Curses and God's Glory (Part 1) - Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Introduction

In the previous Bible study, we looked at the blessings God promised the Israelites for obeying Him and His commandments, statutes, and laws. Throughout Deuteronomy Moses told the Israelites about God’s blessings and curses. Verses 15-68 are Moses’ teachings on the curses God will bring upon the Israelites for their disobedience to Him. Whether the Israelites obeyed and received God’s blessings or disobeyed and received God’s curses, they experienced and other nations saw the power and glory of the LORD God. For the next couple of weeks, we will be studying about God’s curses on the Israelites for their disobedience to their covenant with Him.

We must remember God’s blessings gave life and His curses gave death, either immediately or in the long-run. In the verses of this study, Moses taught how God would bring death upon the Israelites through His curses. Just as the blessings affected the Israelites’ bodies, land, animals, food, children, and international relations, the curses affected these, too.

Throughout the teaching on God’s curses, Moses reminded the Israelites of their covenant with God, but in a negative way, particularly in verses forty-five through forty-seven. The first six verses of the curses relates to the list of blessings Moses taught in verses three through six. Moses reflected the international relations of the Israelites referred to in verses seven and ten in verses twenty-five and forty-three through forty-four. In the remaining verses of curses, Moses expounded on and expanded for the Israelites how God’s curses would affect them. We must remember Moses taught about these curses of God in his first sermon to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 4:25-28.

Outline

Upon first looking at the fifty-four verses that comprise the curses portion of this chapter, one is apt to want to skim through them because of their length. However, if one takes the time to study the verses and map them out, an order and significance appears. When reading these verses, certain words repeat – observe, careful, obey, destroy, and perish. In mapping them out, we find that the words “observe”, “careful,” and “obey,” begin three sections of curses in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

Moses reaffirmed his teaching about following God and His commandments before each expansion of the curses. The three sections of the curses portion of this chapter begin at verses fifteen, forty-five, and fifty-eight. Verse 15 begins the general curses that relate to the blessings of the first fourteen verses of this chapter. These verses state what the LORD will do to the Israelites that affect their bodies (physical and mental, their property), land, animals, families (offspring  and wives), international relationships, and the work of their hands. Verses 45-47 begin the section where God allows other nations to enact His curses upon the Israelites. The curses in verses forty-eight through fifty-seven occur because of siege warfare upon Israel. From the siege, the curses affect all the previous mentioned parts of the Israelites’ lives. Upon studying the Old Testament, readers learn these curses befell the Israelites numerous times. Verse 58 begins the final section about the curses of God on the Israelites for disobedience to their covenant with Him. In verses fifty-nine through sixty-eight, Moses taught the Israelites the LORD would bring plagues and reduce their population, scatter them over the earth, allow them to be impoverished, and delight in their perishing and destruction.

The words “destroy” and “perish” told the Israelites the most pertinent point of God’s curse on disobedient Israelites – disobedience brought death. Moses used the word “destroy” seven times and “perish” four times. “Destroy” comes from the Hebrew word shamad and means exterminate, annihilate, devastate, and destroy. “Perish” comes from the Hebrew word ‘abad and means vanish, die, exterminate, go astray, and perish. In the Law of the Ban from Deuteronomy 7, God told the Israelites to “utterly destroy” the Canaanites upon their entrance into the Promised Land. “Destroy” in that verse, Deut. 7:2, comes from the Hebrew word charam. It means to destroy completely so that the people group was removed from the earth, as well as their fame and reputation. This study shows that God’s curse would not remove the memory of the Israelites, but only their blessings of being God’s chosen people. God wanted (wants) people to remember the Israelites and learn from their blessings and curses. Verse 37 expresses that sentiment.

Section 1

As mentioned earlier, Moses began each section curses with a reminder of the covenant obedience God required from the Israelites. In verse 15 he said, “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” First, notice Moses equated obedience to action, doing God’s commandments and statutes. Obedience, if you remember, comes from the Hebrew word shama’ (shamar) and means to hear, listen, and obey. In Hebrew understanding, hearing something means a person must act upon it. A person could not hear and listen to anything without it affecting him or her in some way so that he or she acted upon it either in following what he or she heared/learned or in denying what he or she lerned/heard. Hence, in the Israelite mindset, hearing required action. Their covenant with God required obedience and gave the resultant reward of blessings – long life and possession of the Promised Land. In this first part of verses fifteen, Moses stated three times the Israelites were to obey God when he used the words “obey,” observe,” and “do.” This brings us to the second part of verse fifteen. Notice there is an if/then statement in this verse. If the Israelites did not obey the LORD, then (“that”) curses would befall them. The giving of blessing or curse within a covenant was common in the Near East at that time. The Israelites knew about that structure and agreed to the covenant multiple times from its inception at Mount Sinai. Yet as we read and learn, they disobeyed God and were unfaithful to their covenant with Him. Hence, God rewarded them with curses – death, shortened life and dispossession of the Promised Land.

What did the curses entail? They affected every part of an Israelites’ life as well as his or her relationship with the LORD. Verses 16 through 19 related exactly to the blessings God promised in verses three through six. Just as Moses said God would bless the Israelites in the city and country in verse three, he said God would curse them in the city and country in verse sixteen. This phrasing expressed universal blessing in the earlier verse and universal cursing in the latter. No matter where the Israelites lived, God would curse them for unfaithfulness. Verse 17 reminds us of verse five. That verse said the Israelites would always have food on their table, whereas verse seventeen says God would curse them so they did not have enough food. Verse 18 relates to verse four. Whereas God promised the blessing of offspring from the Israelites’ bodies, their livestock’s bodies, and fruitfulness of their fields, verse eighteen curses them with lack of offspring and fruit/produce from the fields. The final general curse arises in verse nineteen and relates to verse six. The Hebrew idiom of verse six that said God would bless the Israelites in their coming in and their going out meant they and all their life activities were blessed. The curse then meant God would curse them and all their life activities. No matter what the Israelites did or who they were, God cursed them for their faithlessness.

To make the point more poignant, Moses told the Israelites in verse twenty that the LORD said, “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.” This relates to the blessing in verse eight. Verse 20 told the Israelites everything they attempted to do God would obstruct. By thwarting them, they would perish and be destroyed. God told the Israelites disobedience would bring death. By God removing His hand from the Israelites’ lives, they would not prosper and would die. The next twenty-three verses relay how God, directly or indirectly, would obstruct them.

Bodily Curses.

The bodily curses with which God promised to smite the Israelties occur in verses twenty-one through twenty-two, twenty-six through twenty-nine, and thirty-four through thirty-five. In these, God actively would smite the Israelites or allow the curse through a third-party, the enemies of the Israelites. Verse 21 says God would make the pestilence cling to them until He consumed them from the land they entered to possess. A pestilence was any plague. “Consumed” comes from the Hebrew word kalah meaning finished and ended. In verse 22, God would smite the Israelites with a multitude of oppressing things that affected their bodies – consumption, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, sword, and blight and mildew. Moses said these would follow them until they perished. These plagues reminded the Israelites of what Moses taught them in Deuteronomy 4:26, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.” When Moses gave the terms of God’s covenant with them to the Israelites, they agreed to them and the resultant curses if they were faithless to God and His commands. These curses of Deuteronomy 28 did not surprise the Israelites.

The second portion of bodily curses, verses twenty-six through twenty-nine, state the enemies of the Israelites would attack them and animals would eat their carcasses. In essence, their bodies would be defiled. In addition to this, the LORD would strike them with boils, tumors, scabs, and itching. They would remember the LORD’s power when Moses spoke of boils because He gave boils to the Egyptians as one of the ten plagues. With physical illness, God would strike the Israelites with mental anguish in the form of madness and bewilderment (vs. 28). God would send blindness so they would grope as in darkness just like He sent darkness on the Egyptians. The darkness would keep the Israelites from prospering and allow their enemies to oppress and rob them continually with no one to save them (vs. 29). This latter reminded them of the blessing the LORD promised in verse eleven relating to their prosperity.

With the third set of bodily curses, verses thirty-four through thirty-five, Moses once again told the Israelites they would experience madness by all they saw and encountered. They would fall to their knees in anguish only to realize the LORD struck them with boils on their knees and legs. The boil would not heal anywhere on the Israelites’ bodies. This curse covered all their body – all their life – from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads. God’s will was all-encompassing.

Proprietary Curses.

Moses told the Israelites about God’s curses that would befall their possessions – land, animals, homes, families. These occur in verses twenty-three through twenty-four, thirty through thirty-three, and thirty-eight through forty-two. They affect the Israelites’ fruitfulness and prosperity. The curse of these could affect their mental well-being.

In verses 23 through 24, the first set of verses aimed at their property/prosperity, Moses told the Israelites God would thwart their plans to be productive. He would do this by stopping the rains from His heavens. Moses said in verse twenty-three, “The heaven, which is over your head, shall be bronze and the earth, which is under your feet, iron.” The land would not produce because no rains would fall from God’s heaven. Because of that, the land would become like iron, hard. Bible writers often used iron as a metaphor for difficulties. If no rain fell, the Israelites would have difficulty feeding themselves and their animals. Eventually they would all die. Added to this, Moses said in verse twenty-four, “The LORD will make the rain of your land powder from heaven; it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.” Instead of nourishing rain, God would send dust to blow, choke, and spoil the produce of the land. In this way, without rain, produce, or meat, God would destroy the Israelites. Moses spoke to them of this in Deuteronomy 11:17. He told them the opposite of this curse in Deuteronomy 28:12 when he told them of God’s blessings for their faithfulness to Him.

With verses 30 through 33, God cursed the Israelite men’s wives and children. Moses taught God would allow another man to ravish a man’s betrothed fiancé. In addition, God would allow another man to live in and eat the fruit of the home a man built and the vineyard he planted, respectively. Moses said God would allow the enemy to steal and slaughter the man’s livestock. These latter curses would remind the Israelites of God’s promises from verses four and eleven. On top of these, the enemy would take the Israelites’ children and eat their produce (vs. 32-33). As the cherry on top, Moses explained the Israelites would “never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually.” (vs. 33) God would bring them low in the eyes of other people by His and their enemy’s actions. The Israelites’ hearts would be crushed.

These would not affect the Israelites’ productivity and prosperity much. The curses of verses thirty-eight through forty-two would, though. Each of these verses, except verse forty-one, relates to the vitality of their land. God would send locusts to consume the seed the Israelites’ sowed. He would send worms to devour the grapes they cultivated in their vineyards. God would make the olives fall off the trees and rot. He would send the cricket to possess the fruit of the trees of Israel. God’s blessing of offspring (children and descendents) for the Israelites turned to a curse because God promised they would be captives. The Israelites negated the promised prosperity of the LORD from verse eight when they were disobedient and unfaithful to the LORD. For their seeds, God would send locusts. The LORD would send worms for the Israelites vineyards and crickets to destroy their fruit crops. The olives would fall and rot and their children would become captives. The Israelites’ hope for the future would vanish and bring despair, bewilderment, and madness.

International Relationship Curses.

If the Israelites expected their international relationships to rescue them as Egypt did for the sons of Israel during the famine, Moses explained God would curse those relationships, too. He relayed these curses in verses twenty-five, thirty-six through thirty-seven, and forty-three through forty-four. With verse twenty-five, Moses recalled for the Israelites God’s blessing from verse seven. Prior to this chapter, the enemies of the Israelites were God’s enemies. Now in these verses of curses, the enemies of the Israelites became God’s tools because when the Israelites disobeyed God, they became His enemies. In verse seven, we learned God blessed the Israelites by routing their enemies. Those enemies escaped the Israelites any way they could find. In verse twenty-five, the Israelites enemies routed the Israelites. The Israelites would try to escape their enemies any way they could find. Yet God’s hand would be against them and they would fall to their enemies. Added to this, the Israelites would be an example of terror to all the people of the earth. They went against the LORD God, the God the other nations heard about and knew of, and they fell. Earlier in their history with the LORD, the other kingdoms heard and knew about the Israelites’ God because of His might and provision for them. That would cease to be with the Israelites unfaithfulness. The other nations would learn of God’s wrath for unfaithfulness and disobedience after that and would tremble at so great a God. Verse 10 would have new meaning when the Israelites disobeyed. Still, in it all, whether by God’s blessings or curses, people  would give Him glory.

God would make another nation the captors and rulers of the Israelites. Verse 36 expresses this curse. The Israelites would serve foreign gods made of stone and wood, the kind God spoke against in Deuteronomy 4:28. By becoming captives and under the rule of other nations after the LORD chose them and they failed Him, the Israelites’ story would become a horror, proverb, and taunt (vs. 37). “Horror” comes from the Hebrew word shammah and means waste, horror, and appalment. “Proverb” comes from the Hebrew word meaning a parable, ethical maxim, and proverb. The Israelites’ story would be appalling and one from which people would learn a lesson so horrible that they would respect and consider faithfulness to God. Notice at the end of verse thirty-seven, Moses made sure the Israelites understood that God led them to live among the people who beat and captured them. None of their lives were outside God’s control. He controlled their blessings and curses – prolonged life and death, either by His hand or their enemies hands.

The third international curse in this section of curses arises in verses forty-three and forty-four. Moses told the Israelites, “The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head and you will be the tail.” These two verses are the counter to verses twelve and thirteen in the blessings part of this chapter. Moses used two of the idioms of verses twelve and thirteen relating to the Israelites’ stature among aliens and other nations in verses forty-two and forty-three. He said the aliens would be the lenders and not the borrowers. The Israelites would be impoverished and need loans to buy necessities because of God’s removal of His hand from them. The people of other nations would no longer be followers, but the chiefs, the leaders. The people of other nations would hold a higher status in the community than the Israelites. These would occur because God removed His hand from the Israelites due to their unfaithfulness and disobedience.

Recap

The first section of curses, verses fifteen through forty-four, affect every part of the Israelites’ lives – body, property and prosperity, and international relations. Moses recalled for the Israelites their covenant with God and the result of disobedience and unfaithfulness to Him. He explained God rewarded these with curses. This reward was not something new to them because it was a common practice of covenanting in the Near East and they heard about them in Deuteronomy 4. As in the blessings section of chapter 28, so in the curses, God’s intentions will occur and His power and might will be glorified.

Application and Conclusion

From the Israelites’ experiences with God, we see and acknowledge God is greater than humankind. His power is greater whether He uses it for blessing or cursing. God’s glory is evident and we should acknowledge it and follow His will.

As we continue to study the justice side of God’s righteousness, we must realize that God was not active just in Old Testament times and no longer pertinent to today. His hand has been, continues to be, and will be on all created things – people and things. His power is evident every day. We must decide whether we will accept and acknowledge the God of eternal power and creation who chooses to love us. His action in the past did not result just in creation and saving/cursing the Israelites. God’s action continued so that He provided a Savior for all humankind in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior from sin and death. Remember, when the Israelites disobeyed God, they became His enemies. We, too, are enemies of God because of our sins, rebelling against God and His plan. Just as the Israelites needed a Savior, we need a Savior and God provided one 2000 years ago.

The question is –

Will we deny God’s gift of salvation or will we accept it and receive His love and salvation?

What will you decide?

Blessings and God's Glory - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

Introduction

Deuteronomy 28 is the chapter where God explicitly told the Israelites what faithfulness and unfaithfulness to their covenant with Him will bring upon them. From Deuteronomy 5 when God gave the Ten Commandments, Moses taught, exhorted, encouraged, and beseeched the Israelites to be faithful to the covenant they made with God at Mount Sinai. Deuteronomy is not the only place in the Pentateuch where we read of Moses teaching the Israelites diligently to obey (shama) the LORD. Exodus and Leviticus both record this teaching and command from Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 28 is a long and exhaustive chapter that covers God’s blessings and curses for the Israelites for their faithfulness or unfaithfulness to their covenant with Him. This Bible study covers verses one through fourteen, God’s blessings. Within these verses, we read the magnitude of God’s blessings on those who were faithful to Him and His commands, statutes, decrees, and laws. If we read the verses with care, we can see the prelude to the Beatitudes of the Gospel of Matthew. While reading Deuteronomy 28, we must keep in mind what David said about the LORD in Psalm 145:8. He said, “The LORD is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” God did not want to dwell on disobedience and the curses. He wants to be in a love relationship with people and show His mercy, which explains why Moses started Deuteronomy 28 with God’s blessings for faithfulness to Him.

The Scope and Outline

When God blesses a person, it affects the whole life of the person. Healing brings the ability to work and provide for one’s family. It affects the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of a person, not just the physical. When Jesus provided more wine at a wedding, His first miracle, it brought goodwill and a good reputation to the father of the bride. That could affect he father’s standing in the community and then his income level. It could contribute to the father providing for his family. These could affect the family’s worship of God and their mental and emotional well-being. When we consider this, we know then that blessings given in one part of life can affect many or every other area of life.

Regarding Deuteronomy 28, we read the blessings God would give the faithful Israelites and note He covers every aspect of human life from farming and herding to trade, from bodily to proprietary, from large scale (produce) to daily provision (food for meals), and from national to international life. Added to this, the first fourteen verses answer the main six questions people ask – what, where, when, who, why, and how. Finally, this section of chapter 28 begins by telling us what the blessings shall be to reminding us who will give them. We will learn what being blessed means and how God’s children should react to Him because of receiving from Him. Below is the outline of Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

Vs. 1 - If/Shama’ the people obey, keep, and do God’s commandments

               Then they will be set high above other nations (same as vs. 9 and 13. This will be

               done by God’s blessings)

               Vs. 2 - Then blessings will come if they obey the LORD

               What are the blessings? (implied the LORD will do them)

                     Vs. 3 - In the cities and towns (Where)

                     Vs. 4 – Fertile womb

                                 Fertile ground

                                 Fertile animals – cattle, sheep, goat, etc.

                    Vs. 5 – Plentiful daily food

                    Vs. 6 – When come and go

                    Vs. 7 – The LORD shall cause their enemies to be defeated

Who gives the blessings: The LORD will command the blessings (come from their success in keeping their covenant, not by their skill)

                    Vs. 8– The LORD will command the blessing on

                                    the barns and

                                    their trade and

                                    the land He gives them

Vs. 9b – If/Shama’ keep and walk

                  Then LORD will establish them as holy to Himself (vs. 9a)

                  Vs. 10 – Why? So the nations will see you are God’s holy people and will be

                                 afraid and in awe

                  Vs. 11 – LORD will make abound in prosperity in land LORD gave to Israelites:

                                   Fertile wombs

                                   Fertile animals

                                   Fertile ground

                  Vs. 12 – How? LORD will open His storehouse (heavens) to give them rain at

                                the right time, which will bless their work. (Their prosperity came from

                                God’s rains who blessed the work of their hands.

                  Prosperity Idioms –

1.      Lenders and not borrowers – vs. 12

2.      Head and not the tail – vs. 13

3.      Above and not underneath – vs. 13           

Vs. 13b – If/Shama’ do not turn aside from God’s commands to go after and serve other

                gods.

                Then they will be greater and more prosperous.

      Notice in these fourteen verses God reminded the Israelites of their covenant to Him and His to them. He then told them of His blessings to them because of their faithfulness. Next, God reminded the Israelites again they were His holy people and He is the one who would bless them. Finally, using a negative format, God reminded the Israelites again in verses 13b through 14 to stay faithful to Him and His commandments. In each of these four verses (1, 9, 13b-14) Moses used the if/then legal treatise format. In Near Eastern cultures treatises/covenants ended with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. This method was a common practice of that day. Another point we should note about these verses is the LORD is the implied giver of the blessings of verses three through six, but in verses seven through twelve, Moses specified the LORD was the giver of blessings. Now we made note of these, let us understand the text.

God’s Blessings

The first thing we should note is the contractual nature of the first two verses. Moses used if/then statements when he spoke to the Israelites about their covenant with the LORD. As stated earlier, it was a common format used during that time in the Near East. He used his most often stated word when speaking to the Israelites in this chapter. That word is shamar/shama’. Remember, shamar/shama’ mean to hear, listen, and obey.

Moses used this word twice in the first part of verse one. He was adamant that the Israelites stayed committed to God as they covenanted with Him. Moses strengthened the command of shama’ both times in verse one by adding modifiers – the words diligently and careful. He stressed they were to do God’s commands. The word “do” in verse one is from the Hebrew word ‘asah. It means to accomplish, act with effect, and do. This word and definition is in line with the meaning of the word shama’. The Israelites’ faithfulness to their covenant with God, Moses said, brought them blessings. Moses stated the blessing from the LORD when he said, “The LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” This meant the LORD would consecrate and exalt the Israelites highest above the nations of the earth. The purpose of their elevation by God was to draw the other people of the world to Him.

This covenant was not new to the Israelites. Moses reminded them of the covenant they made with God at Mount Sinai in his writings in Exodus 15:26 & 23:22, Leviticus 26:3-13, and Deuteronomy 7:12-26 & 11:13. The foundation of the Israelites’ relationship with Yahweh God began with God’s promise to Abraham. It continued with His choosing them as His people and they covenanting with Him to follow and obey Him.

Moses reiterated God’s command to keep His commands. He said in verse two, “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God.” For the Israelites’ obedience, God would give them His blessings. The blessings would not come from their own hands. The Israelites could not give them to themselves. God gives blessings. Zechariah 1:6 says, “But did not My words and MY statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’” The Israelites recognized the LORD gave them their blessings based on their deeds, their faithfulness. They had motivation to be faithful to their covenant with the LORD.

      As stated by Moses before in the earlier texts of the Pentateuch and as the Israelites remembered, “keeping” (hearing, listening, and obeying) their covenant with God brought blessing. Earlier in Deuteronomy, they learned that faithfulness to their covenant brought them life. Obedience brought blessings. Alongside that, disobedience brought them death. Hence, life is the blessing and death is the curse from the LORD God. This theme continues throughout the Bible.

      In verses three though seven, Moses explained the blessings God would give them for their faithfulness to Him. He would bless every part of their lives. Verse 3 says, “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.” The word “blessed” comes from the Hebrew word barak and means to kneel, praise, or salute. To be blessed means kneeling before the one who blesses. That act acknowledges the giver of the blessing as greater than the recipient. Hence, the blesser is worthy of praise, honor, and glory. Glory for the blessing and the ability to bless should return to the blesser. In this chapter, the blesser is the LORD God. In this verse, God would bless both farmers and tradesmen , Moses said. This means the blessing was universal - for every Israelite.

      Verse 4 says blessed be the Israelites by the increase of the offspring of their bodies, ground, and animals. The words “offspring” and “produce” come from the Hebrew word priy that means fruit. The word “beasts” comes from the Hebrew word behemeh that means beast. God explicitly stated these beasts are the herd and the young (cattle, ewe, flock, sheep, and goats). Every aspect of their nation God would bless. The blessing was all-encompassing, covering every part of their existence.

      God brought it closer to home. Moses said in verse five, “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.” They would have plentiful crops for the nation as verse four stated. In this verse, each family would have enough food to eat. No one would be hungry or starve in Israel. Food would always be on the tables of the Israelites. This blessing was for families while the previous one was national.

      In verse 6, Moses said, “Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.” David said this in Psalm 121:8 when he said, “The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” This phrase is a Hebraic idiom. It means God blessed every part of the Israelites’ life in the land He gave them. In everything the Israelites put their hand to, God blessed them. To this point, Moses spoke of God’s blessings on their food, agriculture, herds, wombs, and every other physical thing.

      In verse 7, Moses spoke of the Israelites’ international relationships. Moses said, “The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.” This showed God’s grace and might to fight the Israelites’ enemies. Their enemies might come against them with a strong show of force, but they would scramble to leave in any way they could to get away from the Israelites. They arrived in battle formation and left in fear by any route they could find by which to escape. When the Israelites’ obeyed God’s commands, their enemies were God’s enemies. If they disobeyed God’s commands, the Israelites became enemies of God and He would curse them, too. God would take care of the enemies of His children and every physical aspect of their lives. The Israelites’ obedience of Him acknowledged His greatness. The Israelites’ receiving God’s blessings acknowledged their unworthiness of praise and His worthiness. From the LORD God’s mighty hand blessings came.

      In verse 8, Moses reminded the Israelites that every blessing comes from God. God commands them to occur. None of the blessings came from the Israelites’ own hands. Moses said, “The LORD will command the blessings upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land, which the LORD God gives you.” Moses’ first line of this verse said what he wanted the Israelites to understand. The LORD would command the blessings upon them. Blessings originate with the LORD. In this verse, the word “barns” comes from the Hebrew word ‘acam, which means grain storehouses. God would bless the work of their hands in farming and trade, individually and as a nation. He gave the land to them based on His promise to Abraham and would bless their work on and in the land if they obeyed Him and His commands.

      With verse 9, Moses reminded the Israelites of their special relationship with the LORD. Because of their relationship with Him, the blessings He gave had meaning. The first part of verse nine explained this. Moses said, “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself as He swore to you.” The word “establish” comes from the Hebrew word quwm and means to cause to arise. This word was a metaphor that meant to establish something. We see this in Deuteronomy 25:7 and 29:13. God’s choosing of the Israelites was His blessing of them. He caused them to be a holy people because He chose them and set them apart to be holy to Him. All His commandments, laws, statues, and decrees led them to Him so they would stay in a right relationship with Him. God’s commands led the Israelites to live in a right way so they would be righteous. Being right with God, meant they became righteous and, hence, holy. God’s choosing them and their obedience to His commands established and kept them holy/consecrated/set apart for Him. God called the Israelites to be His own people to show the people of the world His love and mercy – to lead them to Him. For doing this, choosing the Israelites and making them holy, God deserved glory. He chose a sinful people to be His holy people. The covenant with God was two-sided: God to the Israelites and they to Him. He chose them as His holy people. The Israelites agreed to covenant with God. They chose to worship Him only and to follow His commands. The second half of verse nine says that. Moses finished the verse this way, “If you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.” The covenant with God was conditional. God chose the Israelites and they had to choose Him, which they showed by worshipping and obeying Him. They had a special relationship with God and Moses wanted to make sure they remembered that before they entered the Promised Land. God’s blessings to the Israelites were conditional upon them worshipping and obeying Him only.

      In the previous paragraph, I alluded to verse ten. Moses explained why God called the Israelites as His own. He stated God’s reason, “So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.” This sounds like the taunt children throw at each other. They may say, “You better leave me alone because my daddy is bigger than yours.” God wanted the other nations to see His strength. He wanted them to see His love and mercy, too. The word “called” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word qara’. It means to call out or proclaim aloud. The word “name” comes from the Hebrew word shem, which means name, reputation, fame, and glory. The Hebrew definition for the word “afraid” is reverence and awe. God expected His covenant with Israel and their obedience in word and action would proclaim aloud His name, give Him a reputation, and proclaim His glory. He wants every nation, tribe, and tongue of the world to hear about Him. God wanted the nations around Israel to be afraid to cross them in battle. Most importantly, He wanted His relationship with the Israelites to lead them to Him so they were awed and reverenced Him. He wanted the Israelites to be a means of revelation to the world about Him so each person would come to know Him. God, from the beginning of time, wanted to have a relationship with humankind. He chose at the time of the Israelites to begin concertedly seeking to bring people back to Himself. God’s purpose for blessing Israel was greater than just blessing them. It was to glorify Himself through blessing them. We see in the Bible an example of this when, in 1 Kings 10:1-13, the queen of Sheba recognized God through His blessings on the nation of Israel.

      In case the Israelites forgot the blessings they experienced came from the LORD God, Moses reminded them in summary in verse eleven they did not bring about their own blessings/prosperity. He said, “The LORD will make you abound in prosperity in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.” The word “abound” comes from the Hebrew word yather and means to excel, have excess, and have more than enough. “Prosperity” comes from the Hebrew word towb Adoniyahahuw, which means the goodness of God. This means, Moses told them, “The LORD will make you excel and have more than enough through the goodness of God.” With verse eleven repeating verse three in a different order, He explained to them how they would experience God’s goodness. Moses added as a reminder that the land God was giving them did not come from anything they did, but from God’s promise/oath to their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The prosperity of the Israelites came from God as part of the faithfulness of covenant-keeping. God gave the blessings. The Israelites received them; they earned them. The greater of the two covenant parties was God because He showed His power by His ability to give them each of the stated blessings – the ability to make wombs and ground fruitful, the ability to give victory against enemies, the ability to give the Promised Land. These were and are in God’s control.

      Moses made that point clear in verse twelve when He told the Israelites, “The LORD will open His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” No matter how much work the Israelites put into their work to have good things, God is the one who controls its growth. Moses gave the example that the rains come from God’s heavens, His storehouse. Without His rains - His blessings – the Israelites received no fruit, be it of the womb, land, from their trade, or in victory. Moses made the point that besides having enough food for themselves as a family and nation, they would have excess they could loan to other nations. The Israelites would not have to borrow from nations. God’s blessing of them would be that great if they kept their covenant with Him. His blessing was life.

      Moses used three idioms of prosperity to make his point about God’s blessings. The first he noted in verse twelve - the Israelites would be lenders and not borrowers. In verse 13, Moses said they would be the head and not the tail. This meant they would be the head, the chief, not the last or follower. Because God chose them, made them holy, and blessed them, this was so. The last idiom of prosperity Moses used to speak of the blessed Israelites is they would be above and not underneath. “Above” comes from the Hebrew word ma’al and means on higher ground. “Underneath” comes from mattah and means below. The Israelites would be on higher ground because of the prosperity God’s blessings brought to them. Other nations and people would look up to them as an example of right living, blessings, and having the most powerful God. They would watch and want to know about the God of the Israelites.

      Moses reminded the Israelites once again, God’s blessings came from Him when they were faithful to their covenant with Him. With the second half of verse thirteen through verse fourteen, he told them God blessings would come if they remained faithful to the LORD. Moses said, “If you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” This if/then statement began with the “then” part (the first half of verse thirteen) and moved to the “if.” In this last reminder to the Israelites of their covenant with God, Moses added a defining addendum. By doing that, they would understand without doubt that God wanted purity of their worship and obedience. He told them to shama’ (hear, listen, and obey) to the commandments of the LORD as he earlier said. Moses reinforced this by adamantly stating that the Israelites observe (do and accomplish) God’s commands carefully. He did that so  would not think they were just to hear and listen to them. He made sure they understood shama’ meant doing what God commanded.

      As icing on the top of the cake, Moses stated that being in covenant with the LORD God meant the Israelites walked only in His path, the ways He laid out. If the Israelites walked to the left or right of God’s path and followed other gods, they deviated from God’s marked path. When they followed other gods, they would serve them and that God called idolatry. God taught against idolatry in Deuteronomy 5:7-9 & 27:15 and Exodus 20:23 & 34:17. If the Israelites followed other gods, they were unfaithful to the LORD God and would not receive His blessings.  They would receive His curses. Later, after Moses’ death, God told Joshua in Joshua 1:7 to follow the law Moses commanded them. In this verse, He said, “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Sometimes following God requires strength of character and courage. Every person of the world did not follow the LORD. Some of them taunted and persecuted God’s people. Yet going around what God said instead of following His commands exactly meant the Israelites were unfaithful to Him. By circumventing what God commanded them, they sinned and became His enemies.

Recap

The Israelites willingly covenanted/pledged themselves to the LORD God at Mount Sinai. They agreed that the LORD would be their only God and they would obey Him. God told them if they were faithful to their covenant with Him, He would bless them. If the Israelites were unfaithful, He would curse them. Throughout Deuteronomy Moses reminded them many times of their covenant with God. He reminded them God’s blessing was life, now and in the future. Moses told them God’s curse was death. The Israelites agreed and pledged themselves to God and this covenant.

In the first fourteen verses of Deuteronomy 28, Moses explained what God’s blessings would be for the Israelites’ faithfulness to Him. He explained that the blessings would increase the offspring of their wombs and their animals’ wombs and make their land and trades profitable. Moses continued to explain God would give victory to the Israelites from their enemies. The most important part of these fourteen verses comes in verse ten when God explains why He would bless them. He would bless the Israelites so people of other nations would see and know the LORD called and blessed them. By this, the other people would want what the Israelites had – a covenant with the LORD God. The other nations would see the Israelites’ awesome God and want Him to proclaimed them as His people, too. Those people wanted to revere and glorify the God who protected and provided for them. They wanted a covenant, a relationship, with the loving LORD God.

Relevance and Conclusion

When God chose the people of Israel to be His holy, set apart people, He chose to be more active in bringing sinful humankind back to Himself. God actively and visibly sought to be in relationship with humans. When He created Adam and Eve, He did it because He wanted relationship. The Father loved the relationship with the Son and Holy Spirit so much, He wanted to grow that love and share it. God created humankind to share in His love. When Adam and Eve sinned - when anyone sins - separation from God occurs.

When God called the people of Israel His people and consecrated them as His holy people, He began to show His redemption of humankind from their sinful, self-centered selves. God’s commandments to the Israelites led them to Him, to seek to stay in relationship with Him. With their mutual covenant, the Israelites would draw closer to God, the One who created them for relationship with Himself. In this covenant, the LORD, through His blessings, would show His love for them when they were faithful to Him. By blessing the Israelites, people of other nations would see and hear of His might and love and would want to draw close to Him. The LORD would bring more people back from sinfulness. To them He could show His love and be in a relationship.

Lest we forget, being blessed is two separate actions – blessing and receiving. It requires two persons – blesser (giver) and blessed (recipient). Remember the word “blessed” comes from the Hebrew word barak, which means to praise, salute, kneel, and bless. The person receiving the blessing kneels in thanks to the giver of the blessing. This is profound. So often, we look only at the gift and the recipient. We most need to look at the giver, the blesser. To this blesser is due praise, thanks, and glory. Kneeling is showing the honor due to the one blessing. That person provided something the recipient did not have and which the recipient could not provide for him or herself. The giver is the originator of that blessing. For the gift, for the provision, and for being chosen to receive blessing, the giver (blesser) should be praised and glorified. Honor should go to that person. When the glory refers to the giver instead of staying with the recipient, the people watching or hearing about the blessing have their attention refocused onto the one who is more important. In the case of the Israelites receiving blessings from God for faithfulness to Him, God rightly commended them for their obedience. More importantly, God should be praised and glorified for having provided that which the Israelites could not give themselves – life. God is the originator, creator, and sustainer of life. His gift of life was reward for faithfulness to Him. The Israelites could not have created life. Because God is the creator and author of life as well as the blesser of more life and that abundantly, He is the one worthy of praise and glory.

This takes us now to our response. We each must ask ourselves the question, “Am I in a relationship with God?” The next question to arise is, “Am I faithful to Him?” Finally, “Have I thanked God for His faithfulness to me and have I given Him glory for His blessings?” It would be easy for each of us to say thanks and then run off or to just accept God’s blessings and not say thanks at all. None of us can provide for our own lives without God’s providing the means. That means we each owe God thanks as well as praise and glory for His blessings. Giving God glory for His blessings is a proclamation aloud that we are God’s children. God proclaimed the people of Israel as being His holy people in verse nine, of which Moses reminded them. This idea was not new. He proclaimed it in Exodus 19:5.

Just as God wanted the Israelites’ lives to show His power, mercy, and love, He wants the same from His children today. Do our lives show God to the people around us? Will the way we live and speak reflect praise back to God so other people will want to become children of God? When God blesses us, do we proclaim aloud God’s love so He is glorified? We have two purposes in life – to love the LORD with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We do the first by being in a loving and faithful relationship with God. For the second, the praise we give for our blessings must reflect back as glory to Him. By doing this, we glorify and love God and we lead our neighbor’s to Him. They will want to know, just as Israel’s neighbors would want to know, about the God we serve and the one who blesses us. God is the blesser. Until we glorify Him for blessings in our lives, we will not love Him with all we are. We will not love our neighbors well nor lead them to Him either. What kind of child of God would that make us?

We have choices to make.

Who will you choose to thank, praise, and glorify?

To whom are you leading your neighbor to follow?

Following the Leader (part 1) Deuteronomy 16:17-17:20

Deuteronomy 16:18-17:20

INTRODUCTION

            When God chose a people, the Israelites, from among another nation, He created a new nation with one of the smallest people groups. When nations begin, foundations must be laid – laws, covenants, leaders, structure, etc. Moses spent a large amount of time teaching God’s laws, commands, statutes, and ordinances to the Israelites. In the next two chapters, he will declare to them God’s means of ensuring order, righteousness, and fairness. Moses spoke in Deuteronomy 16:18-18:22 about the leaders God ordains to keep His order within the nation He created. These leaders are judges and officers, kings, priests, and prophets. Most of them are not new to the Israelites, but in these chapters, God proclaimed them as ordained leadership positions. This week we will study through chapter seventeen reading about judges, officers, and kings.

RULERS

Judges

            Moses dedicated almost a whole chapter to the role of judges and officers. The judge was a particular leader who would have profound impact on the social structure of Israel – civil and religious. God’s ordained judges and officers were men who judged righteously (16:18). Since Israel was a nation created by God, the nation’s base was religio-political. God’s laws undergirded every statute, ordinance, and judgment. So though this Bible passage does not state the judges and officers are ordained, because God founded the nation, the officers and judges were to be men of God.

Another aspect of this passage needs clarity. The word “judge” comes from the Hebrew word shaphat. It means judge, governor, and ruler. This person’s duty was to be a lawgiver and decider of controversies – civil, religious, political, and social. Judges enforced the law, too. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, introduced Moses to the leadership style that used judges and elders to manage minor disputes. Moses decided major disputes (Exodus 18:22). Since Moses was the God-ordained leader of the people, he based his decisions and rule on the laws and commandments of God. He was the first example to the Israelites of a religio-political leader – judge, priest, and prophet. Moses solved religious and societal disputes using God’s guidance. Jethro gave the first substructure to law making, decision making about laws, and enforcing of the law in Exodus 18. Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13 gives us God’s system for this, which is very similar to Jethro’s.

The other leader Moses mentioned in Deuteronomy 16:18 was officers. The word “officer” comes from the Hebrew word shoter. It means official or officer. The usage of this word in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy give a better understanding of what this person did. These men held positions where they worked as foremen (Exodus 5:6, 10, 14, 15, and 19); subordinate officers in matters judicial, civil, and military (Deuteronomy 1:15); minor or under-judges (Deuteronomy 1:15 and 10:5, 8, and 9); and overseers (Deuteronomy 16:18). In Deuteronomy 29:10 and 31:28, Moses listed officers in rank order of importance. Officers ranked above captains of tribes and elders, notice not above priests, judges, prophets, and kings. Officers were people who upheld the verdicts of the judges, led companies of people, and judged over smaller matters than judges, like junior judges.

As is noticable in verses eighteen through twenty, Moses spelled out the basis for the position of judge and officer. God gave the Israelites the ability to appoint/employ judges and officers. Moses said the purpose of the judges was to judge/govern the people. The mandate from God for the judges was that they were to do their jobs with righteousness (vs. 18c). He stated explicitly what He meant by saying they were not to pervert justice (case decisions) with partiality or bribe taking (vs. 19). Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:17 that God does not show partiality or take a bribe. Since that is the case, they, as God’s judges for His people and nation, must live by the same standard. Exodus 23:2 and Leviticus 19:15 speak about not perverting justice or being partial to one person or group over another. This way of life was not new to the Israelites. Solomon said in Proverbs 23:23, “To show partiality in judgment is not good.” Verse 19d of chapter sixteen says, “A bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.” A judge’s righteousness is so important that Moses repeated this requirement a second time and included God’s promise with it. In verse twenty, Moses said, “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue that you may live in and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” This shows that justice and righteousness are tied to their covenant with God. It carries the formulation of Old Testament covenants and carries great weight. The men appointed as judges and officers must be righteous to be in covenant with God and receive His blessing of life.

From Deuteronomy 16:21 through 17:13, Moses reminded the Israelites how to handle conflicts and disputes. He taught them when to seek the counsel of a higher judge, rather than using God’s commands and laws by one’s self. In these verses, Moses reminded the Israelites of God’s commands not to set up Asherah poles or sacred pillars because the LORD hates them. Deuteronomy 7 and Leviticus 26 noted this, too. God was to be their only God. He commanded the ox or sheep they offered to Him not have any defect – sickness or disease. God should receive the best of the produce and animals they received from Him that year. (We know from our studies in the New Testament God gave a perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ.) Moses said God finds a blemished sacrifice detestable – abominable and disgusting. So far, Moses reminded the Israelites their worship of God was to be unadulterated and pure. Next, he recalled for them that no evil should live among them for they are a holy people set apart for God. If they found out about a person who is evil – transgressing God’s covenant (Deut. 13:6-11), serving and worshipping other gods, and serving and worshipping the sun, moon, or the heavenly host – that person was to be stoned to death. Moses reminded them of the rules God provided for inquiry and resolution so they maintained order. He told them to inquire thoroughly (Deut. 13:14) into the matter. If true, then the person was to be stoned at the town’s gates on the evidence of two or three people, never based on one testimony (Deut. 17:4b-7a). By doing these things, they would purge evil from among themselves. These are things individual and community elders and priests can judge for themselves.

When the conflict or problem in the community, tribe, or nation involved difficult cases – homicide, decisions of lawsuits, assaults, and cases of dispute – then the people involved were to take the matter to the Levitical priest or judge in office. God differentiated between a lawsuit and cases of dispute. The first involved a dispute over law while the latter dealt with quarrels and strife. Haggai mentioned the latter in Haggai 2:11 and told the people to ask a priest for a ruling. God planned for when Moses would be dead. He provided for a high court to decide and enforce a verdict. Deuteronomy 17:8-13 speaks of these difficult cases and what the Israelites were to do if a person did not abide by the verdict. Moses told them if anything surpassed their understanding of the law or was extraordinary, then the people were to take their claim to the place where the LORD chose – the temple where the men of higher learning and discernment were – to inquire of God what to do. Deuteronomy 12:5 and Psalm 122:5 speak of the thrones that God set up for judgment. Verse 9 alludes to and supposes the verdict given by the Levitical priest or judge would come from consultation with God. The Levitical priests knew more about the laws of God than anyone else in Israel did. They, too, were the ones who mediated between the people and God about sins and forgiveness, health, protection, and provisions. When a problem was too big for humans to decide, the obvious recourse was to seek the mind of God on the matter. As the intermediary between God and humanity, the Levitical priests were the ones to seek.

When a person sought recourse, more than one party was involved. Generally, two or more people and a mediator were part of the process. In Israel, God provided for this and His will superseded and interposed on the proceedings. As such, each party to the dispute and judgment held responsibility to abide by the judgment. Moses couched the command to do according to the terms of the verdict in the command from God that they carefully observe (shamar) what the priest/judge dictated as resolution. This drew attention to the fact that the judgment was not a choice, but a demand. The decision of the priest/judge was paramount as if God spoke it. It carried that much weight. Moses told the Israelites, “You shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or to the left.” If the person chose not to follow the verdict of the priest, judgment fell on him or her. Because the person acted arrogantly and presumptuously by not listening (shama – hearing and obeying) to the priest, who stands over the case to serve the LORD, that person must die and not receive the promise of the LORD, life (vs. 17:12). People were to consider the disobeying person evil. God commanded them to purge the evil person from Israel because he or she chose to go his or her own way instead of the way God told the priest/judge to command the parties of the case. Moses told the Israelites in Numbers 15:30, “The person who does anything defiantly, whether he is a native or alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD and that person shall be cut off from among His people.” Why did God cut off a disobedient person from His people, from life? Moses explain it in verse thirteen when he said, “Then all the people will hear (shama) and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.”

God required obedience just as a parent does. God is not the author of chaos. His laws established peace and righteousness among humanity if they chose to be obedient and live by them. To make sure the people of Israel understood the validity and weight of the verdicts given by the Levitical priests and judges, God had Moses say that obeying the judgments of the priests and judges was equal to obeying Him. God established Israel and created a system of laws, statutes, and ordinances to keep it peaceful and set apart for Him. To keep it that way, He provided judges for the people to help solve conflicts and enforce the laws of God. The priests and judges are the governors of God’s laws upon the people. They are God-ordained. Their verdict carries the weight of God’s when they decide the cases with righteousness and justice, not perverting justice or accepting a bribe.

Kings

            God preferred He be the only King of Israel. He knew, though, that the people would want a king of their own like the countries that surrounded Israel. In 1 Samuel 8:7, God told Samuel, His prophet, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” He told Samuel this was like the deeds the Israelites did since He brought them out of Egypt. They chose to follow their own wills and submit to a willful, human king. In Deuteronomy 17:14-15, God provided the choice of a human king to rule Israel. The Hebrew word used for king in this passage and most of the Old Testament is melek.

The king of Israel was supposed to be a visual representation of the heavenly King. God gave two commands about who could be king of Israel. The primary requirement is that the LORD would choose the king of His people vs. 15a. The second is that the king would be an Israelite (vs. 15b). God did not want a foreigner to be king of His people because he would lead the people to stop following Him with all their hearts. They risked following other gods and ways of life if that happened.

Added to this, God gave four things that the king could not do and two He required the king to do. Each of these the king must or must not do to keep Israel safe from being unfaithful to their covenant with God. God said the king must not multiply horses, cause the people of Israel to return to Egypt, have multiple wives, and increase his gold or silver for himself (vs. 16-17). The Egyptians bred horses used to pull chariots. God wanted Israel to have no dealings with Egypt. He went so far as to say they must not cause the people to return to Egypt. The value of these horses was high and nations often traded their people for horses and chariots from Egypt. God fiercely protected His people and mandated the king and Israel have no relations with Egypt. God protected the king from the influence of the beliefs and cultures of other nations by commanding he have just one wife (vs. 17). The way to protect a nation’s foundation is to protect the leaders of the nation so their beliefs are not softened and eroded by ideas from other nations. David’s heart turned from God by his want of multiple wives and their influence upon his life (2 Kings 5:13, 12:11). The final thing God commanded a king not to do involved his treasure. God mandated the king not want to increase his wealth (vs. 17c). His seeking for more gold or silver would remove his focus from God to worldly, created things. God’s command was prevention against the erosion of the king’s trust in God by trusting in himself and his wealth.

God gave two positive commands for a king who presided over His people. In verse eighteen, He said, “He [the king] shall write a copy of the law (Torah) on a scroll in the presence of a Levitical priest.” Why would that be important? God told why in verse nineteen. He said it was because the king must read it every day of his life so he can learn to fear/revere the LORD by doing what God commanded. This is why Christian leaders teach other believers to have a quiet time or devotion time every day with God. When people read God’s Word every day, their hearts become inclined to follow God every day. The word Moses used in verse nineteen to mean obedience is one of the favorite words in Deuteronomy, shamar. It means to hear, listen, and obey. When reading God’s Word, a fear and reverence of the LORD grows in the person so that the person desires to show his or her love for God with obedience. So a king who reads the laws of God every day would revere and obey the LORD and then lead the people of his nation in the LORD’s way. It keeps the king’s heart focused on God and the good of the people instead of himself (vs. 20). That provides the second reason the king must read God’s law every day. The final reason God commanded the king to read His law every day was so the he would not turn away from God’s commandment, the mitzvah. Moses said this in Deuteronomy 5:32 and the royal chronicler said it of David in1 Kings 15:5.

 As an encouragement, God gave a promise to the king who followed His commandments closely. He said that the king who did this and his sons would continue in the kingdom of Israel. Moses used the word ‘arak in verse 20c. The English words in this verse, “continuing long,” do not adequately rephrase ‘arak. ‘Arak means to be long, prolonged, and grow long. This word gives the gist of the promise God gave to the Israelites. God’s promise was for the present day and would go into the infinite future. This meaning goes along with the prolonged life in Israel God promised to the Israelites who remained faithful to Him (Deuteronomy 4:40, 5:16, 5:33, 6:2, 11:9, 22:7, 25:15, & 32:47). Prolonged life meant eternal life with God for the Israelites. A king who followed God’s commands would have prolonged life with God and would lead the Israelites to have it, too.

Conclusion

            God chose the Israelites, the smallest people group of the time, to be His people. From them He made a new nation. The foundation of this nation was the LORD God. Because of this, the nations’ foundation rested on the standards of God and required faithful commitment to their covenant with Him. The covenant established a just and right social and religious code. These codes of law and life led to a peaceful, just, and ordered nation under God. If the people kept their covenant with God, God promised them life. Life meant sufficient food and drink, protection from enemies, a deep relationship with God, and the provision of all other needs. This defines fulfillment on all levels - physical, spiritual, and emotional. God appointed leaders for the Israelites. These leaders, when they followed the commands of God in chapters sixteen and seventeen, would give a visual, godly role model for the Israelites. This would encourage, lead, and require the people to stay faithful to God.

            God calls each person to be in relationship with Him. He allows each person to vote or appoint people as their leaders. When people vote or appoint a person who follows God’s laws, statutes, commands, and ordinances, they are most likely to stay faithful to their commitment to God. God still gives the promise of eternal life with Him to everyone who believes in Him and accept the salvation His Son’s death and resurrection provides.

If you are currenly a believer in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as your LORD and Savior, it is still important to stay faithful to Him. As Christians, God assures people of eternal life with Him. Their faithfulness to Him in this life determines if they will have abundant life. Abundant life is joy in knowing God protects and provides for them now. It brings the promise of life with Him in heaven into their present reality so they have hope in the midst of their day’s walk – good and bad days. Abundant life is knowing nothing in this world can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:35 says, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” The answer comes in verses thirty-seven through thirty-nine. It says,

“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth not any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you are not a Christian, God’s promise awaits you. What keeps you from accepting His gift of forgiveness and salvation from your wrongdoings in life? Why do you hold on to your life as if you have ultimate and eternal control over it? God is the Creator and almighty one. There is no one and nothing greater than He is. He is the one who controls life. God gives life now on earth and He offers life for eternity with Him in heaven. What are you allowing to keep you from abundant life now and eternal life with God? You get to make the choice. You decide for yourself; no one can make you decide. It is up to you. What do you choose?