As I do not support a particular team I enjoy watching football for its own sake. Most seasons there will generally be a key match in the race for the league title which is referred to as a six pointer[1] as it can be very influential to the outcome of the season. There can often be little to choose between the two teams in terms of skill. But on the day of the match the team that wins will probably do so because they chose the right tactics and stuck rigidly to their game plan. At the start of chapter 28 the game plan Moses has given the Israelites team is very simple, obey the Lord!

The Israelites were to be the Lord’s covenant people. They had agreed to God’s terms that they would serve Him and obey His commands. Deuteronomy represents what in the Ancient Near East was called a Vassal Treaty and in such treaties there was a section of blessings and curses, blessings if they kept God’s commands, curses if they did not. So not surprisingly the chapter starts with a reminder that they are: ‘faithfully obey’ the Lord and that they be: ‘careful to do all His commands’ (v1).  Moses adds: ‘today’ to give added emphasis. This is not some vague command that one day they are going to have to implement; it was to start before they went into the land.

Very often we can put things off that we know we ought to do. Instead, we let certain sins linger, kidding ourselves that one day we will deal with them. But what we really ought to do is bring them to the Lord immediately and so deal with them there and then. Moses did not want Israelites to make that mistake, so they were to start in their obedience immediately! The consequences of that obedience would be extraordinary, not only would the Israelites benefit materially, but they would also be given extraordinary status among nations which acted as a witness to those nation’s. But the main emphasis seems to be on the benefits that they would receive materially (v2). Unlike the curses the people are not required to say Amen. After all ‘God’s blessings are wholly of grace, whether or not His people assert them or even appreciate them.’[2]

In verses 3-6 the source of blessing is seen, primarily, through plentiful crops and increased livestock. In other words, material blessing that would ensure the well-being of the nation. But why were they to be blessed in that area, why not financial wealth or some other such blessing? The reason can be deducted from Israel’s past. Moses has an emphasised worshipping and obeying the commands of the Lord Almighty. The people have been constantly reminded of His status and how He is to be worshipped, as well as, how He is not. But the Israelites were only a generation away from polytheism (the worship of many gods) as they had practiced it when they were in Egypt (Ezekiel 20:7-8). In the Promised Land there was going to be plenty of temptation as polytheism was widely practised. Moses was very aware of that there was competition as to whom to worship. But the Lord was going to make it very clear who made the crops grow as He had already promised to bless them and give them plentiful produce if they obeyed him and to withhold the rain if they turn to other gods and goddesses (11:13-17).  So, He would give them no reason to doubt Him through His ample provision for them.

This raises the question whether Christians can expect material blessing today? Yet the circumstances are very different. Firstly, God’s promise was given to the nation of Israel that was going in and occupying land that He had given them. Essentially He was speaking to them as one nation, not as Christians who are scattered throughout the world today. Yet we can argue that He could bless us as if we live by He’s laws and seek His will for our lives as we will want to work hard, spend our money wisely and aim to give our children a good and moral upbringing based on God’s Word. Doing that often means Christians avoid many of the problems the people of the world can have as individuals or families.

So, there is a sense in which we can benefit by obedience to the Lord. But we would do well to remember a major theme in Deuteronomy which applies to God’s people in any day and age and that is that we are totally undeserving of any grace and mercy that God shows us. We do not deserve anything because we are particularly obedient. This leads to the final point. We are far more blessed today than the people of Israel were at that time. They could see only an earthly inheritance, but we have a heavenly one.[3]

[1] So-called as it not just provides the winning team three points but that it guarantees the other team of missing out on three, something that no other fixture could guarantee.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, Acquiring Tools for Spiritual Success (Colorado Springs, Victor, 1999) 167.
[3] I am much indebted to Paul E Brown for his section on whether these blessings apply in the same way today. Paul E. Brown, Deuteronomy, An Expositional Commentary (Leominster, Day One Publications 2008) 204.