Deuteronomy 28:1–68

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 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.

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.

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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).

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.

"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 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.

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.

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.

Chapter 28 does not say that these blessings came from Mount Gerizim, but chapter 27:12 shows this.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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).

A word that usually means 'cows,' though its use is not limited to the female: see Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51.

"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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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!

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).

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.)

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.

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."

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.

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.

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).

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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)

"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.

"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.

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?

"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.

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.

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."

To put it as plainly and briefly as possible, chapter 27 is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national, and belongs to God's dealings with Israel in her own 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, on the other hand, takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government 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, not just in the field or in the city. He wants acceptance for himself with God, not just full baskets and full storehouses; there is nothing of that sort here. In chapter 27 the question is not where we are cursed, but who is cursed. Here a particular curse falls on a particular sphere.

If Israel would not obey God's commandments and statutes, the curse would follow them wherever they went. It would reach the cities and the country (v.16), the food stored in their homes (v.17), their children, their crops and the young of their livestock (v.18). Whether coming in or going out (v.19), moving from one to the other would not ease the misery.

The section on curses takes up far more room than the section on blessings. The reason is likely this. God knew that Israel would soon turn away from Him in hard-hearted disobedience. So they would have no chance to enjoy the blessings promised for obedience, but every chance to feel the many curses that were their own choice.

The section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings. The blessings fill fifteen verses; the curses fill fifty-three. All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience — and that He punishes it first of all in His own people. If He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

Each year, Orthodox Jews read right through the five books of Moses in their synagogues. When they reach this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a hushed voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over. Thousands of years ago the Spirit of God, through Moses, wrote here in advance the sad history of that remarkable nation — the scattering, the suffering and the trouble.

It does not only say, "as many as fail to keep the law," though that is true. As if to set the truth before us in the clearest and strongest way, the Holy Spirit declares that for everyone — Jew, Gentile, or Christian in name only — for all who stand on the ground or principle of works of law, there is, and can be, nothing but a curse.

Think of the curse as a great sword hanging by a thread over my head. It may fall at any moment and destroy me. Christ came above me, between me and the sword. The sword fell on Him; He received the blow that must have taken us down to hell; He took us out from under the curse.

If Israel would not obey God's commandments and statutes, the curse would follow them wherever they went. It would reach the cities, the country (v.16), their house provisions (v.17), their children, the produce of their land and the offspring of their livestock (v.18). Whether coming in or going out (v.19) — that is, changing from one to the other would not ease the misery.

In the previous chapter it is no question of where we are cursed, but rather of the person cursed. Here it is a particular curse that falls on a particular sphere.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the fathers' sakes. Now the law can be taken as the principle of relationship with God — as the way to a righteousness good enough for God to accept us. Do not confuse the consequences of breaking it in that sense with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is to this second kind that chapter 28 refers… As to Israel, universal history presents to us the fulfilment of the threats of the chapter.

This section dealing with curses occupies a far larger place than the one speaking of blessings. The reason is likely this. God knew full well that Israel would soon depart from Him in hard-hearted disobedience. So they would have no opportunity to experience the blessings promised on condition of obedience. They would have every opportunity to experience the many curses, which they had chosen for themselves.

The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God, and a most forceful illustration of the fact that "our God is a consuming fire." All the nations of the earth may learn something from Israel's remarkable history. God must punish disobedience, and He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

"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 that will stand for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, not just 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.

True, we read in Galatians 3 that "in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive" — what? Blessings in the city and in the field? Blessings in our basket and store? No. We receive "the promised Spirit through faith."

If Israel would not obey God's commandments and statutes, they would be cursed wherever they went. The curse would touch them in the cities and in the country (v.16), and in the food stored in their houses (v.17). It would touch their children, the produce of their land and the offspring of their livestock (v.18). Whether they were coming in or going out (v.19) — that is, changing from one to the other — would not ease the misery.

They would also find blessing in regard to their children and the produce of their crops, in the increase of their herds, of their cattle and of their flocks (v.4). This natural increase pictures the spiritual increase believers receive when they live in a spirit of devoted obedience to the Lord. There will be lasting results from their labors.

"Ashteroth" is found four times in Deuteronomy (Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51). The King James Version translates it "flocks," and the Revised Version "young." Others give (much better) "ewes," while Young's translation gives "multiplications."

Chapter 27 is — to put it as plainly 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 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 whole chapter is an impressive commentary on the government of God... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience — and that He punishes it first of all in His own people.

This section dealing with curses takes up a far larger place than the section speaking of blessings. Likely the reason is that God knew full well that Israel would soon turn away from Him in callous disobedience. So they would have no opportunity to experience the blessings promised on condition of obedience, but every opportunity to experience the many curses — curses that were really their own choice.

Israel thought that blessing lay in the law, but the curse was there. Instead of life they found death. Instead of righteousness they found condemnation. Moses had said that the man who did the things commanded would live by doing them, but no man ever did them... They would have found blessing if they had obeyed. But they disobeyed, and the curse became their portion.

Long before, the Lord had foretold Israel's scattering, repentance, and final return and blessing. He had said, "The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground, for good" (Deut. 30:9).

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13).

If Israel would not obey God's commandments and statutes, they would be cursed wherever they went. The curse would fall on their cities and their fields (v.16), on the food stored in their houses (v.17), on their children, the crops of their land and the young of their livestock (v.18). Whether coming in or going out (v.19), moving from one to the other would not ease the misery.

God's blessing too would be consistent, whether in their coming in or going out (v.6). We can apply this to the blessing of private life, or of shared life among 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 people in the world.

To put it as sharply and briefly as possible, chapter 27 is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national: it belongs to God's dealings with Israel as a people. 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.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. History has solemnly fulfilled those results in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for their fathers' sake. The law can also be looked at as the principle of relationship with God, where everything turns on a righteousness good enough for God to accept a person. Do not confuse the results of breaking the law in that sense with the temporary results of disobedience under God's government.

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.

This section on curses takes up far more room than the section on blessings. The reason is likely this: God knew that Israel would soon turn away from Him in hard-hearted disobedience. So they would have no chance to enjoy the blessings promised for obedience, but every chance to meet the many curses that came by their own choice.

He warns Israel in even greater detail, and with deeper solemnity. If they would not listen to His voice, the LORD would send curses on them to consume Israel out of the land and to chase them elsewhere. They would become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all nations… In Deuteronomy 30 Moses goes further. When Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to the LORD their God, and obey His voice, then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Think of the curse as a great sword hanging by a thread over my head. It may fall at any moment and destroy me. Christ came above me, between me and the sword. The sword fell on Him; He received the blow that must have taken us down to hell; He took us out from under the curse.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government in the midst of that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, whom He still loves for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law as the principle of relationship with God raises the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. We must not confuse the consequences of that with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 speaks of these latter ones.

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.

The Lord would send on them cursing, confusion and rebuke in whatever they were busy with (v.20), and there would be no relief before they died early. Plagues would afflict them until they were consumed, either by death or by scattering them from the land (v.20).

This section dealing with curses occupies a far larger place than that speaking of blessings. The likely reason is that God knew full well that Israel would soon turn away from Him in hard-hearted disobedience. They would have no chance to enjoy the blessings promised for obedience, but every chance to feel the many curses that were really their own choice.

Yet we find it used to predict the curse on Israel. They are still under that penalty as a nation, and it is not "utter extinction," as the very passage shows. "Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number" (Deut. 28:61-62) — that is, not utterly extinct at all. Chapter 30 adds, "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse… and you call them to mind and return to the LORD your God… then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes" (Deut. 30:1-3). Here is national repentance and restoration predicted, after what is called "utter extinction." This is the place in all Scripture where the word is used most often: Deuteronomy 28:20, 24, 45, 48, 51, 61 and 63.

In Deuteronomy 28 He warns Israel in still greater detail, and still more solemnly. If they will not listen to His voice, the LORD will send curses on them to consume Israel from off the land and to pursue them elsewhere. They would become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations. In Deuteronomy 29 He pictures all the nations asking why the LORD had so ruined the holy land, and why such fierce anger. The answer is: because Israel forsook the covenant of the LORD for false gods. So the curse fell, and He rooted them out of their land in great anger.

This is one of the most solemn chapters in the Pentateuch. Orthodox Hebrews read through the entire five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they read this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a subdued voice. And well may they read it quietly and think it over. Here, written long before it happened, is the sad and sorrowful history of that remarkable nation.

What a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Rom. 11:21).

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were fulfilled with great solemnity in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still beloved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, had consequences for the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God.

Notice how chapter 28 unfolds God's governmental dealings. It develops the curses and presses them at far greater length than the blessings, though in a matching way. This is bound to stamp a character of its own on the relationship between God and the people. We are used to perfect and untiring love, so this gives us a somewhat painful feeling — not about whether it is right, but about standing in such a relationship... it makes us see what the position of law is for man's heart.

This is often mentioned along with the sword and the famine as punishment from God upon His rebellious people. Scripture represents it as sent directly by God Himself. When David had numbered the people, the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel, and 70,000 men died.

David admits the great distress and confusion of his soul, but he chooses the last; and he was right. "Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man." David preferred — and rightly, in my opinion — the direct hand of the LORD... But he chose a clear chastening inflicted by God's own hand, through the destroying angel.

Deuteronomy 28 uses the word six times of Israel, and never once does it mean their extinction: "Every sickness also and every affliction ... the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No — "you shall be left few in number". And after the curse has been fulfilled, Scripture adds, "the LORD your God will restore your fortunes"! (Deut. 30:1-3.)

This was not merely punishment, but God's way of seeking to drive them back to Him. Yet it would continue until they perished, for God knew the stubbornness of their hearts. If they would only confess their guilt and turn from it, God would certainly forgive and restore them. But Israel's history so far has been one of rebellion.

In this same chapter He warns Israel with even greater detail and seriousness. If they will not listen to His voice, the LORD will send curses on them. Those curses will consume Israel from off the land and pursue them elsewhere, until they become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations... Further, in Deuteronomy 30, Moses declares what happens when Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven. When they return to the LORD their God and obey His voice, He will turn their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land.

In Deuteronomy 28 we do not have law looked at in its own nature, as a question between God and man. We have law as the rule of earthly government, dealing with the circumstances of man. So here we have the blessing on one hand and the curse on the other.

It is not a question therefore of dealing according to God's nature, but a matter of His ways in dealing with a nation in this world at that time, and nothing more.

Wasting away of the body.

The words in the originals imply "a burning heat," so there is no doubt that they mean what we now call "fever."

Israel had disobeyed. So it would be the Lord Himself who would inflict on them wasting sickness, fever, inflammation, severe burning fever, the scourge of an enemy's sword, scorching and mildew (v.22). This was not merely punishment, but God's way of seeking to drive them back to Him. Yet it would continue until they perished, for God knew the stubbornness of their hearts. If they would only confess their guilt and turn from it, God would surely forgive and restore them, but Israel's history so far has been one of rebellion.

He struck them with mildew and blight; the locusts came and ate up the plants; there were terrible plagues and other judgments, but they did not return to Him. Five times in this paragraph we find the same statement: "Yet you have not returned to Me."

God still governs on the same principle. Much of the chastening that falls on His people is meant to make them take their condition to heart... Every stroke of God's rod should stir deep searching of heart, and where it does not, a heavier chastening from His hand is sure to follow.

Likely the reason is this. God knew well that Israel would soon turn away from Him in callous disobedience. So they would have no chance to know the blessings promised for obedience. They would have every chance to know the many curses that were their own choice.

Above all, Christ has redeemed us from the curse by being made a curse for us; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Deut. 21:23). Christ bears our curse that we might receive blessing, and the promise of the Spirit, through faith in Christ.

For this reason the heavens would be bronze and the earth iron (v.23). This would match their attitude. They could pray for material blessings or relief, but no loving answer would come from heaven. The sky would be as closed as their own heart. The earth would be like iron, not soft enough to produce anything, because their hearts were also hard.

Copper is spoken of as a symbol of complete defence… The unyielding character of this metal also suggests judgment: "I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as copper" (Lev. 26:19). This order is reversed in Deut. 28:23.

What a vivid contrast between Egypt and Canaan! Egypt had no rain from heaven. It was all human effort there. Not so in the Lord's land. The human foot could do nothing there, and there was no need. The blessed rain from heaven fell on it. The Lord Himself cared for it and watered it with the early and the late rains… In Egypt they watered with the foot. In Canaan they looked up to heaven.

Deuteronomy 28 gives us the principles of God's government among that people. It shows the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results came true in the sad fate of that people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law had consequences as a principle of relationship with God — that is, as to a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government.

The famine then was God's call to repentance, and should always have been taken that way… Even where there had been no public turning away from God, such trouble should always have brought them onto their faces, searching their hearts and asking, Why is this?

When Solomon led Israel in prayer at the dedication of the temple, he thought of every kind of trouble that might come on the people, including the stopping of the rain. "When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them: then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants" (1 Kings 8:35-36). Mark the words, "if they pray toward this place." Israel did nothing of the kind in Elijah's day. Their hearts were stubborn. They felt no guilt. They were in no mood to humble themselves before God.

Israel had sinned, and Israel must feel the rod of Jehovah's righteous anger. What a humbling picture of God's ancient people, to see their king going out to look for grass!… But God had been deeply dishonoured, and His truth rejected… so the heaven above was iron, and the earth beneath brass. The state of the land was simply the expression of Israel's hard heart and low moral condition.

Blessing can only ever come from God in the end, and so it is here too. A fine illustration of this from the Bible is rain. People in southern countries understand this best of all. Without rain there can be no life or growth. It comes from the clouds above, and so it pictures blessing coming down from God. In Deuteronomy 28 Moses explains the way of blessing to the people. He links rain to it directly, and links it to heaven: "The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands" (Deut. 28:12).

What barrenness and desolation there must be when heaven is shut up! No refreshing showers coming down, no dewdrops falling, no contact between heaven and earth.

The rains of their land would be exchanged for powder and dust (v.24). This is not only negative — a lack of rain — but an active curse, to cause great distress.

Israel had sinned, and Israel had to feel the rod of God's righteous anger. What a humbling picture of God's ancient people, to see their king going out to look for grass! What a contrast between all this and the rich abundance and glory of Solomon's day! But God had been deeply dishonoured and His truth rejected. Jezebel had spread her poisonous principles through her wicked prophets, and Baal's altar had replaced the altar of God. So the heaven above was iron and the earth beneath brass. The physical state of things was nothing but the expression of Israel's hardness of heart and low moral condition.

"When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants" (1 Kings 8:35-36). Notice the words, "if they pray toward this place." Israel did nothing of the kind in Elijah's day. Their hearts were stubborn; there was no sense of guilt; and they were in no mood to humble themselves before God. As for the place God loved, they had turned their backs on it.

Some say this word, shamad, means "utter extinction," so it must be the strongest of all these terms. Yet we find it used to predict the curse on Israel. As a nation they are still under that curse, and it is not "utter extinction," as the passage itself shows. "Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number" (Deut. 28:61-62) — that is, not utterly extinct at all. Chapter 30 adds that when the blessing and the curse have all come on them, and they call them to mind and return to the LORD their God, He will bring them back from captivity. Here is national repentance and restoration predicted, after what is called "utter extinction." The word is found in Deuteronomy 28:20, 24, 45, 48, 51 and 61, translated "destroy," and in verse 63 "bring to nothing."

All of it was strictly conditional. It is, "If you walk... then I will give." Everything depended on their obedience, and that "If" proved fatal. The blessings promised were earthly and material... How great the contrast with the Christian's portion — blessed "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3), and with no "if" attached.

The section on the curses takes up far more space than the section on the blessings. The reason is likely this: God knew full well that Israel would soon turn away from Him in hard-hearted disobedience. So they would never get to enjoy the blessings promised for obedience. But they would have every opportunity to feel the many curses, which were really their own choice.

The Lord too would deliver them 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. All nations also would consider Israel a troublesome people to all the earth.

Here God was making Israel feel the curse of a broken law. See Deut. 28:25. They could not stand before their enemies. Their disobedience had left them weak and powerless.

Not a word about the Lord Himself. They did not think of Him as the source of their strength. They did not make Him their shield and defence. No! They trusted in the ark. They imagined it could save them, but that hope was empty.

God threatens the nation He called to blessing with the most terrible judgments and disasters. And all these have become historical facts. Jewish history through many weary centuries records how steadily these solemn words came true. So this chapter, in the curses foretold and then literally fulfilled, gives us powerful and valuable evidence of inspiration. The Jew and his history, the land and its ruin, are God's standing witness to the nations that the Bible is the Word of God.

This was not just punishment. It was God's way of trying to drive them back to Him. Yet it would continue until they perished, for God knew the stubbornness of their hearts. If only they would confess their guilt and turn from it, God would surely forgive and restore them. But Israel's history up to now has been one of rebellion.

They have completely failed to obey, as we know, and so they have forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen again and again in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore to them every blessing they forfeited. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of it.

"Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." The sin of sowing weeds may be forgiven, but the harvest still matches the sowing. Forgiveness is grace; the harvest is government. Each works in its own sphere, and neither interferes with the other.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences came true, in a most solemn way, in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God had its own consequences, in terms of a righteousness that was an adequate ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 is about the temporary ones.

It divides itself 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… The section containing the curses is more than three times the length of the one containing the blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three… All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience, and that first of all in His own. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

They would "go out one way," that is, in apparent unity, but would "flee seven ways," in total defeat and disarray.

The nation would suffer further humiliation. Many of its dead would lie without burial. Birds and animals would feed on their dead bodies, with no one there to frighten them away (v.26).

There is also another thing here, and that is the honour of the grave… Burial was very important to the Jews. The reason, I have no doubt, is that in their earlier history it was a testimony that they were to have the land. They were told not to leave Joseph's bones in Egypt. You remember how they brought his bones up, no doubt as a testimony to the expectation of resurrection in the land.

Jeremiah quotes and refers to the Book of the Covenant too many times to mention. Here are a few from Deuteronomy… Compare Jer. 7:33 and Deut. 28:26.

They have given the dead bodies of His servants as food to the birds and beasts of prey. No doubt their sins have provoked the Lord to anger, and they own it to be so. But here are enemies of His. They have come in to slaughter those who at least were His servants, worshippers of His… Their blood ran like water around the city of peace, so that no one was left to bury them.

This burial of the slain shall be for Israel a renown. It will give them a name of fame, of honour, before all nations. They bury the foe, instead of lying buried themselves under the weight of Gog's invading army.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven. When they return to the Lord their God and obey His voice, He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law had one set of consequences for the law as a way of relating to God — the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government.

The Lord Himself would also strike them with boils, tumors, scabs and itching, and they would find no way of easing it (v.27). To this He would add madness, blindness and confusion of heart (v.28). Even in broad daylight they would grope about, trying to find their way. Oppressors and robbers would take advantage of them, and no one would step in for them (v.29).

Hemorrhoids or tumours. One of the diseases of the Egyptians, and with which the Philistines were smitten when they had possession of the ark.

God promised Israel that if they would be obedient He would take away from them all sickness, and would put upon them none of the evil diseases of Egypt which they had known (Deut. 7:15). When the Lord was on earth He healed every sickness and every disease among the people (Matt. 9:35). On the ground of obedience they failed to gain freedom from diseases, but their Messiah healed them all in grace.

In the first part we have a full and blessed statement of the results of obedience (verses 1-15). In the second we have a solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience (verses 16-68). And it is striking that the section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience. And He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

In Deuteronomy 28 we get certain blessings and then curses. So in part of this chapter we see the condition Israel would remain in right down to the present day.

"The boils of Egypt, and tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed" were, according to Deut. 28:27, marks of the curse of an offended God. And healing was what the Philistines cared about most — a remedy, not for their diseased souls, but for their suffering bodies. How many today are eager to get healing for the body, while caring nothing for God's remedy for the sin-sick soul.

In Old Testament times, almost all God's dealings with people were on an earthly level. So people would take such an affliction as a special sign of His displeasure — at least those who had not learned the many uses of hardship in the school of God. We shall find that almost all of them — Job's friends, and even Job himself — held this mistaken view.

It is striking that the section holding the curses is more than three times as long as the section holding the blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three. The whole chapter is a striking commentary on the government of God. It shows in force that "our God is a consuming fire." All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience. And He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God has its own consequences. They concern righteousness — whether there is an adequate ground for God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 refers to these last.

The Lord Himself would also strike them with boils, tumours, scabs and itching that they would find no way of relieving (v.27). To this He would add mental derangement, blindness and confusion of heart (v.28). Even in broad daylight they would grope about, trying to find their way. Oppressors and robbers would take advantage of them, and no one would step in for them (v.29).

Worldly men ignore the clearest and most sensible ways to serve their own interests. Religious men wander from the simplest instructions of the truth. Nothing should surprise us. There is no folly, no unbelievable blindness of mind, that the deluded heart of man will not show. But God never sends this madness on a man until he has justly laid himself open to judgment. All the cases show this. Pharaoh, for instance, had forgotten Joseph in the deepest ingratitude. The Amorites of Canaan had filled up the measure of their sins.

They all needed the same grace of the divine physician. They did not know it. So, instead of knowing and confessing that "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint," they made sin an occasion for judging and comparing among themselves. It was useless, and deadly to them. The curse on disobedience (Deut. 28:28) had now struck them with madness, blindness and confusion of heart. Every city and village of theirs saw it as Jehovah their healer passed through, and they did not know it.

This is one of the most solemn chapters in the Pentateuch. Orthodox Jews read through all five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they read this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a subdued voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over. This chapter records in advance the sad and sorrowful history of that remarkable nation.

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses says more. One day Israel will repent among the nations where they have been driven. They will return to Jehovah their God and obey His voice. Then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. There He will bless them and multiply them. And He will put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still beloved for the sake of their fathers. Take the law as the principle of relationship with God, and breaking it has its own consequences: the question then is whether a person has a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse that with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of the second.

Even in broad daylight they would grope, trying to find their way. Oppressors and robbers would take advantage of them, and no one would step in for them (v.29).

A principle of judgment runs through God's dealings with people down the ages: when they have despised and resisted light from God, He sends blindness. So Pharaoh's heart was hardened. The Jews are another instance. Jesus warned them: "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you… While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light" (John 12:35-36). They rejected the Saviour, and then rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit from Pentecost onwards. So Paul writes in Romans 11 that "a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Rom. 11:25).

They had now been struck with madness, blindness and confusion of mind, according to the curse on disobedience (Deut. 28:28). The LORD their healer was passing through every city and village of theirs. They saw it, and did not know it.

He was among them as the "Light of the world" (John 8:12); but this did not help their moral perception, for to them noonday was no better than night. The light shone; but they were blind. Had they confessed their true state then, as they will do in a later day, they would have said, "We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight" (Isa. 59:10).

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and returns to the LORD their God, and obeys His voice. Then He will restore them from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

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 terrible consequences of disobedience. And it must strike us that the section holding the curses is more than three times the length of the one holding the blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three. The whole chapter is a powerful commentary on the government of God.

The law can be broken as a principle of relationship with God — that is the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Those consequences must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 has to do with these latter ones.

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.

Among the Jews this was looked on as being as binding as marriage, and could not be dissolved except by divorce. Certain laws were given about a betrothed woman. Ex. 21:8-9; Deut. 20:7; Deut. 28:30.

One might be engaged to marry a woman and another man commit fornication with her (v.30)… But when disobedient to God, an Israelite might build a house and never live in it, or he might plant a vineyard and never enjoy its fruits.

A man might have built a new house and not lived in it. He might have planted a vineyard and not eaten from it. He might have betrothed a wife and not taken her. In each case nothing was to part a man from what he was pursuing. There was to be no bringing homesickness onto the battlefield.

Have not the predictions of Moses (Deut. 28:30-33) been fulfilled to the very letter? Those to whom the land of Canaan belongs are strangers in it to this day.

Whatever planting we do, whatever energy we have in declaring the Word of God to others, it will bear little fruit if we ourselves are guilty of disobedience to God. How important that our spoken words be backed by a faithful, practical life!

"And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit… My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain" (Isaiah 65:21-22). Now all this is very cheering… It is not the eternal state, but a day of great glory.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. There are also consequences of breaking the law taken as a principle of relationship with God — the question of a righteousness that was adequate ground for God's acceptance. The two must not be confused. Chapter 28 deals with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. As for Israel, the whole of history shows us the fulfilment of the threats of this chapter.

If an Israelite disobeyed God, he might build a house and never live in it. He might plant a vineyard and never enjoy its fruit. Their livestock might be killed in front of them, yet do them no good. Or someone might take their livestock by force and never give it back.

When God has entrusted a government to men, He has the right to take it away from them completely. He can hand them over as prey to those He gives the power to. So it would soon go with the nations conquered by Babylon. The same fate would fall on Israel, which once stood as one whole under God's government. It had deserted the Lord, and God would leave it without king, without prince, and without help against the enemy (Isaiah 63:19; Hosea 3:4).

The section that contains the curses is more than three times the length of the one that contains the blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three. The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God, and a powerful illustration of the truth that "our God is a consuming fire." All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience, and that He does so first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

Jeremiah 5:15, "Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD… a nation whose language you do not know," is a quotation from Deuteronomy 28:49. Jeremiah 5:17, "They shall eat up your harvest and your food," comes from Leviticus 26:16 and Deuteronomy 28:31.

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven. They will return to the LORD their God and obey His voice. Then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless them and make them many there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Their sons and daughters would be taken captive and given as slaves to people of another nation. That would leave the parents in deep anxiety, with no power to do anything about it (v.32). Take one example. A little girl was taken from her home to be a slave for the wife of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:2). How would her parents feel about this? Yet in the little girl's own heart the grace of God won a beautiful victory. It lifted her above the pain of being torn from her country and her relatives. She truly cared about the health of the man who had taken her captive (v.3). This is a lovely picture of a great truth. However devastating the results of disobedience to God may be, the grace of God can overcome them where there is an honest turning to Him.

Blessed in the city, blessed in the field, if you listen to the voice of Jehovah your God — this is not what a poor soul wants. It does nothing for a guilty conscience or a fear of judgment. The sinner needs something that will last for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, not just in the field or in the city. He wants God to accept him, not just to receive in his basket and his storehouse. There is nothing of that sort here.

Since Solomon's death, how different has Israel's past been! The brotherhood between Israel and Judah was broken... and since the kingdom of Israel fell, have not the predictions of Moses (Deut. 28:30-33) been fulfilled to the very letter? Those to whom the land of Canaan belongs are strangers in it to this day.

These words were fulfilled during the Babylonian captivity and in that great dispersion brought about by the Roman Empire. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 the very thing happened that the prophet spoke of... More than 100,000 were taken prisoner. According to Josephus, Titus dealt with these Jews in this way: "Those under seventeen years of age were sold in public. Of the rest, some were executed at once, some were sent away to work in the Egyptian mines, and some were kept for public shows to fight with wild beasts in the chief cities. Only the tallest and best-looking were kept for the victory parade in Rome."

Moses declares in Deuteronomy 28 the principles of God's government of Israel. But the sum of it all is the blessing of Jehovah in the land which He gives them, according to His oath to the fathers. In this same chapter He warns Israel with even greater detail and weight. If they will not listen to His voice, Jehovah will send curses on them. Those curses will consume Israel out of the land and follow them elsewhere. All nations will be shocked at them and will use their name as a proverb and a byword... Further, in Deuteronomy 30, Moses declares more. When Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and returns to Jehovah their God and obeys His voice, then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. There He will not only bless them and multiply them. He will also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have law, not looked at in its own nature as a question between God and man, but regarded as the rule of earthly government, as having to do with the circumstances of man. And here accordingly we have the blessing on the one hand and the curse on the other. Nothing can be plainer than the teaching conveyed once the idea is grasped.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences came true, with awful solemnity, in the fate of that unhappy people — still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God brings its own consequences. There the question is a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse that with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 is about the second kind.

A foreign nation, before unknown to Israel, would come from a distance to overrun their land, oppressing and crushing the people and eating what they had produced for themselves (v.33). So Israel would lose their minds at the sight of things too terrible to bear (v.34).

This is the fulfilment of the promises God made to His people on condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28:1-12). The contrast stands in that same chapter. There God warns them that, if they turned aside from His statutes and laws, others would eat the fruit of their land and all their labours (v. 33). 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. How many have decided to get on in the world! They have worked long and hard to secure their ends. Then, just as the goal came in sight, all the fruit of their toil vanished!

Deuteronomy gives us one more solemn word of warning. It is the only other mention of joy in the book. I refer to Deuteronomy 28:47-48: "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything." When joy fails, we lose the possession in practice — here, on our tested path. Is there no danger for us? … How we need to guard the heart, with care and watchfulness, against the first weakening of joy! It shows that decline has begun. Once the heart begins to go, the fall is easy and fast.

Have the predictions of Moses (Deut. 28:30-33) not come true to the very letter? Those to whom the land of Canaan belongs are strangers in it to this day.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares this. When Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to the LORD their God, and obey His voice, then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them home and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Paul is not dealing merely with what belongs to the present life. He is looking at law as that which brings in the curse forever. Using this light then, it is not a question of present things, but of a curse in the sight of God. This gives the true key to the passage as compared with the next chapter. We shall see that the blessings and the curses of Deuteronomy 28 belong strictly to the actual curse of man here below.

A foreign nation, unknown to Israel before, would come from far away to overrun their land. They would oppress and crush the people and eat what Israel had produced for themselves (v.33). So Israel would go insane from watching things they could not bear (v.34).

Worldly men break the clearest and most sensible rules of their own interests. Religious men wander from the simplest instructions of the truth. We are not to wonder at anything. The very idols which men have taken as spoils of war, they have afterwards bowed down to as their gods (2 Chron. 25:14). But this madness is never sent out to visit man until he has righteously exposed himself to judgment. All the cases show this. Pharaoh, for instance, had, in deepest ingratitude, forgotten Joseph. The Amorites of Canaan had filled up the measure of their sins.

Orthodox Jews read through all five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they reach this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a lowered voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over. The sad and sorrowful history of that wonderful nation is written here in advance... Here are arguments for the divine, the supernatural origin of this book, and no unbeliever has ever been able to answer them.

It would take a great many pages to follow the different predictions and show how literally they were fulfilled. The nation turned away from the Lord and disobeyed His Word. What a warning this chapter is to the non-Jewish Christian world! "If God did not spare the natural branches, take care in case He does not spare you either" (Rom. 11:21). Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that would later break the Jews, and that at a time when no such power existed (verses 49-50). The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but did not know Latin. Rome killed the old people and the children. Every verse from the fifteenth to the end of this chapter has found its repeated fulfilment.

Further on, in Deuteronomy 30, Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven. If they return to the Lord their God and obey His voice, then He will bring them back from their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the sake of their fathers. The law can be taken as the basis of relationship with God, and breaking it then has consequences for righteousness — for whether a person has solid ground to be accepted by God. Do not confuse those with the temporary results of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of these last ones.

The section containing the curses is more than three times the length of the one containing the blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three. The whole chapter is a striking commentary on the government of God, and a powerful illustration that "our God is a consuming fire." All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience, and that He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

No strength would be left in their knees or legs because of sore boils that resisted healing, and the whole body would suffer terribly (v.35).

An incurable skin disease, otherwise undefined. Deut. 28:27, 35.

The plague called "an evil and grievous sore" reminds us of the sixth Egyptian plague (Ex. 9:10-11). This was the first of the plagues that struck the bodies of the Egyptians... It was a disgusting and loathsome disease (see Deut. 28:27, 35)... In Luke 16:20-21 we learn that Lazarus, dying among the dogs on the street, was covered with these painful sores that usually could not be healed. Yet the angels of God waited on the soul of that poor man.

Without going into speculation, we may recall God's solemn warnings about what would come if His people turned away from Him... In Old Testament times, nearly all God's dealings with people were on an earthly level. So such an affliction was bound to look like a special sign of His displeasure — at least to those who had not learned the varied uses of hardship in the school of God. We shall find that nearly all of them — Job's friends, and even Job himself — made this mistake. That explains the long and painful argument between them, in which neither side could reach what God could approve.

This was not just punishment. It was God's way of seeking to drive them back to Him.

Further on, in Deuteronomy 30, Moses says that when Israel repent among the nations where they have been driven, and return to the LORD their God, and obey His voice, He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will bless and multiply them there, and He will put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Think of the curse as a great sword hanging by a thread over my head. It may fall at any moment and destroy me. Christ came above me, between me and the sword. The sword fell on Him; He received the blow that must have taken us down to hell; He took us out from under the curse.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have law. It is not looked at in its own nature, as a question between God and man. It is looked at as the rule of earthly government, dealing with the circumstances of man. So here we have the blessing on one side and the curse on the other.

It was Israel's rebellious will that demanded, as they said, "our" king, instead of waiting for the King Jehovah had purposed (1 Sam. 2:10; Ps. 2; compare also Num. 24:7; Deut. 17:14-15; Deut. 28:36; Ps. 45). He will still set that King in His own time on His holy hill of Zion. Israel refused both appeal and warning, so God gave them their king in His anger.

If they had waited in faith, God might have raised up for them, when Samuel died, a king of His own providing: "a man after His own heart," David. David was a model prince, and a picture of the One who is both "King of Israel" and "Prince of peace." But no. They could not wait. They would not take advice, and so God gave them what they wanted. But "sudden decisions and hasty desires make work for painful, slow repentance."

They would not only suffer in their own land. The Lord would also see to it that they, and the king they had wanted, were taken captive to a foreign country. There the only worship they would know was the worship of idols (v.36). In those conditions they would find no rest. Instead they would become the object of contempt and ridicule among all the nations (v.37). How sadly true this has proved in all of Israel's history. The Assyrians and the Babylonians carried them away centuries ago, and the same thing happened again when Judah was scattered from their land after the crucifixion of their Messiah.

If the children of Israel will abandon Jehovah to serve idols, then Jehovah gives them up to serve idolaters. It is the same with us. If we sin, that sin measures and shapes our discipline. And so grace works repentance in us when we turn and cry to the Lord in our distress.

You may say that we never bowed down to wood and stone. But we may still give plenty of room in our hearts to the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are idols — as truly idols to our hearts as wood and stone were to the Thessalonians.

In Deuteronomy 29 He shows all the nations asking why Jehovah had laid the holy land waste, and why His anger burned so hot. The answer is this: Israel abandoned the covenant of Jehovah for false gods. So the curse fell, and He tore them out of their land in great anger. Then in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares that Israel will come to repentance among the nations they are driven to. When they return to Jehovah their God and obey His voice, He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land.

In Deuteronomy 28 we get certain blessings and then curses. So part of this chapter shows us the state Israel would be in down to the present day… "You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away." So this is not a question of dealing according to God's nature. It is a matter of His governmental ways with a nation in this world, and nothing more.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still beloved for the fathers' sakes. The consequences of breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God bear on a righteousness that is adequate ground for God's acceptance. Do not confuse them with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 has these temporary consequences in view… As to Israel, world history shows us the threats of this chapter fulfilled.

The word usually translated "proverb," and used for the Book of Proverbs, is mashal. It means "comparison, likeness." Proverbs are short sentences designed to catch attention and stay in the memory. Deut. 28:37; 1 Sam. 24:13; Ps. 69:11; Prov. 1:1; Isa. 14:4; Jer. 24:9; etc.

The existence of that generation — the Jews dispersed among all nations and yet separate from them — is one of the wonders of the world. Bishop Butler calls it "the appearance of a standing miracle, in the Jews remaining a distinct people in their dispersion." He says: "The Jewish nation and government were destroyed in a very remarkable way. The people were carried away captive and scattered through the most distant countries. In that scattered state they have remained fifteen hundred years. They are still a large people, united among themselves, and marked off from the rest of the world — as they were in the days of Moses — by holding to His law. Everywhere people regard them in a way one hardly knows how to put into words, except in the words of the prophecy given so many ages before it came to pass (Deut. 28:37)."

He warns Israel with still greater detail and solemnity. If they will not listen to His voice, the Lord will send curses on them. Those curses will consume Israel from the land and pursue them elsewhere, so that they become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all nations. In Deuteronomy 29 He shows all nations asking why the Lord had so ruined the holy land, and why such fierce anger. The answer is: because Israel abandoned the covenant of the Lord for false gods… In Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares more. When Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to the Lord their God and obey His voice, then He will turn their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back.

"And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing" (v. 13). The Lord in His anger had scattered them among all the nations. Of all the nations they alone had known the Lord's name, so they should have been His witnesses. Instead they had been a curse through their idolatry… It was on this ground, "For My holy name's sake," that God would act and save His people.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God has its own consequences, on the point of a righteousness that was an adequate ground of God's acceptance. Those must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 refers to the latter.

Israel would plant much seed and get little return (v.38), for locusts would consume their crops. Worms would eat up the fruit of their vineyards (v.39). They would have no return from their olive trees (v.40). This applies to believers spiritually today. Whatever we plant, and whatever energy we put into declaring the Word of God to others, it will bear little fruit if we ourselves disobey God. How important that a faithful life backs up our spoken testimony!

No doubt God had used Midianites, Philistines and other enemies in earlier days to discipline Israel, especially when they were guilty of idolatry. But here He shows that His hand was stretched out to deal with it in a most humiliating way. Faithfulness to His government would have brought blessings in the basket and the store. Instead they had been most unfaithful. So now Jehovah would use even the insect world, so to speak, to deal with His people.

Man may have turned away from God and become hostile to Him, but all of nature still obeys Him and serves Him. So the sinner stands in a stream of hostile forces, the hosts of the Lord, and the army of locusts pictures them for us. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank" (Prov. 30:27)... They keep this discipline by instinct, under a king no one can see. That shows whose hosts they are, and who leads them: the Lord calls them "His army" (Joel 2:11). To contend with them is hopeless.

The great locust plague and the drought were a punishment from Jehovah. Moses and Solomon had already prophesied such forms of judgement (Deut. 28:38-39 and 1 Kings 8:37). But the people of Israel would not recognise the hand of Jehovah in it. This is why, in chapter 1, the prophet calls the old men and the priests to lamentation and to repentance.

They set their hearts on rest, ease, and prosperity in this world. They wanted to find their "life" in their comforts, and so they lost it, because they had left God out of the account... they forfeited the very blessings they were labouring for. How common this mistake is, even among Christians! The blessing may differ in character, but the principle still holds... Let us never forget that there is such a thing as a present judgment of God. He notices the conduct of His people. In His fatherly government and care He deals with them according to the state of their heart and walk.

All who rely on works of the law are under a curse — not only those who broke the law, but everyone on that principle, like the Galatians who were bewitched. Spiritually, it was no use to tell us of the blessings on Mount Gerizim. Deuteronomy 28 does not speak of the personal curse. It speaks of governmental blessings or curses, and these are temporary.

Israel would plant much seed and get little return, for locusts would consume their crops. Worms would eat up the fruit of their vineyards. They would have no return from their olive trees. This can be applied to believers spiritually today. Whatever we plant, and whatever energy we put into telling others the Word of God, little fruit will come of it if we ourselves are disobedient to God. How important that a faithful, practical life backs up the testimony we speak!

In the Scriptures, wine speaks of earthly joy, and God sought that joy from His earthly people, Israel. Isaiah 5 compares Israel to a vine, and verse 2 of that chapter lists all that God did so that it would bear fruit... "What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" God asked. He had done everything possible, yet when He came to taste the fruit there was no wine for Him. He could have no joy in His earthly people.

The blight over the land reached the religious offerings too — the grain offering and the drink offering. One was the witness of devotedness, the other of joy before God. Both were cut off from the house of Jehovah... "The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes... all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man."

This is simply God keeping the promises He made to His people. He gave those promises on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments... 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 ignore His word and live for themselves, God will often come in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many people have set their hearts on getting on in the world! They worked hard and long to reach their goal. Then, just as it came in sight, all the fruit of their labour suddenly disappeared!

"I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; they shall also make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted." It is clear that these blessings, and those in the two passages before them, did not come true when the captives returned from Babylon. Each one describes a restoration under Jehovah's blessing, a lasting state of happiness and holiness. Israel has never yet enjoyed this.

Deuteronomy 28 gives us the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for their fathers' sakes. Breaking the law had consequences for relationship with God, on the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of His acceptance. We must not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government.

It falls into two clear parts. In the first, we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience. In the second, a deeply solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience. It is striking that the section containing the curses is more than three times the length of the one containing the blessings. That has fifteen verses; this has fifty-three.

When we hear of olives we think of oil, and oil mattered a great deal in Bible times. Kings and priests were anointed with oil, and one tree can give as much as fifteen gallons. When the Bible speaks of medicine, or ointment, the word used is "olive oil" since this was the base of most healing balms. The berries were good to eat and the Jews made butter of the oil as well as using it for light... Besides this, pure olive oil fuelled the lamps in the Holy Place of both the tabernacle and the temple.

See also Isaiah 61:3, where the "oil of gladness" is given instead of mourning. It reminds us of the oil that makes a man's face shine. All these passages and many others are full of meaning: adornment, honour and joy are all the results of our having been anointed by the Spirit.

Israel would plant much seed and get little return (v.38), for locusts would consume their crops. Worms would eat up the fruit of their vineyards (v.39). They would have no return from their olive trees (v.40). We can apply this to believers today. Whatever planting we do, whatever energy we put into telling others the Word of God, it will bear little fruit if we ourselves are disobeying God. How important that our spoken testimony be matched by faithfulness in our daily life!

This is the only other mention of joy in the book. I refer to Deuteronomy 28:47-48: "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything." When joy fails, there is real loss of the possession here on our tested path. Is there not danger for us?... How we need to watch and guard the heart against the first weakening of joy! It is a sign that decline has begun, and once the heart starts to go, the slide is quick and easy.

Destruction does not mean being wiped out of existence. To destroy is to make something unfit for the purpose it was first made for. A dish smashed to pieces is destroyed, though it still exists. So Israel's destruction is not permanent, as Romans 9, 10, and 11 assure us, for God knows how to restore in His matchless grace.

It is merely national. It has nothing to do with the soul in the sight of 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 for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. … Here it is a particular curse which falls on a particular sphere.

In the government of God, children have to suffer for the sins of their parents, and nations for the sins of their rulers. Men may murmur against this and call it injustice. But the fact remains. If a man squanders his inheritance and abuses his body, his children will have to suffer for it in want and weakness. This does not extend beyond this present life, and the sorrows here on earth are short lived. God will make no man undergo the judgment of Gehenna — hell — for the sins of others, but only for those he himself has committed. Any observant soul can see this proved in countless cases: the sins of the fathers fall on the children, and God shows mercy to the descendants of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Because of Israel's disobedience to God, their sons and daughters would go into captivity (v.41). This has been spiritually true in many Christian households. The children have heard the gospel of God's grace. But if the parents are disobedient, a legal type of Christianity will very likely take the children captive and put them in bondage to human laws.

We may add one remark about the children of religious parents. Too often they show the same anxiety as worldly families to place their children in positions the world counts honourable. For this end many a believer will not hesitate to place his child among scenes of temptation, open to evil. There no one can expect the care of the Spirit of God to follow them. We believe the result will be found in countless cases. Religious parents have been visited with a curse upon their children, just in proportion as they themselves have been involved in the world.

Further in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what happens when Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven. They return to Jehovah their God and obey His voice. Then He will return their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have law. It is not looked at in its own nature, as a question between God and man. It is treated as the rule of God's government on earth, dealing with the circumstances of man. So here we have the blessing on one side and the curse on the other. Nothing could be plainer than this teaching, once the idea is grasped.

They could have had blessings in the basket and the store by staying faithful to His government. Instead they had been deeply unfaithful. So now the LORD would use even the insect world to deal with His people.

Locusts would eat up the trees and all the produce of the land (v.42). Israel has often suffered from such infestations. This is a blow God sends directly, and it should have driven Israel back to Him in repentance.

The locust plague that stripped Israel's land bare was a judgment from the Lord. It was one of the judgments the Lord sent on Egypt. Moses had announced beforehand, as a prophecy, that the Lord would use locusts to punish His people (see Deuteronomy 28:38, 42).

About this twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy: if the reader simply grasps how completely different it is from the chapter before it, he will be able to read it with spiritual understanding and real profit... And we cannot help being struck by this. The section holding the curses is more than three times the length of the one holding the blessings. The blessings take fifteen verses; the curses take fifty-three. The whole chapter gives us a striking commentary on the government of God... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience — and that He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will the end be for those who do not know Him?

Later, in Deuteronomy 30, Moses declares what will happen when Israel comes to repentance among the nations they are driven into. If they return to the LORD their God and obey His voice, He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless them and multiply them there, but will also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Foreigners would gain the upper hand over Israel. Israel would have to borrow from foreigners instead of the other way around (v.44). So the foreigner would be the head and Israel the tail. This reverses what would be true if Israel were obedient (vs.12-13).

This, no doubt, refers to Israel as a nation. They are destined to be the head of all the nations of the earth. Such is the sure and settled purpose and counsel of God concerning them. They are sunk very low now. They are scattered and lost among the nations, suffering the terrible consequences of their persistent disobedience. They are sleeping in the dust of the earth, as we read in Daniel 12. Yet as a nation they will rise and shine in far brighter glory than Solomon's.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have law. It is not viewed in its own nature, as a question between God and man. It is viewed as the rule of government on earth, dealing with man's circumstances. And so here we have the blessing on one hand and the curse on the other.

In the first, we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience. In the second, we have a deeply solemn and moving statement of the terrible consequences of disobedience. One thing must strike us: the section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings. That consists of fifteen verses; this of fifty-three. The whole chapter furnishes an impressive commentary on the government of God.

Orthodox Jews read through all five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they reach this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a hushed voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over. The sad and sorrowful history of that wonderful nation is written here in advance. Thousands of years ago the Spirit of God, through Moses, outlined the history of the scattered nation and all their suffering and trouble, as it has been for nearly two thousand years and as it is still.

What a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Rom. 11:21).

Destruction does not mean annihilation. To destroy is to make something unfit for the purpose it was first made for. A dish smashed to pieces is destroyed, though it is not annihilated. So Israel's destruction is not permanent. Romans 9, 10, and 11 assure us of this, for God knows how to restore in His matchless grace.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law had another kind of consequence. There the law is the basis of relationship with God, and the question is a righteousness good enough to be the ground of His acceptance. We must not confuse that with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 speaks of these temporary consequences.

Foreigners would get the upper hand over Israel. Israel would have to borrow from them instead of the other way around (v.44). So the foreigner would be the head and Israel the tail. This reverses what would be true if Israel obeyed (vv.12-13).

We can easily see that "the rich rules over the poor" (v. 7). Yet if a poor man puts his confidence in the Lord, he does not need to be under the rich. The Lord will sustain him. But if we borrow from others, we will find ourselves under the lender. How much better to "Owe no one anything except to love one another" (Rom. 13:8).

Deuteronomy 28 gives us part of the charge Moses gave to the people of Israel, all twelve tribes, at the close of his remarkable career. 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?

God does not intend the Gentile to be supreme. His plan and purpose, as we know well all through Scripture, is that Israel shall be the head and the Gentiles the tail. This alone lets us understand the history of the world, and the strange state it has been in ever since the times of the Gentiles began. Men have long boasted about this very time that God calls the times of the Gentiles… It is a mere interval of time, which came in only because of the rebellious, apostate sin of Israel.

In such a case Israel would be the head of the nations, and not the tail (v.13). Sadly, through rebellion against God, Israel became the tail for centuries. They did not even hold their own land, and they are still far from the place of 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.

Whatever we plant, whatever energy we put into telling others the Word of God, it will bear little fruit if we ourselves disobey God. How important that our words are matched by a faithful life!

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. The fate of that unhappy people fulfilled those results in a solemn way, and they are still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law has its own consequences. There the law stands as the principle of relationship with God, and the question is a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those consequences with the temporary results of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 speaks of these last.

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, not merely in the field or in the city.

It divides naturally into two parts… And we cannot help noticing that the section containing the curses is more than three times as long as the one containing the blessings… All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience, and that He does so first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

So part of this chapter shows us the state Israel would be in right down to the present day… They would become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations where the LORD would lead them. This is not a question of dealing according to God's nature. It is a matter of His ways with a nation in this world, and nothing more.

Because Israel disobeyed, all these curses would come on them until they were destroyed (v.45). Has Israel been destroyed? Yes! God says in Hosea 13:9, "O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is in Me." Destruction does not mean annihilation. To destroy something is to make it unfit for the purpose it was first made for. A dish smashed to pieces is destroyed, though it is not annihilated. So Israel's destruction is not permanent, as Romans 9, 10 and 11 assure us. God knows how to restore in His matchless grace.

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven. They will return to the LORD their God and obey His voice. Then He will end their captivity, and in His compassion He will gather them back.

We, as Christians, are under the reign of grace. Does that in any way interfere with the action and range of divine government? Not at all. It is as true today as it ever was that "whatever one sows, that will he also reap." It would be a serious mistake to take the freedom of divine grace as an excuse to trifle with the rules of divine government. The two things are quite distinct, and we should never confuse them. Grace can pardon — freely, fully, eternally — but the wheels of the LORD's governmental chariot roll on.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, raises the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. We must not confuse the consequences of that with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 is about the second kind. As for Israel, the history of the world shows the threats of this chapter carried out.

These curses would be a sign and a wonder on Israel and their descendants (v.46). This sign is a witness to God's faithfulness and truth in dealing with His own failing people. This would make men wonder at the great sovereignty and righteousness of God, who would not spare sin in His own chosen people. All of this would be true because of their not serving the Lord with joy and gladness of heart when they had every reason to do so (v.47).

Israel failed completely. Despite the solemn and terrible picture set before their eyes, they forsook the Lord and served other gods, and so brought on themselves the severe judgements threatened here. Under the heavy weight of these judgements they are suffering at this very hour. Scattered and stripped, wasted and outcast, they are the monuments of Jehovah's unbending truth and justice. They read aloud, to all the nations of the earth, a most impressive lesson about the moral government of God. These nations would gain much by studying that lesson closely, and it would do our own hearts good to ponder it too.

There are more Jews today than even in the glory days of King Solomon. Yet they still remain scattered among the nations — a standing witness to fulfilled prophecy.

Has Israel been destroyed? Yes! God says in Hosea 13:9, "O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is in Me." Destruction does not mean annihilation. To destroy something is to make it unfit for the purpose it was first made for. A dish smashed to pieces is destroyed, though it is not wiped out. So Israel's destruction is not permanent. Romans 9, 10, and 11 assure us of this, for God knows how to restore in His matchless grace.

This is not grace but government; still it is true of a saint as well as of a sinner. God deals with His saints now in both ways, that is, in grace, and in righteous government. I shall never reap the reward of my sins in eternal blessedness, for that is infinite grace. But under righteous government I shall reap the reward of my wrongdoing down here.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. The fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the fathers' sakes, fulfilled those consequences in a solemn way. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, had consequences for the question of a righteousness that was an adequate ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 has to do with the latter. We may notice for ourselves the deep instruction of verses 47, 48.

All of this would be true because of their not serving the Lord with joy and gladness of heart when they had every reason to do so (v.47).

Then they began to serve by singing TO HIM who had saved them; and they sang, "The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation!" ... But the Lord soon had to say about the national "son" He had set free from Egypt: "You did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47). Their singing gave place to murmuring and backsliding; but they were under the law.

Then again we have what is always brought out in the book of Deuteronomy. It is Jehovah gathering the people round Himself. In the delight of His people He delights. He would have them happy in Himself, and enjoying all He had given them to enjoy.

In refusing to serve God they would become servants to their enemies, and in this would suffer hunger and thirst and nakedness. The yoke of law on their necks was hard enough. Instead of it they would have a yoke of iron — bondage to cruel enemies (v.48).

Failing in joy, there is practical loss of the possession — here, in our tested path. Is there not danger for us? ... What need of diligent, watchful keeping of the heart against the first weakening of joy! This shows that decline has begun, and the descent is easy and rapid once the heart begins to go.

If we are not separated from the world by affection, we shall be separated by discipline in the world. He will trouble our souls to get us separate, if in spirit and in heart we are not separate. "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart … therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord your God will send against you."

Surely our thankful hearts gladly respond to the sweet singer's stirring words — "Serve the Lord with gladness!" Our wretched lost state is left behind for ever. It is not fitting to serve with sadness! The apostle Paul had plenty of trials, weaknesses, persecutions and imprisonments to sadden him. But he had in Christ what nothing could rob him of. So he wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!"

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience — consequences solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the sake of their fathers. The law was a principle of relationship with God, and breaking it touched the whole question of a righteousness good enough for God to accept. Those consequences must not be confused with the temporary results of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of the latter. We may notice for ourselves the deep instruction of verses 47, 48. As to Israel, universal history presents to us the fulfilment of the threats of the chapter.

This is what God loves to see in His people. Yet the day came when their poor wayward hearts said, "What a weariness this is!" (Malachi 1:13). All their sorrows came upon them because they did not serve the LORD their God "with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things."

Deuteronomy has seven distinct places calling on the people to rejoice. And the charge the Lord has against them is that they did not serve Him "with joyfulness and gladness of heart."

In refusing to serve God they would become servants to their enemies, and in this would suffer hunger and thirst and nakedness. Instead of the yoke of law on their necks — hard enough in itself — they would have a yoke of iron, that is, bondage to cruel enemies.

So it must be, thank God: everyone must serve the glorious Lord we acknowledge. Willing or unwilling, free or slave — that is the only choice allowed. But how weighty the results of that choice are!

When joy fails, we lose in practice what we possess — here, on the path where we are tested. Is there not danger for us? ... May not heavenly things lose their power over our hearts? Are we not aware how everything around us tends to drag us down to the level of the world we walk in? How carefully we need to guard the heart against the first weakening of joy! For this shows that decline has begun, and the descent is easy and rapid once the heart begins to go.

If we are not separated by affection from the world, we shall be separated by discipline in the world. He will trouble our souls to get us separate, if in spirit and heart we are not separate.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel repents among the nations where they have been driven. If they return to the LORD their God and obey His voice, He will turn their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law, as the principle of relationship with God, had consequences for righteousness — for whether a person had an adequate ground of God's acceptance. Those consequences must not be confused with the temporary results of disobedience under God's government.

In Deuteronomy 28:47-48 Israel did not serve the LORD with joy and gladness of heart while they had plenty of everything; so they would serve the enemies the LORD would send against them, in hunger and thirst and want. When joy fails, the possession is lost in practice, here on the path where we are tested. Is there not danger for us too? Do we not feel how everything around us drags us down to the level of the world we walk in? How we need to guard the heart against the first weakening of joy! That is the sign that decline has begun, and once the heart starts to go, the fall is easy and fast.

The Lord would send a foreign nation against them. It would show no respect for old age and no compassion toward children (vv. 49-50). This likely refers to the attack of the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5-6), which devastated the ten tribes. It refers later to the attack of the Babylonians, when Judah came under bondage (2 Kings 24:1-3).

Moses plainly predicts the Roman power that would break the Jews, and at a time when no such power existed. The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. "A hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children.

The Chaldeans moved as fast and as nimbly as a pack of hungry wolves rushing on in silence. With gleaming eyes glowing in the dark, they were sure to reach their prey. Just at the right moment the horsemen came storming on, swift as eagles.

In Isaiah God warns the Jews, who were slow to listen to His prophets, that He would speak to them through the stumbling lips of foreigners. Such a tongue speaking to Israel was a sign that they were humbled, and a sign of God's judgment. How wrong, then, for the believers in Corinth to turn away from God speaking in prophecy to build them up, and to prefer tongues they could not understand! They took pleasure as Christians in what had been God's solemn threat to His ancient people for their stubborn refusal to listen.

Yet we find the word "destroy" used to predict the curse on Israel. As a nation they are still under that penalty, and it is not "utter extinction," as the passage itself shows. It says they would be left few in number — which is not extinction at all. In chapter 30 it is added further, "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse ... and you return to the LORD your God ... then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes." Here is national repentance and restoration predicted.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government in the midst of 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 fathers' sakes. The law was a principle of relationship with God, and it raised the question of a righteousness good enough for His acceptance. Breaking it brought consequences of that kind. Do not confuse them with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 is about the temporary kind. As to Israel, the history of the world shows us the threats of this chapter carried out.

Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that was used to break the Jews, and that at a time when no such power existed. Read verses 49-50: "The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away... swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand." The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. "…who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children.

The Lord had struck them, as He said, with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. They groped at noonday as the blind grope in darkness. The yoke of iron was fastened on their neck. The hard-faced nation that flies like an eagle had come upon them, because they did not fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God.

God has combined two elements in these revelations. On one side He judges what was wrong in His own people. On the other He judges merciless enemies who did not know His gracious purpose to chasten His people. He would not leave His people unpunished; but could He permit a full end? So He measured the chastening, and its end matched the goodness of God. Meanwhile God lets the enemy pour out hatred on His people without limit or restraint. Yet He does not merely use that hatred for the good of His own people and for the punishment of their unfaithfulness. He would surely turn on the cruel enemy when His purpose was accomplished.

Every verse from the fifteenth to the end of this chapter has found its fulfilment, again and again. What a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Rom. 11:21).

The Gentiles destroyed Jerusalem so completely that the Roman plough passed over the city (Micah 3:12). Death or slavery was the appointed portion of her people (Deut. 28:49-57). But again the star of Jacob will rise. The sons of her destroyers will build up her walls and pour their treasures and wealth into the city of the Saviour's love and choice (Isa. 60).

Deuteronomy 28 does not speak of the personal curse. It speaks of blessings or curses in God's government, and these are therefore temporary. Deuteronomy 29 applies everything to the conscience.

This is the substance of the covenant by which they held the comforts they still enjoyed in the land, as set out in Deuteronomy 28, after they had broken the first covenant. And this is the principle of restoration — covenants of faith, once they had lost the fruits of the first — as given in Deuteronomy 30: "and return to the LORD your God and obey His voice in all that I command you today."

The Lord would send a foreign nation against them that would show no respect for old age and no compassion toward children (vv. 49-50). This likely refers to the attack of the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5-6), which devastated the ten tribes. Later it refers to the attack of the Babylonians, when Judah fell under bondage (2 Kings 24:1-3).

Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that was used to break the Jews, and that at a time when no such power existed... The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies; the Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. The nation would "not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children.

Now, in His government, God allows the enemy to besiege Samaria, and this leads to "a great famine" in the city. The people in the city come to terrible desperation, and the solemn prophecy spoken more than five hundred years before comes true. Moses had warned the people of God that if they turned away from Him, a time would come when their enemies would besiege them. They would come to such desperation that tender, delicate women would secretly eat their own young children.

The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience, and that, first of all, in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

Deuteronomy 28 uses the word six times of Israel, and not once does it mean they cease to exist: "Every sickness also and every affliction... the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No — "you shall be left few in number"; and after the curse has been fulfilled, Scripture adds that the LORD "will restore your fortunes"! (Deuteronomy 30:1-3.)

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God has its own consequences. They concern a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse them with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 is about these temporary consequences.

Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that would break the Jews, and he did so at a time when no such power existed. Read verses 49-50: the LORD will bring a nation against them from far away, from the end of the earth, as swift as a flying eagle, a nation whose language they will not understand. The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. That nation will not respect the old or show mercy to the young. Rome killed the old people and the children. The Roman legions fulfilled this in their siege and overthrow of Jerusalem.

This likely refers to the attack of the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5-6), which devastated the ten tribes. Later it refers to the attack of the Babylonians, who brought Judah into bondage (2 Kings 24:1-3).

These enemies would strip the land of all its produce and leave nothing for Israel (v.52). They would besiege the cities, however strong their walls. Hunger would drive the people inside so far that they ate their own children (v.53)... We may well wonder why such things did not drive people's hearts back to the Lord. Yet in verse 54 we read that even the most refined people would turn against their wives and their children.

He would not stop warning His people where their deadly stubbornness would lead. God did not drive them out of their land until He had used every means. What we are now coming to was predicted long before, in vivid detail, in Deuteronomy 28:52-58.

What a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Romans 11:21).

Further in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven. If they return to the LORD their God and obey His voice, He will return their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but will also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

There is no need for elaborate explanation. The chapter divides into two clear parts. In the first, we have a full and blessed statement of the results of obedience. In the second, we have a very solemn and moving statement of the terrible consequences of disobedience. And we cannot help noticing that the part holding the curses is more than three times the length of the part holding the blessings... It is utter folly for anyone to try to escape the full force of such passages, or to explain them away. It cannot be done.

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. The consequences of breaking the law as the principle of relationship with God — the question of a righteousness good enough as ground for God's acceptance — must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 deals with the second of these.

These enemies would devastate the land of all its produce, leaving nothing for Israel (v.52). They would besiege the cities, no matter how well fortified, causing the starving occupants to go so far as to eat their own children (v.53). We may well wonder why such things would not drive people's hearts back to the Lord. But in verse 54 we read that even the most refined people would turn against their wives and their children.

These curses would be a sign and a wonder on Israel and their descendants (v.46). This sign witnesses to God's faithfulness and truth in dealing with His own failing people. It would make people wonder at the great sovereignty and righteousness of God, who would not spare sin in His own chosen people. All of this would come because they did not serve the Lord with joy and gladness of heart when they had every reason to do so (v.47).

This abomination had at last come to pass.

The famine at Samaria brought such distress that women ate their own children. It was simply a fulfilment of the judgments threatened against a people who had turned away from God. The same horror occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and also, according to Josephus, during the siege by Titus in AD 70.

The siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Romans had been foretold by Moses and the prophets and by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and some of the darkest parts of Scripture describe it (see Deuteronomy 28:49-68; Zechariah 11; Luke 21:20-24). They had chosen a murderer instead of their King, and now murder and slaughter engulf them... How solemn to think that the worst is still to come (Matthew 24:21).

When joy fails, there is a real loss of the possession — here, on our tested path. Is there not danger for us?... May not heavenly things lose their power over our hearts? How we need to guard the heart, watchful against the first weakening of joy! That weakening shows that decline has begun, and once the heart starts to go, the fall is easy and fast.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still beloved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, has its own consequences on the point of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is to these latter that chapter 28 refers.

They would besiege the cities, however well fortified. The starving people inside would go so far as to eat their own children (v.53). See 2 Kings 6:28-29 and Jeremiah 19:8-9. We may well wonder why such things would not drive people's hearts back to the Lord. But in verse 54 we read that even the most refined of people would turn hostile toward their wives and their children. Hunger would make them so desperate that no thought was left for even the closest loved ones (v.55).

Used symbolically for the seat of deep affection. John speaks of the Lord Jesus as the only begotten Son "in the bosom of the Father." John 1:18. The tender and sacred relationship which husband and wife have to each other is also called the "bosom." Deut. 28:54, 56.

In the Scriptures, the evil eye often keeps close company with covetousness, selfishness and envious jealousy. The evil eye ignores the sufferings of others if it can secure personal gain. The Lord warned the people of Israel against having an evil eye towards a poor brother in need and withholding proper help from him (Deut. 15:7-9; Deut. 28:54-55).

Moses had warned the people of God that if they departed from God, the time would come when, besieged by their enemies, they would come to such desperate need that tender, delicate women would secretly eat their young children (Lev. 26:21-29; Deut. 28:49-57). This abomination had at last come to pass.

Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that would break the Jews, and he did so at a time when no such power existed. Read verses 49-50. "The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand." The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. The same passage says, "a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children. These words were fulfilled in the dreadful sieges of Jerusalem, perhaps the most terrible events in the history of blood and tears of this poor earth.

"Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything." When joy fails, there is a practical loss of the possession here, on our tested path. What need there is of diligent, watchful keeping of the heart against the first weakening of joy! For this shows that decline has begun, and the descent is easy and rapid once the heart begins to go.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results came true, with great solemnity, in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the sake of their fathers. Two things must not be confused. One is what follows from breaking the law when the law is treated as the basis of relationship with God — as a righteousness good enough for God to accept a person. The other is the temporary result of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of this second one.

Deuteronomy holds one more word of solemn meaning and warning for us. It is the only other mention of joy in the book. Deuteronomy 28:47-48 says: "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything." Lose your joy, and you lose the possession in practice... What need of diligent, watchful keeping of the heart against the first weakening of joy! For this shows that decline has begun, and the descent is easy and rapid once the heart begins to go.

These enemies would besiege the cities, no matter how well fortified. The starving people inside would go so far as to eat their own children (v.53)... We may well wonder why such things would not drive people's hearts back to the Lord, but in verse 54 we read that even the most refined of people would become hostile toward their wives and their children. Hunger would make them so desperate that they would have no thought left even for their closest loved ones (v.55).

Moses clearly predicted the Roman power that would break the Jews, and he did so at a time when no such power existed. Read verses 49-50... The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies; the Jews knew many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. "Who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children... Moses went on to say that a refined woman would eat her own children in the siege (verses 54-57). This came true in the dreadful sieges of Jerusalem, perhaps the most terrible events in this poor earth's history of blood and tears. Every verse from the fifteenth to the end of this chapter has come true again and again.

Israel's heart was hardened, so that, in the famine accompanying the siege, instead of turning to Jehovah, some of the inhabitants in their terrible extremity turned to the horrible deed of eating even their own offspring! See Leviticus 26:26-29; Deuteronomy 28:52-53; which was finally fulfilled under the Romans.

It would take a great many pages to follow the different predictions and show their literal fulfilment in the nation, which turned away from Jehovah and disobeyed His Word. What a warning this chapter is to Gentile Christendom! "If God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you" (Rom. 11:21).

Deuteronomy 28 uses the word six times of Israel, and never once does it mean that they die out: "Also every sickness and every plague... them will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No. Instead, "you shall be left few in number," and once the curse has run its course the book adds, "the LORD will restore your fortunes"! (Deut. 30:1-3.)

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law brings consequences of a different sort. As a principle of relationship with God, the law raised the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of the temporary ones.

The graphic details of all this, and how it would affect both men and women, are most painful to read. Verses 56 and 57 speak of even the tender and delicate woman. She would eat her newborn infant and her placenta, in secret, hiding this from her husband. Verse 58 presses the reason again: "if you do not carefully observe all the words of these laws that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD."

The bosom stands for the seat of deep affection. John speaks of the Lord Jesus as the only begotten Son "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18). The tender and sacred relationship between husband and wife is also called the "bosom" (Deut. 28:54, 56).

Scripture often treats the evil eye as a close companion of covetousness, selfishness and envious jealousy. The evil eye ignores the sufferings of others if it can gain something for itself.

Moses clearly predicts the Roman power that would break the Jews, and he does so at a time when no such power existed. Read verses 49-50: "The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand." The eagle was the standard of the Roman armies. The Jews understood many eastern languages, but they did not know Latin. "A hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young." Rome killed the old people and the children.

How true is Scripture! It had been foretold that a delicate and tender woman would eat her own children (Deut. 28:56-57). It had taken place at the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:29), and it had now taken place at Jerusalem. There a mother cooked her own child and ate part of it. It is hard to fight against God!

Now it had turned out just as the Word had predicted. That is undeniable evidence that the Word of God must be fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one letter or stroke of His Word can fail. It will be well with those who pay attention to those words.

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven. If they return to the LORD their God and obey His voice, then He will bring them back from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. There He will bless and multiply them, and He will put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse by being made a curse for us. Christ bears our curse that we might receive blessing.

This chapter is completely different from the one before it. Once the reader sees that, he can read it with spiritual understanding and real profit. It divides into two parts. In the first we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience (verses 1-15). In the second we have a deeply solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience (verses 16-68). One thing strikes us. The section of curses is more than three times the length of the section of blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one has fifty-three. The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still beloved for the fathers' sakes. Now, keeping the law was also a principle of relationship with God, a righteousness that could be an adequate ground of God's acceptance. Do not confuse the consequences of breaking it that way with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is to these latter that chapter 28 refers.

The graphic details of all this are most painful to read. They show how both men and women would suffer. Verses 56 and 57 speak of even the tender and delicate woman. She would eat her newborn infant and her afterbirth, in secret, hiding this from her husband. Verse 58 presses the reason again: "if you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God."

Now, under the government of God, God lets the enemy besiege Samaria. This led to "a great famine" in the city. The people were driven to terrible straits, and so a solemn prophecy spoken more than five hundred years earlier came true. Moses had warned the people of God that if they turned away from Him, a time would come when their enemies would besiege them. They would be driven to such straits that tender, delicate women would secretly eat their young children. This horror had at last come to pass.

There was such distress that women ate their own offspring. It was simply a fulfilment of the judgments threatened against an apostate people (Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:53). The same horror occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Lam. 4:10) and also, according to Josephus, during the siege by Titus in A.D. 70.

Every trace of compassion, even of natural feeling, was wiped out. We are next told, "The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people" (verse 10). Only one thing accounts for such barbarity, and he adds it at once in verse 11: "The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations." What could be more thorough than to consume foundations?

Think of a woman, a mother, boiling and eating her own child. Impossible, you say. No, women did it. God had said they would do it. In an earlier book God told His people that if they sinned and turned away from Him, they would be reduced to such a state that they would eat their own offspring (Leviticus 26:29). And here they do it. The Word of God never fails. This is the beauty of Scripture: it paints man as he is, and woman as she is, and not as a historian or a novelist paints them.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what happens when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they have been driven. They return to the LORD their God and obey His voice. Then He will restore them from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

It divides itself naturally 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 of curses is more than three times the length of the section of blessings. That has fifteen verses; this has fifty-three. The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God.

The graphic details of all this, and how both men and women would be affected, are most painful to read. Verses 56 and 57 speak of even the tender and delicate woman, who would eat her newborn infant in secret, hiding this from her husband. The reason is again pressed in verse 58: "if you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book."

It is very beautiful to note the close connection between hearing God's word and fearing His Name. It is one of those great root principles which never change, never lose their power or their real value. The word and the Name go together. The heart that loves the one will reverence the other, and bow to its holy authority in all things... God's aim in giving His word is that it should govern our conduct, form our character and shape our way. If His word does not have this practical effect on us, it is pointless to speak of loving Him.

Every time God declares His name, He calls for a matching separation from the world and sanctification to God. To Abraham God declared, "I am the Almighty God," and at once adds, "Walk before Me, and be blameless" (Gen. 17:1). To Israel God revealed Himself as Jehovah, and God looked for Israel's ways to match this name. They were to fear "this glorious and awesome name" (Deut. 28:58). How much more should there be a sanctification that matches the full revelation of God as the Father.

The fear of God is a foundation principle, but this in the special relationship God established with His people Israel. It is therefore "the fear of Jehovah." For as He chose to be made known to them in this way, so they were called to prize that name as their special privilege.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, has its own consequences on the point of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. These must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 refers to these last ones.

Jerusalem was the home of every unclean thing and bird of darkness; the Lord had struck them, as He said, with madness, blindness, and confusion of heart. They groped at noon as a blind man gropes in darkness. The yoke of iron was fastened on their neck. A nation with a fierce face had come upon them like a flying eagle, because they did not fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still loved for the fathers' sakes. The law was also a principle of relationship with God, offering a righteousness that was adequate ground of His acceptance. Breaking it in that way brings consequences of its own. They must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 is about the second kind.

God promised Israel that if they obeyed, He would take away all their sickness. He would put on them none of the evil diseases of Egypt, the ones they had known (Deut. 7:15).

Great and prolonged plagues and prolonged sicknesses would fall on them, like the plagues and diseases Egypt suffered before the Exodus. They would bring death and destruction, leaving them few in number (v.62), in contrast to the multiplied millions they once enjoyed.

It is striking that the curses take more than three times the space of the blessings. The blessings fill fifteen verses; the curses fill fifty-three. The whole chapter is an impressive commentary on the government of God. It shows with great force that "our God is a consuming fire." Israel's remarkable history teaches all the nations of the earth that God must punish disobedience, and that He begins with His own. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

The Lord exercises righteous government with a closeness proportioned to nearness and privilege. It is useless for unbelief to complain, for this is exactly what righteousness is and should be. The more favoured you may be, so much the more responsibility increases. This was why God made so much of David's sin. He chastened David as He has chastened few others, and his family after him beyond most.

How exactly this book foretells the curses that were to come on the people! How exactly they came true — and they are still coming true.

The Lord had struck them, as He said, with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. They groped at noonday as the blind grope in darkness. An iron yoke was fastened on their neck. A hard-faced nation had swooped on them like an eagle, because they did not fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God.

In Deuteronomy 28 the word appears six times of Israel, and never once means their extinction. "Every sickness also and every affliction… the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No — "you shall be left few in number." And once the curse has been fulfilled, this is added: "the LORD your God will restore your fortunes"! (Deut. 30:1-3.)

Century after century of weary Jewish history records these solemn declarations coming true. Look at the Jew and his history, the land and its desolation. This is God's standing witness to the nations that the Bible is the Word of God.

A feast of the Jews, the pool of Bethesda, and the sabbath came together in a strange way through Israel's sins. It was strange because in Israel's normal state God had said, I will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt on you, and will take away all sicknesses.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. But two things must not be confused. Breaking the law has consequences when the law is the basis of relationship with God, on the question of a righteousness good enough for God to accept. Those are not the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is the temporary ones that chapter 28 refers to.

In the first part 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 one thing must strike us: the section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings. That one has fifteen verses; this one, fifty-three. The whole chapter is a striking commentary on the government of God... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience. And He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what will be the end of those who do not know Him?

Great and long-lasting plagues and sicknesses would fall on them. They would be like the plagues and diseases Egypt suffered before the Exodus. They would cause death and destruction, so that Israel would be left few in number, in contrast to the multiplied millions they once enjoyed.

Before the law, had not Jehovah said this? "If you will listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God, and will do what is right in His eyes, will give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah that heals you." Yet what was the witness of the man swollen with disease before the Lord and before them? And what did all manner of disease and sickness in the land of Israel mean, as it crowded around Him to be healed?... It was not Jehovah-Rophi who had failed, but man generally and Israel in particular.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses says what will happen when Israel repent among the nations where they are driven, and return to Jehovah their God, and obey His voice. Then He will restore them from captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

A solemn sign came first: six tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless, and six on Mount Ebal to curse. Yet whatever happened in fact, the chapter shows the Levites proclaiming to all Israel nothing but the curses. This is the basis of the apostle's word to the Galatians (Gal. 3:10): "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse" — not merely those who broke it, but everyone on that principle. Spiritually it was no use telling us of the blessings on Gerizim. Deuteronomy 28 speaks, not of the personal curse, but of governmental blessings or curses, and therefore temporary.

It is clear that Moses was conscious that the word he gave Israel had divine authority. His writings are called "the book of this law," and "the covenant," and "his statutes which are written in this book of the law." "And Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests." (Deut. 28:1, 61; 29:21; 30:10; 31:9.)

"Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are DESTROYED. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number" — that is, not utterly extinct at all (Deut. 28:61-62). Chapter 30 adds further, "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse… and you return to the LORD your God… then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes" (Deut. 30:1-3). So Scripture predicts national repentance and restoration, after what some call "utter extinction."

The siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Romans is one of the blackest pages in the history of the human race... Moses and the prophets foretold it, and so did the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Some of the darkest parts of Scripture describe it (see Deuteronomy 28:49-68; Zechariah 11; Luke 21:20-24)... How solemn to think that the worst is still to come (Matthew 24:21).

The Jehovah of Israel now appeared among them, "who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases." Their disobedience had brought every sickness and every plague upon them (Deut. 28:61). But He who had once led them out of Egypt was saying to them again, "I am the LORD, your healer." (Ex. 15:26).

No one can ignore the government of God, least of all those whom He has blessed with the knowledge of redemption. Plain obedience to the Lord would have kept Israel from such physical diseases, for He is the Lord who heals. In our present time of grace, God does not promise us freedom from physical disease as the reward of obedience. But obedience will certainly keep us from spiritual diseases, and give us spiritual health and strength.

The words, "Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven," take up the general fact to show the remarkable increase.

They would suffer great and long-lasting plagues and sicknesses, like the plagues and diseases that struck Egypt before the Exodus. These would bring death and destruction, so that only a few of them would be left (v.62), in contrast to the many millions they once had.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We see the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the sake of their fathers. The consequences of breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God — the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance — must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of these temporary consequences… As for Israel, world history shows us the threats of this chapter carried out.

Yet we find that word used to predict the curse on Israel. As a nation they are still under that penalty, and it is not "utter extinction," as the very passage shows. "Every sickness and every plague that is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you, until you are DESTROYED. And you shall be left few in number," and so on — that is, not utterly extinct at all (Deuteronomy 28:61-62). Chapter 30 adds more: "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing AND the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind … and return to the LORD your God … then the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity" (Deuteronomy 30:1-3). Here we have national repentance and restoration foretold, after what Mr. Constable calls "utter extinction."

The "stars" were connected with Isaac, the son who stood as the guarantee of the unconditional promise God made to Abraham. Both the "dust" and the "sand" are linked with Jacob, the man in responsibility, while Isaac was the son of promise… Might not Moses and the Levites have had enough light to see that if God was going to bless Israel, it must be on the ground of His unconditional promise, and not on the ground of their responsibility?

On merely natural grounds one cannot understand how such a small nation has survived. It was terribly reduced in number by sword, famine and disease. It was scattered in tiny groups among hostile nations, with no leader and no visible unity… For centuries it faced the most horrible persecutions and efforts to wipe it out. On merely natural grounds one cannot understand how the Jew holds his ground. Yet younger nations have vanished without a trace, while the Jews, distinct and separate, are found in every nation.

As you study this remarkable section of our book, remember not to confuse it with chapter 27... The plain fact is that the two chapters are wholly distinct in basis, scope and practical application. Chapter 27 is — to put it as pointedly and briefly as possible — moral and personal. Chapter 28 is dispensational and national. That one deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition. Man is a sinner, ruined and unable to meet God on the ground of law. This one takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.

Israel clearly could not enter the land on the ground of the Sinai or Horeb covenant. They had failed under it completely by making a golden calf. They forfeited all right and title to the land, and only sovereign mercy saved them from instant destruction... It is just as plain that they did not enter the land on the ground of the Abrahamic covenant of grace. Had they done so, they would not have been turned out of it... They entered on the limited and temporary possession of Canaan by the terms of the Moab covenant. They have failed under that covenant as clearly as under the covenant of Horeb — failed under government as fully as under law. So God has expelled them from the land and scattered them over the face of the earth, under His governmental dealings.

Just as the Lord at one time had blessed and multiplied the nation, so He would curse and diminish them (v.63). He would scatter the people among all nations, where they would serve idols (v.64). We know this has taken place. Jews have been scattered over all the world, and the recognition of their God has become vague and in many cases extinct.

But judgment is God's strange work. He will find no delight in it, though He does delight in mercy. We read that in heaven they say, when God judges, "True and just are His judgments" (Rev. 19:2). That is not a joyous song. There is joy in heaven, but not when judgment falls — it comes when one sinner repents. In that joy God's heart reveals itself. It is His own joy, and all heaven shares it.

Yet we find it used to predict the curse on Israel. They are still under that penalty as a nation, and it is not "utter extinction," as the very passage shows... "And you shall be left few in number," etc. — that is, not utterly extinct at all (Deut. 28:61-62). In chapter 30 it is added further, "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind... and return to the LORD your God... then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes" (Deut. 30:1-3). Here is national repentance and restoration predicted, after what Mr. Constable calls "utter extinction."

We need not recount the terrible persecutions these people have suffered in every country of Europe, and most of all in Russia. They are like the bush that Moses saw in the desert: burned with fire again and again, but not consumed. They have been scattered for all these centuries in all countries, yet no country absorbs them. They are the miracle of the ages, one of the greatest concrete proofs of the reliability of the Word of God and of the justice of His governmental ways. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results came true, with great solemnity, in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law, as the basis of relationship with God, has its own consequences. They concern righteousness — whether a person has an adequate ground of acceptance with God. Do not confuse those consequences with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. It is these last ones that chapter 28 is about.

Just as the Lord at one time had blessed and multiplied the nation, so He would curse and reduce them (v.63). He would scatter the people among all nations, where they would serve idols (v.64). We know this has taken place. Jews are scattered over all the world, and any acknowledgement of their God has grown vague, and in many cases has died out.

We have cause to enter into the feelings of the prophet as God's voice denounces those who chose darkness on purpose, though He had given them light. They said: "We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, in serving wood and stone." They had plenty of evidence before their eyes. But anything that offers a hiding place from God has always found a sad welcome with hearts that wander from Him. If He reigns at all, it must be in power.

Under the heavy weight of these judgments they are suffering at this very hour. Scattered and stripped, wasted and outcast, they are the monuments of Jehovah's unbending truth and justice. They read aloud, to all the nations of the earth, a most impressive lesson on the moral government of God. It would be worth those nations' while to study that lesson well, and it would do our own hearts good to weigh it too.

God gave the Garden of Eden, fresh from His own hand, to Adam to dress and keep. Adam failed, and God drove him out. God drove his son from His face too, to be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. God trusted the new world to Noah. Noah failed, and God divided and scattered his descendants "abroad upon the face of all the earth." God gave the land of Canaan to Israel. Israel failed completely, and God scattered them among the nations, just as He foretold.

Moses goes further in Deuteronomy 30. When Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to Jehovah their God, and obey His voice, then He will turn their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. There He will bless and multiply them, and He will put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience. Those consequences were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still beloved for the fathers' sakes. The law was a principle of relationship with God, offering a righteousness that was an adequate ground of His acceptance. The consequences of breaking it must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. It is to these latter that chapter 28 refers.

So in part of this chapter we see the state Israel would be in, right up to the present day. This is not God dealing according to His nature. It is a matter of the way He governs a nation in this world, and nothing more.

Yet among these nations they would find no relief, no rest, but fear and trembling, failing eyes and anguish of soul (v. 65). They would fear day and night that they might lose their lives (v. 66). In the morning they would wish it were evening; in the evening they would wish it were morning, because life was one long trauma (v. 67).

In Isaiah 10:22 the word is "killahyohn" ("the consumption"), not "kahlah"; Deuteronomy 28:65 ("and failing of") is the only other place it is used. So the two words are not the same, though both come from the same root and are closely related.

It is a matter of history that the Jews were driven from their own land, and scattered among the nations… We stand amazed at the sight of a people without a country. They are scattered in many lands, without cohesion, without a centre. They have survived despite cruel persecutions, and have resisted absorption into the countries where they lived. By all the laws that govern such situations, the Jew should have vanished without a trace centuries ago.

There was no rest, no peace, but uncertainty and affliction. The curse said, No rest for the sole of their feet — and it has come true to the letter. Again the people seek a resting place in the land without their God and their Saviour, all in the confidence of the flesh. They will succeed in their restoration plans. But in the end they will find themselves in greater difficulties, facing worse afflictions than ever before.

The greater our blessing, the greater our responsibility… And are there not witnesses around us who show how bitter it is to depart from the living God? Are not many of God's people captive at this very day? May it not be said of such, "you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot"? And in their captivity, do they not have "a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul"?

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what happens when Israel comes to repentance among the nations where they are driven. When they return to the Lord their God and obey His voice, He will turn their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those solemn results came true in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for their fathers' sakes. Breaking the law has consequences when the law is taken as the basis of relationship with God — as the righteousness that would be an adequate ground of God's acceptance. We must not confuse those with the temporary consequences of disobedience under God's government. Chapter 28 speaks of the second.

In the Old Testament this word is used differently from the way it is used in the New. In the Old Testament it means "confidence or trust." It fits the hopes of God's earthly people, tied to the security in which Israel will dwell when God restores them to their land and puts down all their enemies by His power. Then the effect of righteousness will be "quietness and assurance for ever," Isaiah 32:17. But in their disobedience they should fear day and night and have no assurance of their life. Deuteronomy 28:66.

The chapter divides naturally into two parts. In the first we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience (see verses 1-15). In the second we have a very solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience (see verses 16-68). We cannot help being struck that the curses take more than three times the space of the blessings. The blessings fill fifteen verses; the curses fill fifty-three... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience. He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

Moses warned them what would follow if they disobeyed their God and ignored His covenant. They would be plucked out of their promised land and scattered among all peoples... Their lives would hang in doubt. In the morning they would long for the night, and in the night they would say, If only it were morning. These solemn words have been fulfilled to the letter. It was the thirty-sixth anniversary of that fateful Passover when they cried after their Messiah, "Away with Him, crucify Him." Almost the whole nation had gathered in Jerusalem when Titus the Roman besieged the city. The stubborn and fanatical defence enraged the invaders. They burned and destroyed the city and temple. They butchered close to a million of the people without pity, and sent the rest to the Egyptian slave markets... But they have outlived all their ancient enemies... the Jews remain. The nations they live among have never absorbed them, and they keep their identity and character despite fierce persecutions. They are an indestructible witness to the accuracy of prophecy in the God-breathed Scriptures.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to the LORD their God and obey His voice. Then He will bring back their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but also put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

The chapter divides naturally into two parts. In the first we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience (verses 1–15). In the second we have a solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience (verses 16–68). One thing strikes us. The section holding the curses is more than three times the length of the one holding the blessings. That has fifteen verses; this has fifty-three. The whole chapter gives an impressive commentary on the government of God.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people. We also have the immediate consequences of obedience or disobedience — consequences so solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, still beloved for the fathers' sakes. Breaking the law, as a principle of relationship with God, had its own consequences for righteousness, the adequate ground of God's acceptance. Those must not be confused with the temporary consequences of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 speaks of these temporary consequences.

Yet among these nations they would find no relief and no rest. Instead there was fear and trembling, failing eyes and anguish of soul (v.65), with fear day and night that they might lose their lives (v.66). In the morning they would wish it were evening. In the evening they would wish it were morning, because life was one long trauma (v.67).

The Lord would take them back to Egypt in ships (v.68). This may not be literal but symbolic, for Egypt is a picture of the world. Once God had rescued them from this worldly rule, but they would return to it. They would become slaves again and stand for sale. But their condition would be so unhealthy that no one would think them worth buying.

The Jews are also proof of the foreknowledge of God and the truth of Scripture… Moses warned them at that time what would follow if they disobeyed the commands of their God and disregarded His covenant. They would be torn out of their promised land and scattered among all people. They would find no ease for their minds or rest for the soles of their feet. Their lives would hang in doubt. In the morning they would long for the night, and in the night they would say, "If only it were morning!" They would become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations (Deut. 28).

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.

Further, in Deuteronomy 30 Moses declares what will happen when Israel come to repentance among the nations where they are driven, and return to the Lord their God and obey His voice. Then He will return their captivity. In His compassion He will gather them back and bring them into the land. He will not only bless and multiply them there, but will put all the curses on their enemies and persecutors.

In Deuteronomy 28 we have the principles of God's government among that people, and the immediate results of obedience or disobedience. Those results were solemnly fulfilled in the fate of that unhappy people, who are still loved for their fathers' sakes. Breaking the law as a principle of relationship with God is another matter. It raises the question of a righteousness good enough to be the ground of God's acceptance. Never mix that up with the temporary results of disobedience under the government of God. Chapter 28 speaks of the second kind... As for Israel, world history shows us the threats of this chapter coming true.

The Lord would take them back to Egypt in ships (v.68). This may not be literal, but symbolic, for Egypt is a picture of the world. Once God had rescued them from this worldly domination, but they would return to it. They would become slaves again and stand for sale. But their health would be so ruined that they were not worth buying.

These solemn words came true to the letter. Thirty-six years to the day after that fateful Passover, when they cried after their Messiah, "Away with Him, crucify Him," almost the whole nation had gathered in Jerusalem. That was when Titus, the Roman, besieged the city. Their stubborn and fanatical defence provoked the invaders. The conquerors burned and destroyed the city and the temple. They butchered nearly a million of the people without pity. They sent the rest to the Egyptian slave markets. There they were sold until there were too many, and no one would buy them.

The chapter divides naturally into two clear parts. In the first we have a full and most blessed statement of the results of obedience (verses 1-15). In the second we have a solemn and moving statement of the awful consequences of disobedience (verses 16-68). One thing must strike us: the section of curses is more than three times as long as the section of blessings... All the nations of the earth may learn from Israel's remarkable history that God must punish disobedience. He punishes it first of all in His own people. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the end of those who do not know Him?

This is one of the most solemn chapters in the Pentateuch. Orthodox Hebrews read through the entire five books of Moses in their synagogues each year. When they read this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a lowered voice. They do well to read it quietly and think it over, for this chapter writes out in advance the sad and sorrowful history of that remarkable nation... Here are arguments for the divine, supernatural origin of this book, and no unbeliever has ever been able to answer them.

Deuteronomy 28 uses the word six times about Israel. Never once does it mean their extinction: "Every sickness also and every affliction... the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed." Are they extinct? No. Instead it says, "you shall be left few in number," and after the curse has run its course it adds, "the LORD your God will restore your fortunes"! (Deut. 30:1-3.)