OBEDIENCE: THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPTION

 ANCHOR OF LIFE DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE

THURSDAY, 28TH JULY, 2022.

Author: PASTOR DR. SAMUEL AYORINDE

General Overseer

Topic: OBEDIENCE: THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPTION

MEMORIZE: "This shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God" (Zechariah 6:15).

SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 1:19-20.

“If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” 

EXPOSITION:

The highest significance of its usage, however, is that of the relation of man to God. Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God and reverence for Him. The Old Testament conception of obedience was vital. It was the one important relationship which must not be broken. While sometimes this relation may have been formal and cold, it nevertheless was the one strong tie which held the people close to God. The significant spiritual relation is expressed by Samuel when he asks the question, "Hath Yahweh has great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). It was the condition without which no right relation might be sustained to Yahweh. This is most clearly stated in the relation between Abraham and Yahweh when he is assured "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18).

In prophetic utterances, future blessing and prosperity were conditioned upon obedience: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19). After surveying the glories of the Messianic kingdom, the prophet assures the people that "this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God" (Zechariah 6:15). On the other hand misfortune, calamity, distress and famine are due to their disobedience and distrust of Yahweh. 

This obedience or disobedience was usually related to the specific commands of Yahweh as contained in the law, yet they conceived of God as giving commands by other means. Note especially the rebuke of Samuel to Saul: "Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Yahweh, ...therefore hath Yahweh done this thing unto thee this day" (1 Samuel 28:18).

PRAYER POINT: 

Lord, help your Church to truly understand the concept of obedience and to give herself to it in Jesus name.

DAILY BIBLE READING IN A YEAR – Isaiah 1-3.

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