Connected in The Word 9-17-25
And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God… Deut. 28:1a
But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God… Deut. 28:15a
Today I have chapel at Rockford Lutheran High School and the text given to me was from Deuteronomy 28 – So, today you are all getting Deuteronomy 28 even though it is not the assigned reading for this Sunday! In this chapter God essentially makes a deal with the Israelites as they are about to enter the Promised Land. If they obey Him – They will receive great blessings as a nation. If they disobey Him – They will receive great curses as a nation.
There were times in the Scriptures when God made deals with His people. If you do this, then I will do this. I would sometimes do this with my students when I taught 3rd grade. I told them that if they behaved, they would get extra recess. If they misbehaved, they would lose their recess. Deals are conditional, temporal, and made with only certain people. Sometimes when my 3rd graders when out for their extra recess the 4th graders got mad because they didn’t get extra recess. But I didn’t make a deal with them. The deal God made with the Israelites in Deuteronomy is NOT a deal he makes with us.
God’s people can’t uphold their end of the deal. The Israelites couldn’t do it, and neither could we. But here’s the Good News, when it comes to your salvation – God doesn’t make deals! When it comes to your salvation, God makes declarations! God declares that all people are sinful. God declares that He loves all people. God declares that Jesus lived, died, and rose for the sins of the world! God declares that salvation in Jesus is a GIFT! YOU HAVE NO CHOICE IN GOD’S DECLARATIONS! I guess you could plug your ears and refuse to hear, believe, or rejoice in God’s declarations – But that just wouldn’t make any sense now would it!
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