Deuteronomy · chapter 28 of 34
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Deuteronomy 28 describes the blessings that will come if Israel obeys the Lord and the curses that will fall if it abandons him. The blessings cover the city, the field, children, harvests and victory over enemies. The curses, far longer, reach siege, famine and scattering among all the nations. The root of it all is not serving the Lord with gladness.
After the ceremony of Gerizim and Ebal, Deuteronomy 28 develops the covenant blessings and curses in much greater detail. It is one of the longest chapters of the law and follows the form of ancient treaties between a king and his people. The prophets will cite it to explain the exile, and Paul will recall it when speaking of the curse Christ bore.
If Israel listens to the voice of the Lord and keeps all his commandments, the Lord will set it high above all the nations. Blessings will come on the people in the city and in the field, on their children, the fruit of the ground and the herds, in their coming in and going out. Enemies who rise against them will flee in seven directions. The Lord will open the heavens to give rain in its season, and the people will be the head and not the tail, as long as they do not turn aside from his commandments or follow other gods.
The second part, much longer, warns what will happen if they do not obey. The same areas of life will come under curse: the city and the field, the children and the crops. The Lord will send confusion, disease, drought and defeat. The heavens will be like bronze and the earth like iron. The diseases of Egypt will return upon them, and they will flee in seven directions before their enemies. These things will be a sign and a wonder on them and their descendants forever, because they did not serve the Lord with joy and gladness of heart in the midst of abundance.
A nation from afar will come against them like an eagle, speaking a tongue they do not know, and will besiege them until their walls fall, to the point that the most gentle people will eat their own children in the famine of the siege. If they do not fear the glorious name of the Lord, he will send extraordinary plagues and lasting diseases, scatter them among all peoples and give them no rest. They will live in fear night and day. The chapter ends with the image of being sent back to Egypt in ships, and of offering themselves as servants that no one wants to buy.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
If the people listen to the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments, the blessings will overtake them. The blessings are not earned but accompany a people living in obedience to the God who redeemed them.
The Lord promises to make Israel the head and not the tail, if it obeys. It is a promise of blessing so that others may see God's wisdom in his people, not a guarantee of power or success for anyone.
The root of the curses is not having served the Lord with joy and gladness of heart despite abundance. Sin is not just outward disobedience but a heart that does not delight in God.
The Lord will scatter the people among all nations, and there they will serve other gods. The warning was fulfilled in the exile, and the prophets cited it to call for repentance and to announce restoration.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Listening diligently to the voice of the Lord and keeping all his commandments. — Deuteronomy 28:1
Answer: In the city and the field, the children, the crops, the herds, coming in and going out. — Deuteronomy 28:3-6
Answer: That they will come against Israel one way and flee in seven. — Deuteronomy 28:7
Answer: The heavens will be like bronze and the earth like iron. — Deuteronomy 28:23
Answer: Not having served the Lord with joy and gladness of heart in the midst of abundance. — Deuteronomy 28:47
Answer: They will be scattered among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. — Deuteronomy 28:64
The chapter does not allow an easy reading. On the one hand it shows that God delights to bless his people. On the other it warns that prosperity can become the occasion for forgetting the Lord. The key to the judgment is not a ritual failure but a heart that does not serve with gladness. In a group you can ask whether our obedience springs from gratitude or from obligation.
Christians do not read these blessings as a formula for financial success. Paul teaches in Galatians 3:13 that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. So we can serve God with joy, knowing our relationship with him rests on what Christ did and not on our performance.
Deuteronomy 28 leaves Israel before two paths with real consequences and shows that God takes the covenant seriously. The next chapter gathers the people in Moab for a solemn renewal of the covenant, with an invitation not to be a root that bears poison.
The text does not explain. Many understand that Moses wanted to stress the gravity of abandoning the covenant, and that the length shows how much he wants the people to choose life. The curses also anticipate what Israel will later live through, such as the fall of Jerusalem and the exile.
The historical books and the prophets see in the fall of the northern kingdom, the exile in Babylon and the siege of Jerusalem a fulfillment of these warnings. At the same time the Lord promised that if the people turned to him, he would have compassion, as Deuteronomy 30 announces.
They are blessings of the covenant with Israel in the land. Christians read them in light of Christ, who bore the curse. What remains is the principle that God blesses obedience and that life with him is lived with joy. They are not a promise of wealth for the believer.