We’re going to take a giant leap in our survey here and go to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Review “Don’t Skip God’s Heartbeat” and “The ‘Why’ Behind Deuteronomy” if you’re wondering why the law is repeated in Deuteronomy.

In chapter 28, God tells them exactly how they will be blessed for their obedience and how they will be cursed for their disobedience.

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today… (28:1)

Blessings for obedience:
*Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. (28:3)
*Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. (28:4)
*Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. (28:5)
*Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. (28:6)…

This is a great deal! Now, for the flip side.

But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you… (28:15)

Curses for Disobedience:
*Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. (28:16)
*Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. (28:17)
*Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. (28:18)
*Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. (28:19)…

[This is a really long section, so I'll stop quoting there and you can read the rest of both the blessings an cursings on your own.]

Did you notice anything there? In the curses, God “undoes” everything He has done for them! It is the exact opposite! If you read through all the curses, it is pretty rough stuff – oppression, natural disasters, sieges, captivity… This is not a side of God that we’re accustomed to talking about, which can lead us to some wrong conclusions sometimes.

Wrong conclusion #1:
This is always how God works. If I obey Him, I can claim this promise that He will bless me. If there are bad things happening in someone’s life, it’s because they’re not following God.

A fancy name for this type of conclusion about God is “Retribution Theology.” Job and his friends viewed life from a perspective of retribution theology – Job’s friends looked at his suffering and concluded that he must have sinned – obviously if you’re suffering it’s because God is punishing you for wrongdoing. The righteous don’t suffer like that! Job looked on his suffering, knowing that he was innocent of great transgression, and concluded that God was wrong! There was some book-keeping error somewhere! (hang on a few months and eventually we’ll have the book of Job up on this blog to further discuss!)

Obviously, both Job and his friends were wrong. Here’s the thing: This was the covenant God made with the NATION of Israel. Unless you are the nation of Israel, this does not specifically apply to you.

Now, you may be saying, “Well, Kristi, isn’t it true that God blesses us for obeying?” Yes! In many ways, there are blessings for walking with the Lord, and there are consequences for rebelling against Him. However, you can’t necessarily assume the opposite is true. Ie: My life is pretty good, so obviously God is pleased with me… OR Things just don’t work out for that guy – He must not be a good Christian. The fact of the matter is, often the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper, as David himself wrestled with.

Wrong conclusion #2:
It makes me uncomfortable to read this. I prefer to read the New Testament where God is a God of love instead of anger.

Hopefully if you’ve been reading this blog, you KNOW that this is not true. We serve a God who is the SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER! (Hebrews 13:8) Even the law is based on relationship! Now, let’s add an additional thought to that: even the curses are based on relationship!

Our God is a relentless pursuer. He formed a covenant with Israel out of His love for them. He knew that they would turn away. The curses were supposed to be what would drive them back to Him. Look at the beginning of Deuteronomy 30:

Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (30:1-6)

Here’s a question to ponder: Has this happened yet? …we’ll get to that on a later post. :)

Indeed, you love the people;
all your holy ones are in your hands.
They follow in your steps
and accept your instruction.
Deuteronomy 33:3 (NLT)

*Picture from www.BiblePlaces.com