Let's Make A Deal!
The last Wednesday night in December we finished up our January Bible Study on the book of Deuteronomy at my church. Yes, I know January Bible Studies are supposed to only last for the month of January but the congregation wanted to slow down and study the book in more detail. So we did. Now we are digging into Joshua because we felt we needed to get the Israelites to the Promise Land because after 40 years of wondering and 52 weeks of studying they need to get where they are going. The last several chapters of Deuteronomy were my favorite because God gives Moses the key to living happily ever after in the Promise Land.
God made it pretty simple so that everyone could understand it. He said if the Children of Israel would keep ALL of His commandments and statues then He would bless them. Not just bless them but bless everything, them, their families, their crops, their land, their animals, their jobs and their armies. He would curse all who opposed them and tried to hurt them. There was no way they couldn't be anything but blessed with that guarantee from God. They should still be the most powerful nation in the world but something happened. They played "Let's Make A Deal" with God. The problem with that game is, God don't play.
God told them to destroy everything in the lands they took and that included the people and especially their gods. This is where the game begin. Even though they had the promise of God that said He would bless everything they touched and everywhere they went they still felt tempted to make deals with God. They decided to keep some of the gods they liked almost like collectable plates. They decided they didn't like all of God's "rules" so they left out some. They decided to befriend some enemies instead of destroying them. All the while expecting God to bless them like He promised even though they didn't keep their end of the deal. Of course when things didn't go their way they quickly blamed God. After all, He promised them all of these blessings so they expected them even though they knew they hadn't lived up to God's expectations. Oh, how the history books would be different if they had lived the way God told them.
Now, how many of you have watched "Let's Make A Deal?" Some of you remember Monty Hall as the original host. Some of you may watch the current edition that Wayne Brady hosts. It doesn't matter which one you have seen or watch the idea is the same. People dress up in very weird costumes that they normally wouldn't be caught dead wearing to try to win some cash and prizes. The host wheels and deals to tempt them to trade their winnings in by promising the possibility of winning bigger and better prizes. Then there is always the chance of getting Zonked. That is when you trade in your $1000.00 refrigerator hoping to get a car but instead you get a pair of shoes made
out of butter. Every time that happens we all do the same thing. We yell at the TV to let the contestant know how dumb they were for giving up their great prize for the buttery shoes. I remember watching Wayne talk a lady dressed in a disco costume out of little box that she had won but not opened into taking door number 3 (ok, I really don't remember the door number but I always liked door number 3) which was a couple of small appliances. He then talked her into another door by giving her some cash and it had a kitchen set. He then hinted their may be a car behind the last door if she wanted to give up everything she had won which she quickly did. Behind that door was a goat pulling a wagon. When Wayne opened the little box she had started with it was a diamond necklace with matching earrings. She started with the best and ended up with the worst. I, like you would have, laughed at her.
What's the difference between the Israelites playing "Let's Make A Deal" with God and this lady playing with Wayne? The disco lady didn't have a guaranteed blessing. She didn't know what she had but the Israelites did. They had seen God send plagues, part waters, send manna, make water come from a stone and help them defeat much bigger and much stronger armies just to name a few things. So they knew if they did as God asked what He could and would do for them. So who made the dumber decisions? Us!
Let's look at it like this. Ms. Disco had no clue what she had or what was behind any of the doors. She was making her decision based on her excitement. She really didn't loose anything because even though she went home with a goat pulling a wagon she still went home with more then she came with. The Israelites were playing hoping God would accept their deals. They may not have verbally come out and said, "Hey, God is it alright if we keep this god? If you will let us keep him then you do not have to bless our crops as much this year." But with each decision not to follow God's commands fully they were taking a risk that they would receive the curse God spoke about instead of the blessing He promised. Us, well, we have the most knowledge of all three. We know what we have, God and His promise to bless. We also have the knowledge of what happened to Israel when they didn't keep God's commands. We have seen the famines, the conquering armies, the divisions, and all the troubles t
hat came from their decision not to follow God's law completely in the scriptures. Yet, we are still trying to wheel and deal with God. We don't verbally say, "Hey, God, what if I either go to church or study my Bible this week instead of both? Will you still bless me the same? What if I do committee work instead of witnessing? What if I allow some other gods in my life and even though my actions say they are more important I will post on Facebook how much I love you? Do I still get blessed then?" Our lives say those things for us.
If Mrs. Disco could have seen what was in every box or behind every door she would have left with the best prize. By having God's word we can see what we have, guaranteed blessings. We can also see what we have when we don't keep God's commandments, curses. So why do we play "Let's Make A Deal" and let Satan tempt us into some instant gratification from a sin that will quickly leave while the consequences linger on? It is us who is getting Zonked.
Parting Thought: A bank is a place that will loan you money, if you can prove you don't need it.
God made it pretty simple so that everyone could understand it. He said if the Children of Israel would keep ALL of His commandments and statues then He would bless them. Not just bless them but bless everything, them, their families, their crops, their land, their animals, their jobs and their armies. He would curse all who opposed them and tried to hurt them. There was no way they couldn't be anything but blessed with that guarantee from God. They should still be the most powerful nation in the world but something happened. They played "Let's Make A Deal" with God. The problem with that game is, God don't play.
God told them to destroy everything in the lands they took and that included the people and especially their gods. This is where the game begin. Even though they had the promise of God that said He would bless everything they touched and everywhere they went they still felt tempted to make deals with God. They decided to keep some of the gods they liked almost like collectable plates. They decided they didn't like all of God's "rules" so they left out some. They decided to befriend some enemies instead of destroying them. All the while expecting God to bless them like He promised even though they didn't keep their end of the deal. Of course when things didn't go their way they quickly blamed God. After all, He promised them all of these blessings so they expected them even though they knew they hadn't lived up to God's expectations. Oh, how the history books would be different if they had lived the way God told them.
Now, how many of you have watched "Let's Make A Deal?" Some of you remember Monty Hall as the original host. Some of you may watch the current edition that Wayne Brady hosts. It doesn't matter which one you have seen or watch the idea is the same. People dress up in very weird costumes that they normally wouldn't be caught dead wearing to try to win some cash and prizes. The host wheels and deals to tempt them to trade their winnings in by promising the possibility of winning bigger and better prizes. Then there is always the chance of getting Zonked. That is when you trade in your $1000.00 refrigerator hoping to get a car but instead you get a pair of shoes made
What's the difference between the Israelites playing "Let's Make A Deal" with God and this lady playing with Wayne? The disco lady didn't have a guaranteed blessing. She didn't know what she had but the Israelites did. They had seen God send plagues, part waters, send manna, make water come from a stone and help them defeat much bigger and much stronger armies just to name a few things. So they knew if they did as God asked what He could and would do for them. So who made the dumber decisions? Us!
Let's look at it like this. Ms. Disco had no clue what she had or what was behind any of the doors. She was making her decision based on her excitement. She really didn't loose anything because even though she went home with a goat pulling a wagon she still went home with more then she came with. The Israelites were playing hoping God would accept their deals. They may not have verbally come out and said, "Hey, God is it alright if we keep this god? If you will let us keep him then you do not have to bless our crops as much this year." But with each decision not to follow God's commands fully they were taking a risk that they would receive the curse God spoke about instead of the blessing He promised. Us, well, we have the most knowledge of all three. We know what we have, God and His promise to bless. We also have the knowledge of what happened to Israel when they didn't keep God's commands. We have seen the famines, the conquering armies, the divisions, and all the troubles t
hat came from their decision not to follow God's law completely in the scriptures. Yet, we are still trying to wheel and deal with God. We don't verbally say, "Hey, God, what if I either go to church or study my Bible this week instead of both? Will you still bless me the same? What if I do committee work instead of witnessing? What if I allow some other gods in my life and even though my actions say they are more important I will post on Facebook how much I love you? Do I still get blessed then?" Our lives say those things for us. If Mrs. Disco could have seen what was in every box or behind every door she would have left with the best prize. By having God's word we can see what we have, guaranteed blessings. We can also see what we have when we don't keep God's commandments, curses. So why do we play "Let's Make A Deal" and let Satan tempt us into some instant gratification from a sin that will quickly leave while the consequences linger on? It is us who is getting Zonked.
Parting Thought: A bank is a place that will loan you money, if you can prove you don't need it.
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