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This small group Deuteronomy 28 Bible study guide contains commentary, discussion questions, cross-references, and application to encourage life change. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
Deuteronomy 28 Bible Study Commentary And Questions – Blessings and Curses
Outline
I. The blessings of obedience (1-14)
II. The curses of disobedience (15-68)
I. The blessings of obedience (1-14)
Discussion Questions
• What is chapter 28 about?
• How does this passage fit into the rest of this book?
• What were the conditions for Israel to be blessed?
• What actions would result in a curse?
• What does it mean that the Lord would set you “high above the nations of the earth (1)? Has this been fulfilled? If not, when will it be?
• Were the blessings spiritual, physical, or both? Were these blessings national or individual?
• How are the blessings under the Old and New Covenants the same? How are they different?
• Can we directly apply these promises (either of blessings or curses) from Deuteronomy 28 to our lives today?
• How can you “be careful” to obey God’s commands?
• In what specific ways would they be blessed if they obeyed?
• What does it mean to be blessed in the city? What does it mean to be blessed in the field?
• Share the significance of the basket and kneading bowl being blessed.
• What three areas of blessing are mentioned in verse 11?
• What does it mean to be the head and not the tail (13)?
• What does this passage teach us about God? About obedience? About our relationship to Him? About blessings?
• Since people can never fulfill the law, what is the ultimate purpose of this contract?
Cross-References
Exodus 15:26 – “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
Isaiah 62:12 – And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
2 Samuel 22:38 – I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
James 1:12 – Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The covenant takes the form of a Suzerain Vassal treaty – The format for the covenant between God and Israel laid out in Deuteronomy as a whole and in this passage is a Suzerain Vassal treaty. These types of treaties were common in the ancient Near East, especially in areas influenced by Hittites.
The Suzerain was the sovereign, the ruler over his people. He would make a treaty with his vassals, the subjects under him. The ruler would promise protection and blessings to his people if they would be obedient and loyal. On the other hand, the treaty would lay out the penalties, or curses, for disobedience.
Deuteronomy 28 is a classic example. God is the sovereign. He promises blessings to those who are obedient and curses to the rebellious.
Reflect – Why did God use this format to make His covenant with the people?
It is unlikely that this type of treaty is made in heaven. Rather, God was using language and customs that the people would have been familiar with. It is an example of God condescending to communicate with us. There are many similar examples in Scripture, such as God being referenced as reaching out His arm to save or looking to and fro with His eyes. Language is used that we can understand and relate to.
Thus, the lesson is simple. The Lord wants to communicate with us. He did not just create the world and then leave us to our own devices. Instead, He desires to have a relationship with us. To bring that about, He reveals Himself to us.
2. The climax of the book – In this book, the law of the Lord has been reviewed. The people should now know clearly God’s standards.
A wise person once said every sermon should have a “so what?” What is the point of giving all of that information?
Well, this book’s “So what?” is chapter 28 of Deuteronomy. Now, the Israelites knew God’s law. So what? What should they do?
The answer is in chapter 28. It can be summarized in one word: obey. God expected them to obey His commands, which they had learned.
Deuteronomy 28:1 – And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
All of the blessings described would only be bestowed on them if they obeyed. If they did, God would raise them up as a nation higher than all the other nations of the earth.
This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled because the nation did not faithfully obey Him. In the millennium, they will obey Him and this promise will be fulfilled.
3. A caution about copy paste application of the blessings to our lives today –
“Claiming the promises” is a popular idea for many believers. Some look at passages such as the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 and claim it for themselves.
They may quote and claim promises of blessings such as those given in verses 12-13.
Deuteronomy 28:12-13 – The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.
These verses sound good, right? Who wouldn’t want the treasures of heaven to be opened on them?
However, we need to be careful to interpret Scripture within its proper context. This was a covenant between God and Israel.
Assuming for a moment that you could join this covenant and sign your name to the contract, would you?
Remember Deuteronomy 27:26?
Deuteronomy 27:26 – Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
These curses are no walk in the park. There are 53 verses worth of curses in this chapter.
Here is one example.
Deuteronomy 28:27 – The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed.
Not so many people quote and claim this promise from God. The thing is, you can’t have one without the other. You can’t accept the blessings unless you are willing to accept the curses. It was a deal with both positive and negative potential consequences.
Under the Old Covenant, God promised blessings for obedience. Many of these blessings took physical form. Examples include fertility, success, health, and prosperity. Those would be outward signs that God was pleased with them as a nation. As other nations saw the physical blessings they received, they too would want to have a relationship with God. Therefore, the Israelite’s positive example would be a good testimony to all the other nations. At the same time, their disobedience and the curses that followed would be a reminder of God’s justice and the serious nature of sin.
It is good news for us that we are not under the Old Covenant. If we were, we would still be under the curse.
Romans 6:14 – For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
In the New Covenant, God does not promise physical blessings for obedience. It is a covenant of grace. He does promise spiritual blessings.
Ephesians 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Reflect – What do these spiritual blessings entail?
Here are a few of our spiritual blessings.
• Eternal life
• Adoption as children
• Forgiveness
• Heavenly inheritance
• Indwelt by the Holy Spirit
These eternal blessings are far better than any temporal blessings on earth. Praise God that we are not under the Old Covenant. If we were, we would be under the curse because we, like the Israelites, cannot keep the whole law. That was given in its time to show the depth of sin and our need for a Savior. The law shows us that we can’t save ourselves.
Because we are not under the Old Covenant, we cannot claim these promises of blessings for our own. They were given to a different group of people in a different time for a different purpose.
Reflect – Since this is the Old Covenant and we are under the New Covenant, how is this relevant to us?
• It teaches us that God wants to bless His people.
• It reminds us of the general principle that obedience results in blessings. You reap what you sow.
• It shows us that obeying God is a good testimony to the nations.
• It reminds us of the blessings that we experience today and that we should be thankful we are under the New Covenant of grace.
4. Thoughts on some of the specific blessings –
• Blessed shall you be in the city – White-collar workers would be blessed.
• Blessed shall you be in the field – Blue-collar workers would be blessed.
• Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb – Family life would be blessed. One outward symbol of God’s pleasure would be the abundance of children. This was especially significant in ancient times. More children meant more help on the farm. Also, childbearing complications were major causes of premature death among women at that time in history. Here, God promises to bless childbirth and the children.
• Blessed shall be your basket and kneading bowl – I love that these are mentioned. It is a reminder that no detail would be overlooked. Every single aspect of their life, big and small, would be covered with divine blessing. They would have enough food for their families. Even kneading itself would be a joy. One can imagine the woman of the house singing songs of praise and thanksgiving while kneading bread for dinner. This blessing portrays a happy and content home life in every aspect.
• Victory in battle (7) – Victory belongs to the Lord.
o Proverbs 21:31 – The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
• The Lord will open to you His good treasury – The Lord is rich. His royal treasury is without limit. He delights in giving good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:7-14, James 1:17). We see a similar reference to God’s rich blessings, which He pours out on us in Ephesians.
o Ephesians 1:7-8 – In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.
• You shall lend and not borrow – They would be at the top of the financial food chain.
• You shall only go up and not down – This is a very general blessing. They would be successful in every way. It would be one victory and success after another.
Application – Spend some time to meditate on the blessings God has poured into your life.
When I give my children nice gifts and see them fighting for them, it is very sad. It can make me regret giving them the gifts in the first place.
The Lord takes pleasure in seeing us wisely stewarding those blessings. How should you respond to these blessings? How will being mindful of those blessings change your attitude and behavior on a daily basis?
5. The condition –
Deuteronomy 28:14 – And if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
The condition for receiving all of these blessings was simple: obey. It was a simple condition but far from easy. Israel’s history is a sad reminder of the sin of man and how far short we fall of God’s standards.
From the beginning, mankind has fallen short of God’s righteous standard. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Because of their disobedience, they would not experience the abundant blessings the Lord prepared for them there.
If we look at our own lives honestly, we can also see that the worst messes and most unhappy times are caused by our own sins. How many blessings have we given up because we go off of God’s path and selfishly pursue our own way?
Application – Obedience is important. We should choose to obey. When we do, God blesses us (though not necessarily physically).
However, we can’t obey everything all of the time. We fall short. That is where God’s grace comes in. We should throw ourselves upon His grace and mercy. Place your faith and hope in Him because even if we are faithless, He remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).
Jeremiah 17:7-8 – Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.
II. The curses of disobedience (15-24)
This section on curses is continued in the next lesson.
Discussion Questions
• Are the curses sent in response to one misstep or momentary lapse into disobedience?
• What does the phrase “if you will not obey” indicate about the attitude and actions that God curses?
• How does this section on curses relate to the passage on curses in Deuteronomy 27:9-26?
• Compare 16-19 with 3-6. What are your observations?
• Why do you think the section on curses is longer than those on blessings?
• What does this passage teach us about boundaries and consequences?
• Is the fear of consequences a good motivation for doing what is right?
• Why do you think the Bible talks more about hell than heaven?
• How can parents use rewards and consequences to help their children grow to maturity?
• Since God is love, how can we understand these extensive curses?
• Which of these curses do you think is the worst is why?
• What is the meaning of verse 23 (the heavens shall be bronze and the earth shall be iron)?
• What personal application can you make from this passage?
Cross-References
Jeremiah 24:9 – I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.
Micah 6:15 – You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
Jeremiah 5:15 – Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
Galatians 3:13-14 – Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Hebrews 12:11 – For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Revelation 3:19 – Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. Disobedience results in a curse – In Deuteronomy 27:15-26, the people “signed” the contract and agreed to receive the curses in the case of disobedience to the law.
Deuteronomy 28:15-64 is essentially a detailed answer to the question, “What form would those curses take?” This passage talks about all of the different types of curses God would execute against His people if they rebelled against Him.
The verses 16-19 are a direct correlation to the blessings in verses 6-9. They cover fertility, food, livestock, business, harvest, and travel. Even their basket and kneading bowl would be cursed.
2. If you will not obey – This appears to be a willful rejection of God’s law, not an incidental mistake. God was a capricious ruler just waiting for a chance to judge them.
On the contrary, the Old Testament shows us that He is longsuffering. Even when they sinned, He sent them prophet after prophet and message after message to warn them to repent before the judgment came. He routinely gave them multiple chances and time to repent.
When they did rebel, face oppression, and call out to Him, He was quick to respond and send deliverance, even though He knew their “repentance” would be short-lived.
However, when the people refused to listen and willfully went after idols, God moved to action and sent many of these curses.
3. What was the purpose of curses? –
The curses remind us of God’s role as the Supreme Judge. He is just. Sin has to be punished (Romans 6:23).
It is also a form of discipline designed to wake them up from their spiritual complacency and push them back to God. We can see that this worked successfully many times. In the book of Judges, for example, the people’s affliction caused them to turn back to the Lord and cry out to Him for help.
In addition, the curses were warning to others of the consequences of sin. One example of this is the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They turned to idolatry and rejected God’s prophets repeatedly. As a result, the curses were fulfilled on them. They were conquered, exiled and disappeared as a people.
Their fall was meant to be a warning to Judah.
Jeremiah 3:8 – She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.
Sadly, the lesson was not received.
The curses are also a reminder to all of us of the general principle that you reap what you sow.
Galatians 6:7-8 – Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
4. The Lord shall strike you with… –
Deuteronomy 28:22 – The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
These were not just things that happened. They were not random. It was not ill fortune or bad luck. The Lord was the agent behind them. He caused them. Many people have blamed God’s judgment or discipline in their lives on bad luck. Denial will not bring about growth.
It is a scary thing to find God on the other side. Those who do would be well advised to repent and throw themselves on God’s mercy.
5. The heavens shall be bronze and the earth iron – That is an illusion to a fierce and bright sun that brings heat, but not rain. The iron earth alludes to hard soil that has been baked under the sun and has no moisture.
Lesson Application – Recall and consider some of the worst situations in your life. Which of these, if any, were caused by your own sins or failures? What did you learn about the principle, “You reap what you sow?” What lessons can you glean from these situations that you can apply moving forward?
