Penalties for Disobedience

"But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up. I will set My face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you. If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit." -Leviticus 26.14-20

If obedience to God brings about blessings, it can be assumed that disobeying Him will and rejecting His standards of righteousness will bring about punishment. Here, immediately following the verse that talk about blessings, God warns Israel what will take place if they choose to reject Him. If they break the covenant God will appoint terror, consumption and fever. Their efforts to grow food will be futile, and their enemies will consume whatever grows. God will set His face against them, and they will not have victory. Instead of freed men, they will be subject to those who hate them. God tells them that they will be punished seven times more for their sins and that He will break their pride.

Men, what does your life look like? Is it full of the blessings of God, or with the penalties of disobedience. To clarify, living for God does not mean that your life will be problem free, I'm working on a paper towards my Master's about pain and suffering in the Christian life, and how it ultimately serves to make us more holy. Turning to God does not mean that we will have no problems. It means that God will be with us, provide for us, and protect us no matter where we go. There will still be hardships and trials, but when we live in obedience God is always with us.

If we choose to live for ourselves, ignoring what God has said, we invite destruction. It may not come right away, infact those who live for themselves may seem the most prosperous and successful in this life. But is there any joy? Is there any meaning in what they do? If God isn't there, then what is the point?

We have two choices, obediently follow God, living righteously according to His standards; or we can disobey and do whatever seems right and best to us. One path brings the presence of God through all things, good and bad. The other goes it alone. What is your choice?

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor