PROLOGUE — The Longest Chapter in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 28 is the longest chapter in this entire book, a solemn declaration starkly contrasting the outcomes of obedience and disobedience. The list of blessings is short and beautiful, but the list of curses is far longer and more detailed — a powerful warning never to treat the devastation of disobedience lightly.
ACT ONE — The Blessings That Follow Obedience (verses 1–14)
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments… the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth… Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.”
Blessed in the city… blessed in the field. This list of blessings comprehensively covers every area of life — city and countryside, the fruit of the body and the produce of the land, the basket and the kneading-trough, coming in and going out. God’s blessing was never confined to just one part of life.
One of the most striking promises follows.
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
ACT TWO — The Curses That Follow Disobedience (verses 15–68)
But the overwhelming majority of this chapter — a full fifty-four verses — is devoted to the consequences of disobedience.
“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes… that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”
The list of curses comprehensively enumerates physical illness (boils, fever, inflammation, extreme burning), natural disaster (drought, locusts), military defeat, and social collapse (children taken captive, house and vineyard seized). And this list grows increasingly severe.
One of the most horrifying verses appears.
“And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.”
Thou shalt eat the flesh of thy sons and thy daughters. This extraordinarily horrific warning already appeared in Leviticus 26, and was later literally fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 6, Lamentations 4). God’s warnings were never exaggerated rhetoric.
And the climax of the curse is scattering and a return to slavery.
“And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other… And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”
REFLECTION — The Warning Found in the Stark Imbalance Between Blessing and Curse
The powerful message Deuteronomy 28 gives us is that the imbalance itself — the brevity of blessing against the length and detail of curse — is a deliberate rhetorical strategy. God desired blessing, but He never minimized the devastation disobedience would bring.
Do you trust the full blessing that the path of obedience brings, and do you seriously face the severe consequences in the face of temptation toward disobedience?
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
Deuteronomy Chapter 29 — the renewal of the covenant established in the land of Moab, and theological reflection on things hidden and things revealed, follow.
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