If you fully obey the LORD...

"However...." "Deuteronomy 28:15

The word "however" is used to introduce a statement that contrasts with or seems to contradict something that has been said previously. As a means of encouraging his followers, a pastor quoted a verse. He wrote, “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do…The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you” (Deut 28:8 NLT)." On the surface this is encouraging. Who doesn't want a guarantee from God that He will bless everything they do as well as the land He is apparently giving them? A friend of mine once said that a key to understanding the Bible is to "keep reading." If you look at Deuteronomy 28, you will see two things that aren't captured by simply quoting one verse. First, you must read the first verse of the chapter in order to get the context. The verse begins, "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully keep all his commands... (Deuteronomy 28:1)" There is a condition attached to receiving the blessings promised in verse 8; full obedience to all his commandments. Not your best effort. Not continual attempts at obedience and repentance. There is no grading on a curve here. God demands perfection. While the promise of verse 8 is available, God will never have to pay, and has never had to pay, out because nobody, including the children of Israel this promise was made to, will ever come close to being fully obedient to all God commands. But, hey, it sounds good if you don't pay attention to detail, right? Life is difficult and most people live it in such a way to try and maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain. Here in Deuteronomy 28, God gives fourteen verses filled with promises to maximize the pleasure of those who "fully obey" Him. Promises to "set you high above all the nations on earth (Deuteronomy 28:1)." Promises that you "will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country (Deuteronomy 28:3)." Promises "that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you (Deuteronomy 28:7)." Promises to "grant you abundant prosperity (Deuteronomy 28:11)." Promises to "make you the head, not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13)." I can hear it now, Christians everywhere shouting "Amen!" and "I receive that in the name of Jesus!" But, then we come to the second thing not captured by simply quoting one verse.

What does God say will happen when you fail to fully obey all of His commands? In Deuteronomy 28:15 it says, "However, 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 on you and overtake you." Curses? What curses? From verse 15 to the end of the chapter, a span of about 53 verses, God lays out curse after curse after curse that He will deliver for disobedience to His commands. Curses like being struck "with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish (Deuteronomy 28:22)." Or if that isn't bad enough, how about the Lord saying that, "The sights you see will drive you mad (Deuteronomy 28:34)." Take the time and read Deuteronomy 28 and see for yourself what God says will happen if you are disobedient. I wonder if this pastor would quote a verse anywhere from Deuteronomy 28:15 to the end of the chapter. I doubt it. There is nothing that feels good or that is encouraging about facing God's wrath for your disobedience. But, why would God set a bar so high that no man, woman or child could live up to it? He did so in order to drive a person to the end of themselves. God, through the Apostle Paul, wrote, "What purpose then does the law serve? ,,, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:19, 24)." The promises to bless your flesh through obedience to the Law was done so that through your failed attempts at trying to obey it you would see your spiritual need for a Savior and the grace of God. The law is a tutor because it teaches you that you need to come to faith in Jesus Christ and be born again of the spirit of God. By doing so you receive the life of God restored to you, are not under the law anymore and spared of any curses for disobedience because, "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9)." Now, that is truth you should "receive." Amen!