and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to sweep away the drunken with the thirsty.
Moses has just read out the curses of the covenant. He pauses over one danger: not the open rebel, but the listener who hears the curse and decides it cannot mean him. Commentators call this a fatal delusion — a man who blesses himself while God says the opposite.
(The writers quoted here used older translations: "I shall have peace" where the ESV has "I shall be safe," and "the imagination of my heart" where the ESV has "the stubbornness of my heart.")
This hearer is present for the warning. He takes in the words, then applies them to everyone but himself.
Verse 19 points to a danger. A man hears these curses spoken against evil, yet blesses himself in his own heart. He feels the curses cannot apply to him, even while he follows "the dictates of his own heart." So a drunkard thinks he is no different from a sober person! But the Lord would not spare him (v.20). He would let His righteous anger and jealousy fall on the man instead, bringing these curses to bear with terrible force, to blot out his name from under heaven and separate him from all the tribes of Israel (v.21).
The word "peace" here is the man's own claim. The next verse answers it.
Fatal delusion! Crying peace, peace, when there is no peace, but wrath and judgement close at hand. "The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and" — instead of the "peace" he had promised himself in vain — "all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven." A terrible warning to all who act as roots of bitterness among the people of God, and to all who support them!
The self-blessing rests on a false use of God's mercy. The man reasons from mercy to safety.
God has depth of mercy: it reaches as low as sinners. It has height of mercy too: it reaches above the clouds. … Take care not to abuse the mercy of God. Do not suck poison out of the sweet flower of God's mercy. Do not think that because God is merciful, you may go on in sin; this is to make mercy your enemy. To sin because mercy abounds is the devil's logic. He who sins because of mercy is like a man who wounds his head because he has a bandage. He who sins because of God's mercy shall have judgment without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury.
The picture does not stop with one man. One writer links this boast to a root, and a root bears fruit for others too.
In Deuteronomy 29:19-20, the man who hears the curses of the law and says, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart," is like a root that bears gall and wormwood.
The same image of a root comes back in Hebrews 12, and one writer applies it to every Christian.
We should keep as far away as possible from those contemptible evils we have just mentioned. But could we not also cultivate a loving, prayerful interest in one another? A holy watchfulness and care might prevent many a root of bitterness from springing up. … One thing is clear: the passage just quoted from Hebrews 12 says nothing about pastors. It is a stirring call to all Christians to care for one another, and to watch against the springing up of any root of bitterness.
This self-spoken peace is not only an old problem. One writer describes a calm that can last a lifetime and break too late.
For many a long day a man may go on in false peace, thinking all is right when all is wrong… That is a false peace. It is the devil's lullaby for souls deceived by sin, and often helped hell-ward by a Christless religion. Thank God if you are troubled now about your sins and your lost condition. Far better for a man to be in soul-trouble now, and so get the peace which God gives. The other road is to go through life in the deceptive peace the devil supplies, and then wake up in eternity to the terrible discovery that the peace was a fraud, and that God's judgment of sin lasts for ever.
- Hears — the man in this verse is not ignorant. He listens to the curse read out and concludes it applies to others, not to him.
- Blesses — he speaks the blessing himself, inside his own heart, treating God's mercy as permission to keep walking his own way.
- Peace — God answers the peace he claims with anger, jealousy, and his name blotted out.
- Root — he is like a root bearing gall and wormwood, and the bitterness reaches others, not only him.
- Watch — Hebrews 12 gives this warning to all Christians, not only pastors. Watch over one another, so no such root springs up.
Jehovah will not pardon him, but the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will then smoke against that man, and all the curse shall be upon him that is written in this book; and Jehovah will blot out his name from under the heavens;
Moses has just warned of a man who hears these curses read aloud and quietly congratulates himself, sure his own path will end well. Verse 20 is God's answer to that private confidence: no exemption, no sparing, and a name erased from under heaven.
Older translations of verse 19 read "I shall have peace," where the ESV has "I shall be safe." Either way, what the man promises himself is what he does not get.
Fatal delusion! Crying peace, peace, when there is no peace, but wrath and judgment close at hand. "The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and," — instead of the "peace" he vainly promised himself — "all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven." A solemn warning to all who act as roots of bitterness among the people of God, and to all who support them!
The offence is not ignorance. He listens to the warning and then reasons his way out of it, treating his own inclination as a safe guide.
Verse 19 refers to a danger. Someone acts so perversely that he hears these curses pronounced against evil, yet blesses himself in his own heart. He feels the curses cannot apply to him, even though he follows "the dictates of his own heart." So a drunkard thinks he is no different from a sober person! But the Lord would not spare him (v. 20). He would pour out His righteous anger and jealousy against him, bringing these curses to bear on him with terrible force. He would blot out his name from under heaven and separate him from all the tribes of Israel (v. 21).
Two things smoke against the man: anger and jealousy. The second word belongs to love.
He is jealous because He cannot allow any rival a place in the hearts of those He loves. He must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, and He alone can fill and satisfy it for ever. And if His people turn away from Him and go after idols of their own making, they must be left to reap the bitter fruit of their own doing.
The man in verse 19 is not counting on his goodness. He is counting on God's kindness — the very reasoning this verse destroys.
Take care not to abuse the mercy of God. Do not suck poison out of the sweet flower of God's mercy. Do not think that because God is merciful you may go on in sin; that is to make mercy your enemy. To sin because mercy abounds is the devil's logic. Someone who sins because of mercy is like a man who wounds his head because he has a bandage. Whoever sins because of God's mercy shall have judgment without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury.
Verse 20 sentences a man, but verse 18 has already named what grew in him — a root bearing gall and wormwood. Those bitter plants stand for one thing in particular.
Some extremely bitter or poisonous plant, not definitely identified. The word is used as a symbol of "bitterness." To turn to idolatry was like "a root bearing gall and wormwood," Deut. 29:18.
The damage never stays with the one man.
How terrible those roots are! How bitter they are! How widely their damaging tendrils spread at times! What irreparable harm they do! How many are defiled by them! How many precious friendships are snapped, and how many hearts broken by them! ... How often we have felt sure that a little wise pastoral or even brotherly care, a little loving, godly counsel, might have nipped the evil in the bud.
Judgment is not the last word in Deuteronomy 29. The chapter closes by pointing past the law to a secret God has not yet disclosed.
When the people have completely and publicly failed, grace can bring out from God Himself the only suitable remedy... "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." ... Grace hints at an unrevealed secret, though in a distant and puzzling way. The people have utterly failed on the ground of law. Even so, God will not fail to find ways and means of justifying them by faith.
- Root. It starts hidden: a heart turning away, pictured as a root bearing gall and wormwood — the symbol of turning to idolatry.
- Reasoning. The root grows an argument. He hears the curses, then blesses himself, treating the dictates of his own heart as a safe road.
- Rival. God answers with jealousy. He cannot allow any rival in the hearts of those He loves; He must have the whole heart.
- Reckoning. Mercy abused turns to fury. The man promises himself peace and gets the curses, a name blotted out, and separation from the tribes.
- Remedy. The chapter still ends in grace: a secret way to justify by faith where law found only failure — and care for one another that nips the root in the bud.