Our God is a Consuming Fire

Israel was supposed to be a showcase to the world regarding how God can choose a nation for Himself and make them His very own, out of all the peoples of the world. He had great and awesome blessings in store for them if they obeyed Him. But equally shocking was that He warned them with unbelievable curses if they disobeyed. It is all there in Deuteronomy 28. Now, have we ever thought of why God revealed His heart in this manner? Surely God does not act that way now. We are living in an age of grace. But does God not speak to us from the Old Testament as well? Do we learn nothing about the heart of God from it? There are some who believe the church is the new Israel. I do not assent to that view, since the promises of God seems separate for both. However, if God was revealing His heart for a group of people like that, surely, we need to grasp some awesome truths. God always wants to bless more than we can think or imagine. He is not someone who wants to bless half-heartedly. Today, either we are searching for blessing in the wrong places. Or, the Holy Spirit has not found many whose hearts are prepared enough, for Him to bless like that.
But what we need to discern even more is that God is not like us in ignoring wrong doing. In fact, mankind is under a terrible curse for the very sin of turning their back to God. Why do we hesitate to think that curses come from God? Do curses have a different source? Read Deut 28:63. We talk about the world being cursed but by whom? Why do we have this mistaken notion that God interferes in the world only to bless, and has nothing to do with the troubles that man faces? Was it that way for Israel? Has God postponed all judgment to the last day and continues to bless mankind without any hint of His anger towards rebellion? It is interesting to note that the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 has 14 verses and the curses has 52. I grieve that we carry this lopsided view of God. Yes, He is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. His heart is always to bless and not to destroy. But He is just and righteous too. And sometimes His anger spills over. It has to. And yet, we do not learn that our God is a consuming fire.