How does Deuteronomy 28:57 connect with the broader theme of blessings and curses? Setting the Scene • Deuteronomy 28 is Moses’ covenant renewal address: – vv. 1-14: promised blessings for listening to the LORD’s voice – vv. 15-68: dire curses for refusing that voice Verse in Focus — Deuteronomy 28:57 “The afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears she will secretly eat for lack of anything else, in the dire straits your enemy will inflict on you in your gates.” How the Verse Fits the Pattern of Curses • Intensifying severity: the curses progress from agricultural failure (vv. 16-19) to military defeat (vv. 25-26) to nationwide devastation (vv. 49-52). Verse 57 represents the climax—life itself turns in on itself. • Reversal of blessing: motherhood, ordinarily a sign of covenant fruitfulness (Genesis 1:28; Deuteronomy 28:4), becomes a scene of horror, underscoring how total the reversal is when the covenant is broken. • Internal collapse: the people’s greatest danger is no longer an external army but their own desperate actions. Disobedience erodes the covenant community from within. Contrast with Covenant Blessings (vv. 1-14) • Blessings promise abundant offspring (v. 4) and plenty of food (v. 5). • Curses culminate in the antithesis—offspring become food (v. 57). • The structure presses the listener to choose obedience so that life, not death, governs family and land (cf. Deuteronomy 30:19). Echoes in Israel’s History • 2 Kings 6:25-29—siege of Samaria under Ben-hadad. • Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 2:20; 4:10—siege of Jerusalem by Babylon. These fulfillments confirm the literal accuracy of Moses’ prediction and the covenant logic of blessing for obedience and curse for rebellion. Theological Takeaways • God’s word is exact: promised judgments fall precisely as spoken (Numbers 23:19). • Sin’s trajectory is always downward; unchecked, it destroys the most sacred human bonds. • The covenant still calls for wholehearted obedience (John 14:15; Galatians 6:7-8). Blessing or curse remains the inevitable outflow of how we respond to the LORD’s revealed will. Living in the Blessing Side of the Covenant • Cling to Christ, the true covenant keeper (Matthew 5:17). • Walk by the Spirit, not the flesh, so life rather than death marks our homes (Romans 8:6-8). • Teach the next generation diligently (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) to keep the cycle of blessing in motion. |
    |