DAY 169 - BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE LAW
I WILL PUT MY DWELLING PLACE AMONG YOU, AND I WILL NOT ABHOR YOU. I WILL WALK AMONG YOU AND BE YOUR GOD, AND YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT.
Leviticus 26: 11
Reading: Genesis 4:14; Genesis 15: 18; Exodus 15: 17; Leviticus 18: 3; 2 Kings 17: 18-20
The Israelites were set apart as a holy people, for the purposes of God. They were to be a witness to the nations. This is what it looks like the people of God live in a place that He has given them, under His Word, His rule and dominion. This is what the Kingdom of God looks like - this is a taste of Heaven, on Earth.
Note how the presence of God with His people was in a physical place - a land. Land is an important theme of Scripture.
In the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam and Eve. When we reach this part of the Bible story, we see that He still wants to be able to walk among His people. And this was His purpose in giving the Law - it was to shape a culture and a society in which He could comfortably live. Where the people are living according to the laws of God, the actual physical land itself is blessed and He can dwell there.
But the promised land comes with conditions. In Leviticus 26, God repeats His commandments, and promises that the land will be blessed if they obey His Word. But He also warns them of what will happen if they do not obey, if they forget His commands. Here He foretells all of what happens later when His people are exiled to other nations.
You cannot keep the land that God has promised, if you disobey His commands. God does not change His ways...He is the same yesterday, today and forever. When God makes you a promise, be sure to hear the conditions that come with those promises. It will involve obedience. And if you do obey...there is so much blessing – you could never have imagined that it was possible on this earth and in this lifetime to be so full of joy and thanksgiving! Most of all you will experience so much of His presence.
Prayer
Lord, I know that You have called me to be Yours. You have also given me promises to bless me in the land that You have called me to possess. I will obey Your commands – I always want Your presence to be with me and my household – so that I can be a witness to others.
For the family
Explain to your children that God wants to bless His people on this earth, even before we get to heaven where we will again receive rewards for what we did for Him on earth. God blesses His people with physical land, which has the ability to produce and multiply (just plant something and watch it grow!) and provide food to eat. It is also meant to be a means of shelter and a place that you call home.
Rehearse your physical address with your children so that they memorise it. Then take your children on a walk around the property you call home and with them, give thanks to God for the shelter and provision that he has given you in the land he has blessed you with.