The Blessings of God

By Lucas Dawn

Are the best things that happen to you blessings from God? The Bible is specific about what things are really blessings from God. Yet blessings in the Old Testament are different from blessings in the New Testament. This book describes the blessings in the Old Testament, and then especially the blessings in the New Testament; these latter blessings are the true blessings from God now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucas Dawn
• Release date: Apr 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476418803

Lucas Dawn

As a follower of Jesus, I love to study and write about the Bible, especially the New Testament. Although I have studied and taught in seminaries (in the U.S. and overseas), I prefer practical writings and informal discussions in small Sunday Schools and home bible studies. Join me in discussions or questions at my blog (see address below).

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The Blessings of God

By Lucas Dawn

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Lucas Dawn

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

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The cover image was authored by Natubico, and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - God's Blessings in the Old Testament

Chapter 2 - God's Blessings in the New Testament

Chapter 3 - Conclusions and Questions

Introduction

It’s good to give thanks for God’s blessings. But how good are we at identifying divine blessings? And how well do we use the Bible to decide what is a blessing from God?

We are familiar with certain prayers and phrases that refer to blessing: we thank God for our many blessings at meal time; we ask God to bless our loved ones at bed time; we hear the solemn God bless America at war time; and we say a casual bless you when someone sneezes.

So God’s many blessings seem to include bountiful food, good health, cherished families and friends who are faring well, and a strong nation. Hasn’t God always blessed people in these ways? Isn’t the Bible full of stories about such blessings from God?

Yes, the Old Testament is full of such stories; but there are fundamental differences between what is a blessing in the Old Testament and what is a blessing in the New Testament. Blessings given to Abraham or Moses were different from the blessings spoken by Jesus.

For example, Abraham’s blessings include his descendants, who will become a great nation; some of them will be kings (Gen. 12:2; 17:6-7). Just before Jesus is born, a pregnant Mary says God has remembered the promise of blessing to Abraham, for her son is to be the son of God, the future king; all generations will call her blessed (Lk. 1:32-33,48,54-55). Likewise, Elizabeth pronounces Mary—and the fruit of her womb—as blessed (Lk. 1:42,45).

Later, however, when a woman blesses the womb that bore Jesus, he responds that it is rather the ones who hear the word of God and keep it who are blessed (Lk. 11:27-28). Jesus now speaks the word of God; those who hear this word and do it are his mother and brothers (Lk. 5:1; 8:21). They are the ones blessed by Jesus, in contrast to Mary and his brothers who stand outside (Lk. 8:19-20). Jesus’ new kingdom is a new family with new blessings.

This book will focus on the special blessings God gives, first to Israel—and then above all to disciples of Jesus. The basic structure of the old covenant (of Moses) sets forth God’s commands for a special nation, then details the blessings or curses, depending on whether Israel obeys. When Jesus comes as the anointed Christ (king) and fulfills the law and the prophets with a new covenant, he creates the most special kingdom of all, an international kingdom of disciples; he gives this kingdom new commands and new blessings.

The first chapter of this book will describe the main blessings of the Old Testament—and discuss Christian prayers that often presume these particular blessings now belong to them. The second chapter will describe the primary blessings of the New Testament, and discuss the differences between these blessings and those of the Old Testament. The final chapter will summarize what should be considered blessings from God at the present time, and answer some questions that may arise from reading this book.

What is at stake is indeed not just our prayers of thanks—or our hopes—for God’s blessings; at stake is our whole way of life. Our preference for certain blessings reflects what we value in life. Do these values come from the Old Testament or New Testament? Ultimately, what is at stake is not just blessing now, but blessing in the future: eternal life, or eternal death.

Chapter 1

God’s Blessings in the Old Testament

God’s first blessing comes after creating man, male and female: God blesses them and says to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28). God’s blessing here enables the man and woman to produce children: in Gen. 17:16 an elderly Sarah is too old to have children but God will bless her and she will be a mother of nations; then in Gen. 17:20, God will bless Ishmael and make him fruitful and multiply him; God will make him a great nation.

As the children of Adam and Eve multiply over the earth, however, God’s blessing turns into a curse. Because the earth becomes filled with violence and corruption, God decides to destroy all flesh—except righteous Noah and his family (Gen. 6:9-18). Nevertheless, after the flood, God blesses Noah and his sons and tells them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (again) (Gen. 9:1).

The language of blessing and cursing reappears when Noah’s son Ham sees his father’s nakedness and tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth. The result is that Noah curses Ham’s son, Canaan, and blesses Shem and Japheth: Canaan’s curse is to become a slave to his brothers; Shem is to be blessed by the Lord and let Canaan be his slave; Japheth is to be enlarged by God and let Canaan be his slave (Gen. 9:22-27).

God’s special blessings to Abraham and his descendants

With Abraham, a descendant of Shem, a major turning point comes in God’s blessing. God tells Abram to go to the land God will show him—designated shortly thereafter as the land of Canaan. God will make him a great nation, will bless him and make his name great, so that he will be a blessing (Gen. 12:1-2,5). Moreover, God will bless those who bless Abram and curse those who curse Abram; through him, God will bless all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3).

After Abram enters the land of Canaan, and sees the Canaanites there, God assures him the land will be given to his descendants (Gen. 12:6-7). This seems to be connected to Noah’s blessing on Shem (Abram’s forefather) and curse on Canaan, spoken many generations earlier.