Obedience in the Bible

General scriptures concerning

Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Also Exodus 20:6; 24:7; Numbers 9:23; 14:24; Deuteronomy 5:10; Joshua 14:6-14; 22:2; 24:24; 1 Kings 3:14; 2 Kings 18:6; 21:8; Nehemiah 1:5; Psalm 1:2; 18:44; 25:10; 99:7; 103:17-18,20-21; 111:10-112:1; 119:2,4-6,8,10,15-16,22,30-31,33,44-45,55-56,59-60,72,77,87,97,100-102,104-106,109,112,129,167-168; 143:10; Proverbs 1:33; 19:16; 28:7; Isaiah 1:19; Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 18:19; 33:14-16; Daniel 7:27; Matthew 5:19; 6:24; 9:9; 12:50; 13:8,23; 25:20-23; Mark 2:14; 3:35; 4:20; Luke 1:6; 6:46-48; 8:15,21; 11:2,28; 12:37-38; John 8:28,51; 9:4; 10:27; 14:15,23,31; 15:10,14,16; Acts 4:19; 5:29; Romans 6:17; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12; Hebrews 10:7; James 2:10-12; 1 Peter 1:2,14; 1 John 2:3-6,17; 3:22,24; 5:2-3; 2 John 6-9; Revelation 12:17; 22:7,14.

See BLESSINGS, CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE

⇒Definition of obedience

ENJOINED

Genesis 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
Exodus 23:22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
Also Leviticus 19:19,36-37; 20:8,22; 22:31; 26:3-13; Numbers 15:38-40; Deuteronomy 4:1-40; 5; 6; 8:1-6,11-14,16-20; 10:12-13; 11:1-3,8-9,13-28,32; 13:4; 26:16-18; 27:1-10; 28; 32:46; Joshua 22:5; 23:6-7; 24:14-15; 1 Samuel 12:24; 15:22; 2 Kings 17:37-38; 1 Chronicles 16:15; 28:9-10,20; Ezra 7:10,23; Psalm 76:11; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Jeremiah 26:13; 38:20; Malachi 4:4; Matthew 9:9; 19:17,29; Mark 2:14; John 12:26; 13:17; 14:15,21; Galatians 3:10,12; 5:3; Ephesians 4:1,17; 6:6-8; Philippians 2:12; 1 Timothy 6:14,18; Hebrews 13:16; James 1:22-25.

See COMMANDMENTS

See DUTY

See LAW

EXEMPLIFIED

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Numbers 9:23 At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Also Numbers 14:24; Joshua 14:6-14; 2 Kings 18:6; 20:3; 2 Chronicles 24:16; 31:20-21; Ezra 7:10; Nehemiah 7:2; Job 1:8; Psalm 17:3; 26:3-6; 99:7; 101:2-3; 106:30-31; 119:30-31,40,44,47-48,51,54-56,59-60,67,69,100-102,105-106,110,112,166-168; Acts 23:1; 24:16; Romans 6:17; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 6:3-4; Philippians 3:7-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2:10; 2 Timothy 1:3; Revelation 2:19; 3:4; 14:4-5.

See BLESSINGS, CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE

See COMMANDMENTS

FILIAL

See CHILDREN

INSTANCES OF

Noah

Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Also Genesis 7:5; Hebrews 11:7.

Abraham

Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Also Genesis 17:23; 21:4; 22:12; Nehemiah 9:8; Acts 7:3-8; Hebrews 11:8-17; James 2:21.

Bethuel and Laban

Genesis 24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

Jacob

Genesis 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
Genesis 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Moses

Numbers 27:12-22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. 13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. 14 For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. 15 And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, ...
Also Hebrews 3:2-3.

Moses and Aaron

Exodus 7:6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.
Exodus 40:16 Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.
Also Exodus 40:21,23,32.

The Israelites

Exodus 12:28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Exodus 32:25-29 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ...
Also Exodus 39:42-43; Numbers 9:20-21; Deuteronomy 33:9; Judges 2:7; Psalm 99:7.

Under the preaching of Haggai

Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

Caleb

Deuteronomy 1:36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.

Joshua

Joshua 10:40 So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
Joshua 11:15 As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Reubenites

Joshua 22:2-3 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: 3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.

Gideon

Judges 6:25-28 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: 26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

David

1 Samuel 18:14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.
1 Samuel 25:28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
Also 1 Kings 11:6,34; 15:5; 2 Chronicles 29:2; Acts 13:22.

Elisha

1 Kings 19:19-21 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

Hezekiah

2 Kings 18:6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2 Chronicles 31:20-21 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
Also Isaiah 38:3.

Josiah

2 Kings 22:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
2 Kings 23:24-25 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

Asa

2 Chronicles 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

Jehoshaphat

2 Chronicles 17:3-6 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; 4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. 5 Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. 6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.
Also 2 Chronicles 20:32; 22:9.

Jehoiada

2 Chronicles 24:16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:4-5 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

Jotham

2 Chronicles 36:22-23 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

Levites

2 Chronicles 29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

Cyrus

2 Chronicles 36:22-23 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
Also Ezra 1:1-4.

Ezra

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Hanani

Nehemiah 7:2 That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

Job

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Daniel

Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego

Daniel 3 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, ...

Jonah

Jonah 3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

Ninevites

Jonah 3:5-10 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. ...

Zacharias

Luke 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Simeon

Luke 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

Joseph

Matthew 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Matthew 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

Mary

Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Jesus

Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Matthew 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Also Matthew 26:42; Luke 22:42; John 4:32,34; 5:30; 12:49-50; 14:31; 17:4; Hebrews 3:2.

John the Baptist

Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

John and James

Mark 1:19-20 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

Matthew

Matthew 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Simon and Andrew

Mark 1:16-18 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

Levi

Mark 2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Nathanael

John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

The rich young man

Matthew 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Mark 10:19-20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Also Luke 18:21.

The disciples

John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Cornelius

Acts 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Paul

Acts 23:1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Acts 26:4-5 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Also 2 Timothy 1:3.

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