Deu 28: "A dramatic and personal introduction is presented.
'If thou shalt hearken diligently...' It is both a challenge and an invitation.
The ch appears in a section demonstrating the perpetuity, power and promise of
the Law, together with the rewards and penalties which actuate it as such. Moses
sets out: (1) The condition of blessing: vv 1,2. This was the purpose of
hearkening -- to learn what was required, and to do it. (2) Blessings in the
domestic sphere: vv 3-6. How the law affects personal lives for good. (3)
Blessings in time of war: v 7 -- when the nation is challenged by the enemy. (4)
Blessings in activity: v 8. Yahweh's eyes are constantly on the Land to ensure a
blessing. (5) Blessing in the national status: vv 9,10. The Name of Yahweh is
now invoked, as it is the title of ownership. (6) Blessings in the increase: vv
11,12. The people would not only have increase, but the ability to enjoy it. (7)
Blessings in rulership: v 13. (8) Moses' exhortation: v 14. Moses' personal
appeal to faithfulness. (9) The cursings of the Law: vv 15-68. It is significant
that the cursings take 53 verses, for they emphasize the evidence of sin in the
nation. The remarkable prophecy has been so remarkably fulfilled in the history
of Israel. It is a preview of the circumstances of the ecclesia. The theme of
the whole ch is found in v 58: to fear the glorious and fearful Name of Yahweh
thy God" (GEM).
Deu 28:2
Vv 2-6: "It was part of the promise under the national
covenant of Israel, that God would bless them in basket and store if they were
obedient; and that disobedience would bring blasting and poor harvest. It was
part of an arrangement of national life, where material prosperity, expressed in
an agricultural community in the terms of the produce of the land and of cattle,
was the blessing of their Divine Ruler. We might be drawn to entirely wrong
conclusions if we determined a man's standing in divine favor in these days of
industrial activity, by the vast accumulations of wealth beyond contemplation
for others than rulers in simpler ages. We would also be misled in following the
prevailing temper of the present day in regarding all laws of nature as
explicable by natural science, and being in no way subject to divine rule. While
it would be a mistake to relate all natural happenings, good harvests, wet
seasons, earthquakes and storms, to the divine will, to exclude them from God's
operations if He so desired would be a greater mistake" (PAE 205).
Deu 28:60
DISEASES OF EGYPT: Prob bubonic plague. The ne corner
of the Nile delta was a source of plagues from the earliest of times... due to
high temperatures, swamps, mixing of salt and fresh water. Through the maritime
plain, in both directions, many ancient armies as well as traders traveled,
carrying diseases of all sorts with them: cp Deu 7:5; Amo 4:10; 1Sa
5:6,9,12.