VIII. BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS WITH RESPECT TO THE COVENANT (Deuteronomy 28:1 to Deuteronomy 29:1).
Chapter 28 Covenant Blessings and Cursings.
It should be noted that verse 1 is not an invitation to enter into covenant. The offer of the covenant had already been made by Yahweh out of His lovingkindness, and had been accepted by Israel in Exodus 24, as confirmed in the last chapter, Deuteronomy 27. This is a promise and a warning subsequent to the covenant concerning the consequence of being faithful to their Overlord, or of rebelling against Him. It parallels the cursing and blessing clauses in the 2nd Millennium BC Hittite treaty covenants, and even more the blessings and cursings in the 2nd Millennium law codes. The 1st Millennium treaties do not tend to have blessings clauses.
But there is one major difference between this covenant and other treaties. In other treaties outside parties (the gods) are called on to ensure the fulfilling of the treaty, but here Yahweh Himself will enforce His own covenant. No outside help is needed.
The consequence of the covenant is that if they respond to it and love Him and serve Him and are obedient to His commandments, Yahweh will bless them in a multitude of ways. That is what the tribes standing on Mount Gerizim represented (Deuteronomy 27:12). But if they turn away from Him and do not keep His commandment they will be horribly cursed. That is what the tribes standing on Mount Ebal represented (Deuteronomy 27:13). The length of the cursings considerably outweighs the blessing. This was normal in Ancient Near Eastern treaties.
“Thee, thou” is used all through this chapter, except where indicated, in order to indicate that the words are spoken to the nation as a whole and to every individual in it.
The Blessings Which Will Result From Continuing Faithfully In The Covenant (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).
The basic premise here is that they will :
1) Listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh their God -- and observe and do all His commandments commanded that day (Deuteronomy 28:1).
2) Listen to the voice of Yahweh their God (Deuteronomy 28:2)
3) Keep the commandments of Yahweh their God and walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 28:9).
4) Listen to the commandments of Yahweh their God commanded that day -- to observe and do them (Deuteronomy 28:13).
5) Not go aside from any of the words spoken by Moses that day.
The net result will be great blessing as outlined below. For the sphere of the blessings, given to them by the graciousness of Yahweh in accordance with His promises to their fathers, is the covenant, and those who would enjoy them must walk in it.
Analysis mainly based on the words of Moses, but with some summary:
a And it shall come about that, if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day (Deuteronomy 28:1 a).
b Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:1 b).
c And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 28:2).
d Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out (Deuteronomy 28:3-6).
e Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be smitten before you, they shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways (Deuteronomy 28:7).
f Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you (Deuteronomy 28:8).
f Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as He has sworn to you, if (as long as) you will keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 28:9).
e And all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they shall be afraid of you (Deuteronomy 28:10).
d And Yahweh will make you plenteous for good (give you an excess of plenty), in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you (Deuteronomy 28:11).
c Yahweh will open to you His good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:12).
b And Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail, and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13 a)
a If you will listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them, and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them (Deuteronomy 28:13-14).
In ‘a' if they will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh their God, to observe to do all His commandments which Moses commands them this day (He will bless them), and in the parallel if they will listen to the commandments of Yahweh their your God, which Moses commands them this day, to observe and to do them, (then He will exalt them). In ‘b' Yahweh their God will set them on high above all the nations of the earth, and in the parallel Yahweh will make them the head, and not the tail, and they will be above only, and they will not be beneath. In ‘c' all these blessings shall come on them, and overtake them, if they will listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and in the parallel this will happen for Yahweh will open to them His good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of their land in its season, and to bless all the work of their hand: and they will lend to many nations, and will not borrow.
In ‘d' the great blessings that will come are outlined including the fruit of the body, the fruit of the land and the fruit of the cattle, and in the parallel Yahweh will give them an excess of plenty including the fruit of their body, and the fruit of their cattle, and the fruit of their ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers to give them. In ‘e' Yahweh will cause their enemies who rise up against them to be smitten before them, they will come out against them one way, and will flee before them seven ways, and in the parallel all the peoples of the earth will see that they are called by the name of Yahweh, and will be afraid of them. In ‘f' Yahweh will command the blessing on them in their barns, and in all that they put their hand to, and He will bless them in the land which Yahweh their God gives them, and in the parallel Yahweh will establish them for a holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to them, as long as they will keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, and walk in His ways.
‘ And it shall come about that, if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth.'
The result of listening diligently to the voice of Yahweh, revealed in their keeping all of His commandments as represented by Moses' current speech, is that He will set Israel on high above all the nations of the earth (compare Deuteronomy 26:19). This was what Yahweh had avouched that He would do for them, and He will do it. Note how this connects with the final words in Deuteronomy 26:19. This is the continuation of the theme.
This being set on high would be indicated by a number of things. Firstly by the multitude of natural blessings that they would receive (Deuteronomy 28:3-6; Deuteronomy 28:11-12; Deuteronomy 7:13; Deuteronomy 11:11-12; Deuteronomy 11:14-15; Deuteronomy 15:8-9;). Secondly by the great security that they would enjoy (Deuteronomy 28:7; Deuteronomy 28:13, compare Deuteronomy 6:19; Deuteronomy 15:6). And thirdly by their material prosperity (Deuteronomy 28:8; Deuteronomy 28:12, compare Deuteronomy 8:18; Deuteronomy 15:6).
They would be set above all the nations of the earth, a promise which is a preparation for the Messianic promises that will arise later (Psalms 2:8). It will be fulfilled in His people when they as the true Israel are raised with Christ and share His throne (Revelation 3:21).
But how does all this apply to us? We will not enter the land, we will enter the better land, the city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10), for if we are His we have already entered under the Kingly Rule of God. The blessings therefore that come to us through obedience are related to His Kingly Rule. To us He promises spiritual blessing and spiritual prosperity. Not for us the desire for physical land and wealth, but a seeking first His kingship and His righteousness. Then all things will be added to us (Matthew 6:33).
‘ And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.'
And all this they would enjoy as long as they listened to the voice of Yahweh their God. For these things were all a part of the covenant. The blessings are then declared in depth. Note that there are six blessings. Three is the number of completeness, and six is three intensified. Furthermore there were six tribes on the Mount of blessing representing the whole of Israel who would be blessed, representing the covenant keepers (Deuteronomy 27:12).
“Blessed shall you be in the city,
And blessed shall you be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of your body,
And the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts,
The increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.
Blessed shall you be when you come in,
And blessed shall you be when you go out.”
These words in poetic prose are emphasised in more abbreviated form in their parallel verse, Deuteronomy 28:11. The blessings relate to the fruitfulness of the womb, the fruitfulness of the ground, and the fruitfulness of their flocks and herds, and the blessing indicates the underlying activity of Yahweh in all that they do. They will be blessed in both city and countryside, in basket and kneadingtrough, (a bowl for making dough), thus they will be blessed in their own abundant offspring (city) and in the abundant offspring of cattle (countryside), and in abundant fruits (basket) and grain (kneading-trough). They will be blessed in all their going out and in, in other words they will be successful both in their ‘goings out and in' in international affairs and in all aspects of their daily lives. Compare especially Deuteronomy 7:13-15 for all these. These are the fruit of the covenant.
The above arrangement reveals an interesting pattern. ‘The fruit of your ground' and ‘the fruit of your beasts' inverts to produce ‘the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock' and ‘your basket and your kneading-trough.' ‘Come in' and ‘go out' then parallel ‘in the city' and ‘in the field'. The problem is then that ‘the fruit of your body' seems to stand on its own. It does, however, relate to being blessed in the city. But the reference to dual aspects in lines 5 and 6 had to result in one parallel dropping out if the eight line pattern was to be maintained.
‘ Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be smitten before you, they shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways.'
Yahweh's protecting hand will also be on them. Their enemies will be smitten before them, for He will fight alongside them. The enemy may march boldly up in full confidence, but in the end they will flee in many directions (compare Deuteronomy 7:20). In the parallel all the people will see that they are called by the name of Yahweh and will be afraid (Deuteronomy 28:10).
‘ Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to, and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.'
The blessing will also include crops and fruits sufficient to store so that their barns will be full and overflowing. Indeed whatever they put their hand to will prosper, both in agriculture and business. For they will be blessed in every way in the land which Yahweh their God has given them. This blessing is not a reward. It is a fruit of their relationship with Him.
‘ Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if (as long as) you will keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they shall be afraid of you.'
As they continue to keep the covenant and walk in His ways He will establish them as a holy people for Himself, a people watched over, cared for, protected and loved because they are separated to Him. And the whole world will see that they bear His name, as someone might bear the name of a great king, and they will be afraid of them, that is, they will revere them and look up to them because of Whose they are. So will they be a testimony to the name of Yahweh. Compare for the whole idea of this verse Deuteronomy 7:6-8. See also Deuteronomy 19:9; Deuteronomy 26:17.
‘ And Yahweh will make you plenteous for good (give you an excess of plenty), in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.'
This parallels the poem in Deuteronomy 28:3-6. They will be blessed in the good land that He has given them, they will ‘have an excess of plenty', because He swore to their fathers that He would so bless them, and they will produce abundantly, in their own offspring (the fruit of their body), in the offspring of their flocks and herds and in all their produce. Notice that the reference to their fathers is a further reminder that all this comes to them not because of what they do, but for the fathers' sakes. What they do is simply the fruit of it.
‘ Yahweh will open to you his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow.'
Yahweh will open the treasure house of the heavens so that rain will fall abundantly in its season (compare Deuteronomy 11:11-12; Psalms 104:13). Thus all the work of their hand will be blessed, so much so that they will become wealthy and lenders to the nations, and will not need to borrow (Deuteronomy 15:6). The picture is one of overwhelming prosperity and wellbeing.
Note that the treasure house of the heavens is under His control. There will be no need for them to look anywhere else. The Baal myths at Ugarit picture Baal as having a palace in the heavens through the windows of which he poured water on the earth. But here it is made clear that that is not so. They come from Yahweh's treasure house. But the parallel made clear that it would be because they listened to His voice (Deuteronomy 28:3).
‘ And Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail, and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you will listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them,'
As long as they listen to Yahweh's commandments, and observe them and do them, they will always be at the head among the nations (Deuteronomy 28:12), and never at the tail. None will be above them, for they will rather always be ranked above others. In the parallel in Deuteronomy 28:2 they will be set on high above all the nations of the earth. This is the natural position for those who walk with the One Who is over all things.
‘ And shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you (ye) this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.'
But all will depend on their not turning aside from any of His words as given by Moses, neither to the right hand nor to the left, and on their not going after other gods to serve them.
For us the same blessings are offered under the Kingly Rule of God. Our enemies will not stand against us, our lives will be fruitful, and He will provide all that we need. But above all we will be His holy people through whom He can fulfil His purposes so that people will know that we are called by His name.