““Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction. “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’ “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’ “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’ “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”
Deuteronomy 29:19-29 NLT
Everything with God makes sense, even if it is not intuitive. To this end, the passage is clear about two specific things. The first thing is that the curses upon Israel are a part of the covenant. Men would like to think that blessings are somehow disconnected from curses, but in God’s economy, a blessing is the result of accepting God’s grace. It may be free, but it is also a choice. In this way, it is also what one earns. It is the antithesis to the apostle Paul’s thesis that “the wages of sin is death.” When a curse is received, it is also a choice to interact with God’s covenant. It is the choice to reject it. This choice is also strangely free. God may warn us, but he will not restrict us. He respects us in too much. Secondly, it must be said that curses, are in their own way, not wholly negative. They serve as part of the warning system that some need to take God’s covenants seriously, and not just squander them without a second thought. There is no waste in those who are cursed by their rejection, so long as those around them, and after them, learn from them. In this way, they are the greatest indicator of the continuing presence of God’s covenant. They are the warning signs on the road to perdition.
Covenant Nature of Curses: Curses on Israel are part of the covenant, representing the choice to reject God’s grace and covenant.
Purpose of Curses: Curses serve as a warning system, highlighting the seriousness of God’s covenants and the consequences of rejection.
Curses as Indicators of God’s Covenant: Curses demonstrate the ongoing presence and reality of God’s covenant, serving as warning signs.
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