Deuteronomy 28:58

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 28:58-59, “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;[59] Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.” The Israelites were told to do two things: to obey and to fear. These were requirements of the law. It is a good thing that we who believe in Jesus are not under law. We are under grace through faith in Jesus. Grace is so good. Grace refers to the free gift of God through Jesus and because of Jesus. But a failure to keep the law results in terrible consequences. That is why we are told, “For the wages of sin is death.” If you are under the law, and do not obey it, then the results are terrible indeed, as the Israelites learned so horribly. What is the purpose of the law then? Why did God give such a law? The answer to that question is found in Galatians 3:22-26, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.[23] But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.[24] Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.[25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.[26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” When someone thinks about the commandments of the law and how much sin they have failed, they will be more able to understand how much they need the Savior.

But the Israelites were not under grace: they were under law. In talking about the plagues that would come upon the Israelites, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 28:60-65, “Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.[61] Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.[62] And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.[63] And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.[64] And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.[65] And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: [66]And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:[67] In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.[68] 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.”

The first things mentioned that would happen to the Israelites because they turned away from God were disease, sickness, and plague. It is not the only reason, but one of the reasons for sickness is sin. The way to make sure that any sickness that you have is not due to sin is to make sure that your sins are confessed and that you have asked Jesus for forgiveness. It says to Christians in James 5:14-16, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.[16] Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” If you have a medical problem, by all means get the best medical care that you can, but also make sure that your sins are confessed.

Another negative that happened to the children of Israel because they did not serve the Lord faithfully is mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:62, “And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude.” Instead of being the greatest nation on earth, Israel became one of the smallest and weakest. Jesus did say, “Without me ye can do nothing.” That truth applies to Christians, and it also applied to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. How much greater Israel would have been had they continued to follow the Lord. How much more Christians would accomplish if only they would abide in fellowship with Christ.

Did you ever wonder why Jewish people are found all over the world in almost every nation? Here is the reason. It is described in Deuteronomy 28:63-64, “ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.[64] And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other.” God brought them into the promised land, but then God warned them that they would be cast out if they broke the law and ceased to follow God. By the way, that is still the fate of the Jewish people today. More Jews live scattered around the world than live in Israel. The reason for this is because of the consequences that still exist of what the Jews did so long ago in failing the Lord. Ultimately, God is in charge of the nations of the earth, and He decided to take the Promised-land away from the children of Israel, at least temporarily. And temporarily in this case is thousands of years. Of course, they will be restored when Jesus the Savior comes back to reign on the throne of King David in Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy 28:65 not only describes the emotions of the Israelites who are scattered around the world, but also those who even live in Israel today because of all their enemies. It says, “And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.” “No ease” and not having “rest” means that there will not be peace. There will be no permanent solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict until Jesus returns. Hopefully, there will be some temporary times of peace, but there will be no final solution until Jesus comes back. And just a word to the wise: Jesus is a Jew, so guess whose side He will be on? Yes, He will save the Israelites from their enemies. Jesus will destroy the enemies of the people of God. Jesus will give back to the Jewish people what they lost so long ago when they were under the covenant of the law, but they failed. Jesus will give them freely through His grace what they could not gain by their own efforts.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:1-4, “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.[2] And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;[3] The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:[4] Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” Verse 1 starts off with the phrase, “These are the words of the covenant.” What covenant are we talking about: the Old Testament. When Moses gave the covenant, it was new, but now it is old because it has been replaced by the new covenant that came from Jesus Christ. The covenant went from God’s mind to Moses’ mouth and pen, and then to the people’s ears. The New Testament is the same way, except that Jesus is the intermediary. John 1:17 says, “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” At the last supper Jesus said, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.” The word “testament” means covenant. Jesus was stating very clearly that He was replacing the old covenant that Moses gave with a new covenant.

And so we must always remember that when we read in the Old Testament, we are usually reading about the old covenant that Moses gave that is no longer in effect. “Ye are not under law, but under grace.” But in Deuteronomy 29:1 Moses is making it clear that all the commandments that came through him were part of the law, not just the Ten Commandments. That means that the law was made of hundreds of commandments, and that is just one more reason that no one could keep the law. Everyone is a law breaker, except for Jesus. Everyone is a sinner, except for Jesus. Everyone needs to be forgiven of their sins, and Jesus gives forgiveness to whoever asks for it. The old covenant is based upon how well someone can obey the commandments, but the new covenant is based upon the forgiveness of sins because Jesus died for our sins. True believers prefer the new covenant, and so does God.

Why did not the children of Israel appreciate all the wonders and miracles that God did for them when He brought them out of Egypt? Well, that is something that must come from the heart. Only Jesus can change the heart. That is one reason we need to pray for people. Salvation is of the Lord and not of man. True faith is a miracle that takes place in the heart. That is why Deuteronomy 29:4 says about the Israelites, “Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” People need spiritual understanding and insight, and yet they can only get that from God. If Jesus has opened your eyes and touched your heart, then you are blessed indeed.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:5-6, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.[6] Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.” The first part of verse 6 actually goes with verse 5. The devision of books of the Bible into chapters and verses is not inspired. It is man-made, and is ok to do because it helps to cross-reference Bible passages and find them easily. For example, whenever an Old Testament passage is referenced in the New Testament, chapter and verse are never given because the Old Testament had not been divided into chapter and verse when the New Testament was written. The New Testament will say something like, “Isaiah said…” or even less specific, “It is written,” not even giving the book. Believers probably memorized more passages back then than they do today because few people had their own copies of the scriptures since the printing press had not yet been invented. Back in Deuteronomy chapter 29, it probably would be better to have made verse 5, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread.” And to have made verse 6 as, “Neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.” There are two main truths in these two verses. The first is that God will take care of your needs. The second is that you need to take care of yourself by staying away from powerful substances. Concerning God taking care of you, Jesus gave the formula in Matthew 6:33. He said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Just make sure that you have your priorities right and the Lord will take care of you. That does not mean that you do not have responsibilities to take care of yourself. One important detail is to stay away from powerful substances whether it be alcohol, illegal drugs, or subscription drugs, or anything else that comes along that can affect behavior or thinking. To serve Jesus the best that you can, you must have your mind. Mind-altering substances will negatively affect your capacity to think about the Lord in the right way at all times. The number one commandment according to Jesus is to love God with all the heart, all the mind, all the soul, and all the strength. We owe that to Jesus because He died for us.

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