free of sin, of Satan, and of the curse (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21 and 22).

(11) Ultimately, blessing or cursing are the result of one’s response to God’s provision of forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus Christ, the promised “seed of Abraham” (see Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-6; John 3:18; 14:6; 1 John 5:12).

(12) God’s temporal blessing is neither synonymous with prosperity nor incompatible with suffering.

(13) Adversity and suffering is not synonymous with sin and cursing.

(14) God blesses all men physically and materially in this life out of His common grace. He blesses only Christians spiritually and eternally.

(15) Since divine blessing is based upon the sovereign grace of God, we cannot demand it, and we dare not protest when God’s dealings with us do not appear to be a blessing.

(16) One of the blessings God gave Abraham and his “seed” (which includes us as believers) is that of being a blessing to others. When God promised Abraham that his “seed” was to be a blessing to all nations, this was a part of Abraham’s blessing. In God’s economy, serving others is a privilege and not a curse. Our Lord Himself took upon Himself the task of serving.

(17) The blessings our Lord accomplished on the cross of Calvary will not all be poured out on men in this life. Full and unhindered blessing can only take place in heaven, when Satan is bound, sin and death defeated, and the things corrupted by sin (including our bodies and this world) made new.

(18) Christians will suffer--and not just for sin. When Christians suffer for Christ’s sake, it is a blessing.

(19) God’s promised blessings do not assure us we will escape the wrath of men toward God, but only that we will escape the wrath of God toward men.