Just Read The Sign!

These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever. [Deuteronomy 28.46]

What horrors? Every curse written in this twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy!

But wait! There's more!

“If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God, then the LORD  will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. The LORD will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. [Deuteronomy 28.58-61]

First, I would like to point out that curses are not blessings. I know that sounds silly, but it must be said here. Why? Because there are false doctrines that have circulated for years among 'believers' that claim that God 'blesses' folks with curses. These erroneous doctrines deny the obvious implications of curses (that something is wrong) and instead promote a pious self-righteousness that those curses  (clearly defined in Deuteronomy 28 - hardships, sicknesses, diseases, etc.) are not what the Bible says they are, but are instead masked blessings.

These "horrors" (see Deuteronomy 28.46 above) are a sign! They are a 'stop' sign, if you will, but the false doctrines discussed above make them out to be green lights!

The prophet Isaiah spoke about this very thing!

What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. [Isaiah 5.20]

I do not have answers for many of the tough questions in Christendom. But I know this: we should keep Isaiah 5. 20 in mind at all times! Good is good and evil is evil. Blessings are associated with good and curses are associated with evil. Period.

Why not just shut up and listen for God? Most of us however are like Job in the Bible. We have to run our mouths to the point we finally say something totally stupid and then find ourselves rebuked by God.

What happens however when we shut up and listen is that we will hear God and, when we do, we will repent (again, see Job's example).

So, if the "horrors' of Deuteronomy serve as a sign, then, when we see the signs, we have but one course of action: repent. Just read the sign!

Father, help us to stop confusing ourselves and the world with incorrect doctrines about good and evil - blessings and curses. May those who are Yours be ever repentant and humble before You! May those who are Yours read Your "signs" correctly!