JOY – Part 1

 WBS.308

JOY – Part 1

Deureronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of IAUE thy Elohim, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

47 Because thou servedst not IAUE thy Elohim with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which IAUE shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses recounts to the children of Israel the blessings and the curses of the covenant as they were preparing to enter and to take possession of the promised land.  Verses 1-13 were the enumerated blessings; while verses 14-68 contained the curses. (This is not to be confused with the covenant IAUE cut with Abraham.  It is the covenant IAUE made with the Hebrews when He brought them out of Egypt with a mighty arm.)  It took four times as many verses to recite the curses than the blessings.  The curses were contingent upon the Hebrews failing two conditions. One of these conditions, we all pretty much know.  It was to heed the voice of IAUE to obey His commandments and statutes.  This decree is repeated over and over again throughout the Tanak (Old Testament Scriptures).

The second condition is quite surprising.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Because thou servedst not IAUE thy Elohim with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

This passage of Scripture explains so much.  It is not enough for us just to obey IAUE’s commandments.  Our obedience must proceed from the right motive.  It should not stem from an intelligent choice to do so.  It should not originate in our ethnic or religious culture.  It must come from joy rooted in gladness of heart.  Our obedience must come from elation...elation with IAUE.  Our obedience results in over-the-top blessings that demonstrate the goodness of our Elohim.  His nature is revealed to us when we fulfill our creative design of doing His will. It reinforces the truth that doing His will is our purpose in life; and that indisputable evidence brings us tremendous abounding joy.  

It is quite interesting to note that this verse is the first time that any form of the word “joy” is found in Scripture; and it is connected with our motive for obeying the voice of our Creator.

In I Samuel 4, in the days of the judges, the Philistines made war against Israel and captured the Ark of the Covenant. They held it for seven months before they sent it back by a cart pulled by two milk cows to the city of Bethshemesh, beyond the border of Philistia.  From there the ark was quickly taken to Kirjathjearim where it remained for 20 years. King Saul reigned for 40 years and died. When David was made king, he decided it was long overdue for the ark to be returned to Jerusalem.  On his way from Kirjathjearim to Jerusalem, there  was an incident where the cart toppled and the ark was about to fall, so a man named Uzza reached out to steady the Ark and was struck dead.  The ark was left at the home of Obededom for three month (1 Chronicles 13 before David decided to complete the transport of the ark to Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 15:16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

David prepared the hearts of the people to obey the commandment of IAUE that the Ark reside in Jerusalem, by restoring the correct motivation:  Joy.

1 Chronicles 15:25  So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy.

When they entered the city with the tumult of all of the instruments and singers, David danced in the streets before IAUE with joy.

1 Chronicles 15:29   And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of IAUE came to the city of David, that Michal, the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

This is the world’s reaction to joy; and all too often the church’s reaction to it as well. Such liberty of heart expressing unrestrained gladness to IAUE is embarrassing to those without such freedom. It convicts them of their sin (remember, joy is the commanded condition of obedience to IAUE). 

Let’s look at another tell-tale example in the Scripture.

Joel 1:12  The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of IAUE thy Elohim, and cry unto IAUE,

15 Alas for the day! for the day of IAUE is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our Elohim?

Conditions were horrible.  The depth of the destruction was likened to what was believed about “the day of IAUE,” the day IAUE would judge the unrighteous of the world; and it was all rooted in the fact that the Hebrews had lost their joy in serving Elohim.  Since the meat offering and the drink offering were withheld (freewill sacrifices expressing the joyous gratitude of the hearts of the people), IAUE destroyed the harvest so there wasn’t even the ability to offer those sacrifices.  The key to the restoration of their land was to find their lost joy.

Think about it.

 

More in the next post.