The blessings of seasonal rain are promised by God to his people when they are obedient, follow His decrees and obey His commands. We are promised that if we do these things the land will then yield its crops and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.
Not only were His people promised the above they were also promised peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear.
And still God went further, I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land.
Still further In fact you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred will chase ten thousand. All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.
Still further I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. AND I WILL FULFILL MY COVENANT WITH YOU.
And still further You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest!
And the great climax I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God and you will be my people. I am the Lord you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.
Did the people actually realize all the promises God was giving them? I mean wow, He was being spectacularly generous. Obviously not because guess what they walked away from Him again. And yes there was punishment just like the Garden of Eden.
Do we never learn?
Lets face it, we are the same whatever decade we live in. We are given a spectacular amount of Love and still we go our own way. Why?
Maybe it is because we are like little children trying to see how much we can get away with before our parents snap. But God is no longer the God of the Old Testament but the God of the New Testament. He no longer wants sacrifices for our wayward lives. He is different and Christ has made that difference. We can behave like spoilt three year olds and God will still Love us. He will still love us. Love has not killed anyone yet. Love died on the cross and rose again. That can happen in our lives too. God's Love will bring seasonal rains if we change and follow him, not just in our everyday lives but more importantly in our hearts and souls. There are no depths to God's Love, it is eternal and forever. He will keep on giving His Love no matter what because He knows no other way. His generosity is universal, it is so colossal that it reaches beyond time. He will never give up on us.
If we truly knew of His Love we would immediately bow down and reverence him. Nothing would be too much to do for God. Our days would be Love orientated. We would see world changing generosity. The land will then yield its crops and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.
Can we be obedient, follow His decrees and obey His commands? Can we accept His Love? Can we change to reflect His Love.
Our challenge is to stop being the three year old that has a tantrum every time we don't get what we want, and to look outwards at what Love is asking of us. Going from the selfish to the generous. Going from the 'I want' to the 'What do you want Lord?'. Going from the 'I don't want to follow you because I want to do my own thing' to 'Your will be done'.
"Father forgive them for they know not what they have done."
We all need to remember that we have been saved from slavery and that God's Love made that possible. May we have such a surplus of crops that (we) you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! May our love be fruitful and multiply to embrace all of God's family.
God bless
(Photo by M.Kaz)
