What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 28:22? The LORD will strike you – Divine action is front-and-center. The verse begins by reminding Israel that covenant blessings or curses ultimately flow from God Himself (Deuteronomy 28:15; 1 Samuel 2:6-7). – His “strike” is corrective and judicial, echoing earlier warnings in Leviticus 26:14-17. – Cross references show God personally intervening when His people rebel (Jeremiah 30:23; Isaiah 45:7), underscoring that consequences are not random but relational. with wasting disease – “Wasting disease” pictures a slow, debilitating illness that drains strength, fulfilling the opposite of God’s promise of health in Exodus 15:26. – Similar language in Leviticus 26:16 describes consumption that “wastes the eyes and causes sorrow of heart.” – Job 30:30 and Psalm 102:3 graphically portray bodies reduced by prolonged sickness, illustrating how sin’s toll touches every part of life. with fever and inflammation – Acute physical afflictions follow the chronic ones. Psalm 38:3 reflects David’s sense that “there is no health in my bones because of my sin.” – Deuteronomy 32:24 warns of “wasting hunger, consuming pestilence and bitter plague,” revealing that fevered bodies mirror a fevered, unrepentant heart. with scorching heat and drought – The curse moves from the body to the climate, linking personal disobedience to national hardship. – Jeremiah 17:7-8 pictures the blessed man as a tree unaffected by heat, but here the disobedient nation feels relentless sun. – Amos 4:7-9 recounts how God withheld rain “yet you did not return to Me,” confirming that discipline aims at restoration. and with blight and mildew – Agricultural disasters strike both field and storage. Moses had promised abundant crops for obedience (Deuteronomy 28:11); blight and mildew now reverse that blessing. – 1 Kings 8:37 and Haggai 2:17 list these very plagues as covenant wake-up calls. – Amos 4:9 again pairs “blight and mildew” with stubborn refusal to repent. these will pursue you until you perish – The series of afflictions is relentless, as if armed guards chase a fugitive—a vivid contrast to Psalm 23:6 where “goodness and mercy” pursue the faithful. – Deuteronomy 28:45 summarizes: “All these curses will come upon you…until you are destroyed.” – Isaiah 30:28 likens God’s judgment to a narrowing torrent that sweeps everything away, emphasizing that ignoring repeated warnings ends in total loss. summary Deuteronomy 28:22 details a cascade of covenant curses—physical illness, bodily fever, environmental extremes, and crop failure—each progressively severe, each divinely administered, and all designed to call a rebellious nation back to wholehearted obedience. The verse underscores that sin’s consequences are comprehensive, touching health, climate, and livelihood, and they persist “until you perish” unless repentance intervenes. God’s justice is as certain as His mercy; the same Lord who strikes also heals when His people return to Him (2 Chronicles 7:14). |
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