God's Consequence Sheet

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Leviticus 26:13

God's Consequence Sheet
By Rev. William Dohle

I had the best 2nd grade teacher, I think, a kid could ever have.

Her name was Ms. Fossom and she was great!  She taught me how to be creative, how to take risks, how to write little stories.  She taught me science and a love of nature.

But the biggest thing she taught me was this: There are always consequences.

She had the best idea for discipline.  At the back of the room there was a wipe-off board with everyone's name on it.  To the right of our names there were boxes that were empty at the start of the day.  If one of us needed a warning, one of the boxes was checked off.  If we did it again, another box was checked off followed by the consequence for that box.

Being a "good" child, I always tried to keep by board as clean as possible.

And there were rewards for being good too!  Good rewards like pizza parties and movies and all the things that kids love to enjoy when they're enjoying school.

Consequences, good and bad, followed our behavior.

At the end of Leviticus, in the next-to-the-last chapter of the book, God lists some consequences for following the law and being "good".

• I will send rain in its season and the ground will yield its crops...and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.(26:4-5)
• I will grant peace in the land and you will lie down...You will pursue your enemies and they will fall by the sword before you.(26:6-8)
• I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers.(26:9)

And the best of God's good consequences...

• I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.(26:12)

That's what happens if the people follow God's decrees and laws and commandments.

But we know that they don't.  They don't always follow God's commandments anymore than I always kept my consequence board clean in 2nd grade.  Sin has come upon us all and we stumble.  And the consequences for disobedience are described too.

• ...if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws...then I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life.(26:16)
• You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.  I will set my face against you so that yo will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you...(26:17)

And if that doesn't work?  If even these consequences fail to turn Israel back?

• I will punish you for your sins seven times over.  I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(26:18)
• I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.  I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.(26:22)
• I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant.  I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(26:25)
• You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.  I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols and I will abhor you.(26:29)
• You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(26:37)

Wow!  Talk about consequences!  God sure is serious about this whole covenant thing, isn't he?

At the end of all of these consequences, both good and bad, God has a promise.  The promise that started his relationship with Israel to begin with.  God says: "I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham and I will remember the land...I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them.  I am the Lord their God.  But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God.  I am the Lord."(26:42-44)

God's funny that way.  He always ends it with a promise.  Consequences come and consequences go.  Sometimes we do the right thing and enjoy the fruit of our labor.  Sometimes we do the wrong thing and suffer the consequences.  Sometimes we do the right thing and suffer the same consequences. Sometimes it doesn't always end up as cleanly as we think it should.

But whatever consequence, or lack of consequence, we suffer the fact remains.  We are God's.  God will not abandon us.  Even when we fail and fall as so often we do.  Even when the consequences of this life weigh us down.  Even when it's all really our own fault, God doesn't let up.  He doesn't abandon us or neglect us.  He has promised himself to us and for us and his promises last forever!

Help me, God, for us often neglect your ways and follow my own path.  Forgive me when I stumble and lead me to live a better life in You, through Jesus Christ.  Amen.