Heads Or Tails

The history of the Jewish people shows that it was a constant struggle for them to be obedient to the commandments given to them by God, and for them to trust in God for their needs and for their safety. The Jewish nation would have a righteous king who would honor the house of the Lord, reveal the word of God, and remove the pagan altars and high places, and God would be active in the affairs of the nation. That was always followed by several wicked kings who allowed the pagan altars and priests and ignored the word and the tabernacle, and things would again go sour for the nation. Then again for a short time a righteous king would arise who would attempt to clean out the pagan filth. Although the blessing of God would return for a time, the later glory was never as bright as the former.





Today we hear a lot of preaching about seeking the blessings of God, and it is usually tied into a quid pro quo type of deal. We give to God (or to the ministry in question), and we will receive in turn blessings from God. But while scripture does have a lot to say about God's desire for us to give, and His desire to bless us, it also puts the blessings of God into the context of our being obedient to the commandments that God has given to us. The focus of many churches today seems to be either on what we can get from God, or what we can do for God. But God has revealed to us in His word and through His Spirit a revelation of what the will of God is for us. And He has done that, not in a legalistic sense so we can be justified before Him by obeying the letter of the commandments, but in a context where we can be in a right relationship with a Holy but loving Father who wants to share His life with us. We come into that relationship through the shed blood of Jesus, where our sins are forgiven and our spirits are reborn, making us part of His family. But the closeness of our experience with the Father requires that we daily seek to be obedient to His will, putting aside our desire for the false promises of the pleasures of this world.



In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul compares the experiences of the Jewish nation in the Exodus to the challenges for Christians living in a fallen world today. "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethern, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved . . . Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No tempetation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." The way of righteousness is not easy. All of us crave evil things and we a good at making compartments in our life where the Spirit of God is not welcome. It's funny, but life for us as God designed it leads to the opposite of what the world promises. Obedience leads to freedom, surrender leads to power, giving leads to increase, and holiness leads to health. We get forgiveness by forgiving, and experience love by loving.



There is a promise that God gives to the nation of Israel in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. I have heard part of it quoted quite often as a proof text, used by those that preach that it is always God's will for Christians to prosper financially. "And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail, and you shall . . . be above . . . and not beneath". (v13) The idea of being the head and not the tail sounds good, and it is true that giving God the first of our increase is a concrete way to express our dependence on Him, and God will indeed bless those that put their trust in Him by freely giving. But that is not what chapter 28 or verse 13 is talking about. Earlier in Dueteronomy, God has made a covenant with the Jewish people, as a nation that would one day enter into the land that He had promised them. But in addition to the covenant He also provided for them a place where His presence would reside, and commandments to help them understand that they would often fall short of His perfect will for them. He desired not only their obedience to those commandments but their desire to come to His earthly dwelling place for both worship and restoration. And in chapter 28 He tells them that there would be many blessings for them in that land if they followed His commandments, but also many curses for them in that land if they were not obedient to what He commanded.

"Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city . . . and in the country . . . Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts . . . The Lord shall cause your enemies . . . to be defeated before you . . . The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself . . . all the people of the earth shall see you are called by the name of the Lord and be afraid of you . . . The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens to give rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of yourr hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow . . . And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail, and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today".

Our Father loves us and wants us to be obedient to His commandments because He knows that is ultimately what is best for us. Our obedience enables His blessings to be poured out. When we reject or ignor His commandments it opens us and the nation up to the curses which come as a result of being outside of the will of God. "But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes whith which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city . . . and in the country. . . . Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground . . . The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail . . . And it shall come about that as the Lord delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you shall be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. Moreover, the Lord will scatter you from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth".

Even though they had the scriptures, the temple, the priesthood and the sacrifices, the Jewish people ended up being scattered to the ends of the earth. God's desire is to bless us. But when we disobey what He commands, when we approve the corrupt actions of this world, when we crave evil things, when we hold onto unforgiveness and bitterness, when we don't trust that God is able, we severly limit His ability to pour out His blessing into our life and our nation. The solution is not to ask God to pour forth His blessing, or to find a spiritual principle where we give and then get. Instead we must seek Him, and make daily decisions to be obedient to His revealed will, and trust that He who made us and designed us and saved us knows best.