Before Israel crossed into the land, Moses stood the whole nation between two mountains and read out two futures. On Gerizim, the blessings; on Ebal, the curses; and the hinge between them was a single word: hearken. This lesson walks slowly through the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, phrase by phrase, blessed in the city and blessed in the field, the fruit of the body and the fruit of the ground, the basket and the store, coming in and going out, enemies fleeing seven ways, the good treasure of heaven opened, the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. Then it follows the theme...
Before Israel crossed into the land, Moses stood the whole nation between two mountains and read out two futures. On Gerizim, the blessings; on Ebal, the curses; and the hinge between them was a single word: hearken. This lesson walks slowly through the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, phrase by phrase, blessed in the city and blessed in the field, the fruit of the body and the fruit of the ground, the basket and the store, coming in and going out, enemies fleeing seven ways, the good treasure of heaven opened, the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. Then it follows the theme outward: the Aaronic blessing that placed the very Name of Yahweh upon the people, the tree-planted man of Psalm 1, the blessed house of Psalm 112, the blessing of Yahweh that maketh rich in Proverbs, the ladder of the Beatitudes from the Messiah's own mouth, and the last beatitude of the Bible, blessed are they that do his commandments. And because Scripture is honest, we will be honest: blessing is covenant faithfulness, not a vending machine, and some of the most blessed people in the Book were poor, hunted, and scarred. Come and see what obedience opens, and what it never promised.