Blessings Abound in the Fear of the Lord

Children - from a word meaning to build, thus: sons, as builders of the family name.

People have always longed to have children, and especially sons, so that they can leave a heritage behind. Indeed, the Hebrew word for children is closely related to the concept of building, coming from a root word that means to build. Why so? Because children are the means by which we build our family name.

But more important by far ought be the mission we have of building His family. We are called, as we mature, to bear fruit. Yes, this is certainly a matter of producing fruits of righteousness. But, it is also a call to reproduce, to bear spiritual children in the Lord. And like our own children, these children will require care and feeding, nurturing and training, if they are to survive and mature themselves. God has called us to prepare a godly heritage.

If prosperity is upon you all your life, and you live to see your grandchildren, then that heritage has been established, the next generation has been raised up in the fear of the LORD, and they have not departed from the way. They have proven faithful, training up their children in turn.

"Apostasy is never more than a generation away."
(author's name forgotten)

If our happiness is found in the Lord, in holy fear of Him and in obeying His will, then we ought to take very seriously this task of raising up generations to follow after. Throughout Scripture, we see godly leaders training up their replacements, never leaving God's people without a proper shepherd to guide them. And those occasions where such leadership was lacking were terrible times for His people. We ought to give our very best efforts to ensuring that when we depart this land, the knowledge of God does not depart with us. Fearful is the day that the Word of God cannot be found. Fearful is the day when the holy God abandons the land. Let it not come because of our laxness. Let it not come because we failed in our duty. God, find us faithful, find us fruitful, find us laboring in Your vineyard.

The Blessings Promised
4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD. To Society
	Blessed - now it's barak [1288] - kneeling down to receive blessing. To be adored(!)
	Lev 26:3-12
		3 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 'Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. 6 'I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. 7 'But you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 'So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. 10 'And you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. 11 'Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 12 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
	The man who fears the Lord will be adored because he is a cause for happiness in the land of his sojourn. Because he is blessed by God, his lands are blessed by God, and all who dwell in them. The stranger in Israel was as blessed as God's own people, because of the overflowing abundance of His blessings upon them. So it is with us. If we will walk in His ways, we will be a blessing upon our nation, a cause for His blessing to remain upon this nation. If not…
5 The LORD bless you from Zion, And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. To the Church
	Zion is Jerusalem seen as the city of God. Zion is the Church seen as God's home. In both of these, God ordained the earthly source from which His blessings would be poured out. Wherever the ark of the covenant was, so long as it remained among those of faith, it was a source of great blessing upon those who housed it. Why? Because in that time, God had ordained the ark as the earthly point of blessing. With the Temple, the city of David became the final home of the ark, the 'permanent address' of the living God. Thus, Zion was the source of all blessing, to whom nations would come when once they felt their need. But the people put more faith in the symbol than in the symbolized, and so God sought a new house, free of such idolatrous tendencies. He sought the hearts of humble and faithful men, to take up His abode in them. Collectively, these faithful are the Church, and it is in this sense that we think of the Church as Catholic - universal and united by a common faith and the one common, indwelling Spirit of God. Humanism has attempted to bring God's people once more to the place of regarding the Temple God has chosen as being more important than the God who chose. Humanism seeks to make man God, the ultimate source. Why? Precisely because this is where God has chosen to reside. When He dwelt in Shiloh, the people made an idol of Shiloh, and He departed. When He dwelt in Jerusalem, men became complacent, trusting in Jerusalem's status to protect them in spite of their total lack of piety. Pride in the city rather than pride in God led to the demise of the city, in scenes more horrible than many of the atrocities we know of today. Now the temple is within us, we are ourselves the house of God. How else, then, shall the enemy attack, except by the very means that have always succeeded in the past; by diverting our attention from God to His earthly house, by causing pride in ourselves to well up and push aside our reverence for a holy God. Indeed our prayers ought to be that the Church be powerful in our day. Our every effort ought to be to ensure that the Church of the living God is powerful in our day. Our lives depend upon Him. The lives of the lost living around us depend upon our depending no Him. Never again can we allow the Church to become an idol to us. Never again can we allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking we can relax and be at ease because God would never abandon His Church. Never again can we afford to take His blessings for granted. Pray that His Church, His people will be strong and prosperous in this day! Pray that we will remember how to impact our culture, that we will remember how to be fruitful. Remember Ps 122. Pray for peace in God's Israel. Pray for unity within the walls of the Church. Pray for a real grasp upon His presence and His holiness among His people. Pray that we will become an effective army of God, not fighting with weapons, not fighting with rhetoric, but fighting with the power of the Spirit, with the overwhelming strength of love.
6 Indeed, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel! *To the Future - a Godly Heritage*
	Children - from a word meaning to build, thus: sons, as builders of the family name. People have always longed to have children, and especially sons, so that they can leave a heritage behind. Indeed, the Hebrew word for children is closely related to the concept of building, coming from a root word that means to build. Why so? Because children are the means by which we build our family name. But more important by far ought be the mission we have of building His family. We are called, as we mature, to bear fruit. Yes, this is certainly a matter of producing fruits of righteousness. But, it is also a call to reproduce, to bear spiritual children in the Lord. And like our own children, these children will require care and feeding, nurturing and training, if they are to survive and mature themselves. God has called us to prepare a godly heritage. If prosperity is upon you all your life, and you live to see your grandchildren, then that heritage has been established, the next generation has been raised up in the fear of the LORD, and they have not departed from the way. They have proven faithful, training up their children in turn. "Apostasy is never more than a generation away." (author's name forgotten) If our happiness is found in the Lord, in holy fear of Him and in obeying His will, then we ought to take very seriously this task of raising up generations to follow after. Throughout Scripture, we see godly leaders training up their replacements, never leaving God's people without a proper shepherd to guide them. And those occasions where such leadership was lacking were terrible times for His people. We ought to give our very best efforts to ensuring that when we depart this land, the knowledge of God does not depart with us. Fearful is the day that the Word of God cannot be found. Fearful is the day when the holy God abandons the land. Let it not come because of our laxness. Let it not come because we failed in our duty. God, find us faithful, find us fruitful, find us laboring in Your vineyard.

Blessings Abound in the Fear of the Lord - Pt 3
(Ps 128)

Ps 128 Happiness

The Blessings Promised

To Society

To the Church

To the Future - a Godly Heritage

©2001 - Jeffrey A. Wilcox