Blessed Forever In Him

A People Blessed Forever Deuteronomy 28

Deuteronomy is the third most often quoted book in the New Testament - it is a covenant document which discloses to us the Lord’s desire to bless his people as they live in relationship with him - the heart of this covenant of grace is God’s declaration: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

God is a God who blesses us as true believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord of the new covenant, we are forever blessed. God’s blessing is not temporary; it is forever, and no one is able to change it. This truth was revealed by God in the Old Testament when he told the prophet Balaam, “You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed” (Numbers 22:12). If we are blessed by God, we cannot be cursed.

The Structure of the Covenant

The first five verses of chapter 1 compose a preamble. It speaks of the covenant mediator, which in Deuteronomy is Moses, the earthly representative of the heavenly Lord of the covenant.

The remainder of chapter 1 through the end of chapter 4 speaks about the history of the covenant with his people—the covenant mediator is identified in the preamble: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” In other words, the Ten Commandments were given to a people who had been redeemed by their covenant Lord.

Chapters 5 through 26, describes the nature of the covenant life—what type of life we are to live in relationship to the covenant Lord. It demands from us, the Lord’s vassals, absolute loyalty and obedience to our God that we may live under his blessing.

Chapters 27 through 30, is comprised of sanctions—blessing and curses. When we love our Sovereign Lord and exhibit that love by obeying his commands, he blesses us. But when we disobey our covenant Lord, he curses us.

Finally, chapters 31 through 34 speak about the continuity, of the covenant. The covenant is binding for generations to come, one generation after another. The mediator of the covenant also changes, from Moses to Joshua and so on, until finally we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man.

Covenant Blessing

1. Based on grace, not merit.

At no time are the blessings of the covenant based on any legal merit on the part of the people; they are based solely on God’s grace to us. Some people believe that in the Old Testament people had to obey God to be blessed, but in the New Testament we will be blessed without obedience. Such thinking, however, is false. What is the truth about God blessing us? Is it something that we earned because of our good works? Absolutely not! God blessed us before time began, from all eternity, before we existed, and long before we ever loved him.

Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” God did not bless us because we merited it; God blessed us in Jesus Christ in eternity before the creation of the world. Paul also speaks about this in 2 Timothy 1:9-10: “[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”

2. A work of God, not man.

The Longing Heart of the Covenant Lord. Deuteronomy repeatedly expresses God’s great yearning and intense longing to bless his people and their descendants for generations to come. Deuteronomy 4:40 says, “Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today”—and notice the purpose of it—“so that it may go well with you. . . .” That is the yearning of the heart of God. He longs to bless us more than we are eager to receive his blessing. Never think God is reluctant to bless you. God is interested not only in us, but also in our children, and he wants to bless them, too. Father and mother, you will die. But this God lives forever to take care of your children, their children, and their children’s children. Thus we are exhorted, “Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.” The blessing of God is a gift; it is for our entire family, and it is for all eternity.

In 5:29 the Lord declares, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Chapter 6 begins: “These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” Verse 18 of chapter 6 says, “Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers,” on a covenant basis. And verse 24 says, “The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.”