Deuteronomy 28:2 (NKJV)
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
In our last post I began looking at favor as part of the covenant given by God to Abraham and his descendants. Since the New Covenant flows from the Old Covenant, the blessing of the one extends to and is improved upon in the other. As we read the list of blessings from the Old Covenant in Deuteronomy 28, we can receive these blessings as part of the New Covenant.
I will use the New Living Translation to give a more contemporary feel to the elements of this blessing. I want to take this even farther and expand on each of these elements for a few moments today. Not many of us have flocks or fields, so let us see how these things might apply to us in 2013. In today’s verse, it says that these blessings will “come upon us and overtake us.” To me, this is a picture of favor.
Deuteronomy 28:3 (NLT)
3 Your towns and your fields will be blessed.
No matter where you live, whether in the city or the country, rural or urban, God says you will have favor.
Deuteronomy 28:4 (NLT)
4 Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.
We can expect favor in both our business or work life and our family life. Most of us do not have herds or flocks producing offspring, but we have something that we do that represents productivity. To me I see this as telling me that whatever that may be will have blessing and favor upon it.
Deuteronomy 28:5 (NLT)
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.
We may not have fruit baskets or breadboards but we do have refrigerators, freezers and kitchen cupboards. This tells me that favor will see to it that they are all filled with whatever we need.
Deuteronomy 28:6 (NLT)
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.
This requires little explanation. Everywhere we go and in everything we do, favor will be upon us. Praise the Lord!
Deuteronomy 28:7 (NLT)
7 “The LORD will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
Who is our enemy? Ephesians 6 tells us it is not flesh and blood but the demonic kingdom. When our enemy attacks us from one direction, favor will cause him to be so thoroughly defeated that he will run in terror from us in seven directions. Satan is a cunning and dangerous foe, but the blessing and favor of God mean we do not have to fear him. (Eph. 6:12)
Deuteronomy 28:8 (NLT)
8 “The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
I particularly like this verse. The Lord guarantees favor in all we do. There have been times I have purchased products with a warranty that came from companies that went out of business. That warranty meant very little. I have good news for you. God, inc. is not going out of business! When he guarantees something, it will never fail.
This guarantee extends to our storehouses of grain and to the land to which God is giving us. A storehouse indicates surplus. I believe we can expect favor that will give us a surplus in life. We will have enough to save and to invest in the Kingdom of God.
The land God is giving to us is our destiny. We should expect favor that will bring us into that destiny and make us effective as we occupy our land of promises until Jesus comes.
Deuteronomy 28:9 (NLT)
9 “If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways, the LORD will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.
As I read this promise, I see God telling me that I am going to make it as a Christian. He will establish me as a member of a holy people. That means I can and will walk in holiness before the Lord. Romans 8 tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. What could be more holy than that?
Deuteronomy 28:10 (NLT)
10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.
I believe it is vital that we extend the Kingdom of God by our witness. This tells me that the people of the world will begin to take notice that I am blessed and favored by God. This will cause them to be drawn to the one who gives me such favor.
Deuteronomy 28:11 (NLT)
11 “The LORD will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.
This is a restatement of much of what has already been said with something added. It speaks of the promise God gave to our fathers. Hebrews 12:1 tells us we are “encompassed with a great cloud of witnesses.” I believe we have “fathers in the faith” who have been given promises that we will see fulfilled in our lives.
Deuteronomy 28:12-13 (NLT)
12 The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.
Even natural things will work to bring favor to us and we can expect to be on top of life in every way. The favor of God will keep us from having to borrow from the world. This does not say we should not borrow, it says we will not have to borrow. I believe there will be a time when the world will come to us because of the blessing and the only interest we will charge will be that they listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What will release all of this in our lives? We will look at that tomorrow
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