The LORD will send on you curses
Fri, 23 June, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
20 “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21 The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought [a] and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses reviews a vital principle: God blesses obedience and curses disobedience. The first half of the chapter deals with the blessings. That was yesterday’s reading. Today’s reading deals with the curses.
What do we learn from this?
What a graphic picture of God’s work in a society. There are results to our actions, and as we live in rebellion against God, we will suffer the natural consequences.
Today’s reading is filled with much that is disturbing, not the least of which is because as we read through the history books of the Old Testament, we see that these curses Moses describes actually came upon the Israelites in there rebellion against God. It is a graphic lesson for us: If we live in rebellion against God, we will suffer. But as we obey Him, we will be blessed.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Deuteronomy 28 is speaking to the nation of Israel, and describes what happens to an entire society.
But at a personal level, we don’t merit God’s blessing by our good obedience. Because of our sin (and we have all sinned) we all deserve God’s eternal punishment. Being good can’t make up for our sin and avert the curse we are under because of the guilt of our sin.
Our only hope is to claim the promise we have of salvation in Jesus Christ. He Himself has taken the punishment for the sins of all who come to Him, paying the penalty upon the cross. We are blessed by God as we are in Jesus Christ, whereas outside of Jesus Christ, we are under God’s curse.
