Deuteronomy 28:35
The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
Deuteronomy 26, 27 and 28 give plain directions stating the blessings of obedience and the principles of the law of God's kingdom made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty. Those words are the voice of Christ from the enfolding pillar of cloud, and obedience to them was given for present and future good. Within that setting the verse is one of the curses Moses read to Israel. It threatens a severe, widespread, incurable skin affliction striking the knees and legs and extending from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.
Severe disease is thus placed among the judgments, threatened curses, covenant warnings and fearful results for breaking God's law and transgressing His commands. Disobedience brings physical affliction as well as other losses, and prosperity and adversity come according to obedience to or transgression of God's law. The Lord's promises are upon condition of obedience, with obedience bringing blessings and disobedience bringing a curse. People must therefore choose whether to enjoy the blessings of obedience or suffer the consequences of disobedience.
The affliction came when Israel and human beings broke down the safeguards and barriers God in His providence erected to preserve them from disease, that they might live in health and holiness and learn obedience. Read with Exodus 15:26, the verse teaches that God is the Lord who heals and will put none of the diseases brought upon the Egyptians on those who diligently hearken to His voice and do right in His sight and keep His commandments and statutes, while disobedience as in Israel opens the way to suffering. Together with Deuteronomy 1, the chapter explains why the adults of the army that left Egypt were refused entry into the promised land because they did not wholly follow Him.
The law behind the blessing and curse was contained in the ark, but the ark itself was not a god or a guarantee of success. The curse on humanity has grown heavier through continued sin, and God visits His people according to their obedience or transgression. The verse presents the never-ceasing obligation of all whom God has blessed with life and health and temporal and spiritual advantages, including gifts and offerings and the tithe to sustain faithful messengers. God's claims are just as binding now and just as fresh in importance as His gifts are fresh and continual, calling for a life of consecration and self-denial.