Original Meaning

The Way of Blessing and Summary of the Way of the Curse (28:1–19)

ALTHOUGH VERSES 15–19 formally introduce the long imprecatory section, since they mirror the introduction to the blessing section (vv. 1–6), a comparative commentary may be helpful. Each part consists of a formal introduction, followed by a series of blessings/curses that represent the consequences of the choices the people make.

The preconditions to blessing and curse (28:1–2; 28:15). While the NIV obscures these features, the opening lines of the two panels exhibit remarkable parallelism. As in extrabiblical texts,9 whether or not people listen to their suzerain’s voice tests their fidelity as vassals (vv. 1, 15; cf. Ex. 19:5). The addition of “today” in both brings Moses’ hearers back to the present and reminds readers that chapter 27 has been a textual digression. While the words for “blessings” and “curses” are the same as those encountered in 11:26–29 and 27:12–13, here and throughout the chapter the concepts are portrayed as animate beings that come upon their targets. The opening to the first panel promises Israel that if they will walk in the ways of Yahweh, he will set them high above the nations of the earth (cf. 26:19; 7:14). Verse 13 expands on the motif of Israel’s exaltation in the context of the blessings, but verses 43–44 develop its antithesis, Israel’s subjugation through the curses.

The formulaic declarations of blessing and curse (28:3–6; 28:16–19). With a few minor exceptions, the formulaic declarations of blessing and curse continue the mirror-image rhetorical strategy. The text includes six declarations each of blessing and cursing, yielding a total of twelve and matching the division of the tribes in 27:11–13. The outer benedictions/maledictions involved standardized pairs of opposites—“town” and “country”; “your coming in” and “your going out”—which function as merisms for “wherever you are” and “wherever you go,” respectively. The middle pair in each case is more complex. Whereas the outside pairs involve the Israelites’ own general well-being, these pairs pronounce the benediction/malediction upon the fruits of human effort (vv. 4, 17–18).

These formulaic blessings and curses define Israel’s well-being in agricultural terms and are grounded on the underlying premise that the land belongs to Yahweh; he determines whether it fulfills its role within the covenantal triangle involving deity, people, and land.10 While Israel’s neighbors looked to fertility gods for their economic security, these opening statements declare that Israel’s well-being depends on their fidelity to Yahweh.

The way of blessing (28:7–14). Although verses 7–13 expound on verses 3–6, this paragraph exhibits independent stylistic and structural integrity. The skeleton consists of seven principal clauses. Except for the third (v. 8b), in Hebrew each statement highlights Yahweh’s role by beginning with a verb and explicitly identifying Yahweh as the subject. As a whole the unit summarizes the rewards for covenant obedience, though verses 9 and 13b–14 remind the hearers that these benefactions are not unconditional entitlements (cf. vv. 1–2). Within this relationship Israel will never be able to claim credit for the blessings they enjoy, but they will be held fully liable if the blessings do not materialize. Appearing in the center of roughly chiastically arranged benefactions (vv. 9–10), Moses highlights Israel’s special relationship with Yahweh, envisioning a glorious future in which the covenantal triangle is fully operative and shalom pervades. The benefactions are best treated in logical order rather than serially as they appear in the text.

Echoing 15:4, in verse 8b Moses issues a general promise that Yahweh will bless the nation in the land. Presenting the ideal of the trilateral relationship in its most elementary form, this statement could have served as a heading to this entire list of blessings. In verses 8a and 11–12a Moses promises fertility and material prosperity as certain rewards for faithfulness. The proof of Yahweh’s blessing on all human effort (cf. v. 20)11 will be evident in Israel’s barns (v. 8a). Fleshing out this general promise of material well-being in verses 11–12a, Moses adds an effusive promise—“the LORD will grant you abundant prosperity”—and then specifies the dimensions of that prosperity: large families, large herds, and abundant crops (v. 11). As in verse 4, this triad reflects the three areas of primary concern in fertility religions.

However, since this prosperity will happen on the land that Yahweh had sworn to the patriarchs, the blessing is linked to the ancient promises. Moses concretizes the image of prosperity in verse 12a by portraying Yahweh as the owner of a heavenly “storehouse,”12 who opens the chute and lets the rains gush out on the land. This statement is inspired by Leviticus 26:4, but the image is also reminiscent of Ugaritic myths that refer to Baal’s releasing the rains over the earth.13 Moses hereby declares polemically that the productivity of the land is determined by Yahweh, not Baal. In addition to extraordinary fertility within the land, in verses 7 and 12b–13 Moses promises Israel hegemony over the nations. Speaking metaphorically, he declares that Yahweh will make them “the head” of all and “the tail” of none (v. 13a). This hegemony will involve total military (v. 7)14 and economic (vv. 12b–13a; cf. 15:6) superiority over the nations.

As noted above, verses 9–10 represent the theological heart of this paragraph and the climax of all the blessings in verses 1–14. Echoing 26:18–19, Moses articulates Yahweh’s ideal for his people and their privileges as his covenant partner (cf. Ex. 19:5–6). Whereas 26:19 had spoken of Yahweh setting Israel high above all the nations, here Moses envisions him establishing Israel as his holy people. That this involves the fulfillment of an earlier commitment is highlighted by the verb “to establish” and the addition of “as he promised you on oath.” The notion of Israel as Yahweh’s holy people is familiar from 7:6; 14:2, 21. However, in keeping with Exodus 19:5–6, the fulfillment of Yahweh’s covenantal promises will be contingent on their living according to his revealed will, here referred to as “keeping” his commands and “walking in his ways.” These are shorthand expressions for all that Yahweh requires of Israel (cf. 10:12–13).

When Yahweh establishes Israel as his holy people, then all the nations of the earth will see that Israel is branded with his name. Translated literally (“that the name of Yahweh is read/called upon you”), this expression derives from the practice of inscribing or branding one’s name on property.15 When the nations read Yahweh’s name on Israel, they will recognize both that he owns them16 and that their well-being is a reflection of their divine Suzerain.17 They will transfer the awe that is rightly expressed before God to the people who bear his awesome name. This comment correlates with Moses’ declaration in 26:19 that the nations’ recognition of Israel will ultimately result in the praise, renown, and glory of Yahweh.

By characterizing the nations’ response as “fear,” Moses links this statement with Genesis 9:2, and in so doing hints at Israel’s role in the biblical metanarrative of redemption. As his “holy people,” Israel was chosen to bear the name of their divine Redeemer and of the Creator of all nations (26:19). They represent humanity in microcosm, exercising authority on Yahweh’s behalf and evoking the response of awe from those over whom they exercise dominion.

Bridging Contexts

A DARK VIEW OF the God of the Old Testament? Modern readers often recoil before the horrific scenes envisioned here—and especially before the images of this bloodthirsty God who “delights” in perpetrating these violent acts (28:63), especially if we read verses 15–68 without first reading verses 1–14 or in isolation from all that has preceded in Moses’ second address. How can this view of God be justified or reconciled with the view of God presented in the New Testament? Perhaps Marcion was right; perhaps the god of the Old Testament was a different divinity than the God of the New Testament, embodied in Jesus Christ.57

However, recent advances in speech-act theory have heightened our appreciation for the rhetorical and homiletical significance of these blessings and curses for Moses’ original audience and for later generations who would hear them read in settings of communal worship (Deut. 31:9–13).58 The question we need to ask is: What did Moses intend to do with his words in this chapter? The words on the page represent Moses’ locutions; what he intended to accomplish with the words is called his illocution; and how the audience interpreted his words and responded to them is referred to as the perlocution. In these blessings and curses we observe Moses’ illocutionary pastoral agenda reaching its climax. At the end of his lengthy address on the privileges and responsibility of covenant relationship with Yahweh, this is in effect an altar call, a call to fear the honored and awesome name of Yahweh and to demonstrate that fear in grateful submission to his lordship and obedience to his will (v. 58; cf. 11:26–28; 30:11–20). Moses is a pastor, who sets before the people the way of life and the way of death. Both the lavish promises of blessing as a reward for obedience and the horrific warnings of doom as consequences of rebellion were intended to get the hearers’ attention, to arouse fear, and to warn the people what it would be like to fall into the hands of an angry God.59

History of the covenant. The history of Israel is a history of the rejection of Moses’ message. Earlier we emphasized that in Deuteronomy 28 Moses builds on the covenant blessings and curses as revealed by Yahweh himself in Leviticus 26. Given the lengthy lists of curses in ancient Near Eastern treaty documents, we should not be surprised to learn that these blessings and curses represent fundamental elements of the covenant that Yahweh made with Israel.60 This means that when the northern kingdom of Israel experienced the horrors predicted here in 722 BC at the hands of the Assyrians, and their Judaean counterparts experienced them in 586 BC at the hands of the Babylonians, this represented not the termination of Yahweh’s covenant with his people, but the fulfillment of its fine print.

Tragically, the nearer those doomsdays came, the more the people, particularly the Judaeans, clung to Yahweh as their divine Protector. Their security was based on four divine commitments: (1) Yahweh’s irrevocable gift of the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants; (2) Yahweh’s irrevocable covenant marriage with his people at Sinai; (3) Yahweh’s irrevocable grant of the throne over Israel to David and his descendants; (4) Yahweh’s irrevocable choice of Jerusalem as his dwelling place.61 However, the people forgot that with the benefactions associated with these divine commitments came the responsibility of serving Yahweh as the agent of grace and revelation to the world, which meant living according to the ways of Yahweh as revealed in his covenant. They also forgot that the blessings and curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 were built into the covenant itself—which explains why the warnings of doom in prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel depended so heavily on the covenant curses.

By the late seventh century BC, idolatry, contempt for Yahweh, and rejection of his will were so deeply entrenched that Yahweh could no longer tolerate the evil of their ways. Indeed, he would have been untrue to his covenant commitments if he had turned a blind eye to persistent infidelity and had not imposed the curses spelled out here. In the words of Ezekiel (speaking for Yahweh), “I am Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do [what I have said]” (pers. trans.).62 These declarations refer less to Ezekiel’s own prophetic utterances than to Yahweh’s original covenantal commitments, which included his threats of doom.

While echoes of and allusions to specific elements of the blessings and curses may be heard throughout the Old Testament, their significance is graphically illustrated in 2 Kings 22, which records the discovery of the Torah document in the temple and Josiah’s response to the discovery. When Shaphan the scribe read the Torah document to him, the king tore his clothes. Fearful that Yahweh would pour his fury out on his people according to all that is written in the Torah because of their history of refusing to live according to its teachings (v. 13), Josiah demanded that his officials immediately inquire of Yahweh concerning the words of the document. In an oracular pronouncement, the prophet Huldah declared the divine resolve to bring “disaster” on the land and its inhabitants, that is, “everything written in the book” (v. 16). Through her Yahweh announced that because they had abandoned him in favor of other gods, the time for the outpouring of his wrath had come (v. 17). While Josiah himself would be spared the horrors of Judah’s end, the day of the nation’s desolation63 and curse64 had been set. Nothing Josiah could do would stave off Yahweh’s fury.

And when it happened, Judah’s doom transpired precisely as and in fulfillment of the curses of the Torah. While the deluded people accused Yahweh of reneging on his commitments, with remarkable perception in his prayer Daniel recognized the reality:

We have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Dan. 9:9–14)

Perhaps what is most remarkable is the amazing patience and grace of Yahweh. He would have been totally within his covenantal rights to have imposed these curses on Israel much earlier and in many circumstances: in the premonarchic period of the judges, during the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 11–12), and repeatedly thereafter as king after king—both northern and Judean—led the people down the path of apostasy and idolatry. But Yahweh waited. To be sure, he imposed the curses one or two at a time (Amos 4:6–13), hoping this would wake up his people and cause them to return to him. He was indeed patient (Ex. 34:6–7).

Finally, after centuries of putting up with their perfidy, Yahweh had had enough. When the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 734–722 BC and the southern kingdom—along with the Davidic monarchy—fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, the people experienced the horrors precisely as predicted in these covenant curses.65 However, neither the fall of Israel or the fall of Judah meant that Yahweh had cancelled or broken off his covenant. On the contrary, these events confirmed that the covenant was still in force. The blessings were suspended and replaced with the curse, exactly as spelled out in the covenant document (Lev. 26) and as proclaimed by Moses (Deut. 28).

Contemporary Significance

SINCE THE NEW TESTAMENT declares explicitly that in Christ we are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), it is easy for Christians to dismiss Deuteronomy 28 (and Lev. 26) as a fossil from a bygone age—interesting for its antiquarian value to some, but ultimately irrelevant. However, we need always to be asking, what is there of permanent value for us in texts like this? To this question we offer several answers.

Imprecatory strategy. Moses’ imprecatory rhetorical strategy in this chapter is not unique to the book of Deuteronomy or the Old Testament; it is also picked up in the New Testament. In keeping with Moses’ opening appeal to heed the voice of Yahweh as the test of fidelity to the covenant Lord (Deut. 28:1–2) and reiterated throughout the litany of curses,66 Jesus declared to his disciples, “If you love me [i.e., are covenantally committed to me], keep my commands” (John 14:15, 21, pers. trans.). Indeed, in the sequence of the call to obedience to Christ in John 14 and the parable of the vine and the vinedresser in John 15, we observe a New Testament equivalent to the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28. Specifically, Jesus seeks to motivate fidelity by promising that those branches that bear fruit—which in the context means keeping his commands—will abide in his love and experience full joy (vv. 10–12), but those branches that do not bear fruit will be lopped off and tossed into the fire (v. 6). The former obviously answers to the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1–14, while the latter answers to the curses (28:15–68).

This rhetorical strategy also occurs in New Testament letters. For example, Paul writes:

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Col. 1:21–23)

Like Moses, Paul is addressing people who claim to be God’s people. Yet he needs to warn them that unless they continue in their faith, their presentation before Christ as holy and innocent is jeopardized. Writing to Gentile Christians in Rome, Paul is even more specific:

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! (Rom. 11:17–24)

In Hebrews 10:28–31 the author of this book compares the fate of the Israelites with the potential fate of his audience:

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Guarding against presumption. The warnings in such texts are intended to guard against presumption. Like the Israelites of the Old Testament, Christians may be tempted to presume upon the grace of God and take their standing with him for granted. However, these warnings aim to elicit both hope and fear; in so doing they provide an antidote to apostasy and rebellion.67

As a corollary, this passage reminds readers in every generation that prosperity and freedom may never be regarded as fundamental and unconditional rights. The call to relationship with God in Christ to bear his name is a glorious privilege (Deut. 28:8–10; cf. 1 Pet. 4:12–19), to which we must respond with faith demonstrated through obedience to the revealed will of God. Fidelity to him may provoke the ire of others, but it will win the Lord’s praise. However, failure to live according to the will of the Suzerain may win the praise of others, but it will provoke the ire of God.

Yahweh remains sovereign. This text reminds contemporary readers that although Yahweh always keeps his word, he retains full sovereignty over all affairs of the universe. He sets up nations, and he brings them down. He does so by employing natural means of drought, disease, and calamities of every sort, and by using human agents. In contrast to the peoples of the ancient Near East, calamities are not the result of demonic forces. The covenant Lord has the right and power to inflict them even on his own people, should they abandon him. This text reminds believers in every age that there is no eternal security for those who live in sin. All confessions to the contrary, in the end the true test of faith is found in the life of the believer.

Representing God to the world. Far from preaching a gospel of health and wealth, as we find in many contemporary preachers,68 Deuteronomy 28 reminds readers in every age that by redeeming his people, God calls them to the glorious privilege of representing him to the world and demonstrating by their lives the transforming power of Christ. That privilege is highlighted by verses 1 and 9–10, which summarize God’s vision for his people, whether Old Testament Israel or the church today. His goal is to set us high above all the nations of the earth—though not for our sakes, but for the sake of him whose name we bear.

We have been called out of the world to be his holy people and are called by the name of the Lord (v. 10; lit., “the name of Yahweh is read on us”). If the name of the Lord is read on us, that must mean it has been stamped on us. Either we have been branded by his name (cf. comments on 5:11), or like Israel’s high priest (Ex. 28:35), we wear a medal on our foreheads inscribed, “Holy to the LORD.” This brand reflects the mission to which we have been called: declaring to the world in life and testimony what God in his grace can do for sinners.

However, as Yahweh himself declared in Exodus 19:4–6 and Moses reiterated in Deuteronomy 26:16–19, the fulfillment of that mission depends on the fidelity of his people—listening to his voice and keeping his covenant. Israel was not called for Israel’s sake, but for the sake of God’s mission of redemption for the world. And so it is with us. According to Ephesians, the Lord chooses sinners and adopts them as his children; he stamps them with his name and calls them to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:3–5); he sets them high above the nations (1:11–14) and lavishes on them the riches of his grace and every spiritual blessing. All these divine actions were intended so that those who were the first to hope in Christ should live to the praise of his glory (1:6). Called to “praise, fame and honor” (Deut. 26:19), may we never forget the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And may we never forget that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10), which means living a life worthy of the calling that we have received (4:1).

Indeed, the remainder of Ephesians (chaps. 4–6) functions as the equivalent to Deuteronomy 12–26. Given this high calling, the severity of the consequences of rejecting the responsibilities that come with that calling becomes understandable. In the words of Jesus, every branch that does not bear fruit (works of righteousness) is cut off, withers, and is thrown into the fire and burned (John 15:2, 6). This is a solemn warning to believers in every age.

Original Meaning

The Way of the Curse (28:20–68)

IN VERSE 20 WE arrive at the longest literary unit in Deuteronomy. Whereas the imprecations of 27:15–26 and 28:15–19 are formulaic in nature, the curses in verses 20–68 are cast in impassioned rhetorical style and expound in exhaustive detail the reversal of the blessings specified in verses 7–13. When heard orally, these curses create terror in the mind of the hearer.

Several features of the text contribute to their shuddering effect. (1) As in verses 7–13 Yahweh is the subject of all the significant verbs. (2) Moses emphasizes Yahweh’s intentions with a series of expressions involving the preposition “until”: until Israel is destroyed/he destroys her (vv. 20, 24, 45, 51, 61; vv. 48, 63), Israel perishes (vv. 20, 22), her defenses crumble (v. 52), and he has made an end of Israel (v. 21). These hyperbolic expressions declare Yahweh’s goal: to destroy the covenantal triangle and in effect “wipe out” the nation itself. (3) Moses highlights Israel’s hopelessness by punctuating the litany of disasters with declarations of the absence of any relief.18 (4) By means of a seemingly endless catalogue of secondary agents of doom, Moses warns that Yahweh will marshal every conceivable agent of destruction against his people. (5) At critical junctures Moses inserts reminders of the causes of these disasters. Although Yahweh is directly involved in Israel’s demise, the Israelites will be destroyed because they have been unfaithful to him (vv. 20, 45, 47, 62).

On first sight, the catalogue of curses seems erratic and disjointed. The opening declaration (v. 20) may be interpreted as a heading for the entire section, summarizing the key issues in the imprecations: (1) the source of Israel’s doom; (2) the agents of doom; (3) the scope of doom; (4) the goal of doom; and (5) the reason for Israel’s doom. Thereafter the location of conditional and motive clauses offers the best clues to the structure of these curses.

A new conditional clause in verse 58 divides the text into two unequal parts: verses 20–57 and verses 58–68. Within the first part verses 45–48 are transitional, offering a theological interpretation of Israel’s eventual doom. Within this segment verses 45–46 summarize verses 20–44 and verses 47–48 introduce verses 49–57. These structural signals point to three recognizable literary panels—three volleys of woe intended to motivate Israel to fidelity and love for their Redeemer.

(1) The way of doom: the first volley (28:20–46). Verses 20 and 45–46 frame the first volley of woes, announcing the issues involved. While linked in substance, the styles of these bookends differ. Whereas verse 20 has Yahweh dispatching the agents of Israel’s doom, verse 45 compares the curses to an animal pursuing and overtaking its prey. Whereas in verse 20 Yahweh commissions a triad of agents of doom against Israel, verse 45 replaces these with a triad of verbs. Whereas verse 20 identifies the targets of doom as the work of the Israelites’ hands, verse 45 identifies the Israelites themselves as the targets. Whereas verse 20 declares that Yahweh’s actions against Israel are precipitated by the people’s evil deeds and their abandonment of Yahweh, verse 45 specifies the offenses as refusing to obey Yahweh, not keeping his commands and decrees.

The reference to the long-range effects of Yahweh’s actions against Israel in verse 46 represents the most striking difference between these borders: They will be a “sign” and “wonder” forever.19 The text does not specify what Yahweh’s actions against Israel will prove, but it appears the lessons will include Yahweh’s marshaling the forces of heaven and earth to punish those who resist him and to achieve his purposes in accordance with his word. Between these borders Moses threatens a litany of disasters, illustrating the curse, panic, and frustration referred to in verse 20. Although he moves from one topic to another, the passage divides into three paragraphs, successively increasing in length and intensity, like three blasts of the watchman’s trumpet (vv. 20–26; vv. 27–34; vv. 35–45). The core of each paragraph involves three broad categories of calamities cited in Leviticus 26:25–26: sword, pestilence, and famine.

The first alarm (vv. 21–26). The first alarm involves three agents of disaster: the plague (vv. 21–22a), crop failure (vv. 22b–24), and military defeat (vv. 25–26). While outside Israel the word deber (NIV “diseases”) identified the demon of pestilence,20 here allusions to malevolent spirits are thoroughly demythologized. The expression refers to epidemics like the bubonic plague that often afflict animal and human populations ravaged by famine and battle. Yahweh will cause this plague to cling to its victim like fleas attached to skin and bite them.21

In verse 22 Moses becomes more specific, listing seven afflictions with which Yahweh will strike his people. The catalogue of seven afflictions expresses Yahweh’s sovereignty over all agents of death and destruction. The first four entries elaborate on deber in verse 21 and specify diseases at Yahweh’s disposal: wasting disease,22 fever,23 inflammation,24 and scorching heat.25 The fifth refers to the sword (ḥereb), which functions as shorthand for Israel’s defeat by enemy armies (cf. vv. 25–26),26 and the last two refer to crop diseases.

The next two verses (vv. 23–24) spell out the crop afflictions. Like the four expressions for human illnesses, the meanings of the terms for crop diseases are uncertain. “Blight” apparently refers to premature drying of grain growing in the fields, perhaps because of the desiccating effect of scorching east wind. “Mildew” seems to involve pathological yellowing of grain, attributable to plant disease, inadequate nutrients in the soil, or drought. These verses echo Leviticus 26:19, which also portrays the heavens as a sheet of metal preventing moisture above the firmament from watering the earth, and the ground as hardened and resisting cultivation. Verse 24 envisions precipitants from the heavens. However, this is not rain but powdery dust that falls on the people, like dust storms whipped up by the hot desert winds (sirocco) common in the Middle East.

The reference to the sword (ḥereb) in verse 22 anticipates the threats of verses 25–26. Reversing the blessing of verse 7, Yahweh threatens to hand Israel over to her enemies to be struck down and forced to flee. Instead of being “high above all the nations on earth” (v. 1; cf. 26:19), they will present the kingdoms of the earth with an image of terror (cf. 2 Chron. 29:8). Verse 26 concretizes the horror of defeat in battle. The corpses of the slain are left out in the open field as carrion for scavenging birds and mammals—perhaps the greatest indignity of all. In the ancient world bodies were often discarded in the open and left to be eaten by wild animals,27 especially the bodies of those who had broken contracts and treaty oaths.28

The second alarm (vv. 27–34). The second alarm also presents three categories of disaster: pestilence, famine, sword. As in verses 21–22a, the curses in verses 27–29a, 34 threaten the personal health of the Israelites. A pair of identical clauses highlights Yahweh’s role in Israel’s future disaster (vv. 27a, 28a, cf. v. 35a), to be followed by a list of agents he will engage. The seven listed here correspond to the seven listed after the same principal clause in verse 22, though now the first four involve incurable skin ailments, while the last three are psychosomatic and psychological in nature.29 As in verse 22, the meanings of some of these expressions are uncertain. “Boils” refers to some sort of skin disease, perhaps an ulcer or a boil (NIV; cf. Ex. 9:8–12).30 “Tumors” involves some kind of swelling, and “festering sores” point to infectious skin lesions; “the itch” occurs only here. Verse 28 adds three more diseases (cf. Zech. 12:4): “madness,31 blindness [cf. 1 Sam. 21:14–15(15–16)] and confusion of mind.” This may refer to the bewilderment that attends the kinds of disasters described in this chapter.32

Verse 29 illustrates how these mental disorders manifest themselves. Disoriented, in broad daylight people will grope their way around like a blind man in his perpetual darkness (cf. v. 34). Generally speaking, verses 29c and 33b establish the context of this segment: “day after day you will be oppressed and robbed.” This declaration, coupled with the expressions of hopelessness in vv. 29, 31, and 32, suggests the effects of an overwhelming military defeat.

Compounding the crisis, verse 29b announces the theme of utter futility, which is then developed by means of a series of futility curses33 involving grievous domestic and economic abuses. (1) The futility of betrothal (v. 30a). A man will be betrothed to a woman, but another man will ravish her (cf. 21:10–14).34 (2) The futility of home construction (v. 30b). The reference to Israelites building houses but not dwelling in them reverses the fate the present generation is about to impose on the Canaanites (6:10–11). (3) The futility of agricultural efforts (v. 30c). The threat of planting vineyards but not enjoying the fruit of the vine also reverses the image of 6:10–11. (4) The futility of owning livestock (v. 31). Referring to the three most important domestic animals—oxen, donkeys, sheep—this curse warns of their confiscation by invaders. (5) The futility of having children (v. 32). The Israelites’ children will be seized and delivered over to merchants to be sold in the international slave trade. Parents will look on helplessly and spend the rest of their lives “crying their eyes out” for them.35 (6) The futility of all human effort (v. 33). Verse 33 summarizes the tragedy of the preceding. The Israelites will not eat the fruit of their own ground or consume any products of their toil.

The third alarm (vv. 35–44). Like the first alarm, this paragraph subdivides into three parts, dealing successively with illnesses (v. 35), military defeat (vv. 36–37), and famine (vv. 38–42). It ends with a warning of the internal social effects of Israel’s calamities (vv. 43–44).

Picking up the motif mentioned in verse 27, verse 35 returns to “the boils of Egypt,” though now Moses adds that they will affect the knees and legs particularly, rendering movement difficult. Not only will this plague be incurable; the boils will cover the entire body from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads.

Whereas the first alarm spoke explicitly of Yahweh causing Israel’s defeat at the hands of enemy armies (vv. 24–25), and the second dealt with oppression of Israel’s citizens that will attend such a defeat (vv. 29b–34), the third predicts Israel’s exile from the land (vv. 36–37). (1) Reiterating notions expressed earlier in 4:27–28, Moses speaks of Yahweh’s direct involvement in driving his people into exile (28:36). Borrowing vocabulary from 17:14–15, he inserts a surprising but sarcastic reference to Israel’s king.36

(2) Moses speaks again of Israel’s exile among the nations, characterized ominously as “unknown to you or your fathers” (cf. 13:6[7]), an expression intended to strike fear in the hearts of the Israelites. In a final blow to the tripartite covenantal relationship celebrated in chapter 27, they will be exiled to an alien land.

(3) Moses declares that there, among the nations, the Israelites “will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone” (v. 36; cf. 4:28). Their privileged status as vassals of Yahweh will be exchanged for vassaldom to lifeless idols. Whereas non-Israelites perceived idols as living objects indwelt by the spirit of the deity they represented, to Moses idols were concrete objects at best and “detestable images” (29:17[16]) at worst.

Verse 37 summarizes the effects of these calamities on Israel’s standing among the nations. Expanding on 4:27–28 and 28:25, this statement inverts verse 10 and especially 26:19. Moses replaces three expressions of privilege in the latter with three expressions of shame: “horror,” “object of scorn,” and “ridicule.” The first word expresses the nations’ shock at Israel’s fate.37 The second suggests that the name “Israel” will become proverbial for disaster; they will become a classic illustration of misfortune and rejection by a deity. Deriving from a root meaning “to repeat,” the third word suggests that Israel will become the object of ridiculing conversations.

In verses 38–42 Moses resumes his threat of famine as judgment, but his tactics change. Now the lack of food will not be caused by drought and plant diseases but insects—though he interrupts this series of “futility curses” by warning of the deportation of the children (v. 41). This threat might have been included more logically after verse 36, but its present location places “the fruit of the womb” alongside “the fruit of the ground.” The catalogue of futility curses involves the entire range of ancient Palestinian agricultural activity: fields of grain (v. 38), vineyards (v. 39), olive groves (v. 40), and fruit trees (v. 41). The crop failures are caused by little creatures that Yahweh will send to devour and despoil the crops before they can be harvested. “Locusts” (v. 38) are grass-eating insects that fly in vast swarms and devour everything in sight.38 “Worms” (v. 39) refers to fruit grubs that attack the grapes.39 The meaning of “swarms of locusts” (v. 42) is uncertain, but it probably refers to a species of beetle that kills vegetation by attacking leaves or stems.40

Verses 43–44 reverse the blessing in verses 12–13 (cf. 23:20[21]) and invert the Israelites’ situation during the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 8:23–24[19–20]; 9:4, 6): Aliens will come and live among the Israelites. “The alien” could refer to foreign nations, but this is better interpreted as a divinely imposed reversal whereby Israelites in the land are targeted for judgment while sojourners and guest workers are spared (cf. Lev. 25:47).

In verses 45–46 Moses provides a summary conclusion to the litany of disasters (identified as “all these curses”) described in verses 20–44. These threats describe Israel’s certain future if they abandon Yahweh and serve other gods (v. 29).

(2) The way of doom: the second volley (28:47–57). As severe as the preceding covenant curses are, now the effects become horrific. This volley is concerned with only one issue: the utter degradation of Israel through siege by a foreign enemy. The panel divides into three parts: the underlying causes of the disaster (vv. 47–48), the tactics of Yahweh’s agent in the disaster (vv. 49–52), and the horrific consequences of the disaster (vv. 53–57). The climactic build-up is reflected in the increasing lengths of each segment.

The underlying causes of Israel’s demise (vv. 47–48). In summarizing the reasons for Israel’s demise these verses offer a study in contrasts: because Israel “did not serve the LORD your God,” they “will serve the enemies the LORD sends”; famine, thirst, and nakedness will replace joy and exuberance; total deprivation will replace abundance. These images identify the ultimate and the immediate causes of Israel’s fall.

Moses begins by declaring that ultimately Israel herself will be responsible for the threatened disasters (v. 47). The adverbial expressions “joyfully” and “gladly” highlight the disposition Yahweh’s generous provision should evoke. “In the time of prosperity” is shorthand for “on account of all that the LORD has done for you.” Recalling 6:10–12, this threat warns the people not to forget Yahweh, especially when they are enjoying the good things the land produces for them.41 Because the Israelites refuse to serve their Benefactor, Yahweh will provide alternative masters (v. 49). He “will bring” enemies to attack and pillage Israel, leaving them hungry, thirsty, and naked (v. 48). In place of the gracious yoke of the covenant, Yahweh himself will impose a yoke of iron on the necks of Israel until he has destroyed them (v. 48).42 This yoke they will not be able to break.

The character and tactics of Yahweh’s agent (vv. 49–52). Inverting the promises of 26:19 and 28:1, 13, Moses frames this paragraph with declarations of Yahweh’s involvement in Israel’s demise (vv. 49, 52). However, between these frames his focus shifts from Yahweh, who will be immediately responsible for Israel’s demise, to the terrifying nature and tactics of his agent. Verses 49–50 characterize Yahweh’s agent of doom with five bold brushstrokes, each of which intensifies the terror of Israel’s demise. (1) The enemy will come “from the ends of the earth.” What is near is familiar; what is distant is mysterious and fearful. (2) The enemy will be fast. Like an eagle swooping down on his prey, he will attack his targets suddenly and without warning. (3) The enemy will speak an unintelligible language. This rules out negotiations and contributes to horror.43 (4) The enemy will be “fierce-looking” (lit., “strong of face”), which expresses both the terror of a victim and the resolve of the attacker. (5) The enemy will be heartless, showing no respect for the aged or mercy toward the young.44

The ruthless disposition of Yahweh’s agent is matched by his ruthless actions (vv. 51–52). (1) He will consume the Israelites’ livestock and crops from the ground. Borrowing expressions from 7:13, Moses presents these actions as the ironic reversal of the blessings. (2) He will besiege the Israelites throughout the land. Condemning the Israelites “trusting” in their high walls and defensive gate structures (cf. 3:5), in verse 52 Moses predicts that all the fortifications in the land that Yahweh had granted to Israel will come crashing down before the invader. The deity–nation–land covenantal triangle will collapse like the walls of Israel’s cities.

The horrific consequences of Yahweh’s actions against Israel (vv. 53–57). Borrowing images from Leviticus 26:27–29, this paragraph opens with a general thesis statement, which is followed by two frightful scenes of cannibalism. While the opening declaration highlights the occasion of the crisis—in siege and in distress—this paragraph offers commentary on the “fruit of your womb” in verse 18. When the “fruit of your land” and the “fruit of your herds” are exhausted, people will resort to eating the “fruit of your womb.”45 The last clause highlights the horrific social effect of Israel’s sins and the theological dimension of the tragedy: The people devour their own offspring whom they had received as gracious gifts from Yahweh.46

Moses develops this theme in two parallel panels, illustrating how men and women respectively respond to the crisis precipitated by the siege (vv. 54–55, 56–57). Both panels begin by highlighting the cultural refinement of the people who are reduced to eating their own children. While fathers are described as “most gentle and sensitive” (v. 54), Moses concretizes mothers’ delicacy by describing those who consume their children as being unable to bear the thought of letting the soles of their feet touch the ground (v. 56). These characterizations reflect the dehumanization that results from the actions of Yahweh’s agent.

Both panels also depict men and women turning against members of their own families. The image of the woman who becomes hostile even toward her afterbirth is shocking (vv. 56–57a). Verses 55 and 57b paint two pictures of unspeakable horror. The first image is tragic: Exhibiting no compassion toward his brothers and remaining children, the father refuses to share with them the flesh of his children. The second is grotesque: The mother secretly eats her children, and like an animal she also devours the afterbirth.47

(3) The way of doom: the third volley (28:58–68). Following a summary of the basis of all the curses in this chapter (v. 58), the final volley of doom presents four threats: (1) disease (vv. 59–63b), (2) exile away from the land (vv. 63c–64), (3) restlessness (vv. 65–67), and (4) return to Egypt (v. 68). Although each section ends with the effect of the disaster on the people, the paragraph is framed by ominous references to Egypt.

Moses opens this section with a reminder to his immediate audience that the horrific fate described in this chapter is inevitable if they do not live scrupulously according to “all the words of this Torah that are written in this document” (pers. trans. of v. 58),48 and if they “do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God.” The construction in verse 58 (lit., “keep by doing . . . and by fearing”) reminds the Israelites that covenantal fidelity involves both obedience to the will of the covenant Lord and due concern for his honor. This is the only reference to fearing the “glorious and awesome name” of God in Deuteronomy.49

Part of the function of the original theophany at Sinai had been to instill in the people awe before Yahweh to deter them from sin and to inspire fidelity.50 Moses’ present instruction in the Torah (6:2) and future readings are to serve the same purpose (17:19; 31:12–13). The remainder of this paragraph highlights the consequences of failure to honor the name of Yahweh. Echoing the language and building on ideas expressed in 4:26–29, Moses threatens the Israelites with a complete reversal of their salvation history by means of plagues and diseases (vv. 59–63b), dispersion (vv. 63c–67), and enslavement (v. 68).

Moses highlights the intensity of the plagues with which Yahweh will strike Israel by: (1) describing the afflictions with a rare verb (hiplâʾ), meaning “to perform an exceptional act” (NIV “fearful”); (2) modifying the afflictions with intense adjectives (v. 59); (3) threatening to bring back against Israel every dreaded disease of Egypt (v. 60a);51 (4) speaking of persistence, adding, “They will cling to you” (v. 60b); (5) broadening the scope of the plague to include disasters not specified in the written record of this Torah (v. 61; cf. 29:20–21[19–20]); (6) declaring Yahweh’s determination to destroy52 Israel (v. 61b); (7) and announcing the result to be a direct reversal of the promises to the ancestors of innumerable progeny (v. 62).

The construction of verse 63 signals a new and shocking dimension in this litany of horror: the termination of the nation–land association by dispersing the population among the nations (vv. 63–67). Moses begins by speaking shockingly of a change in Yahweh’s disposition toward his people. Where previously Yahweh had delighted in causing Israel to flourish, now he will delight in their destruction. The notion is troubling to modern readers, but read within the ancient conceptual environment, it contrasts sharply with the notions of Israel’s neighbors. Where others attributed such calamities to demonic forces and hostile deities, Yahwism refuses to take the easy way out. These statements reflect the other side of Yahweh’s passion: When his people trample underfoot his grace, his passions will be ignited against them.

The purpose of his hostile actions against his own people goes beyond severing Israel’s tie with her land (v. 63c) to a rupturing of the people’s ties with their deity (v. 64). The characterization of Israel’s new objects of worship as gods that “neither you nor your fathers have known” highlights the contrast between Yahweh, who has graciously revealed himself to his people by word and deed (cf. 4:6–15, 32–40), and the gods of the nations, who never speak or act (cf. Jer. 10:5).

Verses 65–66 describe the Israelites’ physical and emotional state in exile: Yahweh himself will rob them of all joy and meaning in life, and the distress over their demise will haunt them wherever they go. Moses highlights Yahweh’s involvement in their restlessness by portraying their “anxious mind,”53 “eyes weary with longing,” and “a despondent heart”54 as antigifts. In verses 66–67 he concretizes their despair by introducing hypothetical interlocutors, whose lips express their emotional state. The picture of Israel’s restlessness recalls the “dread” of Egypt and other nations in the face of Yahweh’s judgment (Ex. 15:16; Num. 22:3), and the dread of the Canaanites in the face of the Israelites’ arrival (Deut. 2:25; 11:25).

Moses’ warning of Israel’s doom concludes in verse 68 with an unequivocal image of the reversal of Israel’s history. Whereas in 17:16 Moses had warned the people never to return to Egypt, now he announces that as a climactic act of divine judgment for persistent apostasy Yahweh will take them back there himself, and there they will be put up for auction as slaves. However, that they should be transported there in ships is puzzling.55 Moses may have added the reference to ships intentionally to add to the Israelites’ trauma; for a landed people the prospect of a journey by sea could have been frightening. Alternatively, these ships may represent some nation’s (Egypt’s or Tyre’s?) economic and mercantile power. Even so, Yahweh will commandeer those symbols of pride and independence and use these vessels to send his people off into slavery.

This curse is rendered even more puzzling by Moses’ reference to his previous assertion that Israel will never see Egypt again. Apparently alluding to a promise not recorded in the Pentateuch, Moses hereby reinforces the notion that Yahweh’s punitive actions signify his suspension of the benefits that have been Israel’s as his redeemed and covenant people. Back in Egypt they will try to sell themselves to their enemies to serve as male and female slaves, but even as slaves they will be deemed worthless. Perhaps the Egyptians will reject them because they recognize the Israelites as victims of some horrific curse (cf. 29:22–28[21–27]), and they fear that contact with them could bring on them the same awful fate.

Bridging Contexts

A DARK VIEW OF the God of the Old Testament? Modern readers often recoil before the horrific scenes envisioned here—and especially before the images of this bloodthirsty God who “delights” in perpetrating these violent acts (28:63), especially if we read verses 15–68 without first reading verses 1–14 or in isolation from all that has preceded in Moses’ second address. How can this view of God be justified or reconciled with the view of God presented in the New Testament? Perhaps Marcion was right; perhaps the god of the Old Testament was a different divinity than the God of the New Testament, embodied in Jesus Christ.57

However, recent advances in speech-act theory have heightened our appreciation for the rhetorical and homiletical significance of these blessings and curses for Moses’ original audience and for later generations who would hear them read in settings of communal worship (Deut. 31:9–13).58 The question we need to ask is: What did Moses intend to do with his words in this chapter? The words on the page represent Moses’ locutions; what he intended to accomplish with the words is called his illocution; and how the audience interpreted his words and responded to them is referred to as the perlocution. In these blessings and curses we observe Moses’ illocutionary pastoral agenda reaching its climax. At the end of his lengthy address on the privileges and responsibility of covenant relationship with Yahweh, this is in effect an altar call, a call to fear the honored and awesome name of Yahweh and to demonstrate that fear in grateful submission to his lordship and obedience to his will (v. 58; cf. 11:26–28; 30:11–20). Moses is a pastor, who sets before the people the way of life and the way of death. Both the lavish promises of blessing as a reward for obedience and the horrific warnings of doom as consequences of rebellion were intended to get the hearers’ attention, to arouse fear, and to warn the people what it would be like to fall into the hands of an angry God.59

History of the covenant. The history of Israel is a history of the rejection of Moses’ message. Earlier we emphasized that in Deuteronomy 28 Moses builds on the covenant blessings and curses as revealed by Yahweh himself in Leviticus 26. Given the lengthy lists of curses in ancient Near Eastern treaty documents, we should not be surprised to learn that these blessings and curses represent fundamental elements of the covenant that Yahweh made with Israel.60 This means that when the northern kingdom of Israel experienced the horrors predicted here in 722 BC at the hands of the Assyrians, and their Judaean counterparts experienced them in 586 BC at the hands of the Babylonians, this represented not the termination of Yahweh’s covenant with his people, but the fulfillment of its fine print.

Tragically, the nearer those doomsdays came, the more the people, particularly the Judaeans, clung to Yahweh as their divine Protector. Their security was based on four divine commitments: (1) Yahweh’s irrevocable gift of the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants; (2) Yahweh’s irrevocable covenant marriage with his people at Sinai; (3) Yahweh’s irrevocable grant of the throne over Israel to David and his descendants; (4) Yahweh’s irrevocable choice of Jerusalem as his dwelling place.61 However, the people forgot that with the benefactions associated with these divine commitments came the responsibility of serving Yahweh as the agent of grace and revelation to the world, which meant living according to the ways of Yahweh as revealed in his covenant. They also forgot that the blessings and curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 were built into the covenant itself—which explains why the warnings of doom in prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel depended so heavily on the covenant curses.

By the late seventh century BC, idolatry, contempt for Yahweh, and rejection of his will were so deeply entrenched that Yahweh could no longer tolerate the evil of their ways. Indeed, he would have been untrue to his covenant commitments if he had turned a blind eye to persistent infidelity and had not imposed the curses spelled out here. In the words of Ezekiel (speaking for Yahweh), “I am Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do [what I have said]” (pers. trans.).62 These declarations refer less to Ezekiel’s own prophetic utterances than to Yahweh’s original covenantal commitments, which included his threats of doom.

While echoes of and allusions to specific elements of the blessings and curses may be heard throughout the Old Testament, their significance is graphically illustrated in 2 Kings 22, which records the discovery of the Torah document in the temple and Josiah’s response to the discovery. When Shaphan the scribe read the Torah document to him, the king tore his clothes. Fearful that Yahweh would pour his fury out on his people according to all that is written in the Torah because of their history of refusing to live according to its teachings (v. 13), Josiah demanded that his officials immediately inquire of Yahweh concerning the words of the document. In an oracular pronouncement, the prophet Huldah declared the divine resolve to bring “disaster” on the land and its inhabitants, that is, “everything written in the book” (v. 16). Through her Yahweh announced that because they had abandoned him in favor of other gods, the time for the outpouring of his wrath had come (v. 17). While Josiah himself would be spared the horrors of Judah’s end, the day of the nation’s desolation63 and curse64 had been set. Nothing Josiah could do would stave off Yahweh’s fury.

And when it happened, Judah’s doom transpired precisely as and in fulfillment of the curses of the Torah. While the deluded people accused Yahweh of reneging on his commitments, with remarkable perception in his prayer Daniel recognized the reality:

We have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Dan. 9:9–14)

Perhaps what is most remarkable is the amazing patience and grace of Yahweh. He would have been totally within his covenantal rights to have imposed these curses on Israel much earlier and in many circumstances: in the premonarchic period of the judges, during the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 11–12), and repeatedly thereafter as king after king—both northern and Judean—led the people down the path of apostasy and idolatry. But Yahweh waited. To be sure, he imposed the curses one or two at a time (Amos 4:6–13), hoping this would wake up his people and cause them to return to him. He was indeed patient (Ex. 34:6–7).

Finally, after centuries of putting up with their perfidy, Yahweh had had enough. When the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 734–722 BC and the southern kingdom—along with the Davidic monarchy—fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, the people experienced the horrors precisely as predicted in these covenant curses.65 However, neither the fall of Israel or the fall of Judah meant that Yahweh had cancelled or broken off his covenant. On the contrary, these events confirmed that the covenant was still in force. The blessings were suspended and replaced with the curse, exactly as spelled out in the covenant document (Lev. 26) and as proclaimed by Moses (Deut. 28).

Contemporary Significance

SINCE THE NEW TESTAMENT declares explicitly that in Christ we are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), it is easy for Christians to dismiss Deuteronomy 28 (and Lev. 26) as a fossil from a bygone age—interesting for its antiquarian value to some, but ultimately irrelevant. However, we need always to be asking, what is there of permanent value for us in texts like this? To this question we offer several answers.

Imprecatory strategy. Moses’ imprecatory rhetorical strategy in this chapter is not unique to the book of Deuteronomy or the Old Testament; it is also picked up in the New Testament. In keeping with Moses’ opening appeal to heed the voice of Yahweh as the test of fidelity to the covenant Lord (Deut. 28:1–2) and reiterated throughout the litany of curses,66 Jesus declared to his disciples, “If you love me [i.e., are covenantally committed to me], keep my commands” (John 14:15, 21, pers. trans.). Indeed, in the sequence of the call to obedience to Christ in John 14 and the parable of the vine and the vinedresser in John 15, we observe a New Testament equivalent to the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28. Specifically, Jesus seeks to motivate fidelity by promising that those branches that bear fruit—which in the context means keeping his commands—will abide in his love and experience full joy (vv. 10–12), but those branches that do not bear fruit will be lopped off and tossed into the fire (v. 6). The former obviously answers to the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1–14, while the latter answers to the curses (28:15–68).

This rhetorical strategy also occurs in New Testament letters. For example, Paul writes:

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Col. 1:21–23)

Like Moses, Paul is addressing people who claim to be God’s people. Yet he needs to warn them that unless they continue in their faith, their presentation before Christ as holy and innocent is jeopardized. Writing to Gentile Christians in Rome, Paul is even more specific:

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! (Rom. 11:17–24)

In Hebrews 10:28–31 the author of this book compares the fate of the Israelites with the potential fate of his audience:

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Guarding against presumption. The warnings in such texts are intended to guard against presumption. Like the Israelites of the Old Testament, Christians may be tempted to presume upon the grace of God and take their standing with him for granted. However, these warnings aim to elicit both hope and fear; in so doing they provide an antidote to apostasy and rebellion.67

As a corollary, this passage reminds readers in every generation that prosperity and freedom may never be regarded as fundamental and unconditional rights. The call to relationship with God in Christ to bear his name is a glorious privilege (Deut. 28:8–10; cf. 1 Pet. 4:12–19), to which we must respond with faith demonstrated through obedience to the revealed will of God. Fidelity to him may provoke the ire of others, but it will win the Lord’s praise. However, failure to live according to the will of the Suzerain may win the praise of others, but it will provoke the ire of God.

Yahweh remains sovereign. This text reminds contemporary readers that although Yahweh always keeps his word, he retains full sovereignty over all affairs of the universe. He sets up nations, and he brings them down. He does so by employing natural means of drought, disease, and calamities of every sort, and by using human agents. In contrast to the peoples of the ancient Near East, calamities are not the result of demonic forces. The covenant Lord has the right and power to inflict them even on his own people, should they abandon him. This text reminds believers in every age that there is no eternal security for those who live in sin. All confessions to the contrary, in the end the true test of faith is found in the life of the believer.

Representing God to the world. Far from preaching a gospel of health and wealth, as we find in many contemporary preachers,68 Deuteronomy 28 reminds readers in every age that by redeeming his people, God calls them to the glorious privilege of representing him to the world and demonstrating by their lives the transforming power of Christ. That privilege is highlighted by verses 1 and 9–10, which summarize God’s vision for his people, whether Old Testament Israel or the church today. His goal is to set us high above all the nations of the earth—though not for our sakes, but for the sake of him whose name we bear.

We have been called out of the world to be his holy people and are called by the name of the Lord (v. 10; lit., “the name of Yahweh is read on us”). If the name of the Lord is read on us, that must mean it has been stamped on us. Either we have been branded by his name (cf. comments on 5:11), or like Israel’s high priest (Ex. 28:35), we wear a medal on our foreheads inscribed, “Holy to the LORD.” This brand reflects the mission to which we have been called: declaring to the world in life and testimony what God in his grace can do for sinners.

However, as Yahweh himself declared in Exodus 19:4–6 and Moses reiterated in Deuteronomy 26:16–19, the fulfillment of that mission depends on the fidelity of his people—listening to his voice and keeping his covenant. Israel was not called for Israel’s sake, but for the sake of God’s mission of redemption for the world. And so it is with us. According to Ephesians, the Lord chooses sinners and adopts them as his children; he stamps them with his name and calls them to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:3–5); he sets them high above the nations (1:11–14) and lavishes on them the riches of his grace and every spiritual blessing. All these divine actions were intended so that those who were the first to hope in Christ should live to the praise of his glory (1:6). Called to “praise, fame and honor” (Deut. 26:19), may we never forget the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And may we never forget that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10), which means living a life worthy of the calling that we have received (4:1).

Indeed, the remainder of Ephesians (chaps. 4–6) functions as the equivalent to Deuteronomy 12–26. Given this high calling, the severity of the consequences of rejecting the responsibilities that come with that calling becomes understandable. In the words of Jesus, every branch that does not bear fruit (works of righteousness) is cut off, withers, and is thrown into the fire and burned (John 15:2, 6). This is a solemn warning to believers in every age.