Deuteronomy 28:9, commentary and pictures

The Lord promises to establish those who keep His commandments and walk in His ways as a holy people belonging to Himself, just as He has sworn to do. It stands within Moses' solemn setting forth of blessings for obedience set against curses for disobedience, leaving the people to choose which they will experience. It is a covenant agreement kept only on its conditions, so God fulfills what He has sworn when those conditions are met and not one good thing promised would fail if they were complied with. To be thus established as holy is to be set apart for God as His own, free from defiling sins, bearing His character of purity, goodness and benevolence and showing love, fear and obedience in all words and acts. The claim has not grown weak with age but is just as binding now, so the same obedience required of ancient Israel still brings prosperity, protection, health and honor to individuals and nations today.

Covenant Promise Explained

The Lord will establish as a holy people belonging to Himself, as He has sworn, those who keep His commandments and walk in His ways. This establishing as holy is a covenant blessing of obedience set among the blessings stated in the chapter, with obedience bringing blessing and disobedience bringing a curse, so that the people's keeping or transgressing affects their welfare. The surrounding promises conditional on this listening, keeping, and walking include prosperity and rain, protection from enemies, well-being in the land, health, being recognized by all peoples as called by the Lord's name, and being above and not beneath. In the wilderness this conditional care included withholding animal flesh and giving manna from heaven, because flesh would cause disease and insubordination, while this diet was meant to shape disposition and bring the higher mental powers into active use. These promises belong to God's people today and are messages the Sabbath brings.

The verse belongs to Moses' solemn setting forth of the blessings Israel would receive for obedience to God and the curses that would follow disobedience. It belongs to the broader teaching that God promises blessings for obedience and threatens curses for disobedience, with prosperity or adversity depending on whether the law given at Sinai and kept in the sacred ark was obeyed or transgressed. It stands in a contrast between the blessings of obedience and the fearful results of transgression, in which people must choose which outcome they will experience.

Its words are the voice of Christ from the infolding pillar of cloud, given in person and speaking from the cloud, expressing the principles of the law of the kingdom of God made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty about what He required. The law came from God and was proclaimed at Sinai, not from human minds or from Moses. Obedience to the directions so plainly stated is for His people's present and future good.

The promise is a covenant agreement based on conditions, and God fulfills what He has sworn only when those conditions are met through obedience to His law. Not one of the good things promised would fail if the people complied with the conditions on which the blessings were bestowed. This covenant blessing is part of the promised prosperity, protection, deliverance, and setting apart as holy for an obedient people.

Holiness and Resulting Blessings

To be established as holy is to be set apart for God and made His own, belonging to Him as His covenant people on condition of keeping His commandments and walking in His ways. It means to be free from the sins for which the nations were driven out of Canaan, to maintain a high standard of purity and holiness, and to show in all words and acts love, fear and obedience to the great Ruler of the universe. It means to bear His character of purity, goodness and benevolence, to help restore His moral image in humanity, and to belong to the royal family as children of the heavenly King.

The holiness so promised stands among the blessings of obedience in Deuteronomy 28, with the surrounding blessings including prosperity and rain, protection from enemies, and well-being in the land. They include health as a blessing conditional on obedience, and national prosperity, honor and prominence among the nations. They include being recognized by all peoples as called by the Lord's name, being above and not beneath when obedient to His commandments, with temporal and spiritual prosperity and success in work.

Sacredness was not in the ark itself but in the law it contained, so its presence could bring blessing, prosperity and deliverance only to an obedient people keeping His commandments and walking in His ways. A covenant is an agreement based on conditions, and to expect blessing while violating the conditions on which alone it can be bestowed is presumption. The favor shown to ancient Israel in prosperity or adversity depended on whether they obeyed or transgressed that law, and the same obedience brings great blessings to individuals and nations now.

Disobedience alters God's purpose toward His people so that the promise fails for that generation, and Israel's failure to fulfill His purpose meant they missed blessings that could have been theirs, for faithfulness to God produces corresponding results. The fathers forfeited His favor by disobedience, and by distrust and unbelief with pride and failure to bear His character of purity, goodness and benevolence they were left unprepared to enter Canaan and unfit to represent a people whose God is the Lord. The adult army that left Egypt was for this reason refused entrance into the promised land, and their delay to enter the goodly land dishonored God before surrounding nations, whereas submission to His authority as a nation governed by His judgments and as individuals walking in His ordinances would have settled them long ago in Canaan as a prosperous, holy, happy people.

The law was the barrier God set up to preserve the people from disease so they could live in health and holiness and learn obedience on their journey under special direction and sheltering protection. Transgressing the law breaks down that protection and brings disease of every kind, while keeping it keeps a people in remembrance of God and under His healing care. In the wilderness animal flesh was withheld and manna from heaven was given because flesh would cause disease and insubordination, and this diet was meant to shape disposition and bring the higher mental powers into active use.

Present Obligation and Application

The duty laid out in the promise does not expire for anyone who has received life and health and temporal and spiritual benefits, and its message has not weakened with age. The claims of God remain just as binding now and just as fresh in importance as His gifts remain fresh and continual. What was spoken as the voice of Christ from the enfolding pillar of cloud, setting forth the principles of the law of God's kingdom in specific form so that no mind is left in ignorance and uncertainty, still obligates the hearer.

The promises belong to God's people today, and they are part of the message the Sabbath brings. The same obedience once required of ancient Israel brings great blessing to individuals and to nations now. Israel's history stands as a warning to later generations to avoid the sins that brought divine wrath. Those who keep the commandments and walk in the ways of the Lord are still to be established as His holy people, still to be recognized by all peoples as called by His name, and still to be set above and not beneath as they heed and do His commandments.

Covenant obedience includes material stewardship, for prosperity or hardship followed obedience or disobedience. Honoring God with substance and with firstfruits brought abundance. Withholding tithes and offerings was disobedience that robbed the people themselves of blessing. Success depends on the blessing of God, not on the ideas and views of men opposed to the requirements of His law. When His people make Him supreme He blesses them and gives success to their work, and when others see that blessing and success they are led to consider the truths taught, with many compelled to acknowledge such methods as superior to those commonly used in the schools of the world. Because of His merciful, commandment-keeping righteous people He restrains His judgments, and the surrounding temporal and spiritual prosperity promised remains conditional on obedience to His law.

Obedience serves the present and future good of His people. God's directions express the principles of His kingdom and were stated plainly by Christ in person speaking from the cloud, so that His people would know what He required, with blessing and prosperity following obedience and a curse following disobedience. Those specially favored by God are to acknowledge His gifts publicly, testifying that His word is true and bringing glory to His name.