Deuteronomy 28

What would Israel have been like if the people had listened to the voice of God through Moses? There would have been blessings everywhere in the land.

Imagine what it would have been like to live there. The nation of Israel would have experienced the Lord's blessings in ways that would have set them above all the other nations of the world. The Lord would have given them a marvelous life militarily, economically, demographically, agriculturally, environmentally, and spiritually.

Moses set these blessings before the people. They needed to obey the Lord's commandments and reject entirely the worship of other gods in order to experience these wonderful gifts.

But what was the Lord's warning if they disobeyed? The land would be full of the Lord's curses. “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.”

Sickness, drought, defeat, madness, blindness, and misery would be their portion rather than health and peace. All the horrors of life under an oppressive enemy and all the pains and scars of living in exile and slavery would be their portion.

These curses would not be the random result of chance, but the direct judgment of the Lord their God. Why? Because they had not served the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart.

Moses described to the conquest generation the horrors of living under an enemy siege with alarming detail even before they had set foot in the land. He told them that if they did not obey the voice of the Lord, they would be scattered among all the peoples of the world, and that they would serve gods of their own making and live in fear.

These words offered a stark contrast for the people of God. The way of obedience and true worship would have brought them the greatest blessings, but the rejection of the Lord and His Word would bring horror and degradation.

Now consider what Jesus faced for us on the cross.

“When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.”

What happened to the Lord on the cross? He took the curse that we deserved, not just the curse that was upon Israel for their disobedience and idolatry, but the curse that was upon creation and humanity because of the sin of Adam and because of our own rebellion. He did this for us.

What happened to us as a result of that cross? All our sin was atoned for.

The curse of God against us was a many-headed beast from which we could never have escaped. Christ has destroyed that enemy. The curse can no longer have a hold on us.

We have not obeyed the Law of God, but Jesus has, and He did that for us. What has His righteousness won for us? In Him we have the fullness of every blessing of God in the perfect land of resurrection glory.

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small;

love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.”