The blessing of God

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025326138

 

God called Abraham out of his hometown where people worshipped idols. He led him into the land of Canaan (Israel now). God promised Abraham that he would give the land to his descendants. After the promise was made, the household of Jacob, Abraham's grandson, went to Egypt, where they lived as slaves for 430 years. They came out of Egypt when they increased greatly, and returned to Canaan and conquered the land.

 

God told Abraham about this beforehand. That is, he said that Abraham's descendants would come out of the foreign country after 400 years of slavery to possess the land of Canaan. The reason was that the iniquity of the Canaanites was not yet complete (Gen 15: 16), so that he didn't destroy the inhabitants of the land at that time and give it to Abraham. God is fair, so he does not punish a sinner until his sin is big enough to be punished. We must know this. This is why God's enemies are not suddenly killed. But when their sins have become big enough, the punishment will surely befall them because they've lost the chance to repent.

 

What lessons does this give us? There are few good vacant places for you in this world. Is there a vacant land without owner for you in this large world? Are good positions of good companies laid unoccupied long for you? No! It's God's blessing to get a good position, which menas it is hard to get a good position. You can occupy the position only if it is vacant when another leaves the position thanks to God's punishment for his sins (or just because of retirement). So you can get the blessing of God if you live a godly life, looking to God, obeying his words, until then. Abraham's descendants had patiently waited for 400 years, and could occupy the land of Canaan at God's permission when the sin of Canaanites was complete.

 

In order to receive God's blessing, we must have such a time of patience. However, the time of patience has another meaning. God could not give the land to Abraham immediately, because Abraham's family was too small to possess the land even if God had given it. God couldn't fulfill his promise to Abraham until Abraham's descents had prospered and become a nation big enough to occupy the land of Canaan, after 400 years' slavery in Egypt, a strong country, without being attacked by other people. The days of patience before God's blessing is the period of developing the ability to keep that blessing after receiving it. A good place of a good company requires a lot of preliminary study, for example. Therefore a man to receive God's blessing prepares thoroughly for his future in obedience to God and patience.

 

Look at the world. There are no empty seats! Sometimes, even if God wants to bless you immediately, it could be delayed because of some situations, because God is a fair One. Christians! Prepare for the future, with patience and obedience to God.