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.