Deuteronomy 26 - 31

The Promise of Blessings or Curses
Today's reading is one of the longest so far (partly because of my error in the spreadsheet), however it's theme is  simple: Obey and be blessed; Disobey and be cursed.

Chapter 26 ends up the previous section reiterating the laws concerning the sacrifice of the first fruits of the harvest, one of the first things the people are to do when crossing into the Promised Land.  Chapter 27, begins the section on blessing and curses. In 27:12-13 Moses divides the tribes into two groups - one group is to recite blessings and one group is to recite curses. Then in verses 15 to 26 he has the curses read first.  The people have to say "Amen" after each curse is pronounced.  The curses deal with idolatry, theft, injustice, sexual immorality and deviancy, attacks and murder, and disobedience to the Law in general.

Chapter 28 - one of the longest chapters in Deuteronomy - begins with blessings for obedience. Every aspect of the people's lives will be blessed: their dwelling, their crops, their children, their flocks and herds, their food, indeed everything they do and everywhere they go will be blessed!.  They are promised decisive victory over their enemies, prosperity, health, riches, and a blessed existence.  Unlike the curses, the blessings are dealt with in a converse manner in 28:16-19.  This indicates that obedience and disobedience are not mutually exclusive opposites. If a person is not disobedient, that does not mean he is obedient, but if a person is not obedient, then they are disobedient.  In other words, the Law required full and unequivocal obedience, anything less was disobedience. The converse blessings are a direct reversal of the blessings given at the beginning of the chapter.

The rest of chapter 28 articulates all the diverse ways Israel will be cursed for their disobedience.  If the intent was to engender reverential fear in the listeners, then the wording is highly effective.  No sane person would want to endure the punishments described in this chapter. Disobedience will lead to starvation to the point that fathers will cannibalize their own children and mothers will consume the afterbirth of newborns. The curses are written in withering, inescapable, fatalistic terms and describe an existential nightmare that never ends.

The end of Chapter 30 contains a heart-wrenching plea from Moses to the people.  He makes it crystal clear that the blessings of God are attainable in verse 11, "This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and is not beyond your reach."  He explains in the next verses that no special effort is required, it is not just a spiritual command (v. 12) or one faraway (v. 13) but "the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so you can obey it." (v.14).  In others words, the power lies in their confession (lips) and faith (heart). Verse 19 states the tremendous choice that lies before them: life or death, "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!"

This is the same choice God has always given mankind.  In the Garden, Adam and Eve could choose the Tree of Life and live, or the Tree of Knowledge and die. Cain could choose to offer a correct sacrifice, but chose death instead.  Esau could choose to keep the birthright, but he sold it for a bowl of uncooked lentils. The children of Israel could choose to enter the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea, but instead chose to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all of the unbelievers died.  And today a person can choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and live or reject His sacrifice at Calvary and die.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.