PART 3
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
January 16, 2011
NewsWithViews.com
In verse nine God says that He will establish us a holy people. The Hebrew word used for “holy” is qadowsh (kaw-doshe) and means sacred. The lexicon defines it as being designated a priest. We will be declared and ordained of God as His priests, but there is that forever stipulation, if we will keep His commandments. Again we see that there is an action on our part that we must fulfill for the hand of God to move in our lives. Verse ten tells us the benefits of our prosperity that all the people of the earth will see the blessing that is upon us. The wording here is interesting. The literal translation says ‘the name of Jehovah is named on you.’ The first “name” is the Hebrew word shem and means honor, authority, character as a mark or memorial of individuality. The lexicon indicates that is means that God declares ownership of the believers. The verse goes on to say that all the earth will fear us. The word used for “fear” is yare (yaw-ray) and means reverence. It is not quite the same as the reverential fear we have for God, but knowing that He is on our side causes them to have a tremendous amount of respect for us.
Verse eleven says that God will make us plenteous in goods. The Hebrew word for “plenteous” is yathar and means to abound, too much, exceedingly. The word used for “goods” is towb and means welfare, prosperity, happiness. Again we see God wanting us to have great wealth, great possessions. Please keep in mind here that all this wealth and the great quanities of possessions isn’t just for our own personal use. We are to be conduits of God’s blessings. We are to bless others with what God has given us. We are NOT to horde up what God has given us. Luke gives us an example of what NOT to do in Luke Chapter 12 where a rich man’s land brought forth an bumper crop. He decided to keep it all to himself and built bigger barns to hold it all. God required his soul for his act of selfishness. So the moral of the story is that we are to be generous with what God has given us. Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.[1]
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about why wealth was given to the believer: 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation] (Amp.). The verse continues to define the goods as your posterity, and a strong increase in the basis of your wealth. If you are a farmer, your crops will produce exponentially. If you are a rancher, your cattle, flocks and herds will increase exponentially. If you are a businessman, your customers will increase exponentially. All that you do will increase. You will have favor in what you do.
Verse twelve states that God will open for us His good treasure. The Hebrew word used for “good treasure” is owtsar `and means storehouse, treasure house. This isn’t just any storehouse, it’s God’s storehouse. His storehouse never empties. This storehouse is defined as the source for rain so that your crops will thrive. The verse goes on to say that all the works of your hand will be blessed, empowered to prosper. It ends by saying that we will lend to many nations. The word for lend is lavah and means to lend but it carries the meaning out in the lexicon to point out that those whom you lend to become your servants. This verse indicates that God will make you wealthy enough to have all you need, enough to help others when necessary and lend to nations. That is not talking about an individual, but an entire nation and not just one but many nations. This type of financial wherewithal requires vast amounts of wealth. No job will give you this kind of wealth, only God.
Verse thirteen says that we will be the head and not the tail. The word used for “head” is rosh and it means chief, captain, forefront, principal. The lexicon defines it as dignity, power and influence. The head makes all the decisions. The head controls his environment and situations and is not controlled by those around him. The word used for “tail” is zanab and means literally, people that are subjects to rulers. God does not want us to be under someone thumb. People that are subjects are controlled by others. Others tell them where they can work, where they can live, where and if they can take a vacation, what kind of house they can live in, what kind of car they can drive. All of that is determined by their income and the job they have.
We as believer are to work, but we are to look to God as our source, not the work. Isaac didn’t look at the circumstances in Gaza. If he had, he would have left because there was a drought in Gaza. He looked to God and was rewarded with a hundred fold return. God has called us to be the ones in charge. God also says that we are to be above and not beneath. The word used for “above” is ma’al (mah-al) and means exceedingly, overhead, very high. The word used for “beneath” is mattah and means very low, downward. The lexicon refers to a state of declination: a falling or declining towards a worse state; a tendency towards a less degree of excellence or perfection .[2] In other words God is requiring us to be the best of mankind in all things, wealth included, so that we can accomplish His will. It is not God’s will that we be subservient to anyone but Him. Again, there is the call to hearken to His commandments, to be obedient to His will.
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Verse fourteen reminds us not to turn away from His commandments. The word used for “aside ”is cuwr (soor) and means to put away, withdraw, turn aside or away from, to apostatize. Today we see a lot of the church that has turned away from His commandments. They allow homosexuals to be ordained, they call sin disease, they turn their head at those in the church who live together without the benefit of marriage. They thumb their nose at parts of the Gospel, prosperity, healing, speaking in tongues. They have their denominational rituals that have nothing to do with God’s Word or His commandments and they seem to be more important than the Word of God. The apostasy of the church is growing bigger and bigger and the church is getting weaker and weaker.
So far we have looked at obeying God and the benefits of following after Him. We will get back to that but I want to take a quick look at what God says about those who refuse to follow after Him. Staying in Deuteronomy 28 beginning with the 15th verse God says: But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: (16) Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. (17) Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.[3]
We see that this starts out the same as verse one did only the reference to the curse is in place of the blessing. The word used for “cursed” is qelalah (kel-aw-law) and means grievously cursed. To be grievously cursed is never a good thing. Grievously means with pain; painfully; with great pain or distress; as, to be grievously afflicted, with discontent, ill will or grief. Calamitously; miserably; greatly; with great uneasiness, distress or grief.[4] Now you should be able to see why it is not recommended that we ignore the ways of God. The rest of this chapter shows how ignoring God’s Word will compound a persons grief and problems. Every way you are blessed by following God, you are cursed by not following God.
Verse 20 states: The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me[5] Here God says that in everything you do, you will be cursed, vexed and rebuked. Notice that there are three forms of suffering involved here. First you have the curse which we just discussed and then there is the vexation. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines vexation this way: The act of irritating, or of troubling, disquieting and harassing, the state of being irritated or disturbed in mind, disquiet; agitation; great uneasiness.[6] The lexicon gives a reference to a privy (outhouse) or sewer for this word. The literal translation used the word trouble. Then there is a rebuke. Webster’s defined rebuke as to chide; to reprove; to reprehend for a fault; to check by reproof, to check or restrain, to chasten; to punish; to afflict for correction.[7]
The continual study of this chapter renders a picture of total devastation to those who refuse to follow God’s laws. That total devastation includes not just poverty, but abject poverty even to the point of slavery. There are those that say that God would not do that to someone. In Deuteronomy 28: 45 we see that this does happen: Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: (46) And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. (47) Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;[8] Please remember that it is the choice of the person to remove themselves from the protective hand of God, not God’s decision to cause havoc in a persons life. We have a choice to live according to the rules that God has laid out since Adam, or not live by the laws. If we chose to not live by the laws we must be ready to accept the consequences of that decision. This chapter is the best directive for how we need to live to receive the blessings of God.
The next verse we will look at is out of the book of Joshua 24:13. This is an important verse because it confirms all that God promised in the first 14 verses of the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy: And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. (14) Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.[9] It is important for us to know that God keeps His promises. If you are new in the Lord it is hard to believe someone who has not proved Himself to you. As believers we need to remind ourselves of God’s promises from time to time because the things of this world can get more of our attention than the things of God IF we let them.
Another scripture that shows that God rewards obedience is in Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. I don’t think that it is necessary to go into the whole story of Job here, but a brief overview should be discussed. Job, contrary to most teachings, was not targeted by God. Scripture tells us that he was the richest man in the east and that he was perfect and upright, feared God and eschewed evil. That right there is the reason satan targeted him. Any testimony to God is going to be attacked. During the attack, Job remained faithful to God. His wife told him to curse God and die, but he refused. In Job 2:10 he responded to his wifes suggestion with; But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. [11]
Here is where some are confused. It says that he did not sin. He accused God of bringing the evil that had come upon him. Job was never made aware of satan so he thought that all, good and evil, came from God. That is how he didn’t sin when he accused God of bringing the evil that was upon him. Now, the fact that he refused to blame God for his troubles, shows his character, which God rewarded. In Job 42:10 the word used for “turned” is shuwb and means to restore, cause to return, recompense. The word used for “captivity” is shbuwth and means a former state of prosperity.
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Not only did God reward Job for staying faithful to Him, he gave him double of what he had before. The Hebrew states Jehovah added to Job all that had been his, to double. Job was the richest man in the east and now he had twice the wealth that he had had before. That is how God repays those who stand for Him through all kinds of affliction.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3,
Footnotes:
1.
2.
3.
The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of
the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Dt 28:14-17). Bellingham
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
4.
Webster, N. (2006). Noah Webster's first edition of An American
dictionary of the English language. Reprint of the 1828 ed. published
under title: An American dictionary of the English language. Anaheim,
CA: Foundation for American Christian Education.
5.
The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of
the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Dt 28:20). Bellingham
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
6.
7.
8.
The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of
the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Dt 28:45-47). Bellingham
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
9.
The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of
the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Jos 24:13-14). Bellingham
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
10.
11.
� 2011 Roger Anghis - All Rights Reserved
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Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.
President of The Damascus Project, TheDamascusProject.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching pastors and lay people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-37 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.
Web site: RestoreFreeSpeech.org
E-Mail: editor@restorefreespeech.org
