Abrahamic Promise: Covenant of blessings and cursing (Lesson 29)

Abrahamic Promise: Covenant of blessings and cursing (Lesson 29; to be done with Lesson 28) 10/8/24

Introduction:

To see the covenant please note down (Deu28:1-30:20

This covenant is made between God and Israel just prior to entering and taking all the promised land under Joshua (see book of Joshua)

Aim:

To grow to a better appreciation of God’s inspired word

To understand the significance of this covenant as it pertained to Israel and it retaining the land. An how it affection the nation for centuries thereafter, even through the Babylonian Exile!

Outline:

The promise of blessing and cursing (Deut28:1-68)

The blessing (vv.1-14)

Faithfulness to the covenant would equate to abundance

Consider carefully the conditional “if” - - - - (vv, 2, 9, and 13)

Deuteronomy 28:2 NASB95

2 “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:

Deuteronomy 28:9 NASB95

9 “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.

Deuteronomy 28:13 NASB95

13 “The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,

It has been conditional on the faith of Abraham: he had to leave and go.

Now the retaining of the land is condition on the faithfulness of Israel (Deut29:9)

Deuteronomy 29:9 NASB95

9 “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

Note: Carefully read (Deut29:1)

The curse (vv.15-68)

Unfaithfulness to the covenant would be destruction

You can see the severity, the finality of the curse (vv.63-64)

National destruction, captivity will be the consequences for disobedience (Deut8:18-20)

The promise of a remnant to return to the land. (Deut30:1-10)

Stop/Take note: this is not to be confused with the Nation-land promise to Abraham, this is the restoration promise which is for only a remnant.

Chronology of the return of the remnant

Blessings and curses transpire in the land (Deut30:1-2)

After the scattering, captivity (a curse) the promise of the restoration of the remnant is found (Deut30:3)

Deuteronomy 30:1–3 NASB95

1 “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

Condition of the return

To retain the land was conditional on obedience

The returning to the land was also conditional to obedience (Deut30:3)

Note: Israel’s obedience was not difficult but merely a matter of Faith and love (Deut30:11-20)

Characteristics of the return

A great many would not return.

Only a remnant would return to the land

According to Isaiah (Isa1:9, 10:20-22) this was about 700 years after Moses discourse

Jehovah deliberately leaves a remnant

This remnant would repent and lean upon Jehovah in truth.

You can consider Jeremiah too (Jer19:1-11)

The Northern kingdom had gone into Assyrian captivity years before.

The Southern Kingdom, Judah, falls into Babylonian captivity 136 years later

This judgment utterly destroys “the nation” and only a remnant survives.

Conclusion:

Moses, God’s instrument, God’s prophet laid out accurately Israel’s history before they even entered the land.

Israel will possess the land and be blessed in it.

However, the nation will be disobedient and experience the curse

This started when the kingdom divided after Solomon, but it was Solomon’s disobedience that started it. It was the beginning of the end of the possession of the entire promised land.

God is faithful, and will always be faithful in blessings and cursing.

Next week we will see the full fulfillment of the possession of the land promise.