What diseases are mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:21, and what do they signify? Setting the Scene Deuteronomy 28 spells out the covenant blessings for obedience (vv. 1-14) and the curses for disobedience (vv. 15-68). Verse 21 launches a series of physical afflictions that God will allow to fall on Israel if they refuse to heed His voice. “The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.” The Disease Mentioned • Pestilence (Hebrew: deber) – A broad term for deadly epidemic disease or plague. – Used of the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 5:3; 9:15) and of national judgments throughout the prophets (Jeremiah 14:12; Ezekiel 14:21). – Carries the idea of something that “clings” and will not easily be shaken off, matching the wording in the verse. What the Pestilence Signifies • Covenant Judgment – Leviticus 26:25 promised pestilence as a consequence for breaking God’s covenant; Deuteronomy 28 picks up the same warning. – The literal disease acts as a visible sign of an invisible breach in Israel’s relationship with God. • Loss of Covenant Land – “Until He has exterminated you from the land” connects the pestilence to exile. Physical sickness foreshadows national eviction (fulfilled in 722 BC and 586 BC). • Divine Ownership of Health – God, not chance, governs the physical well-being of His people (compare Exodus 15:26, “I am the LORD who heals you”). Disobedience removes His protective hedge. • Echoes in Later Scripture – 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 links pestilence with the call to humble repentance. – Revelation 6:8 lists pestilence among end-time judgments, showing the theme extends from the Torah to the consummation of history. Takeaway for Today • God’s word is precise: the same God who literally promised blessing for obedience also literally warned of pestilence for rebellion. • Physical calamities are never random in Scripture; they press people toward repentance and restored fellowship (Hosea 6:1). • Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Galatians 3:13). Those who trust Him are no longer under the condemnation symbolized by pestilence, yet the passage still calls believers to wholehearted obedience and reverence for God’s holiness. |
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