Obedience Brings Blessings; Disobedience Brings Curses

I think everyone can say that the main thing to be learned from the children of Israel is the importance of obedience. At the beginning of Deuteronomy 10, we get a sense of just how important the commandments are to the Lord. Moses is commanded to keep the tablets with the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant. The ark was of great importance and was kept in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. The Ten Commandments were so important that they needed to be kept safe. From the JST for Deut. 10:2 and in Doctrine and Covenants 84, we see that the children of Israel denied themselves of the everlasting covenant of the priesthood, Melchezidek priesthood because of their disobedience.

There are several scriptures in Deuteronomy that talks about loving God and keeping his commandments. We also read in Matthew 22 that the first great commandment is to love God. This is very interesting if you think about it. Love is an emotion. Can we be commanded to have a certain emotion? My answer to that is yes. As we follow the commandments and draw closer to God, we learn to love Him. We see all that He has done for us and so begin to love Him. So when we are commanded to love God, we are being commanded to follow Him.

Why is there such an emphasis on obedience? Because Heavenly Father wants to bless us and for us to be happy (Mosiah 2:41, D&C 130:20-21). Heavenly Father can only bless us when we deserve it, when we follow His commandments. He is a merciful God that only wants our happiness, which can only come through obedience.

What do we receive when we are obedient? Deut 28:1-14 gives us the answer:

-We will be set high above nations
-We will be overtaken with blessings
-Our work and homes will be blessed with abundance
-Enemies will be smitten
-Everything our hands touch will be blessed
-People will see that we are called of God
-We will have plenty of goods

Pretty cool, huh?? Now, what are the consequences for disobedience? The rest of chapter 28 lists them:

-We will be overtaken with curses
-Everything we touch will be cursed
-We will have all manner of sickness
-Our enemies will smite us
-We will be cursed with famine
-Our hard work will be in vain
-We will be given things but will not be able to enjoy them
-And the list goes on....

Helaman 12:3 states that the Lord punishes disobedient people so that they will remember Him. The Lord is a very merciful Lord. In Mosiah 26, it says that as many times as we repent, He will forgive us. In Ezekiel 18, He says that He would rather the wicked repent and live than stay wicked and die. And this is evident all through the scripture. Every time He destroys a wicked nation, He allows them the chance to repent beforehand. He lives to bless us. He does not want to punish us but He has to if we do not follow the commandments. Our God is a very merciful God that loves us eternally.