BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE AND CURSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE IN DEUTERONOMY 28

Abstract

This essay examines the contents of the blessings and curses pronounced in Deuteronomy 28 and their significance for the later history of Israel together with their implications for the contemporary community of believers. The blessings are given for obedience to Yahweh’s law while the curses are pronounced for disobedience. All these reflect the traditional morality which is founded on the principle of retributive justice. This states that if you do good, good things will follow you, and if you do evil, bad things will follow you. Although modern worldview is very critical of such traditional mindset, the idea is widely diffused in the Bible and forms the moral and religious consciousness of a majority of people. But one may ask, How were these blessings and curses realised in the life of the Israelite people? The paper will go further to explain the theological import of the blessings and curses together with their relevance to the contemporary African society. As a matter of fact, the consciousness of being under a blessing or under a curse looms large in the African society. Many fortunes and misfortunes are attributed as either signs of divine blessing or divine curse.