Deu 28:45-68 | KingComments | STEP | These words of Moses do not yet form the conclusion of his speech, but he makes, as it were, a short break. After three bundles of threats, which are warnings not to deviate, he refers with these verses back to . There he started to denounce the curses. By reiterating it in between, he emphasizes the serious consequences of disobedience. The tone also becomes more threatening now. In he still says: “If you do not obey the LORD your God”. Now he says: “Because you would not obey the LORD your God.” He adds that the curses are also a sign and a wonder. They serve to amazement and dismay by their size and horror, in which the people must recognize the supernatural intervention of God. Forever, the wicked people will acknowledge the origin and righteousness of judgment. This does not alter the fact that God will not judge the whole people. God will keep His promises to make them true to a remnant to the election of grace ( ; ).

‏ Deuteronomy 28:45-68

The Reason for the Curses

These words of Moses do not yet form the conclusion of his speech, but he makes, as it were, a short break. After three bundles of threats, which are warnings not to deviate, he refers with these verses back to Deu 28:15. There he started to denounce the curses. By reiterating it in between, he emphasizes the serious consequences of disobedience. The tone also becomes more threatening now. In Deu 28:15 he still says: “If you do not obey the LORD your God”. Now he says: “Because you would not obey the LORD your God.”

He adds that the curses are also a sign and a wonder. They serve to amazement and dismay by their size and horror, in which the people must recognize the supernatural intervention of God. Forever, the wicked people will acknowledge the origin and righteousness of judgment. This does not alter the fact that God will not judge the whole people. God will keep His promises to make them true to a remnant to the election of grace (Isa 10:22; Rom 11:5).

Among the Cruelest Enemies

In the previous bundles of plagues, the curse has been placed on all sides and terrains of life. Love for his people leads Moses to paint an even more terrifying picture, so that the people will remain obedient to God’s commandments.

The LORD has given His people blessing in abundance. This can only be a reason to serve Him with “joy and a glad heart” (Deu 28:47). If that does not happen, it is the coarsest form of ingratitude. God cannot but surrender His people to the cruelest oppression.

When we think of “a people from afar” (Deu 28:49) we can think of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, or Chaldeans, and the Romans. All three have done much harm to Jerusalem. In these verses it seems to be more about the oppression by the Romans – tellingly they have an eagle (Deu 28:49) in their banner! – while the previous verses more describe the Chaldean as an enemy.

Deu 28:52-57 deal with the siege of Jerusalem and describe bewildering, unreal scenes. Distinguished, spoiled women of Jerusalem who have let themselves be carries in better times – “who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground”–, will lose any natural love for their children and turn into monsters with inhuman, beastly behavior. In their indescribable distress, they do not resort to God, but to the lowest conceivable: eating their own children (Lam 4:10; 2Kgs 6:28-29). To this deep depravity leads the disobedience to God.

The Full Measure of God’s Curse

These verses are about the words of “this book” and the Name of the LORD God (Deu 28:58). The whole book is an enthusiastic eulogy to the land. But God says in Deu 28:63 that He will delight to tear the people from the land if they are not faithful to Him and His Word. Thus, Christianity went into exile, as it were, because it did not keep its heavenly position and became earthly oriented. Taking an outward position is never a guarantee of remaining in the truth.

Holding the words of this book and holding or fearing the Name summarizes everything that is necessary to enjoy the blessings. Where these two things are abandoned, the people of God lose their place in the land and the place God has chosen to make His Name dwell. For us, this means the loss of our heavenly position and the loss of the place where the Lord Jesus gathers His own around Himself, to His Name.

The scenes of unprecedented distress described so far will not yet be the end of misery if the people refuse to be warned. God will bring the full measure of the curse upon His people. Nothing will be spared them. The fact that the previous disasters and plagues did not mean the end is testimony to God’s perseverance to do everything possible to make His people return to Himself. It is only when there is no hope of conversion that He makes the final judgment. He also reserves the right to save up a remnant according to His gracious choice.

There will always be fear for the day to come (Deu 28:67). Even the night offers no rest. One is just as afraid of the night (cf. Job 7:4; Psa 91:5-6). The fear arises not only because of what they see with their eyes, but also because of the fear of the heart. In other words: not only real dangers will make them afraid, but also imaginary dangers. When one comes to investigate the causes of fear, they often turn out to be merely the creatures of the imagination.

Just as the liberation from the slavery of Egypt can be compared to the birth of the people, so the return to slavery can be compared to their death. No one will see anything useful in them and will spend even a penny to own them. It indicates a state of complete contempt and rejection.