What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 28:62? You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky • God had promised Abraham, “Look to the heavens and count the stars… so shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). • By the time of Moses, that promise was visibly fulfilled: “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as numerous as the stars in the sky” (Deuteronomy 1:10). • The phrase reminds Israel that fruitfulness was never self-made; it flowed directly from covenant blessing (Exodus 1:7; Deuteronomy 10:22). • Remembering those origins should have stirred gratitude and loyalty—but memory alone does not guarantee faithfulness. will be left few in number • The verse pivots from blessing to curse, echoing the warning, “If you do not obey… all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15). • Reduction of population would come through war, famine, plague, and exile (Leviticus 26:22, 33; Deuteronomy 4:27). History bears this out: – Assyrian deportations of the northern tribes (2 Kings 17:6). – Babylonian exile that left “only the poorest of the land” (2 Kings 25:12). • What God multiplied, He can just as surely diminish when covenant terms are broken. because you would not obey • Disobedience is the singular reason given; no political or military failure can mask spiritual rebellion (1 Samuel 12:15). • The curses that follow disobedience are not arbitrary; they are the flip side of the blessings attached to obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1–2 vs. 28:15). • Throughout Scripture, obedience is portrayed as love in action: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). • Persistent refusal to heed God’s word hardens the heart, making repentance increasingly unlikely (Jeremiah 7:23–24). the voice of the LORD your God • “Voice” stresses personal relationship; Israel was meant to be a people who listened to their Shepherd (Exodus 19:5; John 10:27). • Rejecting that voice is more than breaking rules; it is breaking fellowship. • The covenant name “LORD your God” underscores both His authority and His ownership—He speaks not as a distant deity but as their Redeemer (Deuteronomy 5:6; Isaiah 43:1). • Blessing or curse hinges on the same point: whether the voice that brought them out of Egypt continues to govern them in the land (Deuteronomy 8:20). summary Deuteronomy 28:62 warns that the same God who graciously multiplied Israel can justly reduce them when they shut their ears to His voice. Covenant blessing (“as numerous as the stars”) is inseparable from covenant loyalty; disobedience reverses the blessing and leaves the nation “few in number.” The verse calls every generation to recall God’s past faithfulness, recognize the serious consequences of unbelief, and respond with wholehearted obedience to the Lord who speaks. |
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