Deuteronomy 28

No one has a disapproval or aversion to blessings, they are wanted and welcomed by all.  I certainly want whatever God has for me in His heavenly storehouse.  Yet, not many of us understand that blessings have distinctions and qualities that separate them from each other.  One of the best ways to determine the nature of a blessing is by identifying the testament that it was offered under – the Old Testament or the New Testament.  An even deeper discovery of the identification of blessings can be discerned by noting what dispensation it was made in – the dispensations of Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Law, Grace, Tribulation & Kingdom.  The two testaments determine the nature of God’s written or spoken blessings, and, with more specificity, so do the seven dispensations.  Volumes could be written on this subject, but let’s talk about Old Testament blessings.

               The Old Testament places a clear emphasis on material blessings.  The people of the Old Testament, especially Israel, were in a sort of infant state when it came to earthly possessions, and it was needful for them to receive material blessings from God that established them in the Promised Land.  Additionally, Old Testament Israel had far fewer square miles than their surrounding nations, and that is still true today.  So, experiencing material blessings from God was essential to ancient Israel’s survival.

               The very best representation of Old Testament blessings is found in Deuteronomy twenty-eight.  The contents of this great chapter are presented in the format of an ancient contract.  That means that the suzerain, the beneficiary and the terms of the contract are all clearly defined.  The suzerain of ancient contracts was the individual who was responsible for providing the means and resources that benefited a recipient.  The suzerain was responsible for defining the term of the contract and requiring agreement and compliance from the beneficiary.  The suzerain also stated very early in the contract what he was owed and why he was owed.  This illustration of ancient contracts is extremely helpful to our understanding of the Old Testament covenant that God made with Israel, its terms and the blessings that could be expected.

               Of course, God was the suzerain of the Old Testament covenant with Israel.  Why are they indebted to Him?  He tells them in clear terms what He did to deserve their loyalty, and it has to do with their God’s powerful deliverance of Israel from their bondage in Egypt:

• Exodus 13:9-10, And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
• Exodus 20:1-2, And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
• Deuteronomy 5:6, I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
• Deuteronomy 5:15, And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
• Deuteronomy 6:12, Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

The above five examples are only a sampling of God’s continual reminders of His investment in Israel as the suzerain of the covenant.  Those opening two verses of Exodus twenty above name God as the suzerain, but then the terms of the contract are listed afterwards; we call them the Ten Commandments.  Look at that again:

Exodus 20:1-17, And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth . . . Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain . . . Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

This may appear to be a strictly legal transaction, and if it does it is because of my own inadequate writing.  To counterbalance such impressions, let’s talk about the blessings that came from this covenant.  Deuteronomy twenty-eight lays out the blessings that could be expected from the commitment that God offered to Israel.  The chapter is arranged so that the blessings for obedience are listed first, and they are followed by curses for disobedience.  As we break down the components of these blessings I would like to point out the use of the word shall or shalt in the early parts of the chapter – 25 times in fourteen verses.  If you have ever had the unfortunate task of analyzing contractual lingo, you know that shall and “will” are two different terms.  “I will do something” does not have the binding requirements that I shall has.  I shall means that it must be done to fulfill the term of the contract.  Shall, in the Bible, is always connected to a verb phrase showing intended action.  Observe these things with me.

National Blessings

               God promised Israel that their nation would eclipse all other nations in terms of blessings if they obeyed Him.  Deuteronomy 28:1 says, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth . . .”  When God blesses a nation, no nation can compete with that nation.

Conditional Blessings

               Watch closely for the word if in the following verse: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. (Deut. 28:2)  God places this condition early in the listing of blessings because, in the Old Testament, human obedience was essential to the conditions of the covenant.  As we have seen over and over in the Old Testament, God did often remove His blessings when His people disobeyed.

Regional Blessings

               Deuteronomy 28:3, “Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.”  Israel could expect blessings when they interacted in city commerce.  Their trade industries that brought them to commercial settings would fall under the umbrella of God’s blessings.  That meant they would experience advantages in trade that would not be available to their opponents.  Blessed in the field meant that they would have advantages in their crop yields, their harvests and their agricultural endeavors in general.  Both city and field work would be blessed regionally.

Personal Blessings

               Note the use of the very personal word thy in the following verses: “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.” (Deut. 28:4-5)  Remember that Joseph was so blessed in Egypt that his blessings spilled over onto the Egyptians and spared them when the entire region was in a horrible famine.  Also remember that those same Egyptians that experienced the second-hand blessings of Joseph were deprived of those blessings when they enslaved Joseph’s descendants.  Moses and Aaron saw a plague of darkness in Egypt, “but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” (Exo. 10:23b)  God knows how to isolate Israel and bless them with light when all others are in darkness.  The Israelites also had fresh water when the rivers were turned to blood.  They had relief from frogs, flies and pestilence while all Egypt suffered.  God personally blessed them.  Their women were fertile, their men were fertile, their personal ground was fertile, and their personal livestock were fertile.

Directional Blessings

               In Deuteronomy 28:6, God promised, “Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.”  No matter what direction they were headed, they could count on God’s material blessings.  They were blessed when they came home; they were blessed when they left home.  They were blessed when they went to battle; they were blessed when they came from battle.  Whether they were coming or going, they were blessed.

Martial Blessings

               Israel did not have the biggest, strongest military or the best equipped military, but they had a blessed military.  In Deuteronomy 28:7, God promised, “The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.”  Due to God’s promises in the covenant, Old Testament Israel saw many attacks that ended in the routing of their attackers.  Invading armies who attacked Israel would become discombobulated and wind up fleeing in every direction in defeat.

Agricultural Blessings

               Their storehouses (Deut. 28:8) represent their abundance.  “The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”  After the harvest, after the gleaning, after the offerings of first-fruits, after the distribution of food, after the setting aside of seed for next year’s crops, after the livestock were all well fed, the storehouses would be filled with plenty.  Their storehouses were safe from rodents.  Their storehouses were safe from thieves.  Their storehouses were safe from mildew, rot and decay.  God gave them agricultural blessings.

Spiritual Blessings

               Old Testament blessings were material blessings, but they certainly included spiritual blessings.  Notice what God promised in Deuteronomy 28:9-10, “The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.”  They didn’t only see the blessings of creation; they got the Creator.  This made them a set apart (holy) people.  The Egyptians, the Philistines, the Amorites, the Amalekites, the Canaanites all learned to fear the God of Israel.  This perplexed Israel’s enemies because the armies of Israel were inferior, and yet, with God on their side, Israel could not be defeated.  They had spiritual blessings.

Material Blessings

               Once again, Israel’s dispensational needs were for material blessings so that their vulnerabilities to much older and established surrounding nations could be offset by God’s blessings.  Notice what God promised, “And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.” (Deut. 28:11)  Fruitful goods, fruitful bodies, fruitful cattle, fruitful ground meant prosperity and tangible material blessings.  This would come in fulfillment of promises made to their ancestral fathers.

Financial Blessings

               Deuteronomy 28:12 says, “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”  God promises monetary treasures that will perpetuate the prosperity of His people through the lending of money with interest.  Interest wealth comes when borrowers are abundant.  God promised Israel financial blessings in the form of many nations borrowing from them.  He also promised that they themselves would not be borrowers as long as they served Him.

               This is why the exploitation of the people of Nehemiah’s day was so egregious.  The Jews of Nehemiah’s day were lending money to each other and charging interest (cf. Nehemiah 6).  When Nehemiah discovered what they were doing he was infuriated and demanded that this be stopped immediately with all monies and lands refunded and debtor-slaves set free.  God promised financial blessings to His covenant people, and borrowing was not conducive to the condition of His covenant with them.

Positional Blessings

               Note the position of being the head, and not the tail (Deut. 28:13a).  Note the prepositions above only, and thou shalt not be beneath.  How encouraging it must have been for God to send this extremely motivational promise that their successes would be determined by their simple obedience to the terms of God’s covenant.  They would be leaders, never followers.  They would be appreciated, never tolerated.  They would be teachers, never learners.  They could be brave and never cowardly.  They would be the king and never the pawns.  These are positional blessings.

Reversal of Blessings

               I wish Deuteronomy twenty-eight ended in verse fourteen.  God’s storehouse of blessing was unlimited if Israel would obey.  Yet, God knew they would not.  What we see in the balance of Deuteronomy twenty-eight is God’s power to reverse the blessings and curse them in each category mentioned in verses one to fourteen.  The opposite of blessing is woe.  This section is clear evidence that God foreknew that Israel would fail miserably and experience woe.  They were at risk of national, conditional, regional, directional, martial, agricultural, spiritual, material, financial and positional woe if they breached the terms of the contract and of the covenant.

               Deuteronomy 28:15 says, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee . . .”  God then proceeds to speak of:

• Woes in the city and the field (28:16)
• Woes in the basket and the store (28:17)
• Woes in the fruit of the body, the land and the flocks (28:18)
• Woes coming in and going out (28:19)
• Woes of pestilence, consumption, fever, inflammation, extreme burning, sword, blasting and mildew (28:21-22)
• Woes of pursuits (28:22b)
• Spiritual woes (28:23a)
• Physical woes (28:23b)
• Woes of drought (28:24)
• Woes of defeat (28:25-26)
• Egyptian woes (28:27, 59-60)
• Emotional woes (28:28-29)
• Domestic woes (28:30)
• Woes of loss (28:31)
• Woes of posterity (28:32)
• Woes of robbery (28:33-34)
• Medical woes (28:35)
• Woes of idolatry (28:36-37, 64)
• Woes of pests (28:38-39, 42)
• Woes of crop failure (28:40)
• Woes of child captivity (28:41)
• Positional woes (28:43-44)
• Woes of bondage (28:48-52, 68)
• Woes of cannibalism (28:53-57)
• Mysterious woes (28:61)
• Woes of extinction (28:62)
• Woes of depression (28:65-67)

It is obvious that the woes can outnumber the blessings.  There is no one who could bless Israel more than the Lord our God, but be sure, there is no one who could also curse them more.  I see eleven categories of potential blessings and twenty-seven categories of potential curses and/or woes in Deuteronomy twenty-eight.

Testamental Blessings

What about the New Testament?  Can we expect God’s blessings in this age?  I am happy to answer, yes!  Look closely at Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ . . .”  Spiritual blessings in heavenly places – that says everything we need to know about the difference between Old Testament blessings and New Testament blessings. The Old Testament blessings were focused on material assets: land, livestock, progeny, health, agricultural fertility, etc.  Those were the exact blessings that Old Testament Israel needed to survive.  New Testament blessings are almost entirely spiritual: peace, joy, assurance, instruction, comfort and the literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  These are exactly what we need in the New Testament Dispensation of Grace, and these are what we have in abundant supply.

Dr. Brad Bailey is a husband, father, grandfather, pastor, professor, author and radio personality in Brandon, FL