Day 60: Deuteronomy 28-30

(The previous post continued to cover laws and punishments for various acts that were also mentioned in Leviticus 20.)

Deuteronomy 28

(This chapter covered more blessings and curses.)

¹ And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that Jehovah thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth:
² and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

(Verses 3-14: a list of blessings they would receive if they obeyed God, if they hearkened to God's Voice.)

³ Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
⁴ Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.
⁵ Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
⁶ Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
⁷ Jehovah will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways.
⁸ Jehovah will command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto; and he will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
⁹ Jehovah will establish thee for a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in his ways.
¹⁰ And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee.

(Remember, the point of the 4th Dispensation was for God to reach all the nations of the world through a chosen nation (Abraham). God did this with an everlasting Covenant. If the Israelites hearkened unto God's Voice, God would be able to carry out His Will through Israel.)

¹¹ And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
¹² Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

(This would lead to them lending unto other nations and not borrowing.)

¹³ And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them,
¹⁴ and shalt 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.

(Verses 15-68: a list of curses they would receive if they did not obey God, if they did not hearken to God's Voice.)

¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah 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.
¹⁶ Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
¹⁷ Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
¹⁸ Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.
¹⁹ Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

(These curses were the opposite of the blessings from verses 3-6.)

²⁰ Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
²¹ Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.
²² Jehovah will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
²³ And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
²⁴ Jehovah will make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

(These curses have no specific opposite blessings associated with them.)

²⁵ Jehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and from among all the kingdoms of the earth.

(This curse was the opposite of the blessing from verse 7.)

²⁶ And thy dead body shall be food unto all birds of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.
²⁷ Jehovah will smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
²⁸ Jehovah will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
²⁹ and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee.
³⁰ Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof.
³¹ Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee.
³² Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand.
³³ The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;
³⁴ so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
³⁵ Jehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.

(These curses were the opposite of the blessing from verse 8: Blessings in the land.)

³⁶ Jehovah will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

(This curse was the opposite of the blessing from verse 9.)

³⁷ And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee away.

(This curse was the opposite of the blessing from verse 10.)

³⁸ Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
³⁹ Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.
⁴⁰ Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit.
⁴¹ Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity.
⁴² All thy trees and the fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess.

(These curses were the opposite of the blessing from verse 11. Notice, captivity was one of the effects of not listening to/obeying God.)

⁴³ The sojourner that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower.
⁴⁴ He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

(These curses were the opposite of the blessing from verse 12.)

⁴⁵ And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
⁴⁶ and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
⁴⁷ Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
⁴⁸ therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

(These curses were the opposite of the blessing from verse 13.)

⁴⁹ Jehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
⁵⁰ a nation of fierce countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,
⁵¹ and shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; that also shall not leave thee grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flock, until they have caused thee to perish.
⁵² And they shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and they shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee.
⁵³ And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Jehovah thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.
⁵⁴ The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining;
⁵⁵ so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates.
⁵⁶ The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
⁵⁷ and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

(God was more specific about the heathen nation that He would bring against Israel if they did not hearken unto His Voice.)

⁵⁸ If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, JEHOVAH THY GOD;
⁵⁹ then Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
⁶⁰ And he will bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
⁶¹ Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will Jehovah bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
⁶² And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.
⁶³ And it shall come to pass, that, as Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Jehovah will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

(God would also rejoice over them to destroy them. This rejoicing would be an effect of God's Justice. Destroying them in the short term would result in creation in the long term.)

⁶⁴ And Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone.
⁶⁵ And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot: but Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;
⁶⁶ and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.
⁶⁷ In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
⁶⁸ And Jehovah will bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.




Deuteronomy 29
¹ These are the words of the covenant which Jehovah commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

(Moses reminded them of the Covenant they established in Horeb/Sinai.)

² And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Jehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
³ the great trials which thine eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders:
⁴ but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot.
⁶ Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God.

(God told them that the forty years in the wilderness were so they would know God. God was building their faith. Their clothes and shoes did not wear out. They also did not drink wine or "strong drink" during this time.)

⁷ And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
⁸ and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.
⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

(God gave a reason and a value: do the words of the Covenant and you will prosper in all you do.)

¹⁰ Ye stand this day all of you before Jehovah your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,
¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and thy sojourner that is in the midst of thy camps, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water;
¹² that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day;
¹³ that he may establish thee this day unto himself for a people, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he spake unto thee, and as he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

(Next, God stated this Covenant was also with everyone (present or not) who turned away from God, everyone who tried to get out of this Covenant.)

¹⁴ Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,
¹⁵ but with him that standeth here with us this day before Jehovah our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day;

(Verses 16-20: judgment against the covenant-breaker.)

¹⁶ (for ye know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which ye passed;
¹⁷ and ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them);
¹⁸ lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
¹⁹ 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 destroy the moist with the dry.
²⁰ Jehovah will not pardon him, but then the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven.

(Verses 21-28: the purpose for judgment against the covenant-breaker.)

²¹ And Jehovah will set him apart unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.
²² And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick;
²³ and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
²⁴ even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

(God stated that not only would the individual be cursed, but generations to come would ask about the cause of this judgment. The future generations were witnesses against the cursed individual.)

²⁵ Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,
²⁶ and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given unto them:
²⁷ therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book;
²⁸ and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.

(All of this was the reason why.)

²⁹ The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

(This last verse has been used to rationalize not having to understand God. This was not what this verse stated. The secret things do belong to God, however, God will reveal to us the things we must know in order to do the words of His Law, and that includes what we must know about Him. In fact, we saw the verses immediately preceding this verse gave the reasons why.)




Deuteronomy 30
¹ And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee,
² and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;
³ that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee.

(If the people who turned away from God turned back to Him and obeyed His Voice, He would "turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee." Notice, the curses from the previous chapter were intended to be objective measures that proved they had not hearkened to God's Voice and needed to confess and repent.)

⁴ If any of thine outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will Jehovah thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
⁵ and Jehovah thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
⁶ And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

(God would circumcise their heart so that they could love God with all their heart and soul, that they may live. This Covenant was consummated with the heart.)

⁷ And Jehovah thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, that persecuted thee.
⁸ And thou shalt return and obey the voice of Jehovah, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

(If His people repented, God would return them to blessings and their enemies to curses.)

⁹ And Jehovah thy God will make thee plenteous in all the work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good: for Jehovah will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers;
¹⁰ if thou shalt obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
¹¹ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.

(The commandments from God were not too hard to accomplish. It really depended on their heart, on whether they were willing to keep the commandments.)

¹² It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?
¹⁴ But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

(God's Word was near them (in their mouth and heart) so they could do it. This verse was referenced by Paul in his letter to the Romans in Romans 10:9-10.)

¹⁵ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
¹⁶ in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

(Key words from vs. 15:
-Good "creates."
-Life was "the ability to repair," which required creation.
-Evil "destroys."
-Death was "the inability to repair.")

¹⁷ But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
¹⁸ I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it.
¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;

(They were told to choose life with their heart so they, and their seed, could live. Would this not be a waste of time for God to say if He could do things against our will?)

²⁰ to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

(We ought to cleave to God because He is our life. God alone is Good. God alone creates. God is our ability to repair. Also, in John 14:6, Jesus stated He was the way, the truth, and the life.)

(This post covered the blessings and curses from God, along with the method for how to reverse these blessings and curses.)

Day 61