IF you seek Him.

"In the midst of the WHEN, God placed an IF which promised salvation and forgiveness."

GOD HITS NOBODY with a two-by-four. At least, not without warning. Years, YEARS in advance, He warns of the consequences of our actions, with the assurance that when we seek Him and walk after Him, walk in His ways and after His character, there is only great forgiveness and blessing before us. In fact, He surrounds us with it in such abundance that we go from one moment of glory to another without our feet ever hitting the earth (2 Corinthians 3:18). Jesus came to earth to give us ABUNDANT life, after all.

But that there are consequences, and big ones, cannot be overlooked, nor adapted to fit our sin, nor rewritten to make things He’s forbidden allowable. Enter Leviticus 26. Leviticus outlines the Old Covenant Law. We are New Covenant children, but there is something important to be seen in this list of God’s two-by-four judgments. It reads a bit like you’re being walloped. I admit that, but what we should see is there is an “if” involved. “If ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me.” “If ye walk contrary unto me.” “And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things.” “If” requires us making a choice. The children of Israel were told how to walk and be holy and without sin and what would happen if they didn’t.

This takes me over to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy tells more of the story of the Law, but it includes with it the curses of disobedience. Remember I said God warns way in advance. What we must see in His warning is two words – “if” and “when.” “When” is definitive. It means something will happen at some point in time and what follows is what will come out of it. Deuteronomy 4 begins with a picture of the giving of the Law, then in verse 25, God speaks of their children. For what was given to one generation was meant to be passed on to the next.

“When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provide him to anger.” (Deuteronomy 4:25)

WHEN you have children and grandchildren, and you’ve lived here a while, WHEN you shall corrupt yourselves and make idols and do evil. This was not an IF but a WHEN. God is the future. He has declared it to us, and He declared it to them. That they would not walk after Him, worshipping Him, but would fall into sin. He knew of their disgusting behavior in the temple of Ezekiel’s vision. He knew their filthy sacrifices of Isaiah 1 and Malachi. This is not my judgment over Israel. Do not take it that way. But God told them WHEN YOU DO THIS. Then there would be consequences.

These are the “ifs” of Deuteronomy 28, where it says, “If you obey,” then there are God’s blessings, followed by, “If you disobey,” then there are the curses. But, before I return to Leviticus 26, read with me Deuteronomy 4:29.

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart an with all thy soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)

In the midst of the WHEN, God placed an IF which promised salvation and forgiveness. This is who He is. He hates judgment. In a video I saw years ago, a person had a glimpse of heaven and noted Jesus’ reaction over giving the future judgment stated in John’s Revelation. This is something our Savior does not look forward to. He is forever merciful, and I know when we all get to heaven, there will be people there that surprise us. God delights in forgiveness. He SO LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son for this purpose.

So look back at Leviticus 26. But when you read all those terrible judgments, don’t see a vengeful God. See instead, the incredible size of the blessing that a man locked into sin gives up. Our loving God promised His people protection, victory over their foes, an abundantly prosperous earth, amazing health, many children, and peace and wisdom and so many other incredible things. What He would do for them because they sought Him above all else was so high and so great that WHEN they sinned, IF they chose disobedience, and WHEN as He’d said here that He would do, He turned contrary unto them because of it, the lack of blessing which they chose to give up would be startling and destructive.

It is not that the judgment is so severe but that God’s blessing is so big!

God mourns our sins. This is the meaning of the promise of comfort in Matthew 5:4. Matthew 5:48 tells us this chapter is a picture of our heavenly Father. This means the blessings at the beginning of the chapter are things He is. He is humble and meek, righteous, merciful, pure in heart, and a God of peace. Also, verse 4, He mourns. Jeremiah’s lamentation is the Father mourning Jerusalem’s destruction. What men think God caused is instead what God warned them of in order to prevent it from happening. How could a humble, meek, righteous, merciful, pure God be one who delights in destruction? Isn’t it the thief who comes to steal,, kill, and destroy? (John 10:10)

Jesus came to give life and that life more abundantly. God is not tempted by evil, neither does He tempt anyone to sin. The IF is in our hands. We have a freewill and can choose to do the wrong thing. WHEN we do, there are consequences, the worst of which is God turning away. But we must view this as NEW COVENANT CHILDREN and not as Old Covenant men. Because Jesus fulfilled the Law and gave us a new and better covenant (Hebrews 12:24). We no longer have to work for forgiveness. It is given to us as a gift of God’s gracious character. We are saved because we believe in Jesus’ death and Resurrection and not for any other reason. His blessings come upon our lives because we are His children. Destruction is from the enemy and the warnings of future judgment not any fear we should have.

“In my vision, I saw another amazing panoramic scene in the sky: Seven angels holding the seven last plagues—“last” because when these are released, God will have ceased all intercession on earth. But the healed need not worry; for I saw what appeared to be a great crystal plane reflecting the fiery presence of God, and standing beside the crystal plane were those who had been healed. They were victorious over the beastly methods of coercion and deceit, and had rejected the distorted image of God—the image of a punishing god.” (Revelation 15:1-2, Remedy)

Image by Dee from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com