The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 28
Chapter XXVIII · Vol. I, pp. 523–527
1 The blessings for obedience. 15 The curses for disobedience.
1 AND it shall come to pass, aif thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe, and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee bon high above all nations of the earth.1
a Le. 26.3. Ex. 15.26. Is. 1.19; 3.10; 55.2,3. Ps. 19.11. ch. 11.13,22. Mat. 6.33. 1 Co. 15.58. 1 Ti. 4.8.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
b ch. 26.19. Phi. 3.14. Col. 3.1,2.
1 Whether this promise include political, commercial, literary, and military superiority is of little consequence before God, however highly estimated with men. Real superiority lies not in these things, but in the knowledge of God, in the possession of his oracles, ordinances, grace, and promises—in all these, and notwithstanding their sins, the Jews are ‘high above all nations.’ But their pre-eminence lies chiefly in this, that of them, ‘according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.’ C.——It should be noted that this promise is conditional. It begins with ‘if.’ History extending over more than three thousand years shows that so long as the Jews were obedient they were blessed and honoured as never nation had been; and since they have rebelled and rejected God, they have been cursed as never nation has been.—P.
2 And all these blessings shall ccome on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessedd shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
d Ps. 128.1,2; 107.38; 144.12-15.
4 Blessed shall be the efruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
e Ge. 49.25. Ps. 128.3,6; 144.12-15; 112.2.
5 Blessedf shall be thy basket and thy store.2
f ch. 26.2. Ex. 23.25.
2 Or, dough, or kneading troughs.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when gthou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
g 2 Ch. 1.10,12. Ps. 121.8. ch. 31.2. Nu. 27.17. 2 Sa. 3.25.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be hsmitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
h ver. 25. 2 Sa. 22.38-43. Le. 26.7,8. Jos. 23.10. ch. 32.30.
8 The LORD ishall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses,3 and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.4
i Le. 25.21; 26.4,5,10. Pr. 3.10; 10.22. Ps. 2illegible.1,2,9; 29.11; 112.1,3.
3 Or, barns.
4 The blessings which precede are all temporal. They embrace everything calculated to promote man's comfort, happiness, and prosperity on earth. They are national, social, and individual. In providing for the eternal salvation of his own people God does not overlook anything that would advance their comfort and peace here.—P.
9 The LORD shall kestablish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, lif thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
k Ge. 17.7,8. Ex. 19.5,6. ch. 7.6; 14.2; 26.18,19. 2 Sa. 7.24. Ro. 11.29. Tit. 2.14. Is. 62.12; 1.26,27; 60.21.
l ver. 1,2,13; ch. 4.1,40; 6.3. Ex. 15.26.
10 And all people of the earth shall msee that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And nthe LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods,5 in the fruit of thy body,6 and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, ino the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD pshall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD qshall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; rif that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
q Le. 26.13. ch. 15.6. Pr. 22.7. Nu. 24.18,19. Is. 9.14,15.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
r ver. 1,9; ch. 4.1,40; 6.3; 30.16. 1 Ti. 4.8; 6.6. 1 Co. 15.58.
14 And thou shalt snot go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.7
s ch. 4.2; 5.32; 11.16,28; 17.20; 29.18; 32.15-21; 31.29. Jos. 23.6; 1.7.
7 As it is of great importance to have clear views of the nature of a blessing, see notes on the primal blessings, Ge. 1.22,28, and observe how all the constituents of these blessings are here declared or implied.—C.
15 But it shall come to pass, tif thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that uall these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
t Le. 26.14,18,21,23,27. ch. 4.25,26; 8.19,20; 30.17,18; 31.16,17,20,21,29; 32.15-26. Pr. 1.24-32. Jos. 23.15,16. La. 2.17. Mal. 2.2. Da. 9.11,15. ver. 45,48.
16 xCursed8 shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
x Ho. 9.12. 1 Co. 16.22. Ga. 3.10. ver. 19.
8 For the practical application, and consequently the explanation of the word curse, see note on Ge. 3.14,17.—C.
18 Cursedz shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Curseda shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
a Mal. 1.14; 3.8,9. Ju. 2.15. 2 Ch. 15.5. Ga. 3.10. Jn. 3.18,36. Ps. 7.11. ver. 16.
20 Theb LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do,9 until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
b Mal. 2.2. ch. 7.23; 4.26; 8.19,20; ver. 15. 2 Ch. 15.5. Is. 37.3; 30.17; 51.20; 66.15. 1 Sa. 12.25. 1 Th. 2.16.
9 Heb. which thou wouldest do.
21 The LORD cshall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 Thed LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning,1 and with the sword,2 and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
d ver. 27,35. Le. 26.16,25. Am. 4.9. Hag. 2.17. 2 Ch. 6.28.
1 It is impossible accurately to discover in modern names the diseases here specified, and it is useless to waste time upon conjecture. It is enough to know that they threaten some of the worst calamities ‘our flesh is heir to.’—C.
2 Or, drought.
23 And thy eheaven that is over thy head shall be brass,3 and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
e Le. 26.19,20. 1 Ki. 17.1; 18.2. Je. 3.3; 14.1-6. Am. 4.7. Joel 1.17-20. ch. 11.17.
3 See an instance of the terrible fulfilment of this threatening, 1 Ki. 17.1. The expression in the text alludes to the appearance of burnished brass taken by the cloudless sky in time of extreme drought.—C.
24 The LORD shall fmake the rain of thy land powder and dust:4 from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25 The LORD gshall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and shalt be hremoved into all the kingdoms of the earth.5
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
g ver. 7; ch. 32.30. Le. 26.17,25,33. Ju. 2.14. Is. 30.17. Je. 15.4,9; 29.18; 34.17. Ho. 11.6. Eze. 23.46. Lu. 21.24.
h Heb. for a removing. ver. 36,64; ch. 32.26.
5 The Jews are the standing and prophetical miracle of the Scriptures. Other nations have, no doubt, been dispersed; but they have been absorbed into or amalgamated with the people amongst whom they have been scattered. But the Jews, removed into all kingdoms, retain their national identity—witnesses against themselves that they have forsaken the Lord; witnesses against infidels who despise these prophecies which they see fulfilled before their eyes; and witnesses to the Gentile churches to beware of falling by seeking to establish 'their own righteousness,' and refusing to submit to the 'righteousness of God.'—C.
26 And thy icarcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
27 The LORD will ksmite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.6
k Ex. 9.9-11; 15.26. 1 Sa. 5.9. Ps. 78.66. ver. 22,35.
6 These diseases are as uncertain as those enumerated in ver. 22. The former, however, seem to have been internal; these cutaneous.—C.
28 The LORD shall lsmite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
l 1 Sa. 16.14. Is. 42.19. Je. 4.9. Lu. 21.25,26. ver. 32,34,67.
29 And thou shalt mgrope at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.7
m Job 5.14; 12.25. Is. 59.10. Ps. 69.23,24. Ro. 11.10. 1 Th. 2.16. ver. 32,33.
7 The history of the Jews in Europe during the middle ages, and in Turkey during the past three or four centuries, affords melancholy proof of the literal fulfilment of this part of the curse.—P.
30 Thou shalt nbetroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather8 the grapes thereof.
31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee:9 thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
9 Heb. shall not return to thee.
32 Thy osons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might1 in thine hand.
33 The pfruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34 So that thou shalt qbe mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
q ver. 28,67. Is. 33.14. Re. 16.10. Lu. 21.25,26.
35 The LORD shall rsmite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 The LORD shall sbring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
s ver. 25,64. 2 Ki. 17.6; xxiv. xxv. La. 4.20. 2 Ch. 33.11. ch. 4.27,28. Je. 15.4. Lu. 21.24.
37 And thou shalt become tan astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.2
38 Thouu shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thoux shalt plant vineyards, and dress them; but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the yworms shall eat them.
x ch. 20.6; ver. 30.
y Jonah 4.7. Joel 1.4-7; 2.2-4. Ex. 10.5,15. ver. 38,42.
40 Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not zanoint thyself with the oil: for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41 Thou shalt abeget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them:3 for they shall go into captivity.4
a ver. 32. Is. 39.7.
3 Heb. they shall not be thine.
4 Besides the captivities recorded in the Old Testament, the destruction of Jerusalem after the Christian era was accompanied by the captivity of many thousands of all ages and sexes, and their exposure to sale and slavery.—C.
43 Thec stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low.
c La. 1.5. Ps. 44.9-12; 66.12. Ro. 11.10. Ju. iv.
44 Hed shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
d ver. 12,13. Pr. 22.7.
45 Moreover, eall these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed;6 because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.
e Le. 26.18. Is. 3.11; 1.20; 59.1,2. 1 Th. 2.16. Ro. 2.8,9. Eze. 18.4. ver. 15. Pr. 13.21; 1.31; 14.14. Je. 2.17,19; 4.18; 5.25; 6.19; 16.18,19.
6 They, in the madness and fury of their sufferings, destroyed each other. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, some of the worst of the Jews took refuge in the castle of Massada, where, being closely besieged by the Romans, they, at the persuasion of Eleazar their leader, first murdered their wives and children; then ten men were chosen by lot to slay the rest; this being done, one of the ten was chosen in like manner to kill the other nine; which, having done, he set fire to the place, and then stabbed himself. There were nine hundred and sixty who perished in this miserable manner; and only two women and five boys escaped, by hiding themselves in the aqueducts underground.—Newton.
46 And they shall be upon thee ffor a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
f ver. 37,59; ch. 29.20-28. Lu. 21.24. Je. 19.8. Ro. 11.10,25. 1 Th. 2.16.
47 Becauseg thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
g Ne. 9.35,36. ch. 32.13-15.
48 Therefore shalt hthou serve thine enemies, which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
h Ju. 2.14; 3.8,12,14; 4.2,3; 6.1; 10.7,8; 13.1. 2 Ch. 12.8. Je. 28.13,14; 27.6-8,12. Lu. 21.22-26. 1 Th. 2.16.
49 The LORD shall ibring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth;7 a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;8
i Is. 5.26-30; 8.7,8. Hab. 1.6-9; 3.16. Je. 5.15; 6.22. Lu. 19.43. Ho. 8.1. La. 4.19.
7 The Chaldeans were comparatively near to Judea, and their language was a kindred dialect of the Hebrew. The Romans, however, were from afar, and their language totally unknown to the Jews. The Roman standard was an eagle, the appropriate emblem of their soaring pride, their far-sighted cupidity, their swift descent, and their insatiable rapacity.—C.
8 Heb. hear.
50 A nation kof fierce countenance,9 which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young:
k Is. 5.27-30; 13.18. Hab. 1.7-9. Eze. 7.21,24. Je. 1.15; 4.7; 6.23. Am. 1.13. La. 5.11,12; 4.4-10. Ho. 13.16. ch. 32.25. Da. 7.7; 8.23. Lu. 19.43.
9 Heb. strong of face.
51 And he lshall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
l Le. 26.26. Is. 1.7. Hab. 3.16,17. Lu. 21.22-26. ver. 33.
52 And he shall mbesiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
m Le. 26.25. 2 Ki. 17.5; 18.13; 24.10,11; 25.1-4. Lu. 19.43,44.
53 And nthou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body,1 the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters,2 which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, ohis eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
o ch. 15.9. Mi. 7.5. Mar. 13.12. Pr. 23.6. Mat. 20.15.
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children, whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in pthe siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
p ver. 53. Je. 5.10; 34.2. 2 Ch. 36.17.
56 Theq tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,3
q ver. 54. Le. 26.29. 2 Ki. 6.29. La. 2.20; 4.3-6,10. Eze. 5.10.
3 The revolting picture drawn in these remarkable verses was actually realized at various periods of their history. It was realized in the siege of Samaria (2 Ki. 5.28,29; see Samuel 2.20; 4.10); and similar things are related by Josephus in his books of the Jewish wars. Nothing could more strongly show the dreadful extremity to which famine had reduced them.—I.
57 And toward her young one4 that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
4 Heb. after-birth.
58 If rthou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;
59 Then the LORD swill make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
s ver. 46. La. 1.9; 4.12. Da. 9.12. ch. 29.20-28; 31.17,18; 32.22-26. 1 Ki. 9.7-9. Lu. 21.22-26. 1 Th. 2.16. Ho. 3.4.
60 Moreover, he will bring upon thee tall the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee:
t Ex. 8.9; 15.26. ch. 7.15. ver. 22,27,28,35. Je. 15.1-9. Lu. 21.22-26.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring5 upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
5 Heb. cause to ascend.
62 And ye shall be left ufew in number,6 whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
u Le. 26.22. 2 Ki. 10.32; 13.7. ch. 4.27; 10.22. Is. 1.9. 2 Ki. 24.14. Je. 52.28-30. Ex. 12.37. 2 Ch. 17.14-18.
6 When we read of the attempt made to extirpate the Jews by Haman, Est. 3.6; when we read in Josephus how at least 1,100,000 perished in the siege of Jerusalem, while 90,000 were carried captive; and when we read in Roman history the subsequent persecutions they endured; when we examine their more modern history (see, for example, Adam's History of the Jews), and observe how frequent and determined have been the efforts at their extirpation, we are astonished the Jews are so many—some think 1,500,000, some more, but the amount is uncertain—still, when compared with their ancient numbers, they are reduced to few. But the Lord has still a seed amongst, and 'a remnant according to the intention of grace,' therefore are they nationally preserved.—C.
63 And it shall come to pass, that, as the LORD xrejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will yrejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought: and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64 And the LORD shall zscatter7 thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods,8 which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
z Ne. 1.8. Je. 16.13. Lu. 21.22-24. Le. 26.33. ver. 25,36; ch. 4.27,28; 32.26.
7 Jews are found in every known commercial land—and where the ten tribes are scattered no man can tell.—C.
8 This has been verified in their voluntary adoption of heathenism, or their compulsory conformity to Popery in Spain and Portugal.—C.
65 And aamong these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest:9 but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
a Am. 9.4. Le. 26.36. Is. 1.7. 1 Sa. 2.33. Lu. 21.26. Ro. 11.10. 1 Th. 2.16.
9 The Jews are not permitted to hold land in any part of Europe, except Lithuania: a sign—if men will observe it—that the Lord holds them in readiness to return to their own land.—C.
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life.
67 In the morning thou shalt say, bWould God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
b Job 7.3,4. ver. 34. Lu. 21.26; 19.43,44. 1 Th. 2.16. Re. 9.6.
68 And the LORD shall cbring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you.1
c Je. 44.12-14. Ho. 8.13; 9.3. ch. 17.18.
1 The full meaning of the several clauses of this verse it is difficult to determine. The idea embodied in the whole is that the Israelites would be taken back to Egypt in ships; that those taken should never return; that they would be reduced to slavery; that even when offered for sale in the slave-market none would buy them. This was fulfilled after the capture of Jerusalem under Titus. Multitudes of young Jews were then shipped off from Joppa to Alexandria. The slave-market became glutted, so that no purchasers could be found.—P.
Notes
This chapter is nearly allied to Le. 26. 3-39: only it more largely insists upon the mercies, and especially the judgments, that were to befall the Israelites after their entrance into Canaan till the end of the world. It is not to be considered as a mere sanction of the laws formerly declared, but also as a real prediction of future events. The first fourteen verses had their accomplishment in the various mercies which the Jews met with before their last dispersion by the Romans: particularly in the days of Joshua, ch. iii.-xxiv.; in the rests under the Judges, Ju. 3. 11, 30, 31; 8. 28; and under Samuel, 1 Sa. 5. 2; David, 2 Sa. v. x.; 1 Ch. xii.-xxix.; Solomon, 1 Ki. i. x.; 2 Ch. i.-ix.; Asa, 1 Ki. 15. 9-15; 2 Ch. xiii.-xvi.; Jehoshaphat, 2 Ch. xvii.-xx.; Joash, 2 Ki. xi. xii.; 2 Ch. xxiii. xxiv.; Uzziah and Jotham, 2 Ch. xxvi. xxvii.; Hezekiah, 2 Ki. xviii. xix.; Is. xxxvi. xxxvii.; 2 Ch. xxix.-xxxii.; Josiah, 2 Ki. xxii. xxiii.; 2 Ch. xxxiv. xxxv.; and in the days of Ezra, i.-x.; and of Esther, i.-x.; and of Nehemiah, i.-x.; and under the Maccabees, Judas, Jonathan, Simon, Hircanus, and Alexander Janneus, from about 160 to about 80 years before Christ's birth.—From ver. 15 to the end are delineated the various and manifold miseries which their sin should bring upon them, from their entrance into Canaan till their future restoration; i.e. for the space of 3300 years; particularly in the days of Joshua, Jos. vii.; the Judges, Ju. i.-iii. iv. vi. ix. x. xii.-xxi.; Samuel, 1 Sa. iv. xi. xiii. xiv. xvii. xxxi.; David, 2 Sa. ii. iii. xv.-xxi. xxiv.; Solomon, 1 Ki. xi.; Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoshaphat, 1 Ki. xii.-xxi.; 2 Ki. i.-vi.; Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, 2 Ki. viii.-xxi.; 2 Ch. xxi. xxii. xxv. xxviii. xxxii. xxxiii.; and Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah, and in Babylon, 2 Ki. xxiv. xxv.; 2 Ch. xxxv. xxxvi.; Je. xiv.-xxix. xxxiv.-xliv. The body of the ten tribes of Israel were generally miserable after the death of Solomon. They were carried captive, and dispersed among the heathens, about 720 years before Christ, whence few of them ever returned to Canaan. Such of them, or of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who returned to their own land by order from Cyrus, Ezr. i., were not only harassed by the neighbouring nations of Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Arabians, Philistines, and others, but also by the Persian and Grecian emperors; but most terribly by Occhus the Persian, about 350; and Antiochus Epiphanes, Da. 8. 23-25; 11. 28-35, about 160 years before Christ. But their most fearful calamities began to come upon them from the Romans, about sixty-five years after Christ. They invaded their country; and after manifold calamities, about A.D. 70, rendered it a desolate wilderness, burning their cities, slaying the inhabitants, it is probable to the number of some millions, and selling such as remained to the Egyptians and others for slaves. About A.D. 136 the Romans repeated their terrible slaughter of such Jews as they found in Canaan, and even in other places of their empire; and annual fairs were held for the sale of the captives. Since which, hated of all nations in Europe, Asia, or Africa, among which they have been dispersed, and often deluded by pretenders to Messiahship, they have, for these seventeen hundred years, been distressed with the most fearful calamities, persecutions, and massacres, from the Persians, Saracens, Turks, and Christians; but chiefly the Greeks, Spaniards, French, English, and Germans. Thus every promise or threatening respecting the Jewish nation is but a repetition or enlargement of what we have in this chapter and the first part of ch. 30. 1-9; and every event of Providence respecting that nation, from their entrance into Canaan till the end of time, is the accomplishment thereof.—See Introduction.
Ver. 9. [The Lord shall establish thee. The general character of these blessings has led some Christian divines to conclude and admit that Moses employed none but temporal promises and threatenings as incentives to obedience, omitting altogether the mention of immortality. That he employed temporal promises is certain; for ‘godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.’ But that he likewise employed spiritual promises, even immortality and glory, this verse testifies; for he promises to establish them, not their posterity, ‘a holy people:’ ‘unto himself,’ implies and promises life coeval with his own. C.]
Ver. 24. [My experience of a simoom in southern Palestine will best illustrate these verses. ‘As the day advanced the sirocco came upon us, blowing across the great “Wilderness of Wandering.” At first it was but a faint breath, hot and parching as if coming from a furnace. It increased slowly and steadily. Then a thick haze, of a dull yellow or brass colour, spread along the southern horizon, and advanced, rising and expanding, until it covered the whole face of the sky, leaving the sun, a red globe of fire, in the midst. We now knew and felt that it was the fierce simoom. In a few moments fine impalpable sand began to drift in our faces, entering every pore. Nothing could exclude it. It blew into our eyes, mouths, and nostrils, and penetrated our very clothes, causing the skin to contract, the lips to crack, and the eyes to burn. Respiration became difficult. We sometimes gasped for breath; and then the hot wind and hotter sand rushed into our mouths like a stream of liquid fire. We tried to urge on our horses; but though chafing against curb and rein only an hour before, they were now almost insensible to whip and spur. We looked and longed for shelter from that pitiless storm, and for water to slake our burning thirst; but there was none. No friendly house was there; no rock or bank, no murmuring stream or solitary well. It seemed to us as if the prophetic curse pronounced by the Almighty on a sinful and apostate nation was now being literally fulfilled. We could see, at least in the whole face of nature, in earth, and sky, and storm, how terrible and how graphic that curse was:—"Thy heaven that is over thee shall be brass,"' &c. P.]
Reflections.—Behold, with affecting wonder, what numerous blessings a God in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, can heap on sinful men!—What blessings on soul and body!—what blessings, in time and in eternity, his love can bestow! Let us therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. In keeping his commandments there is a great and gracious reward. But who can stand before this holy, this jealous, this great and dreadful Lord God, if once he be angry? Deep and large is the cup of indignation that is in his right hand; the dregs of which the wicked must wring out and drink. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid. Let fearfulness surprise the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? In this dreadful cluster of threatenings, let us observe that sin is the only deserving cause of trouble; and that God, in innumerable forms, can execute his justice on the bodies, the minds, the families, the nations, the property, of his opposers. Let the tremendous condition of the Jewish nation, when oppressed by Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites, Philistines, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, and others; and when harassed, murdered, and carried into captivity by the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Romans; and all the miseries which they have suffered in their present dispersion, of more than 1700 years' continuance, establish my faith in God's word:—and let it warn the British nation, and those connected with her, to take heed to themselves, lest their contempt of Christ, their breach of promise with God, and other abounding wickedness, entail upon them similar judgments.