Ep. 57 | DEUT 28 | Story of the Gospel | Blessing From the Lord

"The Lord Bless You" is a common phrase among Christians, but where does it come from? The root is right here in Deut 28. The Isrealites would be blessed if they obeyed the Lord and cursed if they disobeyed. What can we learn about our faithfulness as well?

Meditate on this week's passage and appreciate the promises we have in Jesus.

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Transcript

 The WellSoul Podcast and ministry is made possible through your financial support. For the cost of a cup of coffee, you can help others know God's Word, walk with God, and live with purpose. Visit BuyMeACoffee.com/Well Soul Podcast. That's buymeacoffee.com/wellSoul podcast today. 

Welcome to the Well Soul Podcast, where we pause to drink in scripture, reflect and pray. I am your host, Seana Scott, and sometimes life leaves our souls feeling parched, so come to the well of living water that never runs dry.

In today's episode, we will continue the story of the Gospel, where we will meditate on what happened when God brought Israel back to the edge of the Promised Land and reiterated His relationship with them. If this is your first time listening, I encourage you to start at the beginning of the Story of the Gospel episodes.

Today we move forward the storyline of the Gospel, past the years of Israel's wandering, to the return to the edge of the promised land, where Moses reiterates the covenant between Israel and God. Then we will consider our own call to live lives of faithfulness to God.

Imagine with me standing on the edge of a new beginning that you have heard about your whole life. Your parents might have said, “When we enter the promised land, we will never have to worry about water again.”. . . “When we enter the promise land, we will eat grapes and figs and pomegranates.”. . . “When we enter the promise land,. . .” we can only imagine what else parents told their children.

And here they were. preparing once again to enter the promised land. And Moses reminds the people what to do when they live in the land. Here is where we will meditate on scripture today.

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Before I read, take a deep breath and pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to you through God's word.
 
 

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Come Holy Spirit, come. 

Deuteronomy 28:1–11. And Deuteronomy 28:15–25, 

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.[a] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

What did the Holy Spirit do in your heart as you listened? Sit with this for a moment.

If the Israelites feared and honored the Lord by obeying Him, God would bless them abundantly. Everything they put their hands to would be blessed. The earth would be blessed, their crops would be blessed, their livestock would be blessed. Everything would be blessed. 

Now, this promise was for the nation of Israel and is not a promise to us. It's not the health and wealth gospel. We have known Christians even today who suffer for following Jesus. But let us remember that our blessing for following Christ is much greater than an inheritance of the promised land with figs. Because we have an eternal promised land that we will live in on the new earth.

What a glorious promise that is.

Now take a moment to reflect and pray. Sit silently for 30 seconds, asking God to reveal to you anything from Scripture today that you might need to soak in. Then pray about what He wants you to do with what you hear, or anything else the Spirit brings to mind.

Let's pray. Holy Spirit, one and only true God, we worship you. Thank you that we are forgiven for all of our sin in Christ Jesus. And one day, those of us who remain in him will enter the eternal promised land. When you return, this is our great hope. Thank you, Lord, 

Thank you for joining me today for the WellSoul podcast for our story of the gospel journey, there is so much more to living with a well soul. And so we invite you to subscribe to the Well Soul community while you'll receive tangible encouragement and resources to know God's word, walk with God, and live with purpose. See the link in the show notes in closing.

I remember my late friend. Brian Vasquez, who made this podcast possible. God bless you. And I pray that you have a well soul.