Yahweh Sometimes Withholds The Fruit Of The Womb
Genesis 30:1-2 reads,
30:1When
Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said
to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I will die."
30:2Jacob’s
anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in God’s place,
who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
Isn't it clear from Jacob's words that it is Yahweh who withholds from a woman the fruit of the womb? Isn't it clear that a human being, even a husband, has no power to provide a woman with a child, this power firmly residing in Yahweh? Doesn't this show that it is absolutely pointless for a woman to threaten a man to give her children, seeing that only Yahweh has power to give her children?
Doesn't it appear that a woman who desires children should entreat Yahweh to provide her with children, seeing that Yahweh is the one with power to do so?
It Is A Reproach For A Woman To Be Childless
Genesis 30:22-24 reads,
30:22God
remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. 30:23She conceived, bore a son, and said,
"God has taken away my reproach. 30:24She
named him Joseph, saying, "May Yahweh
add another son to me."
Doesn't 30:22-23 show that it is indeed a reproach for a woman to be without a child? Doesn't it also show that it is indeed Yahweh who has power to take away this reproach upon a woman, seeing that he is the one with power to facilitate her conception, bearing and giving birth?
Sex
Between A Man And His Wife
Genesis 38:1-11 reads,
38:1It
happened at that time, that
It Is The
Duty Of A Brother To Raise Up Seed For His Brother Who Dies Childless
Isn't it seen from 38:8-9 that when a man dies without descendants his brother ought to marry his widow and raise up seed to succeed to the name of the dead man? Isn't it clear from Judah's words that this is indeed a duty imposed upon the dead man's surviving brother?
Doesn't 38:8-10 imply that the duty to marry a brother's widow and raise up seed to his name is one that Yahweh has imposed on a man?
Onan's
Evil Action In Yahweh's Sight
Wasn't Onan's action evil in Yahweh's sight?
What was Onan's action?
Wasn't Onan's action the prevention of conception despite engaging in sex with his brother's widow? Wasn't Onan's action motivated by his refusal to raise up seed for his brother?
Would
Yahweh Have Punished Onan With Death For Refusing To Take His Brother's Widow
As Wife?
Would it have been evil in Yahweh's sight for Onan to refuse to take his brother's widow as wife, seeing that he did not have a heart to raise up seed for his brother? Would Yahweh have held it against Onan, requiring his death, if he had not taken Tamar as his wife and had sex with her?
It Is
Wrong For A Man To Have Sex With His Wife And Prevent Her Conception
Doesn't it appear that it is wrong for a man to engage in sex with his wife and prevent her conception, such as by ensuring that his semen does not enter his wife's body? If Onan's motivation of avoiding giving his brother descendants was evil in Yahweh's sight, isn't it also evil in Yahweh's sight for a man to avoid giving himself his own descendants? Doesn't it appear evil in Yahweh's sight for a man to have sex with his wife but act to prevent her conception, lest she conceive and bear him a child?
The Evil
Of Human Beings Having Sex And Preventing Conception Is Widespread
Isn't it the case that it is widespread practice in the world today for men to have sex with their wives and act to prevent their wives conceiving? Isn't it also widespread practice in the world today for women to have sex with their husbands and act to prevent their own conception? Seeing that it is indeed evil in Yahweh's sight for humans to have sex and act to prevent the women's conception, isn't this evil widespread in the world? Aren't a great many people in the world guilty of this evil? And isn't this sin one worthy of death, seeing that Yahweh's killed Onan for committing this sin?
Yahweh's
Followers Should Cease From The Evil Of Having Sex And Preventing Conception
Shouldn't Yahweh's followers cease from this evil? Shouldn't Yahweh's followers leave the matter of conception, bearing and giving birth to Yahweh, seeing that this is a matter for Yahweh and not human beings? Shouldn't Yahweh's followers abide by his word to human beings to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth and to subdue it? Shouldn't Yahweh's followers cease to undertake actions that thwart or impede the fulfilment of this command of Yahweh to human beings? Shouldn't Yahweh's followers leave it to Yahweh to determine when conception, bearing and giving birth takes place, and not arrogate to themselves what truly belongs to Yahweh - what truly is in Yahweh's ambit? Shouldn't Yahweh's followers rely on him to determine when to give conception, bearing and giving birth, and when not to so give?
Yahweh
Blesses His Servants With Good Health And The Removal Of Miscarriages And
Barrenness
Exodus 23:20-33 reads,
23:20"Behold,
I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the
place which I have prepared. 23:21Pay
attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not
pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 23:22But
if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an
enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23:23For my angel shall go before you, and
bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. 23:24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them,
nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish
their pillars. 23:25You shall
serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will
take sickness away from your midst. 23:26No
one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your
days. 23:27I will send my terror
before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make
all your enemies turn their backs to you. 23:28I
will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. 23:29I
will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become
desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. 23:30Little by little I will drive them out
from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. 23:31I will set your border from the Red Sea
even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I
will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive
them out before you. 23:32You shall
make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 23:33They
shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you
serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."
Didn't Yahweh promise the children of Israel with blessings for obedience and faithful service to him? Weren't some of these blessings the removal of sickness, miscarriages and barrenness from their land and midst? Doesn't Yahweh therefore show that good health, safe birth delivery and fruitfulness of body are blessings he bestows upon those who serve him?
Yahweh
Makes Fruitful Those Who Keep His Commandments And Do Them
Leviticus 26:1-13 reads,
26:1You
shall make you no idols, neither shall you rear you up an engraved image, or a
pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to
it: for I am Yahweh your God. 26:2You
shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Yahweh. 26:3If you walk in my statutes, and keep my
commandments, and do them; 26:4then
I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase,
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 26:5Your threshing shall reach to the vintage,
and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to
the full, and dwell in your land safely. 26:6I
will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you
afraid: and I will cause evil animals to cease out of the land, neither shall
the sword go through your land. 26:7You
shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 26:8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a
hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you
by the sword. 26:9I will have
respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my
covenant with you. 26:10You
shall eat old store long kept, and you shall bring forth the old because of the
new. 26:11I will set my tent among
you: and my soul won’t abhor you. 26:12I
will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 26:13I am Yahweh your God, who brought you
forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondservants; and
I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Doesn't Yahweh make clear in 26:9 that it is in his power to make a people fruitful and multiply them? Seeing that Yahweh has commanded humans to be fruitful and to multiply, and seeing that it is in his power to facilitate that fruitfulness and multiplication, isn't it the case that humans should concentrate on what they should and leave what is beyond them to Yahweh? Shouldn't humans simply act in obedience to Yahweh's command of being fruitful and multiplying, without trying to prevent or impede their being fruitful and multiplying?
Numbers 5:11-31 reads,
5:11Yahweh
spoke to Moses, saying, 5:12"Speak
to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, and
is unfaithful to him, 5:13and a man
lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is
kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she
isn’t taken in the act; 5:14and the
spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is
defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his
wife, and she isn’t defiled: 5:15then
the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for
her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor
put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering
of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 5:16The
priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; 5:17and the priest shall take holy water in an
earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the
priest shall take, and put it into the water. 5:18The
priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head
go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal
offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness
that brings a curse. 5:19The priest
shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, ‘If no man has lain with
you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be
free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 5:20But if you have gone astray, being under
your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides
your husband:’ 5:21then the
priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest
shall tell the woman, ‘Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your
people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 5:22and this water that brings a curse will go
into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.’ The
woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
5:23"The
priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the
water of bitterness. 5:24He shall
make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the
water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 5:25The priest shall take the meal offering of
jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before
Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. 5:26The
priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as the memorial of it, and
burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 5:27When he has made her drink the water, then
it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her
husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become
bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman
will be a curse among her people. 5:28If
the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall
conceive seed.
5:29"This
is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and
is defiled; 5:30or when the spirit
of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set
the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. 5:31The man shall be free from iniquity, and
that woman shall bear her iniquity."
Isn't it clear that when a wife is unfaithful to her husband, and sexually lies with another man, she becomes defiled or unclean?
The Spirit
Of Jealousy Is Not A Reliable Indicator Of A Wife's Defilement
Isn't it also clear that the spirit of jealousy can come on a husband, on account of his wife, irrespective of whether or not she is defiled or unclean? Doesn't this show that the spirit of jealousy is not a reliable indicator of a wife being defiled or unclean, seeing that it can come upon a husband even though his wife is clean?
A Wife Is
Under Her Husband's Authority
Doesn't 5:20 show that a wife is under the authority of her husband?
Yahweh Has
Capacity To Curse A Woman
Doesn't 5:21-22 show that Yahweh has capacity to curse a woman, by causing her body to waste away, on account of her defiling act of adultery? Shouldn't wives fear Yahweh, and not act unfaithfully against their husbands, lest Yahweh curse them by causing their bodies to waste away?
Barrenness
Is A Curse From Yahweh
Doesn't 5:27-28 show that a woman cursed by Yahweh as shown above on account of her defiling adultery becomes barren? And doesn't Yahweh spare a clean woman, one not defiled or unclean by adultery, barrenness - facilitating her conceiving, bearing and giving birth?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people fear him and walk faithfully in his law, and not commit adultery? Shouldn't Yahweh's people act to spare themselves curses at Yahweh's hand on account of walking in the uncleanness and defilement of adultery?
Curses Befall
The Children Of Those Who Rebel Against Yahweh
Deuteronomy 4:25-31 reads,
4:25When
you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been
long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in
the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh
your God, to provoke him to anger; 4:26I
call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon
utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess
it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 4:27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples,
and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh shall lead
you away. 4:28There you
shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see,
nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 4:29But
from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you
search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4:30When you are in oppression, and all these
things are come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God,
and listen to his voice: 4:31for
Yahweh your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you,
nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
Didn't Moses prophesy that the children of Israel would depart from Yahweh, corrupting themselves, doing that which is evil in Yahweh's sight? Didn't he also prophesy that curses would befall them on account of their rebellion against Yahweh?
Haven't Moses' words, spoken in Yahweh's name, been fulfilled? Haven't curses befallen the children of Israel even as Moses prophesied?
Yahweh
Removes Curses From Those Who Faithfully Serve Him
Didn't Moses also prophesy that the merciful covenant-keeping Yahweh would eventually listen to his people in the latter days, when they repent of their rebellion against him? Will not the children of Israel return to Yahweh in the latter days?
Isn't it clear that when parents and children abide by Yahweh's words he blesses them, but curses them when they depart from his words? Shouldn't parents and children abide by Yahweh's words and remain faithful to them, that Yahweh may bless them?
Parents
Should Keep Yahweh's Word That He May Bless Both Them And Their Children
Deuteronomy 4:39-40 reads,
4:39Know
therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh he is God in heaven
above and on the earth beneath; there is none else. 4:40You shall keep his statutes, and his
commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and
with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the
land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.
Isn't it the case that those who keep Yahweh's word receive blessings from Yahweh upon themselves and upon their children? Shouldn't we keep Yahweh's word that he may bless both our children and us?
It Is Well
With Parents And Children When They Fear Yahweh And Do All His Commandments
Deuteronomy 5:23-33 reads,
5:23It
happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the
mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of
your tribes, and your elders; 5:24and
you said, Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and
we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day
that God does speak with man, and he lives. 5:25Now
therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us: if we hear
the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die. 5:26For who is there of all flesh, that has
heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we
have, and lived? 5:27Go you near,
and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say: and speak you to us all that Yahweh
our God shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it. 5:28Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when
you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, I have heard the voice of the words
of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that
they have spoken. 5:29Oh that there
were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my
commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children
forever! 5:30Go tell them,
Return you to your tents. 5:31But as
for you, stand you here by me, and I will speak to you all the commandment, and
the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do
them in the land which I give them to possess it. 5:32You
shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you: you shall
not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 5:33You
shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may
live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in
the land which you shall possess.
Doesn't Yahweh say that when people have a heart to fear him, and keep all his commandments always, it goes well with them and with their children forever? Shouldn't parents have a heart to fear Yahweh and keep all his commandments, that it may go well with them and their children forever?
Yahweh Blesses His Faithful People With Fruitfulness
Of Body
Deuteronomy 7:12-15 reads,
7:12It
shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them,
that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the lovingkindness
which he swore to your fathers: 7:13and
he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit
of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new
wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in
the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. 7:14You shall be blessed above all peoples:
there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 7:15Yahweh will take away from you all
sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will he put
on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
Aren't fruitfulness of the body and the multiplication of human beings a blessing from Yahweh? Isn't the lack of barrenness, among both men and women, a blessing from Yahweh?
Shouldn't Yahweh's people heed his words that he may indeed bless them, making them fruitful and multiplying them, and removing barrenness from among them?
Duty Of A
Man To His Dead Childless Brother
Deuteronomy 25:5-10 reads,
25:5If
brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the
dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go
in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s
brother to her. 25:6It
shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his
brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. 25:7If the man doesn’t want to take his
brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the
elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name
in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me. 25:8Then the elders of his city shall call him,
and speak to him: and if he stand, and say, I don’t want to take her; 25:9then his brother’s wife shall come to
him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and
spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man
who does not build up his brother’s house. 25:10His
name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe loosed.
Yahweh
Does Not Force A Man To Marry His Childless Brother's Widow
Isn't it clear that Yahweh imposes a duty upon a surviving brother to raise up seed to succeed to the name of the dead brother if the dead brother does not have a child to inherit his name? Nevertheless, isn't it also clear that Yahweh does not force the surviving brother to take his brother's widow as his wife? In other words, isn't it the case that even though he imposes upon the surviving brother a duty, he does not force the surviving brother to perform that duty?
Penalty
Upon A Man Who Does Not Perform His Duty To His Dead Childless Brother
Isn't the penalty upon a surviving brother who refuses to perform the duty of a husband's brother the infliction of shame upon him?
It Is Evil
To Have Sex But Impede Conception
Going back to the case of Judah's sons in Genesis 38, isn't it seen that Yahweh did not force Onan to marry his brother's widow? Isn't it therefore seen that Onan did not need to take her as wife and have sex with her? Isn't it therefore seen that the reason Yahweh killed him was for having sex with her but preventing her conception? Isn't it clear that having sex but preventing conception is evil in Yahweh's sight, even as it was in Onan's case? Shouldn't Yahweh's people refrain from preventing conception when having sex? Shouldn't Yahweh's people avoid impeding conception whenever they have sex?
Fruitfulness
Of Body A Blessing For Faithfully Serving Yahweh
Deuteronomy 28:1-4 reads,
28:1It
shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God,
to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, who Yahweh
your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth: 28:2and all these blessings shall come on you,
and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.
28:3Blessed shall you be in the
city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 28:4Blessed
shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the
fruit of your animals, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your
flock.
Deuteronomy 28:11 reads,
28:11Yahweh
will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in
the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which
Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.
Doesn't Yahweh bless with children those who listen diligently to his voice?
Curses
Befall The Children Of Those Who Disobey Yahweh
Deuteronomy 28:15-44 reads,
28:15But
it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your
God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you
this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you. 28:16Cursed shall you be in the city, and
cursed shall you be in the field. 28:17Cursed
shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. 28:18Cursed
shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, the increase
of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 28:19Cursed
shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 28:20Yahweh will send on you cursing,
confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are
destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings,
whereby you have forsaken me. 28:21Yahweh
will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he have consumed you from off the
land, where you go in to possess it. 28:22Yahweh
will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and
with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and
they shall pursue you until you perish. 28:23Your
sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you
shall be iron. 28:24Yahweh will make
the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you,
until you are destroyed. 28:25Yahweh
will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way
against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed
back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26Your dead body shall be food to all birds
of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to
frighten them away. 28:27Yahweh will
strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy,
and with the itch, whereof you can not be healed. 28:28Yahweh
will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of
heart; 28:29and you shall grope at
noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your
ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be
none to save you. 28:30You shall
betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house,
and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use
the fruit of it. 28:31Your ox shall
be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be
violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you:
your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.
28:32Your sons and your daughters
shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with
longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your
hand. 28:33The fruit of your
ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don’t know eat up; and
you shall be only oppressed and crushed always; 28:34so
that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 28:35Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and
in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof you can not be healed, from the sole of
your foot to the crown of your head. 28:36Yahweh
will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you
have not known, you nor your fathers; and there shall you serve other gods,
wood and stone. 28:37You shall
become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where
Yahweh shall lead you away. 28:38You
shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the
locust shall consume it. 28:39You
shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine,
nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. 28:40You shall have olive trees throughout all
your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive
shall cast its fruit. 28:41You
shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go
into captivity. 28:42All your
trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess. 28:43The sojourner who is in the midst of you
shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and
lower. 28:44He shall lend to you,
and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
Doesn't Yahweh curse the children of those who do not listen to his words? Doesn't Yahweh give the children of those who do not listen to his words as slaves to other people? Don't these children legally belong to their masters and not to their parents?
Shouldn't parents heed Yahweh's words that these curses not befall them? Shouldn't parents heed Yahweh's words that they may have the opportunity of enjoying the blessings that Yahweh gives those who are obedient to him?
Yahweh
Turns Curses To Blessings Upon Those Who Repent And Faithfully Serve Him
Deuteronomy 30:1-5 reads,
30:1It
shall happen, when all these things are come on you, the blessing and the
curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all
the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you, 30:2and shall return to Yahweh your God, and shall obey his
voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with
all your heart, and with all your soul; 30:3that
then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and
will return and gather you from all the peoples, where Yahweh your God has
scattered you. 30:4If any
of your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will
Yahweh your God gather you, and from there will he bring you back: 30:5and Yahweh your God will bring you into the
land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you
good, and multiply you above your fathers.
Doesn't Yahweh show the children of Israel that when they eventually repent of their rebellion against him, returning to him with all their heart and obeying his voice, both parents and children, he will turn the curses upon them into blessings? Doesn't this show that parents and children who have forsaken Yahweh should repent of their sin and return to Yahweh with all their heart, doing all his will? Will not Yahweh remove the curses over them on account of disobedience to him? Will not Yahweh subsequently bless them? Shouldn't parents and children who do not serve Yahweh repent of their iniquity, turning to Yahweh with all of their hearts and faithfully serving him, doing all of his words?
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