Promised Blessings: The Details -- Deuteronomy 28:1-14

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Do Israel's Promised Blessings Apply to Us? -- Deuteronomy 28:1-14

In this 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses expands on two words from the previous chapter -- blessings and curses. In this first passage, verses 1-14, he provides the Israelites with the details of the blessings that God will provide under certain conditions. Throughout all the writings so far with respect to the Covenant God made with Israel, there were elements of the blessings that would be as Matthew Henry says, at three levels -- personal, family, and national, with the emphasis of course on the national level. But we cannot avoid seeing how often Israel is blessed through the blessing of individual families and later on, as will see in the rest of the Old Testament, individuals themselves. 

I also like the way Robert Jamieson lays out the real purpose and impact of this chapter for us when he says:

"In this chapter the blessings and curses are enumerated at length, and in various minute details, so that on the first entrance of the Israelites into the land of promise, their whole destiny was laid before them, as it was to result from their obedience or the contrary."

Let me make the following point here and get it out of the way. Salvation is free. You can't do anything for it except accepting it as a free gift of God through His Son Jesus Christ. But blessings are not a big free giveaway. They weren't in the days of Israel and they aren't now, no matter what some of your TV preacher friends may tell you. They come with conditions.

They are conditional on two things as indicated very clearly in verse 1 of this chapter: "IF you will diligently obey the Lord your God" and in case we misunderstand what that means, Moses goes on to say, "being careful to do all His commandments".  [Please note, the word "If" in the verse isn't there just for fun. It never is there just for fun in any part of Scripture.]

If you can do that, then blessings start to flow. So many of us in 2021 are wondering where our blessings are. Why are we not being blessed?  Why doesn't this thing work? Perhaps the answer may be because we have failed to read the instruction pamphlet. Which part of verse 1 aren't we following?  Is it the being diligent part?  I think that's the one that matters today.  We can't possibly be satisfying all 613 of the laws. And besides, that is why Jesus died -- because no one could satisfy that requirement.

But we can diligently obey the Lord in all He tells US, you and me, personally, to do. Our blessings friends will, for all intent and purpose, indeed be related to that. That is not to say that God won't bless more than we deserve in our lame attempt at diligent obedience if He wants to. He can and often does. But it is also to say that He may hold off because right now He wants more obedience from you or me. He is God. It's His call.

David Guzik provides this interesting bit of history in relation to this chapter:

"As a literary form, this chapter is similar to ancient treaties between a king and his people; this is God the King, making a covenant with His people, Israel. 'In the ancient Near East it was customary for legal treaties to conclude with passages containing blessings upon those who observed the enactments, and curses upon those who did not.' (Harrrison)"

So what will God do for the Israelites and I believe, for you and I, where appropriate, if we do our part?  Let's take a look:

Verse 1: The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. You will be honored among others -- at school, at work, in the community.

Verse 2: All these blessings will overtake you. You will be awed and amazed. Henry says it this way: "Good people sometimes, under the sense of their unworthiness, are ready to fly from the blessing and to conclude that it belongs not to them,; but the blessing shall find them out and follow them notwithstanding."  Wow, obey God and you can't run away from the blessings. I believe we can claim that.

Verse 3: Blessings will follow you around no matter where you go. No matter where you go. That to me also speaks of protection in our travels, especially these days.

Verse 4: Your children will be blessed and so will your land and your livestock. The fruits of your labor.

Verse 5: You will have all you need at home to eat.

Verse 6: You will be recognized at home and outside your home.

Verse 7: Your enemies won't stand a chance against you. You will be blessed in actual warfare of all types.

Verse 8: All your well-intentioned God-approved projects will be blessed. Again, to me this speaks of success in our employment from God's perspective, not necessarily ours. That means He may want us to leave a job, or He arranges for us to lose a job because there is something else He wants us to do. I know that's hard to accept but that is what this is all about.  Obedience means obedience and that comes with total trust on Him.

Verse 9: The Lord will deem you, and make you, His holy people for Himself. This may be the best blessing -- a special relationship with God, now available to each and every one of us.

Verse 10: People will fear you because you are called by the Lord's name. I think many godless people are going after Christians today while they have safety in numbers because they really fear what Christians claiming the whole power of God could do.

Verse 11: You will prosper with offspring, crops, and livestock. Now Henry again here says there is method in God's promise. He writes, "They should be rich, and have an abundance of all the good things of this life, which are promised them, not merely that they might have the pleasure of enjoying them, but (as bishop Patrick observes out of one of the Jewish writers) that they might have wherewithal to honour God, and might be helped and encouraged to serve him cheerfully and to proceed and persevere in their obedience to him."  Where have we heard the idea of "blessed to be a blessing" before? 

Verse 12: You will have access to God's storehouse, including rain for your crops, so that you can help others and not need their help. Or said another way, you will have influence among other nations. How true that is today. Every politician is concerned about what Israel is doing or might do. But at the same time, every nation is aware of what Israel has accomplished in science, especially medicine, and research. 

Verse 13: You will be a leader of others, not the other way around. The phrase "the Lord will make you the head and not the tail" stems, according to Robert Jamieson, from "an Oriental form of expression, indicating the possession of independent power and great dignity and acknowledged excellence ( Isa 9:14 19:15 )."

Henry says, "both the promises and the threatenings are designed to bring and hold us to our duty, yet it is better that we be allured to that which is good by a filial hope of God's favour than that we be frightened to it by a servile fear of his wrath. That obedience pleases best which comes from a principle of delight in God's goodness." That is, let us not follow these conditions out of fear of what may happen, but rather because we want to please our God.

Guzik again helps us out here:

"God's purpose in blessing Israel was greater than just enriching the nation for its own sake. He intended to glorify Himself through blessing them. When Israel walked after the LORD, these blessings were real; one example of this is when the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon and saw a nation so blessed, she knew it had to be of God (1 Kings 10:1-13)."

And the passage ends with another warning: Don't turn aside from any of the words you were commanded to follow. Moses then adds God's favorite emphasis with respect to what God hates -- Don't go after other gods to serve them. Henry sees this as a third condition in addition to those mentioned above.

Before we move on into the next passage the next time in our study, I wanted to share with you what David Guzik says about what we're looking at:

"The idea behind the choice [that Israel and we have to obey or not to obey] is that God was determined to reveal Himself to the world through Israel. He would do this either by making them so blessed that the world would know only God could have blessed them so; or by making them so cursed that only God could have cursed them and cause them to still survive. The choice was up to Israel."

I believe that was true for Israel, as it was for Job later on, and also true for us today. Read that one paragraph above one more time and let it sink in as it applies to you and me. We have a choice. Make it well.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

In this decision, not deciding results in the bad choice default.

Walk Thru Deuteronomy 11

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Deuteronomy Chapter 11: Victory Depends on Studying and Obeying the Commands

Deuteronomy 11:1-32 – Highlights of The Passage and Some Thoughts

I like verse 2 where Moses says, “And know this day that I am not speaking with your sons...” and then verses 7 and 8, “...but your own eyes have seen…You shall, therefore, keep every commandment…”. This spoke to me. Moses was speaking to those sons of Israel that had witnessed firsthand what God had done for them. And he was saying, “Look, regardless of what your sons and daughters believe in now, you are to keep the commandments.”

We need to hear that today as parents and grandparents. It doesn’t matter what our children and grandchildren proclaim or know or believe, we who know what God has done for us, are to keep the commandments. This morning a friend reminded me of another verse in Scripture, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, which says, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” That’s our job no matter how others react. Obey the commandments; follow the traditions.

In verse 10, Moses is describing how the Israelites’ new land is different than the land of Egypt. It drinks water from heaven. God cares for it. His eyes are on it. And He’s always watching it all through the year, not just in the autumn and spring when rains normally fall.

In verse 18, he reminds them to teach these commands to their children, for all the reasons he had repeated earlier.

Then comes verse 26. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” Listen to God’s commands and be blessed. Don’t listen and be cursed. Chuck Smith reminds us that “That’s always the way it is. God sets before you the blessing and the curse; it’s your choice.” And he adds, “Now if you go to destruction it isn’t that God sent you there. It’s that you deliberately went there against all of God’s endeavors to keep you from there.”

In verse 29, he tells them that once they enter the land, they are to “place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.” Now, what’s that all about? This is what Smith says about it:

And when they came into the land some of the men were to go up to the top of Mount Gerizim and they were to shout to the people who were in this valley between these two mountains, shout down to them the blessings of the land and the conditions of blessings.

And as these men would shout down, "Blessed be ye in the fields" the people say, "Amen". "And in your cities" "Amen" and they would shout down these blessings. But on Mount Ebal there's another bunch of guys that were shouting the curses that would come to them if they disobeyed. So on Gerizim the blessing was placed and they would shout down to the people in the valley, the people would consent "Amen, Amen". And from Ebal the curses were pronounced and again the consenting "Yes, that's right. That's right, amen, amen. So be it". So that must have been quite an experience.

David Guzik says that this is Moses telling the people (and us) that God wants this “choice” that we have to be shared with all the people. We need to tell then that it’s a choice they have to make. That’s part of sharing the gospel today. That’s what a missionary is all about. The name Gerizim is supposed to be associated with fruitful harvests, and the name Ebal is supposed to be associated with barrenness.

This might well be the earliest reference to sharing the good news.

Wrap-up

Study the commands of God. Obey the commands of God. Share the commands of God and the choice that people have. And be victorious.

If our study in Deuteronomy does nothing else, it has certainly helped me understand how simple and easy God really made it for us all. It is us who have complicated things as we try to replace Him in all matters. My hope is that you too can see the solidness of God’s plan for us.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

END the KILLING -- viewer discretion advised

There's a new movement starting up across the country. And I believe they're well worth be aware of and helping. Take a look.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Pharaoh Gets All The Land and Its Owners As His Slaves - Genesis 47:20-21

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them.  Thus the land became Pharaoh’s.  And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.  Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them.  Therefore, they did not sell their land.  Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land.  And at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”  So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”  And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priest did not become Pharaoh’s.

It was either starve to death with your family or sell your land to Pharaoh for seed so you grow grain on it and survive.

Once Joseph bought all the land for his boss, the scriptures say “he removed them to the cities” over the entire country.  Most commentators I have read stay clear of this phrase, and I do not blame them.  There seems to be little reason for the statement.  And what does it really mean?  One possibility is that indeed since their land was ‘sold’ to the Pharaoh and since they had sold themselves as slaves, Joseph could well have assigned them across the land in accordance with their skills and abilities and Egypt’s needs.  To say the least, many Egyptians (and others that lived in the land at the time) were displaced from their former homes to live elsewhere as it suited Joseph and the Pharaoh.  And clearly there was still a lot of agricultural land around the various cities that were being built up in Egypt at that time.

I am, however, amazed how the plight of those who lived in Egypt during the great famine we read about in Genesis parallels considerably with what happens to modern man/woman as he/she battles his/her own ‘enemy’ – be it evidenced in material, physical, physiological, psychological, emotional, or spiritual aspects of our lives.  There is a process that we go through.  It starts with our pre-occupation of what we must have.  Then there is spending of all our money on the ‘enemy’ followed by the enemy taking all our possessions including our land.  To stay alive we finally sell ourselves to him.  And then we’re the enemy’s to do with, as he likes.  We’re his to be moved around at will.

Many who read this story simply see Joseph, the Israelite, being successful and using his God-given talents to save Egypt.  And he did.  But let us not miss out on what was happening to the people that he helped save from starvation.  Their independence, their confidence, their honor, their hopes and aspirations, any respect they had in the community, and so much more, were all lost as they and their families were reduced to slaves in the land.  The only thing they had going for them was that chances are, they could live another day with the grain they now could grow.  But do so for what? Just simply to work another day for Pharaoh.

Contrast that and the saga of many a slave to sin today with a life of joy and freedom in serving God and being blessed by His protection and guidance and provision.  While the Egyptians had no choice at this time, some of us still do.  We can succumb to the enemy that is hunting us down and tormenting our souls, or we can surrender willingly to the King who loves us in ways we will never fully understand, but yet can experience and feel the warmth and care of His passion for us.

What choice have you made?  What choice do you need to make today?  The choice is clearly ours.  I pray we make the right one. 

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.