Why study the Bible?

Leviticus 26:1-13 gives a very good reason; Receiving God’s Blessing!

God promises to bless us with a bounty of more than enough, protection, peace,  His company, family, and our swords will go before us as we chase the enemy!

Here are just two reasons that make studying the Bible important in this passage. There are several, but I will just touch on two.

• We have to obey God’s commands to receive the blessings (v 3) 
• Our swords will go before us as we chase the enemy (v 7-8)

In order to obey God’s commands, we have to know what they are. Most of us can recite the Ten Commandments, or at least a couple of them, but God’s instructions are all throughout the Bible, not just in Exodus 20 and Leviticus 26: 1-2. The Old Testament is full of exciting histories that teach us all of God’s ways and The New Testament is full of instructions on how we should conduct ourselves.

And if we want to chase the enemy instead of him chasing us……we not only have to know who the enemy is, we must have a sword that goes before us. Satan and his minions are the enemy (Ephesians 6:12) and the sword is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The more we study the Bible, the more we can identify the enemy and the sharper our swords become.

When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, he defeated him with the Word. Jesus responded to Satan with scripture and Satan fled! Then the angels served him. (Matthew 4:1-11)

So let us open our Bibles and not just read it, but study it; meditate on it and live it!

 Leviticus 26: 1-13 NLT

26 “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God. ² You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³ “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, ⁴ I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.

⁶ “I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. ⁷ In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.

⁹ “I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! ¹¹ I will live among you, and I will not despise you. ¹² I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.