And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take heed to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that Jehovah thy God will set thee supreme above all nations of the earth;
Moses speaks to Israel on the edge of the promised land. The longest chapter of blessing and curse in the book opens with one word — "if" — and Israel's rank among the nations, its harvests and its safety all hang on it.
The verse opens with a condition: listening. One commentator says the whole book turns on it, and so does Israel's safety and happiness.
"If you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God" — the grand old motto of Deuteronomy, the keynote of the book — "being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today"… This is the only safeguard. It is the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
How does this chapter relate to the one before it? Commentators differ. One says the two chapters stand on completely different ground:
To put it as briefly as possible: chapter 27 is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national, and belongs to a particular period of God's dealings. Chapter 27 deals with the root question of man's moral condition — a sinner completely ruined, and unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
Another writer sees a closer link:
Chapter 28 does not say that these blessings were spoken from Mount Gerizim, but chapter 27:12 shows this. The blessings, though, come after the conditions of verse 1. They would take effect only if Israel carefully obeyed the voice of the Lord and kept all His commandments.
So what does this promise actually give? One commentator answers by naming what it cannot give:
It is merely national. It has nothing to do with the soul in the sight of God… This is not what a poor soul wants. It in no way meets a sense of guilt or a dread of judgment. The sinner needs something which will stand for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. He wants acceptance for himself with God, not just a full basket and a full store. There is nothing of that sort here.
The promise also had an audience. One writer points out what the surrounding nations would have read from Israel's prosperity:
You see, it is one nation set in contrast with all other nations, and lifted above them… Plentiful and continual prosperity in earthly things was what all nations could understand. Israel was to have shown it, had Israel been obedient. By it the nations were to have seen that Israel was called by the Lord's name.
The "if" of verse 1 raises a question for every reader. What happens if you stand on your own obedience?
Chapter 28 has both blessing and cursing… They are the blessing and cursing of God's government over their daily walk. We may come under discipline in our own daily walk. It is useless to mix two things: you as the one who keeps the law, and God as the One who keeps His promise. If your soul rests upon what God is in Christ and nothing else, you get the blessing. If you choose to stand on what you do yourself, how can you escape the curse?
Does any of this reach believers now? One commentator draws a lesson for daily life:
If God's children ignore His word and live for themselves, God will often step in and deal with them in their circumstances. Think how many have set their hearts on getting on in the world. They have worked hard and long to reach their goal. Then, just as it came in sight, all the fruit of their work disappeared!
Israel never met the condition. So is the promise dead?
Israel has completely failed in obedience, as we know, and has therefore forfeited all those blessings. But Scripture says again and again that they are to be brought back. Grace will restore to them every blessing they lost. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
Can Christians claim this promise as their own? One commentator answers with a warning:
Some interpreters use a system that turns the covenant blessings of Israel into spiritual pictures and hands them over to the church of God. This is a most fatal mistake… God will not and cannot approve such tampering with His truth. Nor will He allow anyone to transfer away the blessings and privileges of His people Israel.
- The voice — the whole chapter hangs on one condition: listening to the voice of the LORD your God.
- The scope — being set high above the nations is national and earthly. It says nothing about a soul's acceptance with God.
- The limit — this is God's government over daily life, not the ground on which God receives a sinner.
- The failure — Israel did not obey, and so forfeited every blessing listed here.
- The grace — what obedience never secured, grace will yet restore under the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.
Moses is speaking to Israel just before they enter the land. Everything ahead of them hangs on one thing — blessing will chase them down and catch them, if they listen to God's voice.
What did this condition finally cost Israel?
"If" is a small word, but tremendous issues hang upon it. All Israel's blessings depended on the faithfulness of both king and people. Their evil ways forfeited everything, in spite of the earnest warnings and pleas of their God.
The blessing is tied to God's own voice, a demand that runs through the whole book of Deuteronomy.
"If you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God" — the grand old motto of Deuteronomy, the keynote of the book — "being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." Obedience to that voice was the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
What would that obedience have produced in them?
Moses knew that an obedient people must also be an unbeatable and countless people. No weapon formed against them could prosper, so long as the word of God governed them.
The blessings promised here fall on the city and the field. But what do they leave untouched?
This promise is only national. It has nothing to do with the soul in the sight of God… This is not what a poor soul wants. It in no way meets a sense of guilt or a dread of judgment. The sinner needs something which will stand for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. He wants acceptance for himself with God.
The horizon of these promises stops at the edge of this life.
Earthly blessing was the promise that marked out God's people of old. So death was the end of all their hopes. To die was to leave the very sphere where their special promises were to come true. Read Deuteronomy 28:1-13, and you will see at once that the blessings promised on the condition of obedience reached no further than the earth.
Some readers hand these promises over to the church.
Some interpreters follow a system that turns Israel's covenant blessings into spiritual ones and hands them to the church of God. This is a fatal mistake… God will not and cannot approve such tampering with His truth, or such a wrongful seizing of the blessings and privileges of His people Israel.
So where does the Christian's blessing lie?
The Jew's proper blessing is upon the earth under Christ. The Christian's proper blessing is in the heavens along with Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us" — not them — "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3).
Israel did not meet the condition. That is not the end of the story.
In Deuteronomy 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel if they obeyed. They failed completely to obey, as we know, and so they forfeited all those blessings. But Scripture shows again and again that God will bring them back. Grace will restore to them every blessing they lost. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
One principle in this verse outlasts the covenant.
"Listen" and "do," so that you may "live" and "possess." This is a universal and abiding principle. It was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The pathway of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to God's holy commandments… God has given us His word, not to speculate about it or discuss it, but so that we may obey it.
- If — one small word carries the whole chapter. Every blessing hangs on a condition, and Israel broke it.
- Voice — God asks them to listen to His voice. That is the keynote of Deuteronomy and their one safeguard of happiness, security and strength.
- Earth — the blessings that "overtake" are city and field. They never address guilt, never reach heaven, and end at death.
- Boundary — these blessings belong to Israel, not to the church. The Christian's blessing is spiritual, in the heavenly places.
- Grace — Israel forfeited it all, yet grace will restore them under the rule of Christ. The principle still stands: listen and do, that you may live.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
This verse opens a list of blessings God promises Israel through Moses. A condition comes with them, and a matching list of curses follows a few verses later. Who are these blessings for, what do they cover, and can a Christian claim them today?
Everything in this list hangs on the opening "if" of the chapter. One writer calls that condition the heartbeat of the whole book:
"If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God" — the grand old motto of Deuteronomy, the key note of the book — "to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth." Listening to the voice of the Lord your God is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
This was not a one-off arrangement. It ran through the whole system Israel lived under:
Blessing on the condition of obedience is the principle that holds everywhere in the Old Testament. This was in fact the very essence of the Mosaic economy. God made their continued possession of the land, their freedom from disease, and earthly blessing of every kind depend on their walking according to the statutes and ordinances they had received.
The two words cover the whole map of a person's life — crowded streets and open country alike.
They would be blessed in the city and in the country (v.3). If they were obedient, the place they lived would not make any difference to their blessing.
Commentators differ on whether the tribes spoke this list of blessings from Mount Gerizim, as chapter 27 describes. One writer sees the link:
Chapter 28 does not say that these blessings came from Mount Gerizim, but chapter 27:12 shows this.
Another insists the two chapters are doing entirely different work:
The obvious fact is that the two chapters are wholly distinct in basis, scope and practical application. Chapter 27, in short, is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national, and belongs to God's dealings with Israel in its own age. Chapter 27 sets out the great root principle of man's moral condition: he is a sinner, utterly ruined and wholly unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
One writer weighs this promise against what a guilty sinner really needs:
It is merely national. It has nothing to do with the soul in the sight of God… This is not what a poor soul wants. It in no way meets a sense of guilt or a dread of judgment. The sinner needs something that will stand for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. He wants acceptance for himself with God, not just blessing in his basket and his store. There is nothing of that sort here.
This promise ties blessing to a place on earth. The Christian's blessings lie somewhere else:
The proper sphere of our blessings is not earth but heaven. We are blessed "in the heavenly places". On earth we may have little; in heaven we are richly blessed… The blessings of the Jew were for this life, on earth, and in the line of Abraham. Christian blessings are spiritual, heavenly, and in Christ. Unlike earthly blessings, they do not depend on health, riches, position, education or nationality.
Israel never met the condition, so the blessings went unclaimed. But that is not the end:
They have entirely failed in obedience, as we know, and have therefore forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen at length in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore to them all their forfeited blessings. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
Though the promise itself is Israel's, God's way of governing His people carries over:
Do not forget that in a sense this may be true now of the children of God. If they ignore His word and live for themselves, God will often step in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many have set out to get on in the world! They have worked long and hard to reach their aim. Then, just as the goal came in sight, all the fruit of their toil vanished.
- Condition — Blessing here begins with an "if". Listening to God's voice is the key note of Deuteronomy and the true secret of happiness, security and strength.
- Coverage — City and field cover everywhere. If Israel obeyed, the place they lived made no difference to the blessing.
- Category — The promise is national and earthly, under God's government of Israel. It offers nothing to a guilty conscience.
- Contrast — The Christian's blessings are spiritual and in the heavenly places. They do not depend on health, wealth, position or nationality.
- Conclusion — Israel forfeited these blessings by disobedience. Grace will restore them under the rule of Christ. Meanwhile God still deals with His own people through their circumstances.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the offspring of thy kine, and the increase of thy sheep.
Moses is listing what obedience would bring Israel in the land. This verse reaches into the most ordinary places a family lives: the nursery, the field, the herd and the flock. It raises big questions. Was this promise for the nation or for each person? Is it earthly or spiritual? And what happens to it when the nation fails?
The blessings do not stand alone. Every one of them waits on a single condition.
"If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God" — the grand old Deuteronomic motto, the keynote of the book — "all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you." Listening like that is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
That "if" was the shape of the whole arrangement made at Sinai.
The covenant with the children of Israel at Sinai was conditional. If they obeyed and kept the law they would be blessed. If they disobeyed they would be cursed (Deut. 27, 28).
Older translations use "kine" and "flocks" here. Commentators debate both words. "Kine" covers more than it seems:
A word that usually means 'cows,' though its use is not limited to the female: see Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51.
The second word is stranger still, because it looks like the name of a pagan goddess.
"Ashteroth" is found four times in Deuteronomy (Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51). The common version translates it "flocks," the revised version "young," others (much better) "ewes," while Young gives "multiplications." Perhaps all treat it as nothing more than a borrowing of the pagan word, though even that seems strange. It is far more likely that the pagan goddess took her name from the ewes of the flock than that she gave her name to them.
Many readers take chapter 28 as a simple continuation of chapter 27. Commentators warn against that, because the two chapters work on different levels.
Chapter 27 is — to put it as pointedly and briefly as possible — moral and personal. Chapter 28 is dispensational and national. Chapter 27 deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition: a sinner utterly ruined and completely unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
Children, crops and cattle make up this promise. Israel's portion was tied to the ground they stood on.
So Israel was set up to be God's witness on earth. They were His people, joined to Him politically as their King. And because they were God's earthly people, their blessings were blessings of the earth, blessings of providence: "all these blessings shall come upon them" (Deut. 28:1-14).
Commentators draw a sharp line between Israel's portion and the Christian's.
God promised Israel temporal blessings in earthly places, on condition of obedience to the law. But all of their attempted works have gained them nothing. God, on the other hand, has given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places to all who receive His Son in this day of His grace. He gives it on the ground of His grace alone, through the infinitely valuable sacrifice of His Son. We cannot claim the temporal blessings promised to Israel, but what is spiritual is ours.
Israel never met the condition, so the blessing never came. But commentators do not treat the promise as dead.
In Deut. 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel if they obeyed. They have completely failed to obey, as we know, and so have forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so widely in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore them to all their forfeited blessings, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of those blessings.
There is still something here for a reader today, taken as a picture rather than a contract.
They would also find blessing in their children and in the produce of their crops, in the increase of their herds, their cattle and their flocks (v.4). This natural increase pictures the spiritual increase believers receive when they practice a spirit of devoted obedience to the Lord. There will be lasting results from their labors.
- Condition — the verse sits inside a sentence that starts with "if." Listening to God's voice is the hinge every blessing turns on.
- Increase — womb, ground, herd and flock cover a family's whole living. The promise reaches home, work and wealth at once.
- National — chapter 28 treats Israel as a nation under God's government. Chapter 27 is moral and personal.
- Earthly — Israel's blessings were blessings of the earth and of providence. The Christian's are spiritual and heavenly. Do not trade one for the other.
- Grace — Israel forfeited the whole list by disobeying. Grace will restore it to them under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings promised to Israel if they obey God's voice. The fifth blessing leaves the fields and flocks and names two ordinary household objects, which raises a question: how far does God's blessing reach, and on what terms does it come?
The blessings before this verse cover crops, herds and children. This one moves indoors, to the basket that carries food and the bowl for kneading dough.
These blessings would be in their basket and in their kneading bowl (v.5). This has more to do with women's work. God would not hand them everything without work; He would bless their work. How much happier it is to work and find blessing in it than to be handed everything without working!
None of these blessings stand alone. Verse 1, the chapter's opening condition, governs them all.
Chapter 28 does not say that these blessings were spoken from Mount Gerizim, but chapter 27:12 shows that they were. Verse 1 sets the conditions first. The blessings would take effect only if Israel obeyed the voice of the Lord and kept all His commandments with care. If so, God would set them high above all nations, and all the blessings that follow would come upon them (v.2).
Later in the chapter the curse names every blessed item again, the basket and the bowl included. One writer sets the curse beside the blessing to show the terms on which Israel held the land:
Deuteronomy 28, like other parts of the book, sets out the conditions of Israel's inheritance and blessing in the land. And the alternative: "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God... then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl."
(Older translations render "kneading bowl" as "store".)
Commentators differ on whether these are the blessings of the Gerizim ceremony of chapter 27. One writer holds the two chapters apart:
To put it as plainly and briefly as possible: chapter 27 is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is dispensational and national. Chapter 27 deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition — a sinner completely ruined and unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
Why should a bread bowl appear in a covenant at all? Because for Israel the visible was the measure of God's favour.
Then take Israel, the people to whom the law was given. The law revealed nothing at all about another world or its blessings. As far as Israel was concerned, God gave the law for blessings in this life — blessings in the basket and in the store, in the field and in the winepress. These were signs of divine favour, showing His governmental approval of righteousness and obedience.
So a Christian cannot take these promises as a guarantee of full cupboards.
God promised Israel blessings in this life, in earthly places, on condition of obedience to law. But all of their attempted works have gained them nothing. God has given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places to all who receive His Son in this day of His grace. He gives it on the ground of His grace alone, through the sacrifice of His Son, whose value is beyond measure. We cannot claim the earthly blessings promised to Israel, but what is spiritual is ours.
Israel never met the condition, yet the chapter is not a closed account:
They have completely failed to obey, as we know, and so have forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so often in Scripture, God will bring them back. Grace will restore them to all the blessings they forfeited. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
- Condition — every blessing runs back to verse 1. It holds only if Israel obeys the voice of the LORD.
- Reach — the blessing reaches the basket and the bowl, the ordinary work of the home. God blesses work; He does not replace it.
- Mirror — the curse names the same basket and bowl again. The home shows for all to see whether Israel obeyed or failed.
- Scope — these promises are national and earthly. They are signs of God's approval of a nation, not the moral, personal ground of chapter 27.
- Grace — Israel forfeited it all, yet Christ's rule will restore them. Meanwhile a Christian claims what is spiritual, given by grace alone.
Blessed shalt thou be in thy coming in, and blessed shalt thou be in thy going out.
After city and field, children, crops, herds, basket and kneading bowl, Moses closes the opening blessings with the simple act of leaving home and coming back. Three questions follow: who received this promise, on what terms, and how far it reaches today.
Every blessing in this list hangs on the opening words of the chapter. One writer treats that condition as the theme of the whole book:
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God" — the grand old Deuteronomy motto, the keynote of the book — "being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." Listening to His voice is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
The law appears here in a particular character. It does not weigh a person before God; it governs a nation's outward life:
In Deuteronomy 28 we have law, but not law looked at in its own nature, as a question between God and man. Here law is the rule of earthly government. It has to do with the circumstances of man. So here we have the blessing on the one hand and the curse on the other.
One writer applies the two directions to the believer's life:
God's blessing would be the same, whether in their coming in or their going out (v.6). We may surely apply this to the blessing of private life and of life together as God's people. Coming in means enjoying the privileges of fellowship with the saints of God. Going out means carrying the gospel of God's grace to those in the world.
The same two words picture a life that never stands still:
"Going" and "coming" speak of the changing circumstances that mark a world of unrest. When He was here, the Lord could say to His disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). In His compassionate care the Lord will give us times of rest away from the busy world. But down here it will only be "a while" — words that show we must be on the move again. For the eternal rest we must look ahead. Of the one who enters that blessed rest we read, "Never shall he go out of it" (Rev. 3:12). In the meantime, in all the busy round of a life of toil in a world of need, the one who looks to the Lord for help can count on the Lord to keep him in every circumstance.
The chapter before this one does very different work:
Chapter 27 is moral and personal. Chapter 28 belongs to a whole nation and to a particular stage in God's dealings. Chapter 27 deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition, as a sinner completely ruined and unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
That distinction carries a warning for readers today:
All this is true, and a blessing. But it gives no ground at all for transferring the promises made to Israel to New Testament believers. God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the descendants of Abraham His friend. He will bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise holds good and can never be taken away… We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly; the church's blessings are heavenly.
The nation never met the condition. That did not cancel the promise:
In Deuteronomy 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel if they obeyed. They failed completely to obey, as we know, and so they forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen again and again in Scripture, God will bring them back. Grace will restore them to all the blessings they lost, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
Commentators differ in emphasis. Some hold that these promises are literal and belong to Israel alone. Others draw a spiritual application for believers today from the same words.
- Condition — every blessing here rests on listening to God's voice. One writer calls that the keynote of the whole book.
- Sphere — here the law is the rule of earthly government. It touches a nation's circumstances, not a person's standing before God.
- Scope — coming in and going out cover a world that never stands still. Nothing in the daily round falls outside the promise.
- Recipient — these are Israel's earthly blessings in the land of Canaan. The church's blessings are heavenly, and we must not swap one for the other.
- Outcome — Israel failed to obey and lost the blessings. Grace will restore them, and Christ's righteous rule will keep them.
Jehovah will give up, smitten before thee, thine enemies that rise up against thee; they shall come out against thee one way, and by seven ways shall they flee before thee.
God tells Israel what will happen when armies march against them: the attackers will be struck down, and their retreat will be a rout. But the promise sits inside a long list that begins with an "if" — so who does this victory belong to, and on what terms?
This chapter is not about how God makes a person right with Him. It shows how He rules a people already in relationship with Him.
In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience — consequences so solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law brings one set of consequences when the law is treated as the basis of relationship with God, where the question is a righteousness good enough for God to accept us. We must not confuse those with the temporary results of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 is about these temporary results.
Every blessing in the chapter, this one included, hangs on the opening words of verse 1.
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." That call to listen is the grand old motto of Deuteronomy, the keynote of the book. Obeying His voice is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
The numbers in the verse draw a shape: one united advance in, scattering in every direction out. One writer takes it further, to why opposition to truth falls apart.
With God's blessing on them they would have no difficulty in defeating their enemies. The enemies would come as one united front, looking far too strong for Israel. Yet God would scatter them, so that they retreated in seven different directions, in confusion (v.7). Satan also puts on a show of unity in his opposition to the truth. But he is a master of scheming and lies, and that leaves him helpless to achieve real unity. Falsehood is confusion. A simple stand for truth will throw his evil efforts back into the confusion men think they can overcome.
Later in the chapter the same picture comes back — but this time Israel does the fleeing.
The Lord would also hand them over to humiliating defeat before their enemies (v.25). They would "go out one way," that is, in apparent unity, but would "flee seven ways," in total defeat and disarray.
Who owns these promises? One writer points to an oath God swore about Abraham's descendants.
God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the descendants of Abraham His friend — to bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise still stands, and nothing can ever take it away… We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly; the church's blessings are heavenly. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
Israel failed the condition and lost the blessings. That is not the end of the story.
In Deuteronomy 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel if they obeyed. They failed completely in obedience, as we know, and so forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so fully in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore them to all the blessings they lost, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of those blessings.
One writer applies the principle to the enemies a believer faces.
This point has great practical value where it stands here, that is, as a result of obedience. Nothing gives the soul such marvellous power over enemies as an obedient, holy walk… But how often it happens that, instead of having all these enemies under our feet, we are under their feet. This brings deep dishonour to our Lord, and sorrow and weakness to our own souls. And why? Because we do not walk in simple obedience.
- Government, not acceptance. Chapter 28 shows God governing His people. It weighs obedience and disobedience here and now, not the righteousness that makes a person acceptable to Him.
- Condition first. The "if" of verse 1 governs everything that follows. Obeying God's voice is the only safeguard and the true secret of security and victory.
- Confusion is the weapon. Enemies arrive as one force and leave in seven directions. A show of unity built on lies cannot hold when someone simply stands for truth.
- The mirror warns. Verse 25 hands the same rout back to Israel, so the promise and the threat are one lesson read from both ends.
- Grace finishes it. Israel lost these blessings by disobedience. Grace will restore them under the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel's blessings are earthly; the church's are heavenly.
Jehovah will command blessing on thee in thy granaries, and in all the business of thy hand; and he will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
Deuteronomy 28 lists what obedience would bring Israel, and verse 8 sits near the top: the Lord Himself orders blessing onto their stored grain and onto every job they take in hand. Two questions shape the verse — what sort of blessing this is, and whether it reaches beyond the land of Canaan.
One writer warns against mixing this chapter with the one before it. The two stand on different ground:
Chapter 27 is — to put it as plainly and briefly as possible — moral and personal. Chapter 28 is about God's dealings with the nation. Chapter 27 handles the great root principle of man's moral condition: a sinner completely ruined and quite unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
The blessing of verse 8 hangs on an "if." Deuteronomy returns to that link again and again, and one writer shows where it ended:
The book of Deuteronomy sets out the mind of the Lord about the people's conduct in the land, and it is rightly called the book of obedience... But sadly, the Scriptures testify plainly that the breakdown is always with man. All blessing that depends on him fails, from Eden onward.
The verse names two things: the store and the work in hand. Together they cover a whole working life:
In obedience to God, Israel could count on His blessing in their storehouses, the store of produce laid up for future use, and in everything that might occupy their attention (v.8). In a spiritual way this will be true for obedient Christians too.
The blessing rests on a person's own work. One commentator points to that promise here, and then to its opposite in the same chapter:
First, a man should enjoy the fruit of his own labour. This is simply God keeping the promises He made to His people, on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28:1-12). The same chapter gives the contrast: if they turned aside from God's statutes and laws, the warning ran, others would eat the fruit of their land and all their labours. (v. 33.)
The last phrase ties the blessing to one place: the land God was giving them. That setting explains how Israel lost these promises, and how God will restore them:
In Deut. 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel in case of their obedience. They have entirely failed in obedience, as we know, and have so forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so often in Scripture, God will bring them back. Grace will restore to them every blessing they forfeited, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
Commentators differ over how a Christian may use this verse. Some draw a spiritual parallel, as quoted above. Others warn against reading full barns as a promise to the church:
God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the seed of Abraham His friend — to bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise stands, and nothing can take it away... We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly. The church's blessings are heavenly. "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."
Both sides agree that God still governs how His people live. The same writer adds a caution for believers now:
And let it not be forgotten that there is a sense in which this may be true now of the children of God. If they walk with no regard for His word, and have themselves as their object, God will often step in and deal with them in their circumstances.
- Command — the blessing is not chance. God gives the order, and it lands where He directs it.
- Condition — He gives the order to a listening people. Deuteronomy is the book of obedience, and every blessing resting on man broke down.
- Coverage — His command covers both ends of a working life: the store already gathered and the work still in hand.
- Country — the blessing belongs to the land He was giving. Israel forfeited it, and grace will restore it under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Caution — commentators differ about today. The church's blessings are heavenly, not material, yet God still deals with His children in their circumstances.
Jehovah will establish thee unto himself a holy people as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in his ways.
Moses is still setting out what obedience would secure for Israel in the land. Here the promise reaches its peak: not just full barns and safe borders, but the nation itself confirmed as God's own holy people — and all of it hangs on one "if".
Verse 9 sits inside a long list of promises and warnings. One writer splits the chapter in two and weighs the halves against each other.
This twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy divides into two parts. In the first, we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience. In the second, we have a solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience. And we cannot help noticing that the section containing the curses is more than three times as long as the one containing the blessings.
What does it mean for God to "establish" a people He had already chosen? One writer answers by separating what Israel was from how Israel lived.
If they obeyed, the Lord would establish them in a practical way as a holy people for Himself (v.9). The position He had given them was one of holiness. He promised that their practical character would match it, if they were obedient. This would have a real effect on other nations. They would recognize God's interest in this special people, and they would stand in awe of Israel (v.10).
Elsewhere in the same book Moses uses the same phrase. One writer points to how Moses words it — as a fact, not a goal to reach.
"You are a holy people to the Lord your God." He does not say, "You ought to be a holy people." How could they ever make themselves a holy people, or a people of God's own? Utterly impossible. If they were not His people, no effort of theirs could ever make them such. But God, in His sovereign grace, acted in keeping with His covenant with their fathers. He made them His children, a special people above all the nations on the earth.
The oath is God's side. The "if" is Israel's side.
He assures them that their faithfulness would also be the channel of blessing, for God would repay them according to their ways. … So they were a people set apart to the Lord. As to Him all was sovereign grace, but sure faithfulness. As to them, the ground they stood on was the government of God. So everything then depended on their holding fast to the Lord, and on faithful obedience.
The second half of the condition — walking in His ways — was no extra burden on Israel.
It was all for their real good, their deep, full blessing, to walk in the way of the divine commandments. The path of whole-hearted obedience is the only path of true happiness; and blessed be God, this path can always be trodden by those who love the Lord.
Does this promise now belong to Christians? One writer points back to the oath God swore to Abraham, and to where those blessings land.
God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the seed of Abraham His friend — to bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise still stands, and it can never be taken away. … We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly; the church's blessings are heavenly.
Israel did not keep the terms. That is not the end of the story.
In Deuteronomy 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel in case of their obedience. They have entirely failed in obedience, as we know, and have so forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so often in Scripture, God will bring them back. Grace will reinstate them in all their forfeited blessings. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
- Given — Holiness was God's gift before it was Israel's duty. He does not say they ought to become a holy people. He says they are one.
- Sworn — God pledged the blessing by an oath. That oath is His side, and it still stands.
- Established — The "if" does not create the holiness. Obedience puts it on display and turns the position God gave into daily character.
- Seen — A holy people is a testimony. Watching nations recognise God's interest in them.
- Restored — Israel lost the blessings through disobedience. Grace will give them back, and the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them safe.
And all peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah, and they shall be afraid of thee.
Moses is listing what obedience would bring Israel in the land. This verse names the most public blessing of all: the watching nations would see whose name this people carried, and would be afraid. Two questions follow. What does it mean for a nation to be "called by the name of the LORD"? And was it ever really seen?
People often read this chapter together with the curses of the chapter before. One writer separates them:
The obvious fact is that the two chapters are completely distinct in basis, scope and practical use. Chapter 27 is — to put it as plainly and briefly as possible — moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national, and belongs to God's dealings with that nation in time. Chapter 27 deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition: a sinner completely ruined and unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
The verse before this one promises that God would establish Israel as a holy people to Himself. One writer traces how the two verses connect:
If they obeyed, the Lord would set them up in practice as a holy people for Himself, on the ground of that obedience (v.9). The place He had given them was one of holiness, and He promised that their daily character would match it if they obeyed. This would have a real effect on other nations. They would recognise God's interest in this special people, and would stand in awe of Israel (v.10).
The fear did not come from Israel's own strength. It came from watching God act for a nation of freed slaves:
These victories glorified the name of the LORD in the sight of the nations, and His glory was clearly tied to the nation of Israel. God's glory can always be seen in the heavens. But when He suddenly displays that glory in a nation of freed slaves, it strikes the hearts of the nations who do not know God with terror and awe.
One writer explains what those nations would have seen in an obedient Israel:
Plentiful and constant prosperity in earthly, material things was something all nations could understand. They were to have seen this in Israel, if Israel had obeyed. And by it they were to have seen that Israel was called by the Lord's name.
One writer describes a time when the nation actually held that place among others:
The people's prosperity and peace were as remarkable as the king's glory and power. The people, as well as the king, were the head of the nations, not the tail; and they lent to many nations, but did not borrow. The Lord had said: "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you" (Deut. 28:10-13).
One writer draws a firm line around who these blessings belong to:
God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the seed of Abraham His friend — to bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise still stands, and no one can take it away… We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly; the church's blessings are heavenly.
Israel's national glory was long gone when Daniel, an exile, stood before Babylon's king. One writer sees this verse fulfilled in that moment:
Here we have earth's proudest and most powerful monarch at the feet of the captive exile. Magnificent fruit of faithfulness! Precious evidence that God will always honour faith that rises, even a little, to the height of His thoughts!… On that memorable occasion Daniel saw God's ancient promise fulfilled in himself, as fully as it has ever been fulfilled: "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you."
Israel failed to obey and lost these blessings. One writer shows that the loss is not the end of the story:
They have completely failed in obedience, as we know, and so have forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen in so much of Scripture, God will bring them back. Grace will restore to them every blessing they lost, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them enjoying it.
- Obedience — the whole chapter hangs on hearing God's voice. Verse 10 is a result, never a promise on its own.
- Holiness — obedience makes a people's daily character match the place God already gave them.
- Name — what the nations see is not Israel's strength but God's glory openly tied to this people.
- Fear — that visible link makes the surrounding peoples stand in awe, as Israel's best days showed.
- Restoration — Israel lost these earthly blessings by disobedience. Grace will restore them under the rule of Christ, and faith like Daniel's could still touch the promise in the meantime.
And Jehovah will give thee abundance of good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land that Jehovah swore unto thy fathers to give thee.
Moses is listing what obedience would bring to Israel in Canaan. Three things sit inside the verse: what God promises, on what terms, and why the land was theirs at all.
The blessing here is not vague goodwill. It touches the family, the herd and the harvest:
They would be blessed by the Lord with plenty, whether in children, in livestock and in crops (v.11). They would lend to many nations, but would never need to borrow.
The same writer sees the natural increase pointing beyond itself:
This natural increase pictures the spiritual increase believers receive when they live in a spirit of devoted obedience to the Lord. Their work will have lasting results.
The whole list runs back to the opening condition of the chapter. Commentators stress that Israel's hold on Canaan was never absolute — it was a lease with terms:
So Israel never held the land on anything but conditions. And a conditional gift is clearly no fulfilment of an unconditional promise. We are not left to judge this for ourselves. Paul tells us plainly that the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant God confirmed beforehand in Christ, so as to make the promise of no effect.
Some readers take a promise like this as a picture of what Christians should expect. One writer answers with the oath God swore:
God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the seed of Abraham His friend — to bless them with all earthly blessings, in the land of Canaan. This promise stands, and nothing can take it away... We must always remember that Israel's blessings are earthly. The church's blessings are heavenly. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
Israel's portion could rise and fall with the weather and the harvest. The Christian's cannot:
Unlike earthly blessings they do not depend upon health, or riches, or position, or education, or nationality. They lie outside the whole range of earthly things. They will remain in all their fullness when life in time is over and our path on earth has closed.
The verse ends by naming the land God swore to the fathers. That oath is on a different footing from the "if" of verse 1 — which is why the failure of the one does not cancel the other:
In fact, whether they obeyed or not, God will in the end keep that covenant made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for it is unconditional. Yet if Israel had obeyed God, they would have reaped the benefits of the covenant in the land. They would never be put out of it as long as they obeyed.
So Israel lost the promised plenty — but not for ever:
They failed completely to obey, as we know, and so forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so often in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will give them back every blessing they forfeited. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
The permanent lesson under the promise is who the increase came from. Children, cattle and crops are all listed as things the Lord gives:
If there are children, they too are God's gift — an inheritance from the Lord. They are His gift as His reward, the mark of His approval and blessing on those who fear Him and walk in obedience to His word, according to His promise to His earthly people. So we see that in every age God will have His people learn that He is the source of all their blessings. He is a GIVER, the God of all grace. And so the secret of a happy, restful life is real dependence on Him. What worries and fears we would be spared if this lesson were more deeply engraved on our hearts!
- Given. The abundance here — children, livestock, ground — is God's gift, not Israel's achievement. He is the giver, and depending on Him is the restful way to live.
- Conditioned. Israel's hold on the land was never absolute. The plenty promised here stands on obedience.
- Forfeited. They failed to obey and lost the blessings, so Israel never saw these promises in full.
- Sworn. The verse ends with "the land that the LORD swore to your fathers." That covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was unconditional, and disobedience could not cancel it.
- Restored. Grace will reinstate what obedience never secured, and keep Israel in it under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jehovah will open to thee his good treasure, the heavens, to give rain unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.
Moses is at the close of his career, giving his charge to Israel. He lists what obedience would bring, and the verse leaves two questions: where does blessing come from, and who may claim this promise today?
The verse calls heaven God's "good treasury" — a store only He can open. One writer explains why rain pictures blessing from God:
In the end, blessing can only ever come from God; so it is here too. Rain is a fine biblical illustration of this. In southern countries this is surely understood best of all. Without rain there can be no life or growth. It comes from the clouds of the sky, above, and so it illustrates that blessing comes from God.
If God opens the sky, He can also shut it. One writer pictures a land left under a closed heaven:
What barrenness and desolation there must be when heaven is shut up! No refreshing showers coming down, no dewdrops falling, no communication between heaven and earth.
The promise does not remove work. It puts God's blessing on it. One writer traces both sides of that — what obedience gains, and what disobedience loses:
A man was to enjoy the fruit of his own labour. This is simply the fulfilment of the promises which God made to His people on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28:1-12). The same chapter shows the contrast: it warns that if they turned aside from God's statutes and laws, others would eat the fruit of their land and all their labours.
Israel once lived this out. Under Solomon both the king and the people prospered:
The prosperity and peace of the people was as remarkable as the glory and power of the king… The people, as well as the king, were the head of the nations, not the tail. They lent to many nations, but did not borrow.
Today the picture is reversed, and one writer looks ahead for its full meaning:
Israel is certainly not blessed in this way now, for she is anxious to borrow huge sums from the United States… Israel was to rule over many nations, and will yet do so in the millennium. But because of her disobedience to God, the situation has been the reverse: many nations have ruled over her.
Some nations have claimed this promise for themselves. One writer tests such a claim against the condition Moses attached:
Deuteronomy 28 gives us part of the charge Moses gave to the children of Israel at the close of his remarkable career. It was for all twelve tribes. The blessings promised were to follow obedience; the curses, disobedience. Now is the British nation obedient to God? Does the history of the last thousand years bear witness to this?
That condition also answers a second mistake — treating wealth as proof that God approves of you:
The Jews might easily have come to think that great wealth was always a proof of God's blessing. They might have thought that striving after wealth pleased God… And here Moses says plainly that God would give Israel the promised prosperity only if they kept His commandments.
One writer marks off what belongs to believers now:
The blessings of the Jew were temporal, on earth, and in the line of Abraham. Christian blessings are spiritual, heavenly, and in Christ. Unlike earthly blessings, they do not depend on health, riches, position, education, or nationality.
- Source — Rain falls from a treasury only God can unlock, so every harvest traces back above, not to human skill.
- Condition — The heaven that opens to obedience shuts against disobedience. Then there is no rain, no dew, no fruit.
- Labour — The blessing lands on "the work of your hands". God does not replace work; He crowns it. Take that blessing away and others eat what you grew.
- Reach — Israel lent to many nations under Solomon. Since then the reverse has been true, and writers look ahead to the millennium for its full meaning.
- Limit — The promise hangs on Israel's obedience, so no other nation can simply take it over. Wealth is not proof of God's approval, and the Christian's blessings are spiritual and heavenly.
And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to keep and to do them,
Moses ends the list of Israel's blessings with a picture of rank. The nation is set at the top and not the bottom — but the whole promise hangs on one small word: "if."
The language of head and tail is about position among the nations of the world. One writer traces this place back to the way the nations first spread out:
When the descendants of Noah, with their different languages, scattered abroad and seized lands here and there as it pleased them, the invisible hand of God guided them to where He would need them when Israel came on the scene.
Everything in this chapter comes on terms. One writer also notes how far these blessings reached — and where they stopped:
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-13, for instance, and you will see at once that the blessings promised on condition of obedience were limited to the earth.
Commentators warn against taking these promises from Israel and giving them to the church:
Some interpreters follow a method that spiritualises the covenant blessings of Israel and hands them over to the church of God. This is a most fatal mistake.
The promise was not empty words. Under Solomon it was visibly true — the people, and not only the king, held the top place, lending and not borrowing, feared by those around them. But later in the same chapter Moses describes the exact reverse falling on a disobedient people:
Aliens would gain the upper hand over Israel. They would have to borrow from aliens instead of the other way around (v.44). So the foreigner would be the head and Israel the tail — the reverse of what would be true if Israel obeyed (vv.12-13).
Failure did not cancel God's purpose. The nation is low now, and yet the end is settled.
This, no doubt, refers to Israel as a nation. They are destined to be the head of all the nations of the earth. This is the sure and settled purpose and counsel of God concerning them. They are sunk very low now, scattered and lost among the nations, suffering the terrible results of their long disobedience... Yet as a nation they will rise and shine in far brighter glory than Solomon's.
But there is only one road to that place:
Israel can never be the head of the nations (see Deut. 28:13) unless she reaches that goal by the hard road of repentance, and recognises as her Sovereign and Lord the One whom they crucified.
The verse had its most striking use in Israel's darkest days. Some people still took the promise as their own:
Looking through the history of Israel, we find some very striking cases of people whom infinite grace allowed and enabled to make the precious promise of verse 13 their own. They did this in very dark and depressing periods of the nation's history, when Israel, as a nation, was the tail and not the head.
One writer points to Daniel, an exile whose faithfulness brought a king to his feet:
Here we have earth's proudest and most powerful monarch at the feet of the captive exile. Magnificent fruit of faithfulness! Here is precious proof that God will always honour faith that rises, even a little, to the height of His thoughts!... "And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down." (Deut. 28:10, 13)
- Position — head and tail are about rank among nations. God settled the nations with Israel's place already in view.
- Condition — the promise turns on "if you obey." These earthly blessings are tied to obedience, and commentators warn against handing them to the church.
- Reversal — later in the chapter the picture flips. The foreigner becomes the head and Israel the tail, borrowing instead of lending.
- Certainty — God's purpose still stands. A repentant Israel will own the One they crucified and shine brighter than in Solomon's day.
- One person — when the nation was the tail, Daniel still made this promise his own, and the world's proudest king ended up at the feet of an exile.
and if thou turn not aside from any of the words that I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Moses closes the long list of blessings with a condition, not another promise. Everything he has just pledged rests on Israel holding to his words, and not going after other gods. Two questions follow: what blessing was at stake, and why a small turn counts as idolatry.
The blessings promised here land in the city and in the field. They do not answer the need of a guilty person standing before God.
"And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field." This is not what a poor soul wants. It in no way meets a sense of guilt or a dread of judgment. The sinner needs something which will stand forever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. He wants God to accept him. Receiving in his basket and his store is not enough; there is nothing of that sort here.
Within that sphere, everything depended on listening.
"If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God" — the grand old Deuteronomic motto, the keynote of the book — "to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you today." This is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
The verse forbids turning aside from any of the words. So we cannot keep the commands we like and drop the rest.
There is great strength gained by unreserved obedience to the word of God. It will not do to pick and choose. We are prone to this. We take up the commandments and rules that suit us, but that is self-will. What right do we have to pick certain rules from the word and ignore others? None at all. To do so is, in principle, simply self-will and rebellion. What business has a servant to decide which of his master's commands he will obey?
Why does a small turn sit in the same sentence as serving other gods? Because the turn starts inside, where no one can see it.
"Watch yourselves, or your heart will be deceived, and you will turn aside and serve other gods and worship them." Sad progress downward! The heart deceived. This is where every falling away begins. "And you turn aside." The feet are sure to follow the heart. So we deeply need to guard the heart. It is the fortress of the whole moral being. As long as we keep it for the Lord, the enemy can gain no advantage. But once we hand it over, everything is gone.
The blessing at stake was named one verse earlier: head, not tail. Israel's history since then shows what happened when the condition went unmet.
In such a case Israel would be the head of the nations, and not the tail (v.13). Sadly, Israel rebelled against God and became the tail for centuries. They did not even hold their own land, and they are still far from being head of the nations. But when they are turned back to receive the Lord Jesus, their true Messiah, everything will change. They will again be the head of all nations for the whole thousand years of millennial blessing.
The same phrase returns later as praise for Josiah, one of Israel's later kings. It describes a man who had made up his mind.
We read of Josiah that "he walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." What a testimony from the Holy Spirit about a young man! It imparts great peace of mind. A wavering man is never peaceful; he is always tossed to and fro. "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." He tries to please everybody, and in the end pleases nobody. The decided man, on the contrary, is the one who feels he has "to please but One."
- The word. Obedience covers all the commandments. Picking the ones that suit us is self-will.
- The heart. Turning aside starts inside. A deceived heart goes first, and the feet follow.
- The gods. Moses names a small swerve and open idolatry in one breath, because the first ends in the second.
- The nation. Head or tail was the stake. Israel became the tail for centuries, and will be head again when they receive their Messiah.
- The walk. Turning neither right nor left is decision. Decision brings peace; the wavering man pleases nobody.
But it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take heed to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.