Curses on Disobedience

Deuteronomy 28:15-68

15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.

28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.

45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.

64 “Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.

68 “And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

There are many more warnings of curses in this chapter for disobedience than blessings for obedience.  The details are many and are harsh in our eyes, yet justified to the LORD God who delivered His people from bondage representing sin, and who promised them a special place in His heart and in the land given by the promise of faith through Abraham.  Therefore their wickedness in rebellion would result in confusion, rebuke, and destruction.  It would bring defeat, madness, blindness, and confusion in their hearts.  There would be oppression, plunder, blindness, and lack of prosperity.   They would go mad in not being able to see in the darkness as the curses overtake and overwhelm them.  All these because they refused to obey God’s commandments and follow His ways of holiness over their own self-serving pursuits and other objects of worship.  They would have the blessings if they only served the LORD their God gladly and reaped His eternal benefits.  The ask and demand of God was simply to observe His words to live by them in order to honor their creator and sustainer, with fear of His glorious name.  To continue in unrepentant disobedience meant certain enslavement and defeat as if they wanted to go back to Egypt.  Their renewed bondage would then result in failing hearts and eyesight with deep anguish and a feeling nobody cared or wanted them.  How much better to be loved and wanted and cared for by the LORD who called them out as His people to live His way instead!  Likewise, unrepentant sin has consequences for us to include lack of reward (1 Corinthians 3:14-17) and even leading to physical death as Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:5, 10).  We reap what we sow in our walk with our Lord, yet still inherit eternal life because we are called as His people, just as a remnant of Israel cling to His word in repentance and faith.  Let us then learn from the blessings and curses.