Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
This verse opens a list of blessings God promises Israel through Moses. A condition comes with them, and a matching list of curses follows a few verses later. Who are these blessings for, what do they cover, and can a Christian claim them today?
Everything in this list hangs on the opening "if" of the chapter. One writer calls that condition the heartbeat of the whole book:
"If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God" — the grand old motto of Deuteronomy, the key note of the book — "to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth." Listening to the voice of the Lord your God is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
This was not a one-off arrangement. It ran through the whole system Israel lived under:
Blessing on the condition of obedience is the principle that holds everywhere in the Old Testament. This was in fact the very essence of the Mosaic economy. God made their continued possession of the land, their freedom from disease, and earthly blessing of every kind depend on their walking according to the statutes and ordinances they had received.
The two words cover the whole map of a person's life — crowded streets and open country alike.
They would be blessed in the city and in the country (v.3). If they were obedient, the place they lived would not make any difference to their blessing.
Commentators differ on whether the tribes spoke this list of blessings from Mount Gerizim, as chapter 27 describes. One writer sees the link:
Chapter 28 does not say that these blessings came from Mount Gerizim, but chapter 27:12 shows this.
Another insists the two chapters are doing entirely different work:
The obvious fact is that the two chapters are wholly distinct in basis, scope and practical application. Chapter 27, in short, is moral and personal. Chapter 28 is national, and belongs to God's dealings with Israel in its own age. Chapter 27 sets out the great root principle of man's moral condition: he is a sinner, utterly ruined and wholly unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
One writer weighs this promise against what a guilty sinner really needs:
It is merely national. It has nothing to do with the soul in the sight of God… This is not what a poor soul wants. It in no way meets a sense of guilt or a dread of judgment. The sinner needs something that will stand for ever. He wants what will be in heaven, and not merely in the field or in the city. He wants acceptance for himself with God, not just blessing in his basket and his store. There is nothing of that sort here.
This promise ties blessing to a place on earth. The Christian's blessings lie somewhere else:
The proper sphere of our blessings is not earth but heaven. We are blessed "in the heavenly places". On earth we may have little; in heaven we are richly blessed… The blessings of the Jew were for this life, on earth, and in the line of Abraham. Christian blessings are spiritual, heavenly, and in Christ. Unlike earthly blessings, they do not depend on health, riches, position, education or nationality.
Israel never met the condition, so the blessings went unclaimed. But that is not the end:
They have entirely failed in obedience, as we know, and have therefore forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen at length in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore to them all their forfeited blessings. The righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of these blessings.
Though the promise itself is Israel's, God's way of governing His people carries over:
Do not forget that in a sense this may be true now of the children of God. If they ignore His word and live for themselves, God will often step in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many have set out to get on in the world! They have worked long and hard to reach their aim. Then, just as the goal came in sight, all the fruit of their toil vanished.
- Condition — Blessing here begins with an "if". Listening to God's voice is the key note of Deuteronomy and the true secret of happiness, security and strength.
- Coverage — City and field cover everywhere. If Israel obeyed, the place they lived made no difference to the blessing.
- Category — The promise is national and earthly, under God's government of Israel. It offers nothing to a guilty conscience.
- Contrast — The Christian's blessings are spiritual and in the heavenly places. They do not depend on health, wealth, position or nationality.
- Conclusion — Israel forfeited these blessings by disobedience. Grace will restore them under the rule of Christ. Meanwhile God still deals with His own people through their circumstances.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the offspring of thy kine, and the increase of thy sheep.
Moses is listing what obedience would bring Israel in the land. This verse reaches into the most ordinary places a family lives: the nursery, the field, the herd and the flock. It raises big questions. Was this promise for the nation or for each person? Is it earthly or spiritual? And what happens to it when the nation fails?
The blessings do not stand alone. Every one of them waits on a single condition.
"If you listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God" — the grand old Deuteronomic motto, the keynote of the book — "all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you." Listening like that is the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength.
That "if" was the shape of the whole arrangement made at Sinai.
The covenant with the children of Israel at Sinai was conditional. If they obeyed and kept the law they would be blessed. If they disobeyed they would be cursed (Deut. 27, 28).
Older translations use "kine" and "flocks" here. Commentators debate both words. "Kine" covers more than it seems:
A word that usually means 'cows,' though its use is not limited to the female: see Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51.
The second word is stranger still, because it looks like the name of a pagan goddess.
"Ashteroth" is found four times in Deuteronomy (Deut. 7:13; Deut. 28:4, 18, 51). The common version translates it "flocks," the revised version "young," others (much better) "ewes," while Young gives "multiplications." Perhaps all treat it as nothing more than a borrowing of the pagan word, though even that seems strange. It is far more likely that the pagan goddess took her name from the ewes of the flock than that she gave her name to them.
Many readers take chapter 28 as a simple continuation of chapter 27. Commentators warn against that, because the two chapters work on different levels.
Chapter 27 is — to put it as pointedly and briefly as possible — moral and personal. Chapter 28 is dispensational and national. Chapter 27 deals with the great root principle of man's moral condition: a sinner utterly ruined and completely unable to meet God on the ground of law. Chapter 28 takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government of God.
Children, crops and cattle make up this promise. Israel's portion was tied to the ground they stood on.
So Israel was set up to be God's witness on earth. They were His people, joined to Him politically as their King. And because they were God's earthly people, their blessings were blessings of the earth, blessings of providence: "all these blessings shall come upon them" (Deut. 28:1-14).
Commentators draw a sharp line between Israel's portion and the Christian's.
God promised Israel temporal blessings in earthly places, on condition of obedience to the law. But all of their attempted works have gained them nothing. God, on the other hand, has given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places to all who receive His Son in this day of His grace. He gives it on the ground of His grace alone, through the infinitely valuable sacrifice of His Son. We cannot claim the temporal blessings promised to Israel, but what is spiritual is ours.
Israel never met the condition, so the blessing never came. But commentators do not treat the promise as dead.
In Deut. 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel if they obeyed. They have completely failed to obey, as we know, and so have forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so widely in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will restore them to all their forfeited blessings, and the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep them in the enjoyment of those blessings.
There is still something here for a reader today, taken as a picture rather than a contract.
They would also find blessing in their children and in the produce of their crops, in the increase of their herds, their cattle and their flocks (v.4). This natural increase pictures the spiritual increase believers receive when they practice a spirit of devoted obedience to the Lord. There will be lasting results from their labors.
- Condition — the verse sits inside a sentence that starts with "if." Listening to God's voice is the hinge every blessing turns on.
- Increase — womb, ground, herd and flock cover a family's whole living. The promise reaches home, work and wealth at once.
- National — chapter 28 treats Israel as a nation under God's government. Chapter 27 is moral and personal.
- Earthly — Israel's blessings were blessings of the earth and of providence. The Christian's are spiritual and heavenly. Do not trade one for the other.
- Grace — Israel forfeited the whole list by disobeying. Grace will restore it to them under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.