What I Noticed Today (Deuteronomy 28-29)
Deuteronomy 28
Deuteronomy 28 displays the stark contrast between the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience!
In verses 1-6, Moses starts out saying IF you faithfully obey and do all of God’s commands THEN the result will be great blessings. It doesn’t matter where you are, in the city or in the fields the blessings will come. It doesn’t matter if you are coming in or going out the blessings will come. The blessings are described as fruit, including the womb, the ground, the cattle and all the herds.
In verse 7, additionally, God will come against their enemies defeating them.
In verses 7-15, the result of this support from God is that other nations will see how God is prospering and protecting the nation of Israel in three specific ways.
- Israel as a nation will be blessed with military success and financial prosperity.
- Israel will be blessed in all their agricultural endeavors.
- Israel will be blessed as an example to all the peoples of the earth of God’s grace.
In verses 15-68, however, if the people do not obey God, then they will suffer a myriad of curses. The curses will come wherever they are, in the city or in the fields. The curses will come whether they are coming or going out. Their wombs will be cursed, their cattle, their herds, the ground, and all their crops. Sickness and pestilence will consume them. Their enemies will come up against them and destroy them. They will be scattered throughout the land and will serve gods of wood and stone.
The result of these curses is that they will become servants to surrounding nations because they did not joyfully and completely obey God’s commandments.
Obeying God would lead to the entire nation being lifted up.
Note: This must have been encouraging to a nation that had suffered hundreds of years of oppressive slavery in Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Yet, knowing their hearts, Moses emphasizes what will happen if they do not obey God diligently and joyfully. They will not only forfeit all the blessings, but God will actually come against them, allowing them to be once again scattered into foreign lands and suffer oppression as slaves.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- Reading this chapter with the contrast of God’s blessings and curses, it seems the only reasonable choice for Israel to obey God and enjoy His blessings and protection. Yet, we know they fail, and fail miserably, not once but over and over. Even so, God keeps coming back to them, willing to bless them if they will follow Him faithfully.
- It seems we are just like the Israelites. We say “yes” to God with our mouths, but then in our hearts and in our actions, we reject Him. We must follow Him completely, diligently, and joyfully if we want to enjoy these blessings!
Deuteronomy 29
In verses 2-8, one noteworthy difference is the inclusion of the statement that until now the Lord had not given them the heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear all that God had done for them.
In verses 9-15, this covenant was binding on the entire nation; those standing before God as well as those not present that day (v. 15).
Note: Those not present that day refers to future generations.
In verses 16-29, Moses reminds the Israelites of the curses that will come if they break the covenant with God:
- The Israelites were familiar with idolatry from their time in Egypt. One idolatrous person could poison a whole nation.
- The idolatrous person may think he is safe, but the Lord will not forgive him. He will be cursed, and his name blotted out.
- God’s judgment will come not only to the person who introduced the idolatry but to the entire nation who followed him in his idolatry.
- The devastation that comes from God’s judgment will be so complete that people will ask what happened, and the answer will be that they abandoned their covenant with God (the Mosaic covenant).
