Question: "What are the blessings God promised Israel for obedience?"
Answer: God promised many blessings to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy if they would obey His commands. Many important blessings are listed together in Deuteronomy 28:1–14. They include the following:
1. Prominence above other nations: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1).
2. Successful cities and farming: “You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country” (Deuteronomy 28:3).
3. Blessings of children, food, and livestock: “The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 28:4).
4. Protection and power against enemies: “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven” (Deuteronomy 28:7).
5. Bountiful harvest of food: “The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you” (Deuteronomy 28:8).
6. Set apart as God’s holy people: “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him” (Deuteronomy 28:9).
7. Feared by other nations: “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you” (Deuteronomy 28:10).
8. Prosperity regarding family, food, and farm livestock: “The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you” (Deuteronomy 28:11).
9. Appropriate rain and favorable blessing upon their work, including freedom from debt: “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none” (Deuteronomy 28:12).
10. Leadership among other people and nations: “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom” (Deuteronomy 28:13).
In the original Hebrew of this passage, the blessings are arranged in a chiastic pattern with many of the themes repeating. The concepts of prosperity, success, and God’s favor predominate as themes of God’s people living in the Promised Land. These blessings were conditional, as are the curses in the next set of verses.
1. Prominence above other nations: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1).
2. Successful cities and farming: “You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country” (Deuteronomy 28:3).
3. Blessings of children, food, and livestock: “The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 28:4).
4. Protection and power against enemies: “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven” (Deuteronomy 28:7).
5. Bountiful harvest of food: “The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you” (Deuteronomy 28:8).
6. Set apart as God’s holy people: “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him” (Deuteronomy 28:9).
7. Feared by other nations: “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you” (Deuteronomy 28:10).
8. Prosperity regarding family, food, and farm livestock: “The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you” (Deuteronomy 28:11).
9. Appropriate rain and favorable blessing upon their work, including freedom from debt: “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none” (Deuteronomy 28:12).
10. Leadership among other people and nations: “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom” (Deuteronomy 28:13).
In the original Hebrew of this passage, the blessings are arranged in a chiastic pattern with many of the themes repeating. The concepts of prosperity, success, and God’s favor predominate as themes of God’s people living in the Promised Land. These blessings were conditional, as are the curses in the next set of verses.
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