When Much Is Given, Much Is Required

SYNOPSIS: Why would God threaten Israel with such immense and unspeakable suffering in the Law of Moses for their disobedience? The answer lies in God’s sovereign call upon them and the price he paid to redeem them out of Egypt to be his own people. They had received much, now much was required of them. Similarly, as redeemed followers of Jesus, we have been given much: salvation at no cost to us, paid in full through Christ’s sacrificial, substitutionary death. We have received much; much will be required. And what is required is nothing less than to continually and eternally serve him with joy and enthusiasm!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 28:7-48

If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you.

Nowhere in the Bible is the blessing of God contrasted with the cursing of God as clearly as in Deuteronomy 28. On the one hand, when the people whom God chose to be his very own hold up their end of the covenant, the blessings he promises to pour out upon them would make the so-called prosperity gospel of modern American Christianity look tame by comparison. God is clear that obedience to all of his commands will lead to, among other things,

• Dominion: “Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.” (Deuteronomy 28:1)
• Success: “Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.” (Deuteronomy 28:6)
• Wealth: “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain.” (Deuteronomy 28:8)
• Divine Favoritism: “Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you…. the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.” (Deuteronomy 28:10,13)

And while is it not specifically enumerated as one of the blessings of obedience in this chapter, physical health is clearly one of the benefits as well. As Moses spells out the awful curses that will result from wanton disregard of God’s commands, the removal of health and the affliction of disease will be one of the first consequences Israel experiences.

Then after describing these incredible blessings of obedience, Moses gives a long graphic warning of what will happen if Israel violates their covenantal commitment. The list is extensive, hard to hear, dark and depressing—intentionally so. God anticipates that over time, his people will drift from full devotion to him and began to chase after false gods, so he wants to be very clear that nothing less than cruel suffering will be the consequence of their backsliding. Indeed, the very things Moses enumerates in this chapter literally occurred at different points in Israel’s future history during extended seasons of spiritual rebellion. I won’t take the time to list them here, so you will have to read them for yourself. But fair warning: they are awful.

So why would God threaten his people with such immense and unspeakable suffering? Well, I would ask a similar question: Why would God promise his people such immense and indescribable blessing? The answer to both questions lies, in part, to God’s sovereign call upon Israel. Both the unspeakable curses and the indescribable blessings can only be explained in the context of his rights of ownership over Israel. Due to no worthiness of their own, God chose them to be his own people from all the nations of the earth. Israel belonged to him as no other people did. He had poured out his unrestrained favor upon them, and he now called them to serve him with “joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits.” It was only right that Israel would remain fully devoted to the Lord their God. If they did, ever-increasing blessings of abundance awaited; if they didn’t, ceaseless curses would be unleashed.

Jesus described a similar contrast of blessings and curses in Luke 12:47-48 in an eschatological illustration known as the Parable of the Banquet:

The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Perhaps this, more than anything, describes the incredible joys of obedience and the unspeakable pain of disobedience: to whom much has been given, much will be demanded. You and I, as redeemed followers of Jesus, have been given much: salvation at no cost to us, paid in full through his sacrificial, substitutionary death. We have received his abundant benefits—how could we not continually and eternally serve him with joy and enthusiasm?