Deuteronomy 28: A Loud and Clear Warning

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If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth...If you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.

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In Joshua 8:30-35, Joshua will carry out Moses' instructions for the blessings and curses that are listed here in Deuteronomy 27-28. The location- Mount Ebal- had special significance for the Israelites for they believed it to be the same place that Abraham first worshiped God after receiving the original promise of the land. (Genesis 15)

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In 28, Moses clearly warns that if the Israelites fail to obey God's law, they will be uprooted from the new land and scattered all over the earth. As history shows, at least three times this kind of dispersion- known as the Diaspora- took place on massive scales: Assyria, Babylon, and finally the Roman Empire all invaded the homeland of the Jews and scattered them far abroad.

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As if being able to foresee the grim future of his people, Moses cannot share the spirit of optimism that the Israelites show towards the end of this book. Having led these fickle people, he knows that the future will likely resemble the past. These last chapters of Deuteronomy express his sense of pessimism about what lies ahead.

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Here in what is the 3rd great speech of this book, Moses defines in simple yet elegant terms the benefits of keeping the covenant with God. But as he relates the consequences of breaking the agreement with God, his language changes. He describes scenes of woe and potential catastrophes that should scare anyone into obedience.

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Life Question: One has to wonder if the Israelites received Moses' words as nothing more than an idle threat. That will never happen to us, right? Have you ever delivered or been on the receiving end of what you thought might be an idle threat?

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Well, with three kids, it's extremely easy to mete out idle threats- especially to my two eldest ones. But, kids are pretty perceptive, and they know all too well when you- as a parent- have thrown out a set of consequences that simply can't be enforced. That said, it's almost unfathomable to see how the Israelites failed to take Moses seriously- after having been privileged to see God's wonder and power over the last 40 plus years.