The Blessing and Curses of God (Deuteronomy 28:-1 29: 1)

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Welcome back. In this episode, we delve into a chapter that vividly outlines the consequences of obedience and disobedience to God's commands. This passage provides a comprehensive view of what it means to be blessed or cursed by God and has profound implications for our lives today.

Study Notes

Key Themes:

• Understanding Blessings and Curses:
  • We often speak of God blessing us, but what is a blessing? Conversely, we rarely discuss God cursing us. Does He curse His children? What is a biblical curse?
  • Deuteronomy 28 provides clear answers to these questions, outlining the nature of blessings and curses in the context of the Sinai covenant.
• Obedience and Disobedience:
  • The chapter begins with a promise of blessings for obedience (verses 1-14) and a detailed list of curses for disobedience (verses 15-68).
  • These blessings and curses were initially directed at Israel but hold significant principles for New Testament believers.
• Application to Old Testament History:
  • This chapter is crucial for understanding the rest of the Old Testament, with over 1,000 references in the prophetic books alluding back to this material.
  • The prophets continually reference the principle that disobedience leads to captivity, emphasizing the precision of the curses' fulfillment.
• Relevance for New Testament Believers:
  • While the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 were primarily agricultural and material, the underlying principle of obedience leading to blessings remains relevant.
  • In the New Testament, our blessings are primarily spiritual. Ephesians 1:3 states that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
  • Salvation is a free gift, but the blessings of God, both now and in the future, are often tied to our obedience.

Key Verses:

• Deuteronomy 28:1-2: "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God."
• Ephesians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Reflection Questions:

• What does it mean to be blessed by God in your own life?
• How can understanding the curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28 shape your view of disobedience to God?
• How do the principles of obedience and disobedience in Deuteronomy 28 apply to your spiritu

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Transcript

The Blessings and Curses of God.  (Deuteronomy 28:1.??)

Full Transcript:

We often speak of God blessing us, but let me ask you a question: what is a blessing? 

Also we rarely, if ever, speak about the Lord cursing us, so does God curse His children? And if so, What is that like? What is a biblical curse? 

We can, in fact, answer these questions from the New Testament, but the Bible passage that most clearly addresses them both head n is Deuteronomy chapter 28. 

Before we turn to this passage, let me warn you that this chapter has 68 verses. On top of that, I want to consider another verse, which means we're going to cover 69 verses in this session. 

It might sound like this session will last at least two hours—I'm joking, of course (Expand)

What I'll do first is read the passage, verse by verse and comment on it when necessary as we go along. A lot of what is in this chapter is self-evident; So I’ll try and focus on the things that are not. Then at the end, we will discuss how this applies to us, even though remember these blessings and curses were initially directed at Israel. 

So, although New Testament believers are not under the same covenant, the principles still hold significant meaning for us today…..

Let's begin with verses 1&2

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.

This opening statement introduces the blessings and curses of this chapter. It's one of the most important verses because Moses repeats this point at the beginning, middle, and towards the end of the chapter. The emphasis is clear: if they obey, one of the blessings will be that they are exalted above all nations.

Verse 3&4 continue.

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock – the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Here, Moses begins to delineate various blessings. Notice the condition for receiving these blessings is obedience. This point is reiterated in verses 1 and 3. If you obey all these commands, every aspect of life, both in the city and the country, will be blessed.

These verses emphasizes blessings in terms of fertility and productivity. Obedience results in blessings on children, crops, herds, and flocks, ensuring fertility in both people and animals.

Verse 5 then says.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

This implies abundance of food and perhaps the absence of famine as a result of obedience.

Verse 6:

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

This likely refers to daily activities and functions. Blessings will accompany all your daily work.

In verse 7, we read:

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

This clearly speaks of military victory. The phrase "seven ways" suggests complete and total defeat of the enemies.

Verse 8 promises.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

This verse is particularly interesting because it indicates that whatever work you choose, if you obey the Lord, He will bless it.

This is a reassuring message, especially for those seeking guidance on their occupation. The scripture suggests that the specific occupation is less important than the obedience to the Lord within it.

Verse 9 concludes.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.

The key here is separation. You will be a holy people dedicated to the Lord, set apart to walk in His ways.

In verse 10, it says,

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.

If you obey, not only the Canaanites but all the peoples of the earth will be in awe of you. This is an extraordinary promise of exaltation and blessing that extends beyond immediate enemies to all nations. I’ll elaborate more on this later in the passage.

Verse 11 continues.

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground – in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

Once again, the promise is for prosperity: abundant children, livestock, and crops.

Verse 12 states, 

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground – in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

This is significant. The Lord will bless them with timely rains, ensuring their crops grow. This stands in stark contrast to the Canaanite belief that Baal controlled the rain. Obeying God means they will be so prosperous they will lend to other nations and not need to borrow.

In verse 13, we read.

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Obedience ensures they will be leaders, not followers, enjoying pre-eminence among the nations.

Verse 14 warns.

Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

The key to these blessings is unwavering obedience to God's commandments.

This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part, which we just reviewed, lists the blessings that come from obedience. These blessings include pre-eminence among nations, material prosperity, fruitfulness, fertility, abundant crops, victory in battle, and success in international trade. 

These blessings are pretty substantial and have led many to conclude that their full fulfilment may await to be fulfilled only after the coming Kingdom. Obedience leads to exaltation, not just over the Canaanites but among all nations.

The second part of the chapter shifts focus to curses. Verse 15 begins, with the curses.

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

This chapter can be summarized by the stark contrast between obedience and blessing versus disobedience and cursing.

The curses are parallel to the blessings. Verse 16-19 state.

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out," indicating that disobedience will bring a curse on all their activities, reversing the blessings of their daily work.

As we proceed, the curses become more specific. The purpose of these warnings is to deter Israel from departing from the Lord and to bring them back if they do. Verse 20 tells them.

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.

Disobedience not only results in the withholding of blessings but also in active destruction.

Verse 21 adds.

The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.

The Hebrew word translated as "plague" can mean pestilence, disease, or epidemic, which resonates deeply with our current understanding of widespread disease.

These verses starkly contrast the blessings of obedience with the severe consequences of disobedience. They underscore the importance of faithfulness to God's commands, highlighting both the rewards of obedience and the grave dangers of turning away from the Lord.

In verse 22, it adds.

The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.

This passage describes a variety of afflictions. The exact nature of the first three diseases mentioned is uncertain. The main point is clear: disobedience will lead to various forms of destruction and disease.

Verse 23 then states.

The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.

Earlier, God promised rain as a blessing for obedience. Now, disobedience will bring drought, symbolized by the heavens becoming bronze and the earth iron. This implies a prolonged drought, with no rain to sustain crops.

In verse 24, we read.

The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

Instead of beneficial rain, there will be dust storms, exacerbating the drought and ensuring no crops can grow.

Verse 25 continues.

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

Disobedience will lead to complete military defeat. While obedience ensured enemies fled seven ways, disobedience means the Israelites will be the ones fleeing. Becoming an object of terror to other nations.

In verse 26, it says.

"Your carcass shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away.

Because of their defeat, there will be no one left to bury the dead, and the bodies will be left for scavengers.

Verse 27 mentions.

The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumours, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.

These are diseases from which there is no recovery, similar to the plagues experienced in Egypt.

Verse 28 says,

The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.

The Hebrew word for "confusion" implies astonishment, bewilderment, and stupefaction. The trials and troubles will literally drive the people to madness.

In verse 29, it states.

At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

This emphasizes the total despair and lack of success in all endeavours, with no hope of rescue.

Verse 30 adds, 

You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.

Disobedience will lead to futility in personal and communal efforts, with others enjoying the fruits of their labour.

Verse 31 continues, 

Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.

This further illustrates the total defeat and helplessness, with no one to recover their losses.

In verse 32, it says,

Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.

Their children will be taken away, leaving them powerless and in a perpetual state of sorrow.

Verse 33 states,

A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labour produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.

Foreigners will reap the benefits of their hard work, leaving the Israelites continually oppressed.

In verse 34, it reads, 

The sights you see will drive you mad.

The devastating losses and continuous oppression will drive them to insanity.

Verse 35 adds,

The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

This reiterates the utter hopelessness and incurable nature of their afflictions.

Verse 36 states.

The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.

They will be exiled to a foreign land, serving lifeless idols. This prophecy was fulfilled many years later when the Assyrians and Babylonians conquered Israel and Judah.

Verse 37 says, 

"And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations where the Lord will drive you.

The Israelites will become a byword for disaster and misfortune among other nations.

In verse 38, it states,

You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.

Despite their efforts, locusts will devour their crops, frustrating their labour.

Verse 39 continues,

You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

Their vineyards will be unproductive due to pests.

In verse 40, it says, 

You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off

Despite having olive trees, they will not benefit from them, as the olives will fall prematurely.

Continuing from where we left off, Deuteronomy 28:41-42 states.

You will have sons and daughters, but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

This prophecy, which was fulfilled around 700 years later, indicates that the Israelites' children will be taken away into captivity due to their disobedience. The repetition emphasizes the devastating impact of locusts on their agriculture.

In verse 43, It continues

The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.

This means that foreigners living among the Israelites will prosper while the Israelites themselves will decline.  This is the opposite of the blessing, where obedience would have led to the Israelites being the lenders and the head, not the borrowers and the tail.

Verse 45 sums up the consequences.

All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

The underlying message is that obedience brings blessings, while disobedience brings punishment.

Moses shifts his tone in verse 45, assuming that the Israelites will disobey: "Because you did not obey." This change from "if you disobey" to "because you did not obey" suggests an expectation of their disobedience.

Verse 46 then states.

They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants for ever.

The curses are intended to serve as a perpetual lesson for the Israelites and their descendants.

Verse 47 highlights a specific cause for the curses.

47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity.

48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

The curses include severe deprivation and servitude under a "yoke of iron" until they are destroyed.

In verse 49 we see,

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.

This nation, likely referring to the Babylonians (symbolized by an eagle in Jeremiah 48), will speak a language unknown to the Israelites and will be merciless.

Verse 51 describes the devastation:

They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no corn, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.

The foreign invaders will consume everything, leaving the Israelites with nothing.

Verse 52 predicts the fall of their fortifications.

They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

The Israelites wrongly trusted in their walls instead of God, and these walls will fail them.

In verse 53, the severity of the siege is described.

Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.

This horrifying prediction of cannibalism underscores the extremity of their suffering.

It continues, v54-55

Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you – so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot – will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

(Deuteronomy 28: 54-57)

This describes the delicate woman, who normally wouldn't set her foot on the ground, resorting to the same horrifying acts due to the desperation caused by the siege.

Verse 58 warns.

If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name – the Lord your God  the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.

(Deuteronomy 28: 58-59)

Verse 60 adds,

He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.

The plagues of Egypt, from which God had once delivered them, will return due to their disobedience.

Finally, verse 61 concludes with,

The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

This encompasses all possible afflictions, even those not specifically mentioned, ensuring complete devastation for persistent disobedience.

The curses detailed in these verses highlight the severe consequences of turning away from God's commandments. They contrast starkly with the blessings promised for obedience, emphasizing the importance of faithful adherence to God's laws.

In Deuteronomy 28:62, it is states.

You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

This is a stark contrast to God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Due to their disobedience, only a few of the Israelites will remain.

Verse 63 adds,

Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess

This indicates that God will take pleasure in their destruction and removal from the promised land because of their disobedience.

In verse 64, the text says,

Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods – gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

This predicts the scattering of the Israelites among various nations and their compulsion to serve foreign gods.

Verse 65 continues, 

Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

This means they will find no peace or security in their exile, only constant anxiety and fear.

In verse 66, 

You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.

This emphasizes the perpetual state of fear and uncertainty they will live in.

Verse 67 elaborates,

In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning!’– because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.

Their misery will be so great that they will constantly wish for a different time of day to escape their suffering.

Finally, verse 68 concludes the curses with,

The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

This means they will be so devalued that they will be sold back into slavery in Egypt, but even there, no one will want to buy them.

Finishing the text today at Deuteronomy 29:1, which, by the way, in the Hebrew Bible is still part of chapter 28, it states, 

These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

Throughout our study of Deuteronomy, particularly chapters 5 through 27, we have seen consistent expansion and explanation of the Ten Commandments, which form the basis of the Sinai covenant. The covenant made at Sinai included not just the Ten Commandments but also various judgments and applications that followed. So that is why I think this passage straddles into chapter 29 and they belong together

Now that we've clarified that, let me make a few observations.

We covered this passage quite swiftly, and it's important to note its significance. Deuteronomy 28 is pivotal for understanding the rest of the Old Testament. 

The importance of this chapter for comprehending Old Testament history cannot be overstated, the fact that there are over 1,000 references in the prophetic books alluding back to this material.

This chapter outlines the law, statutes, and the clear conditions for blessings and curses. God reminds the Israelites that He has taken them out of Egypt, blessed, protected, and provided for them. 

Yet, reminds them also that when they enter the Promised Land, obedience will lead to abundant blessings, while disobedience will bring unimaginable curses.

The prophets continually reference this principle: disobedience leads to captivity, whether in Assyria or Babylon.

The fulfilment of these curses was so precise that some liberal scholars, who do not believe in the supernatural, argue that Moses could not have written this, they suggest it was written later due to its meticulous accuracy.

So, what does this mean for us today?

While this chapter was directed at Israel, and its blessings were primarily agricultural and material, the underlying principle remains relevant. The principle is clear: obedience to God brings blessings, while disobedience brings discipline.

In the New Testament, while our blessings are primarily spiritual, the principle remains the same.

Ephesians 1:3 states,

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Salvation is a free gift, but the blessings of God, both now and in the future—are often tied to our obedience.

The fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are the spiritual blessings we receive when we obey God.

Conversely, disobedience leads to a lack of peace and may bring about discipline. 1 Corinthians 11:30 warned that disrespecting the Lord's table has led some to weakness, sickness, and even premature death.

Therefore, the principle from Deuteronomy 28 has a profound application for us still today.

if we obey God, we will experience spiritual blessings, but if we disobey, we may face spiritual and physical consequences.

In conclusion, Deuteronomy 28 serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of obedience to God. It underscores the timeless principle that while salvation is a free gift, the blessings of God are often contingent upon our obedience. 

This passage today simply invites you to choose obedience and receive the fullness of God's blessings in our lives.